Cycle Leather

Sometimes referred to as a ‘motorcycle coat’, motorcyclists are already well aware of the significant virtues of the Leather Duster, but did you know how they got their name, or gained such popular appeal?

By definition a ‘Duster’ is a light , loose-fitting coat.  Western riders often wore canvas or linen dusters to protect their clothes from trail dust.  However, by the turn of the century, duster coats were worn by both men and women to protect themselves from road dust when riding in the open cars of the day.

 Western horsemen’s dusters gained renewed popularity in the late 2oth century due to the release of such movies as “Once Upon a Time In The West” and “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”.   More recent popular fiction and science fiction tales such as “Blade Runner” , “The Terminator”, and “The Matrix” have continued to enhance to popularity and sex appeal of the Leather Duster or Trench Coat (for most people the Duster and the Trench coat are interchangeable).  

In addition to it’s cosmetic appeal the leather duster is a truly functional wardrobe item for both business and casual wear.  Many current versions include removable liners and/or capes to enhance their all-weather versatility and comfort.  The most popular color seems to be black, largely due to Hollywood’s influence, however brown is a close second.  Materials include Cowhide, Buffalo, Goat-skin, and even Ostrich!!

Since the beginning of the 20th century when the first motorized bike hit the road, it has been mostly a male dominated sport. However,  women are making up a larger segment of todays motorcycle riders. 43 million women and more every day.  The most recent research by Motorcycle Industry Council states a 34% increase in the number of women riders between 1998 and 2003.  According to Motorcycle Safety Foundation,  across the U.S. nearly 30% of students in learn-to-ride Basic Rider Courses are women.

Today, manufacturers of motorcycles, as well as motorcycle protective gear, are actively wooing a rising number of females to purchase their products to trick out our bikes and our bodies.   This article briefly focuses on 3  remarkable women who paved the way for todays women riders.

In 1916, Sisters Adeline and Augusta Van Buren made a record-breaking coast to coast ride on Indian motorcycles.  They were the first women to make the transcontinental ride solo on 2 motorcycles.  They hoped to convince the military that women were able to serve as dispatch riders.   Even though they did not succeed they did lead the way for others and shattered conventional thinking about women in the early 20th century.

Another female motorcycling pioneer was, Bessie Stringfield, a brave African-American, broke gender barriers in the 1930’s and 1940’s by serving as a U.S. dispatch rider and competing in and completing 8 solo transcontinental tours.  Some of those tours through the racially charged deep South.

Lets honor these brave and fearless women every time we ride off into the sunset.

Keep the wind at your knees.      

Many people are surprised to learn that the venerable Harley-Davidson motorcycle of today actually had very humble beginnings as a motorized bicycle (sort of a very early moped).  Beginning in 1901, William S. Harley drew up plans for a 7.07 cubic inch (about 116cc) engine designed for use as a power-assist in a standard bicycle frame.  With the help of his boyhood friend Arthur Davidson, Arthur’s brother Walter and friend Henry Melk’s home machine shop - the first prototype was created in 1903. 

The boys quickly discovered that the bike could not even negotiate the modest hills around Milwaukee without pedal-assist and set about work on a larger, more powerful model.   With the additional assistance of engine designer Ole Evenrude, they came up with a 24.74 cubic inch (405cc) engine which resulted in the birth of the first real Harley-Davidson motorcycle in September of 1904.  This first ‘Harley’ was ridden by Edward Hildebrand in a Milwaukee motorcycle race in State Fair Park.  Thus, began the long and rich heritage of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle.  Unfortunately, it took another 36years before they started making leather motorcycle jackets to go along with the bikes.  I guess they were busy

The Perfecto is a brand of double motorcycle jacket created by Schott Bros clothiers of New York.  The first one was produced in 1928 and was the first double style motorcycle jacket to be produced.  It went through several generations of design revisions over the years, the first being in the late 1940’s with the model 613.  This design soon became know as the “one star” because of the single star which adorned the apaulette of each shoulder.  This was followed a few years later by the model 618, which was basically the model 613 without the stars - this is also the jacket worn by Marlon Brando in the movie “The Wild One” in 1953. 

Very few actual  design changes have been made to the Perfecto in the past 50 years (other than slight changes in labeling, pocket angling, and snaps).  It did however set the standard, in styling and design, for the Classic Motorcycle Jacket that we all are familiar with today.  One noticable diference is that most modern motorcycle jackets are a bit longer than the original Perfecto design.

The first motorcycle was designed by a German company Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in 1885.  The design was basically constructed from a motorized bicycle and the inventors called it the ‘riding car.’  It was a petroleum fueled car.  Sylvester Howard Roper in Massachusetts created a two-wheeled vehicle with steam propulsion in 1867, so it depends on your definition of motorcycle whether this was the first one invented or the German version.  In 1894, Hildebrand & Wolfmuller became the first motorcycle that was available for purchase.
 
 Companies at this point came out with their own two-wheeled vehicles.  Most began to include the internal combustion engine that had just been invented as well.  Leather motorcycle jackets began being seen by riders going to the countryside.  They gained fashionable currency in the 1920 when motorcycles became used by a subset of society.

Motorcycle jackets are so stylish and cool.  I have always wanted one.   Whenever I see them on the open road, I just think about getting one for myself.  A motorcycle jacket represents so much to Americans, the open road, freedom, a relaxed adventurous lifestyle. 

All these things are contained in symbolic motorcycle microcosm.  I think I might get one soon so that I can move on to that way of being that I have always wanted.

Back in the early days of motorcycling (circa 1920’s), some of the very first motorcycle jackets were actually military or aviator style jackets with buttons down the front and a short collar, sometimes referred to as a ‘mandarin collar’ characteristic of the era.  Many of the popular styles were constructed of brown goatskin leather and were of a short design with a fitted waist, similar to the pre-WWII Army Air Corps jackets.   Another popular material for these early jackets was horsehide. This thick, tough leather was in plentiful supply due to the Army Cavalry and many farmers, who used horses as work animals prior to the widespread availability of tractors, supplying these hides to the clothing industry.

The first company to market the classic leather motorcycle jacket was Schott Bros. who began producing the legendary ‘Perfecto’ jacket in 1928. They were soon joined by The Joseph Buegeleisen company, in Chicago, who started out in 1933 making motorcycle saddlebags and accessories, then began making motorcycle jackets in the 1940’s, these were commonly known as ‘Buco’ jackets.

Several motorcycle manufacturers also produced their own line of jackets. Indian Motorcycles had one model of jacket each for men and women, the ‘Ranger’ and ‘Rangerette’ respectively, with the Rangerette having the pocket and zipper opposite the mens model. Both jackets were produced throughout the 1940’s until the closing of the company in 1953 due to bankruptcy.

Harley Davidson Motorcycles, which started back in 1910, began offering it’s own line of motorcycle jackets in the 1940’s. Their “Cycle Champ” men’s jacket and “Cycle Queen” ladies jacket were considered the very definition of style and function by motorcycle enthusists of the time.  Harley also originated the holster-shaped pocket design (often refered to as Pistol Pockets) which was later adopted by many other motorcycle jacket makers including Beck, Buco, Hercules, and even Sears and Roebuck up through the 1960’s.

Some early jackets even had a large side-zipped pocket on the back, similar to that on many ‘hunting’ coats.  But alas, this and a number of other creative and intriguing design elements were very labor intensive (and therefore costly) and had to be abandoned due to fierce competition from non-motorcyclist sources during the early rock and roll period.