A couple of the more adventurous guys from Chapal decided to test the functionality of their 1914 coat model. After all, Chapal designed it nearly a hundred years ago for the French pilots of The Great World War in their open cockpit bi-planes.

To see if the traditional design still had merit, the guys took it to Siberia, in winter, on motorcycles. Riding Russian-made Urals (somewhat-updated replicas of the 1940 BMW R71) attached with sidecars for gear stowage and stability, they rode a good section of Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest, biggest (by volume), and deepest lake, not to mention one of the most remote.

As the pictures prove (click images to enlarge), this 1914 beauty does have brawn. Pictured is the winter version, completely lined in shearling. We recommend the 1914 unlined version with detachable shearling collar since, even in the Siberian-like winters of Chicago or Boston, it’s a bit more practical. To read more about Chapal’s unique history, go to our Workshops section.

If you've ever done anything similarly adventurous/harebrained in winter, we'd love to hear about it.