Custom tailored, affordable leather riding gear
I love leather motorcycle riding jackets. I love the history in motorcycling of them, from post-WWII bomber jackets returning servicemen wore when out riding, the “Wild One” police-style jackets Brando and his biker gang popularized, the unzipped racing striped jacket Fonda wore in “Easy Rider”, to the modern jackets REV’IT! and other brands offer. I love how they look and feel, their protective qualities, and just the overall vibe of wearing a leather jacket while riding a motorcycle. I own several nice textile jackets, with CE armor throughout, and I feel supremely safe in those. But I must admit, I feel badass when I’m riding in one of my leather jackets.
Rob rocking his beloved old leather biker jacket, on his Triumph Bonneville 900.
So when Lusso Leather reached out earlier this summer, offering me a custom tailored, fitted motorcycle jacket to ride with and review, I jumped at the chance. Lusso is a Canada-based leather apparel and accessories company, with a New York State distribution facility in Niagara Falls, that has begun offering motorcycling-specific jackets to the North American market. Their jackets and leather accessories are handcrafted in Turkey, then shipped to Canada and/or the upstate New York warehouse for distribution. Per their contact with me, “Our garments are manufactured in Turkey, where we work closely with skilled artisans to ensure high-quality craftsmanship and materials, especially for our motorcycle jacket line.”
The jacket model Rob was offered for customization. He took a medium, not a small.
They asked for my dimensions, as in waist, chest, shoulders, arm length, etc. They offered me their “Black Café Racer Premium Leather Armored Motorcycle Jacket” to get custom-fitted, which I thought would pair perfectly with my Triumph Bonneville and Bell Stockwell Eliminator helmet. My favorite leather jacket has long been my no-name, off-the-rack biker jacket that I’ve had for over 30 years. It’s covered in pins and patches, is fading and cracking in places, but it fits me like a glove, and channels Brando and Ace Café vibes every time I wear it. I’ve also reviewed the REV’IT! Restless leather jacket, which I still enjoy wearing, but I’ve never been form-fitted with a jacket specifically tailored to my specs.
The jacket and the nice bag it came with upon delivery.
The Lusso Leather folks had informed me that it might take a couple of months for the jacket to arrive, seeing as it was going to be custom-cut for my frame. That was fine with me, as a full leather jacket could be quite hot to wear across the humid summers here in the Deep South that I call home. The jacket finally arrived in early September, as the temps and humidity began to mellow out. Perfect timing! To be clear, one can order standard, off-the-rack jackets from Lusso, and receive them much sooner, but to get custom-fitted requires patience, obviously.
The first time I tried the jacket on, I was amazed at how thick and tough the jacket felt. It had built-in armor pockets as well, just like any textile jacket would, in the shoulders, elbows, and even a back pad, all CE-level. It came with a zip-out inner thermal liner too, although I find it is fairly worthless. It’s only a thermal vest, so does not extend down the jacket sleeves, and it’s quite thin and flimsy.
With and without the thermal liner.
The only other caveat I’ve found so far, is that the jacket itself doesn’t have any interior pockets. The thermal vest has a Velcro-enclosed interior pocket, perfect size for larger cell phones today, but not the jacket itself. The two exterior hand pockets at the waist, and two chest pockets, all with solid zippers, are deep and of durable quality. Other jackets in their lineup do have inner pockets, I must add.
I also noticed that the sleeves seemed a bit extra long for me. Yet when I sat on one of my motorcycles, extending my hands to the handlebar grips, I found I liked the sleeve length. They clearly took the riding position into consideration when tailoring the jacket, like a fitted race suit might be custom tailored. The white stripes and extra padded shoulders really make this jacket fantastic looking.
Wearing the jacket, with the extra sleeve length.
The first time I donned the jacket and took a ride in it, I found I liked another feature of it. The tiny pinhole perforations all around, actually make the jacket more breathable for warm weather riding. I thought it was just a styling cue, but it really works. “Dang, this really could be a summer riding jacket as well,” I thought to myself. That’s definitely a first for leather jackets I’ve owned or tested over the years.
On the bike, the sleeve length is perfect.
Lusso sends along a “Care & Maintenance” card for keeping the jacket in pristine condition, which I appreciate. I can’t find any Lusso brand leather cleaner or conditioner for sale on their site, but they give a nice step-by-step in cleaning and conditioning the jacket. If anyone has recommendations on good leather cleaning and maintenance products, drop them in the comments section below.
This is helpful. Glad they include this.
Surfing their site, I’m amazed at the off-the-rack as well as custom offerings Lusso sells. Jackets, gloves, coats, travel bags, belts, hats, even shop aprons, all at prices that are quite reasonable. In fact, my Café Racer jacket retails for $254 USD on their site. I think that may be for the off-the-rack version, but still, these are great prices. For custom cut and fitted jackets, they can quote you a price when you reach out to them.
Digging this jacket. Get you one too.
I’ll use and ride with this jacket into the winter months, with more updates on how it performs for me. So far, I like it’s fit, feel and look. You can it check out and all of their current offerings at the link below.
Rob
Here was our initial introduction!
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