Vintage 1973 TT Leathers “Easy Rider” Café Racer Jacket

Three bands of yellow, red and black run down the front of this jacket and around the arm, and riders in 1970s Britain knew it from a distance. It’s the “Easy Rider” racing jacket, and this one was made by TT Leathers in Barnard Castle, County Durham.

TT Leathers wasn’t a fashion house. It was a small northern firm run by people who rode. Len Thwaites ran the company, and the road racer Jimmy Aird joined around 1970. In 1973 TT pioneered coloured motorcycle clothing, bringing reds and greens into a sport that had only ever worn black. This jacket comes from the same period and carries the same idea: strong colour, built for real riding.

The design takes its name from the film Easy Rider. Its striped racing jackets caught the mood of the early seventies, and British riders took the look and made it their own. Here the stripes are panels of coloured leather stitched into the black hide, not painted on. They run vertically down the left front and wrap around the right sleeve. The asymmetry is deliberate, and it gives the jacket its identity at a glance.

The cut is pure café racer. It’s short in the body and clean through the chest, with a low stand collar that fastens with a snap tab so nothing lifts at speed. A slanted chest pocket and a low hand pocket close with zips. The cuffs zip tight over gloves, and buckled straps at each side of the back draw the waist in against the wind.

The details date it. The main zip is a heavy British Clix, the maker that supplied the best motorcycle jackets of the period, and the collar snaps are stamped “Newey England”. These are the parts collectors check first, and every one is original.

A 1970s Barnard Castle racer that still turns heads fifty years on.

Condition & Restoration

Excellent vintage condition.

The leather is thick, strong and supple, with a deep, even black and a natural sheen from age. There’s light, honest wear in the usual areas, as you’d expect from a jacket of this era. The coloured stripes are still bright and well defined, and the seams are sound. All the hardware works as it should: the original Clix main zip runs smoothly, the Newey snaps close firmly, and the waist straps and buckles show only light wear consistent with age.

The jacket has been specialist cleaned in-house and lightly conditioned to support the leather while keeping its original look and feel.

Key Features

• Genuine 1970s TT Leathers “Easy Rider” racing jacket
• Made by TT Leathers International (Agnewtree Ltd), Barnard Castle, County Durham
• Yellow, red and black striped
• Asymmetric design, with vertical stripes down the left front and a banded right sleeve
• Heavyweight black leather
• Classic short café racer cut
• Stand collar with snap tab
• Original Clix main zip
• Period-correct Newey England snaps
• Zipped chest and hand pockets
• Zipped cuffs
• Buckled waist adjusters at each side of the back
• Navy lining with inside zip pocket

Size & Fit

Measurements, laid flat

• Chest, armpit to armpit: 20.5" / 52.1 cm
• Shoulders, seam to seam: 17" / 43.2 cm
• Sleeve, shoulder seam to cuff: 23.5" / 59.7 cm
• Underarm seam to cuff: 16.5" / 41.9 cm
• Back length, base of collar to hem: 26.5" / 67.3 cm

Best suited to: 38" chest, regular / Size Small

Fit: Cut in the true café racer way, made to be worn close to the body for protection on the bike. The waist straps draw it in for a closer fit. Sizing from this period runs small, so please go by the measurements above rather than any label, and compare them with a jacket you already own.