TT Leathers

The quality of the leather used deteriorated as years went by but nevertheless TT made good quality garments. It is not uncommon to find teeth missing from the main zip in the vintage jackets pointing to a suppliers quality issue but they are now 40 years old.

This jacket has padded shoulders and elbows consisting of a second layer of leather sewn over a plain jacket with a layer of foam in between. The leather is smooth and shiny. Very similar to Highwayman Leathers design but on the TT jacket the edges of the padding are turned under and sewn down whereas Highwayman leave their edges raw.

This design of jacket is made from noticeably lower quality leather. It is shorter in length than the previous design and much lighter weight. Perhaps aimed at the fashion rather than serious motorcyclist but does retain a double layer of padded leather.

This jacket uses similar quality leather to the earlier quality design. The shoulder pads are smaller, with a straight edge about the horizontal shoulder seam and larger quilting. The elbow patches are smaller and rounded. There is a padded kidney protection area on the rear.

Later versions of this jacket have a black lining with blue spots, but the most notable difference is the texture of the leather, being harder with a coarse grained surface that is almost mat. I think the leather may be Goat rather than Cow or Sheep leather.

Brian Greenwell kindly sent these photographs of his jacket with the Kawaski logo on the padded area at the top of the sleeves.

The jacket below is similar to Brian's with the K-Logo but has quilted padded shoulders like the re-styled quality all black jacket.

HDR bought this Kawasaki jacket for his girlfriend. It is distinguishable as a ladies by the position of the adjusting straps at waist level. It has similar padded areas to the one above, but with a green and white body.

This Suzuki Logo jacket has the same underlying style as the last Kawasaki jacket, with padded sleeves and quilted padded shoulder pads.

Simon Wellander sent these photographs of his jacket for the museum, dating from the early eighties it is adorned with flat studs with a star pattern inside.

The matching leather jeans from this era have very distinctive features. The front knee seam hoops downwards to help avoid bagginess with wearing.

The rear pockets have rounded bottoms and the cross seam goes underneath the pocket, enabling the pocket to be nearer the waistband avoiding sitting on the pocket's contents. Whereas with most other makes, the cross seam is above the pocket.