COEUR d'ALENE — Motorcycle aesthetics have long embraced leather and patches when it comes to the sartorial choices of riders, but once a year, motorcyclists around the world embrace their inner dandy. 

For motorcyclists who own classic motorcycles, the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride encourages them to “dress dapper” and help raise money for prostate cancer research and men’s mental health initiatives with a Sunday ride. 

Don Walters first saw a post about it about 14 years ago in a vintage group on Facebook and he decided the whimsical nature of pairing attire with a classic motorcycle made for a fine day’s ride. 

“I bought my first motorcycle when I was 20 back in 1988 and I still ride that one. I like old motorcycles and it seemed like a fun thing, so I went to Goodwill and found a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches,” Walters said. 

The first Coeur d’Alene ride only had Walters and one other rider. It’s grown to 20 to 30 riders. 

“Normally I have riding gear with carbon elbow pads and shoulder pads and this is the one time of the year I don’t wear all of my riding gear,” Walters said. 

Coeur d’Alene is only one of hundreds of hubs of motorcycle enthusiasts around the world who got in on the fun. The tradition began in Australia when a photo from the hit TV show “Mad Men” sparked a sartorial plan.   

Jon Hamm as Don Draper sat astride a mid-60s Triumph motorcycle while wearing a suit. The rest, as they say, is history. 

“Let’s start a motorcycle ride where we dress up in suits and ride old motorcycles,” Walters said. “It was just that for a couple of years and then it kind of took off.”  

This year’s global event theme is “15 years of dapper.”  

The Coeur d’Alene ride comes together at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at Bakery by the Lake, 601 E. Front Ave. The departure or KSU (kick stands up) begins around noon.

The Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride partners with Movember and locally has raised $6,000 this year for the 30-mile ride. 

The riders in Coeur d’Alene will make their way toward Higgens Point and back and the ride over on the south side of the river to Q’emiln Park, back on Seltice Way and then end at the Crown and Thistle Pub for lunch. 

"A ride through downtown would only last about two minutes so we have to go a little further,” Walters said. 

To join or donate to the cause, visit gentlemansride.com.