Front view of a faded blue sleeveless Levi’s denim vest with red 13 patch, black cross patch, button front, and chest pockets.
Back view of a faded blue sleeveless Levi’s denim vest with black-and-yellow Scooter Tramps and So. Cal. M/C embroidered patches.
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Front view of a faded blue sleeveless Levi’s denim vest with red 13 patch, black cross patch, button front, and chest pockets.
Back view of a faded blue sleeveless Levi’s denim vest with black-and-yellow Scooter Tramps and So. Cal. M/C embroidered patches.

Levi's Scooter Tramps Cut Off Jacket 1975

$495.00
$495.00
Save $-495.00 Sold out

A real-deal piece of 1970s Southern California motorcycle culture: a worn-in Levi’s denim cut carrying Scooter Tramps So. Cal. M/C colors, chest patches, and the kind of history you can’t manufacture after the fact.
Description

This one has exactly the right 1970s Southern California biker feel—faded Levi’s denim, raw-cut armholes, club colors, and nothing about it that feels recreated.

The base is a 1975 Levi’s trucker, worn to a great medium indigo with all the fading and abrasion you want in old denim. The sleeves were cut away to turn it into a motorcycle vest, and the back carries bold Scooter Tramps / So. Cal. M/C rockers in black and yellow. Up front, the red “13” patch and black cross give it even more personality without overloading it.

The fit is compact and easy—19.5" pit to pit with a 22" length—so it wears more like a true vintage Medium than an oversized modern vest. The original Levi’s shape is still there in the pointed collar, chest pockets, metal buttons, and back adjusters.

What makes it cool is that it doesn’t read like “biker style.” It reads like an actual piece of biker clothing that happened to survive. The fade, the patches, the raw armholes, the proportions—everything feels earned.

Measurements:
Pit to pit: 19.5"
Shoulder Width: 17"
Length: 22"
Across hem: 18"

 
Specifications

Brand: Levi’s
Year: 1975
Style: Motorcycle club cut / sleeveless denim vest
Club Patches: Scooter Tramps / So. Cal. M/C
Color: Faded indigo blue
Material: Denim; fiber content not confirmed
Construction: Original jacket sleeves removed
Closure: Metal button front
Pockets: Two button-flap chest pockets
Front Patches: “13” patch and black cross emblem
Back Patches: Scooter Tramps upper rocker and So. Cal. M/C lower rocker
Pit to pit: 19.5"
Shoulder width: 17"
Length: 22"
Across hem: 18"
Fit: Approximately Medium; compare measurements
Condition: Heavily broken-in vintage denim with fading, abrasion, and wear consistent with age and use; please add any specific flaws you want called out before publishing
Fabric + Care

Vintage denim with original embroidered patches.

Hand wash cold only if necessary using a small amount of mild detergent. Do not soak, scrub, wring, bleach, or machine dry. Reshape while damp and air dry away from direct sunlight.

For a piece with this much age, wear, and original patchwork, minimal washing is the best approach.

If machine washing is absolutely necessary, use cold water on the gentlest cycle, turn the vest inside out, place it in a mesh laundry bag, and air dry only.
Found + Chosen

By the 1960s and ’70s, the sleeveless denim “cut” had become its own language in American motorcycle culture. Club names, locations, numbers, symbols, and years were sewn onto an everyday denim jacket until the garment became a record of who wore it and where they belonged.

Southern California was one of the places where that language developed most visibly. The tradition has since been taken seriously as American folk art: a UCR ARTS exhibition devoted to vintage motorcycle-club cuts featured mostly denim examples from the 1960s and ’70s, with PBS SoCal describing their handmade club colors as expressions of the freedom and nonconformity associated with biker culture. 

That makes this 1975 Levi’s especially compelling. “Scooter Tramps,” “So. Cal.,” the club-style rockers, and the personal collection of chest patches turn a familiar Levi’s jacket into a very particular Southern California artifact.

One detail worth knowing: the number 13 has carried several meanings within motorcycle culture over the decades, including associations reaching back to early Southern California outlaw-racing traditions. Its meaning varied by club and period, so without direct Scooter Tramps provenance I would not assign this particular patch a more specific interpretation.