Cafe Racer, Retro and Vintage Motorcycle Jackets

A cafe racer, retro or vintage motorcycle jacket looks back to the bikes of the sixties and seventies: clean lines, few frills and a look that sits well on a classic, a neo-retro or a light custom. This section has 22, mostly from By City, plus the Rainers Daniel, Jaguar and the brown Riverside.

Three words, three shades of meaning

• Cafe racer: a close, short cut, a small collar and no ornament, descended from the cafe bikes of 1960s London.
• Vintage: a worn-in look with patina and muted colours, above all in leather.
• Retro: the style of an era, in textile too, with classic details.

Leather and classic-cut textile

The truest to the style is in leather: the By City Le Mans II, Legend III, Sahara and Street Cool and the Rainers Daniel and Jaguar. The category also includes classic-looking textile jackets, such as the brown Riverside, the beige Emirates Man or the Country 12+1 and Kansas. For the material and its care, go to the leather motorcycle jackets.

Keep the protection behind the style

A retro cut has less bulk than a technical one, so check which protectors it carries: shoulder and elbow armour to EN 1621-1 already fitted, and a pocket or an EN 1621-2 protector for the back. The guide to classes and armour is in the motorcycle jackets. And to finish the outfit, look at the cafe racer, retro and vintage helmets and the gloves in the same style.