Taylor Lynchburg

Finally here

OK, so after a week of anticipation the Customs snagged the well-packed G-1. It was amazingly bundled into a mailer bag by my fuzz agent in LA (sometimes they slip through customs that manner). What can I say - I'm impressed as well. Add to that it was only 17 euros and change to pay for VAT (on the jacket and mailing costs) so it wasn't a bad deal, even my 55 dollar jacket cost me the 10 dollar delivery in rhe US and 39.95 to get the 4lbs of jacket to these northern wastes and the customs charge (nevermind the joy of crosstown traffic to the airport customs office) I'm a happy camper...

The G-1 I got as a "autumn/spring jacket" so as to fit an aran sweater underneath and try to dodge horizontal sleet(yes we have a rainy season and a darn cold rainy season here), so the 3XLT isn't an overkill, even the jacket is about a 54-56 - the chest isn't as big but the cut allows real roomy sholders. Reports of Taylor having a bit smaller cut in sizes isn't quite true with the G-1, I'd say if I bought the jacket to be trim a size or two smaller would have been a good fit for the sholders, but the waist might have been tight... So looks like a donut holder from Hill Street Blues... So for anyone who pumps iron and has a problem with finding "sholder-room" I recomment the Taylor as it doesn't have a huge flapping chest/stomach even it is a roomier cut.

I have a Cooper G-1 (size 58 L up for grabs for the big boys out there) and I can say as far as quality/cut the Taylor gives a bit more of a "substantial" feel. The cuffs and knit is thicker, and even the leather is thin, its still a tad bit thicker than Cooper's. The collar is very small, like an inch and a half. The jacket is modern mil-spec and has the pockets unstitched on the side so as to have handwarmers, which I ain't complaining about even I loose gloves that way. The USN punch on the windflap isn't as obvious as in the Cooper, though with the handwarmer pockets I think it should be a USCG punch if we get pedantic...The pockets are all fully lined and the "quality feel" is there so I say the 55 bucks wasn't a deal - twas a steal!

The tag had been removed as apparently this was a "factory fault", which I don't mind as I have had a few nice wool sweaters and silk waistcoats gotten scuffed by some nasty plastic thread, so I usually remove all lables from my jackets.... as well as shirt lables especially the plastic labels saying "100%cotton" off my t-shirts as it gives me a sweat rash (Am I the only perv doing this I wonder?)

Now that I put the jacket on I think there is a lining of some sorts, the leather when pinched has a feel theres something there. And its warm allright.

Yeah yeah pics... I got one I'll upload. Not putting my drive leathers on for you fetishists ...ok, so heres the bike so I'm not a *total* poser...


I sat on the jacket for a couple days as I also waited the Customs to impound another jacket. I got now a second cotton-shell B-15 from Rothco (they're 39.95 at vermont-barre army navy) I've the first one as a work jacket and t as far as cheap jackets go, the Rothco B-15 is also warm so I wouldn't dismiss it due to lack of "authenticity"... hrm...

So definitely, the "bang for the buck" ratio with this Taylor's Leatherwear G-1 is really... really really... übergood. I paid about 120 bucks for the Cooper a few years back - it is far too big, and size 50-52 Longs from orchard or other makers get to the 200-250 price range at eebers and as I'm a cheapskate I go for bargains... even though I'm contemplating of shelling out for a second hand Aero... So I can say now I wasn't being too enthustiastic when spilling the beans to jj on the mad sales Taylor was having.

johnnyjohnny said:

thanks rimmer...and i certainly wasn't being argumentative...i do agree, the more perfectly protective jacket is likely the one most police would not wear...buT recreational riders should, just like drivers should always buckle up ;D

and again, upon landing on the hood of a new ford capri in '73, within 6 months i had stopped riding bikes, and not resumed...i have deFiniTeLy purchased my lynchburg for cas wear...i'm totally the poser...

however, i feel i've paid my dues...destroying the full passenger-side fender of the capri with my knee, and not suffering any damage to my person or bike, hopefully allows me the lifetime right to pose in moto jackets without heinous derision (a little bit, like peacoat's, is quite fine)

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Yes, with your "history," you have earned the right to pose all you want.

johnnyjohnny said:

however, i feel i've paid my dues...destroying the full passenger-side fender of the capri with my knee, and not suffering any damage to my person or bike, hopefully allows me the lifetime right to pose in moto jackets without heinous derision (a little bit, like peacoat's, is quite fine)

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Johnny, I think you've more than paid your dues as a 2-wheeler if you've caved in the side of a car! They say there are two types of motorcyclists: those who have crashed and those who haven't yet crashed. I hope I've had my "crash" in the form of a sub-5mph "dump" of my bike as I was pulling into a gas station in 1995 on my old 1982 Yamaha, so I won't have another! lol

I do not think that a non-motorcyclist (and I don't think you belong in this category) wearing a motorcycle jacket, in this day and age, is a "poser".
There are certain items that have become mainstream in American fashion, and as such don't require actual experience to wear. I think the classic biker jacket and the A2 bomber jacket fall squarely into this category.

Nobody expects that every person wearing a bomber jacket was on a B17 crew. The same should be true for people wearing biker jackets. They have become commonplace enough so that it's not a pre-requisite to ride a motorcycle to wear one. In my opinion it would unreasonable to assume that one was posing if you weren't an actual motorcyclist.

For the record, I think it would be weird to wear a full race leather suit around town if you didn't ride a motorcycle of some sort, but to each their own!

Have they all gone?

BOO! HISS!

They were, but.........

posing or WarHOL?

thanks ace and peacoat for allowing me in the club though i've hung up my bike before it hung me up

as for taking out the new capri, i'll say that going through that paper thin sheet metal was like a hot knife through margarine...it was yellow coloured too, so didn't feel anything nor was i injured in any way...but i knew something above was helping me lay 'the' perfect skid into the car, and i doubt it was a luftwaffe pilot

but to the subject of posing, the greatest poser in luftwaffe or near luftwaffe style jackets was andy warhol, who took posing to a high art and appreciated cultural icons...no wonder why he chose the luftwaffe style jacket...i don't have time to track down a shot of him in a 'proper' luftwaffe jacket, but here's one that comes pretty close...loox good>>>

Hey gang,

Doe anyone know what a Taylors "M" is in inches?

Excellent, that's a G2 "Paris" bagged.