Brown leather jackets... where for art thou?

[ff73148_imp]

Who knew it would be so hard to find a decent brown leather jacket? There are scores of black ones available on the market, but I'm trying to avoid the completely blacked out look since I also have a black CB1100.

I've searched virtually every website out there (Vanson, Fox Creek, River Road, Revzilla, Dennis Kirk, etc) and the only ones that have peaked my interest are the Roland Sands Barfly, Ronin, and Enzo (seen below in that order from left to right). They're pretty pricey at $500+ and I've read some reviews stating that the stitching is starting to unravel on some after a little less than a year, they're single stitched in some critical impact zones, and a seam busted open on someone's get-off.



So I did some more searching tonight and came across a company called Xelement on Leatherup. The prices for their leather jackets are really low ($150-$200) so I figure they are not very good quality but surprisingly the Amazon reviews on them are actually quite good. One review mentioned a crash at 70MPH and the jacket holding up without any issues. In particular, I was looking at one for $150 in a dark brown that has a cafe racer kinda vibe going on. Worst case scenario is I send it back if it's not up to snuff.

[url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BTQPYY/ref=s9_simh_gw_p263_d0_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=02X6K359NTKGMVCQS7TW&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop]Xelement Speedster

[url=http://s1072.photobucket.com/user/jasonxerri/media/Xelement%20Speedster_zpswpszgzvh.jpg.html]

You're probably thinking that this is the end of my search. Well, you would be wrong.

As I'm about to checkout on Amazon, a tiny thumbnail of a jacket in the "similar items to what you're looking for" results list catches my eye. So I click the link and what do you know? A reasonably priced brown cafe jacket with decent specs, good reviews, a vintage look to it, and only 1 Large size left in stock to boot. I'll post a review of it when it gets here in a few days. I can't wait.

[url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C7D3HIU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1]Leather Supreme Buffalo Cafe Racer Jacket

* Made from Top Grain Soft Heavy Duty 1.3MM buffalo hide Leather
* Retro brown color with matching detail across chest and back
* Features a z/o liner plus inner mesh liner throughout
* Includes 2 deep zippered pockets on the front chest area
* Two zippered vertical air-vents on the back
* One zippered air-vent on each sleeve
* Two zippered side pockets outside & two inside zippered pockets
* Zippered sides for snug fit
* Zippered Cuffs with snap buttons
* Classic double shoulder design for more movement
* Leather pull tabs on all zippers
* YKK zippers

[url=http://s1072.photobucket.com/user/jasonxerri/media/Leather%20Supreme%20Cafe%20Racer_zpswao6yyh9.jpg.html]

I have owned several products from Leather Up, including a couple of jackets. Worst problem is sizing with them but they are good on returns. My jackets for the most part have held up well. I think I had to repair a snap on one and maybe a loose thread on another, but they are like most things these days "imported".

On the other hand I had to send my first Fox Valley jacket back for an issue which they sent me a new jacket for right away. The Fox Valley is a much nicer leather material but it cost 4x as much as the Leather Up jacket

Motorcyclegear.com is another company I have on speed dial. A quick search for brown lather jackets turned up this

[url=http://www.motorcyclegear.com/browse/search?query=mens+brown+leather+jacket]http://www.motorcyclegear.com/browse/search?query=mens+brown+leather+jacket

I think MG has a Roland Sands and did a report on it for this forum here.

http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread....land+Sands

Schott Leather Jackets Model 141