plaid leather

Riding the ultimate convertible...a motorcycle... in temperatures under 45 degrees can become painfully cold. I can tolerate 45 degrees with a sweater, leather coat and blue jeans but lately I've been thinking that a pair of leather chaps would be really nice. Aside from the safety advantage that leather gives you, if all of a sudden you find yourself sliding on asphalt at 50 mph, leather chaps would certainly cut the wind chill considerably on an early morning ride.

But to add black leather chaps to my black leather coat, gloves and boots, along with a black helmet and black motorcycle seems too much to me. My own first impression of someone dressed all in black, other than Johnny Cash, has been pretty predictable. All black does look pretty stereotypical, and to a certain degree, funny. I don't know if I can go the route of black leather chaps.

Granted I don't have a skull and crossbones tatoo, piercings, or my goatee braided with long black leather strands. Nor do I have black leather fringe hanging from my handlebars or saddlebags. Still the black leather chaps seem too much.

But what are the choices? Red? White? I don't want to look like an Elvis impersonator, I just want to ride my motorcycle comfortably on cool mornings. You just never see much in the way of choices when it comes to chaps. Leather has to be dyed, not printed. Plaid wouldn't work. And of course plaid would be too reminiscent of a kilt, which would then cause speculation about what men wear under their plaid leather chaps.