Aero Indian Ranger CXL

[cgreen]

Hi All,

Hope everyone's well. Do any of you have experience with Aero's Indian Ranger CXL horsehide jacket? I've heard it's quite heavy, is that true? As well, is it a boxy cross-zip or does it tend to be on the more narrow side as Aero suggests?

Silly question: would you think the weight would be something a woman could wear? I know it depends on the woman, but by and large is it a heavy enough piece to be a commitment to put on?

Photos are appreciated, thank you.

CG

 

[Dubpynchon]

Hi All,

Hope everyone's well. Do any of you have experience with Aero's Indian Ranger CXL horsehide jacket? I've heard it's quite heavy, is that true? As well, is it a boxy cross-zip or does it tend to be on the more narrow side as Aero suggests?

Silly question: would you think the weight would be something a woman could wear? I know it depends on the woman, but by and large is it a heavy enough piece to be a commitment to put on?

Photos are appreciated, thank you.

CG

I haven’t had one but the weight would depend on the leather, and you can ask for the lightest they have in whatever leather you want, or go for something like Vicenza or goatskin which are both quite light and should be fine for a woman.

 

[cgreen]

Thank you, I appreciate the thought. My challenge is that I have an opportunity to buy a pre-owned piece for a decent price but it's the CXL HH and I'm not sure what to do. I've heard that leather has a really nice look.

 

[MikeyB-17]

I have a Highwayman in FQHH, and it is indeed beautiful stuff, but it is heavy, stiff and takes forever to break in. I’ve had mine two years, and although it’s showing some lovely grain, it’s by no means broken in despite my persistent efforts. Examples I’ve seen on EBay demonstrate that they will break in, but it must take years. I love it, I wouldn’t part with it, and if I had a chance at an Indian Ranger at a good price I’d be all over it, but it’s not an easy jacket to wear. It’s one of the few non-modern armoured jackets I’d wear on a motorbike. I fail to see how anything modern would protect you better than that stuff. Could a lady wear one? As you say, depends on the lady, I bet it would look great, but you need to know what you’re dealing with.

 

[Southoftheborder]

It's not as heavy as the CXL steer but it can be quite heavy and very stiff at first. It's really shoe leather and Aero made a virtue out of necessity with it when they couldn't afford the Connelly's after price increases. So they made it popular for jackets and bigged it up as FQHH when all horsehide is FQ.

Depending on the batch is can be a truly beautiful hide and can look like a moving polished mahogany wardrobe walking down the street. But they will use zips that are too small for the heavy hide though and it makes it hard to do up. They justify it by saying they are the original size zips and they are. But the original post war jackets were made of lighter FQHH not very heavy horsehide like this.

 

[cgreen]

I have a Highwayman in FQHH, and it is indeed beautiful stuff, but it is heavy, stiff and takes forever to break in. I’ve had mine two years, and although it’s showing some lovely grain, it’s by no means broken in despite my persistent efforts. Examples I’ve seen on EBay demonstrate that they will break in, but it must take years. I love it, I wouldn’t part with it, and if I had a chance at an Indian Ranger at a good price I’d be all over it, but it’s not an easy jacket to wear. It’s one of the few non-modern armoured jackets I’d wear on a motorbike. I fail to see how anything modern would protect you better than that stuff. Could a lady wear one? As you say, depends on the lady, I bet it would look great, but you need to know what you’re dealing with.

Thank you MikeyB, this is exactly the information I turn to the forum for. I have a Lost Worlds horsehide that's almost windbreaker light but it too is very stiff. The grain is coming up nicely now and I'm really happy with it, but anything too heavy or hard to wear is no fun. Thank you again.

 

[cgreen]

Southoftheborder, this is terrific information - I spoke with Aero and they confirmed that it was very heavy. I'll pass on it then and will keep poking around until the right thing crosses my path. Thank you again, much appreciated.

 

[les_garten]

I use to have one of these and it is VERY Heavy. About 10#