SYED Leathers - Opinions and Experiences Wanted

[Luna]

See title -


I'm thinking about getting a set of leathers made for me, and the idea of getting them made by a company that makes and repairs the in-house here in the good ol' USA is very appealing to me.
(RS Taichi wants to send my leathers to Japan)

Anybody with SYED leathers want to tell me about the fit, comfort, ventilation and crashability of their suit?
Also looking at Vanson, so comparisons are welcome.

Any other manufacturers I should be looking at?

[KBOlsen]

Syed makes a great suit for a (relatively) cheap price.  I've dragged and bounced mine all over, with only verrry minor repairs (thanks, Alexa!).

If money is no object, however, GO VANSON!  Just ask Super Dave.  (LOL - I overheard someone commenting on how many guys were walking around with "ROSNO" leathers - the old Vanson suits just last forever!)

[MELK-MAN]

GREAT fit.. i feel indestructable!! They have off the rack suits but you must get a custom fit suit. Only way to go. Mine have been "tested" as well. Held up great. Had a minor bill to restich a spot but it held and i slid a looong way. any ccs fl region riders will attest to this at jennings.
I spent alot but i went "ALL THE WAY".. custom fit, fully perffed, full armour (no areo hump..didnt want it), lots of lettering on the back and a custom design..the venting really works.
I did not like the very thin hip/tail bone pad and sent them some high density foam from my bohn body armour that they were happy to sew in after the fact. They gurantee a fit.. even after you recieve. Vanson does pay contingency ..

[sdiver68]

VANSON

enough said

Another to consider is Barnicle Bill, and Z Custom for the West Coast set.

[motomadness]

I like they're fantastic, especially for the coin, and I have survived many crashes in my SYED's.  Also, from what I've heard, the SYED's are made with construction techniques similar to VANSON's suits.  I thought I heard that SYED worked for VANSON at one time or another.

[StuartV666]

I got my first Syed suit in '93. It was awesome. I crashed in it at least 3 different times without needing to have it repaired. I finally retired it last year to "backup suit" status and got a new Syed made. If I ruin my current suit, I would buy another Syed the next day.

OTOH, I would not own a Vanson product. They don't support racers who don't wear their suits, so I don't support them. I'm not saying they should be giving free stuff to every shmoe that asks. But when a racer (and I'm not talking about me) needs a repair to his leathers, at the track, and the Vanson people who are there FOR THE PURPOSE OF DOING TRACKSIDE REPAIRS, won't fix them for him, EVEN IF HE PAID FOR IT, just because they weren't Vanson, well, that tells me they don't support racing and racers - they're only concerned with making a buck.

Just my $.02.

- Stu

[Bernie]

I've biffed my Helimot suit 5 times now.  Barnacle Bill has made some minor repairs, but 2 of my crashes were, er, significant and the suit has held up great and offered fantastic protection.

[GAMEDIC]

VANSON....which did i mention that we carry them ;D

[spyderchick]

Since I'm the resident "expert" on this topic, I'll throw in my $.02. Syed makes a great product at a slightly better price than Vanson. However, there are some things I don't like about them. They "tie" in their armor, and then they glue the padding to it. You have to "rip" the padding from the armor and then snip the "ties" to get to the repair in the area that they use this constuction method. Then you have to try and get everything back into place. You tend to crash where the armor is, so this makes repairs more difficult and costly.

My beef about Vanson, and they are highly reccomended by me anyway. Throw away the back protector that comes with the suit and buy something better. Second, they are always booked and it takes forever to get yourself a custom suit.

Customs are a good investment. Good luck with your search!

[charliev]

I am going to syed tommorow morning to have a suit made. any questions you would like me to ask them?

[spyderchick]

A neat benefit would be if you had a really decent set of armor, (shoulder and shin, they have good forearm and knee protection) and you ask them to make pockets w/ velcro in the lining so that this armor can be removed for easy repair. Also, you could have them make the lining removable as well, so you can take out the liner, take out the armor and wash the lining between races. This would be done by two light duty zips to each side of the main zipper, velcro tabs around the neckline, and velcro tabs at the wrists and ankles. Make sure they put the soft side of the velcro towards the rider. They probably would charge extra, but it would be well worth the extra $$$. Let us know how it goes.

[charliev]

Picked up a syed suit this morning. Great fit! Walked in he mesured me up and said try this one on and it was perfect. I waited way too long,  its comfortable my old one was a torture chamber.