Racing Leathers help.

[spyderchick]

thanks for the comments guys.
...
Or is this a newer, stronger, genetically altered cowhide ?

No, it's just the manufacturures trying to save on cost. I also think that feedback from the national and world racers play a part. Lighter laethers means less weight means 1/2hp they don't have to think about. Of course, if you're a factory rider and tear up your gear, you just go back to the trailer and get your back-up set. Club racers and many privateers don't have that luxury.

Vansons, Syed, Barnicle Bill (and other customs): 3-5 year lifetime hard racing, more if you race occasionally

Off the rack: 2-3 years, less if you crash alot or don't take care of them (i.e. get them cleaned and repaired regularly)

[EJzYZFR1]

What size are you? we have a couple of replica Alpinestar suits in stock...small sizes though.

I did hear that a new shipment of moto gp kangaroo leathers were coming to the states, and we will have some instock.

www.indysuperbikes.com

do you have your hands on these GP's yet..or know when you will? Three of my team mates have them..these things rock! Super light and fit well. I didn't get in on the purchase the first time around..and it seemed they were gone over night. I'm looking for a set of 48's in black if you have them in reach.

[xseal]

What is the quality of the MotoGP kangaroos?

I see that Teknic has a kangaroo suit that lists for about $1600.  Is it me, or doesn't there HAVE to be a difference in quality for the price?

[Super Dave]

You can have a poor set of leathers at a huge cost.  Excessive mark up to pay for some factory guys.

Move your manufacturing some place cheap, use cheap material, pay some big names to wear a set of leathers that have the name on them...not made by the actual manufacturers offering sponsorship.  Sell the production leathers at a huge profit above the cost to pay for rider.

This happens in brake pads and other things too at the pro level.  The sticker will tell you where the cash comes from.  You need to be there to see what's really going on.

[Jeff]

I got hands on a set of the motogp leathers, and they seemed VERY nice.  Great stitching, and super lightweight.  Roo-hide is apparently tougher than Moo-hide.

As for teknic?  Friends don't let friends wear teknic...

[spyderchick]

What is the quality of the MotoGP kangaroos?

I see that Teknic has a kangaroo suit that lists for about $1600.  Is it me, or doesn't there HAVE to be a difference in quality for the price?

I have not seen the Teknic kangaroo suit, but I am not a fan of their racing suits. Fully 40% of what comes through here for repairs are Teknics. Many of these repairs could have been avoided through better construction and engineering.

The MotoGP suits are well built and engineered.  I have not seen a crashed suit since these are new to the US and the season has not yet started. Statistics show that kangaroo has superior strength to cowhide and thus a thinner leather provides similar results to thicker cowhide.

While at the Indy show, I checked out many of the vendors, and Rev'It apparel had the best off the rack suit I've seen in years. They have a patented seam system that is the best in the industry. They offer 2 models: the PX1 (which you can see on their website http://www.revitusa.net/index.html), and new for 2005, the LiteOn suit, which is an engineering marvel. Best of all, these suits retail under $1000. From just what I've seen, these suits would rank at the top of my recommended list for their  excellent construction, materials and price point.

I know that Rob at Lithium Motorsports is carrying both the MotoGP suits and the Rev'it poduct line. It's my understanding that you can order them directly through him. (712.546.7747) Again, the MotoGPs will not be available until April.

[spyderchick]

As for teknic?  Friends don't let friends wear teknic...

:O

Too funny, unfortunately true. :(

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

I have "Technic Tattoos" on both my elbows.... :-/

Friends don't let friends wear Technics?  Ironically, Alexa simultaniously became my friend and talked me out of wearing Technics.  I'd wiped out my suit, (along with the flesh on my elbows and knees) and someone introduced me to Alexa so I could get my suit fixed.  She suggested that since it was fall, I'd be better off just buying a real suit over the winter and throwing the Technics suit away.

(I did as she said, but sold what was left of the Technics suit to another guy.  He got hurt even worse than I did in the thing. :-[)

[xseal]

ok -- my friend told me he's buying a set of the motoGPs, we'll have a look and take it from there. Thanks,

[Hyperdyne_Racing]

I have an older set of the Teknic Violator and they have held up very well.  Now some of the stitching has come loose, but not in pertinent areas. The suit is older and some of the newer suit have much better engineering so I looked at the dealer show and had some luck...  I didn;t care for the new Teknics at all.

The MotoGP suits are great, although wearing black in the middle of summer gets rough the further south you get, and their suits are primarily black.  Otherwise they had a great feel, and the Roo-hide was pretty soft even for not being broken in.  

Spidi had a display up and as usual the suits they seemed to fit small, but were probably a step below the moto gp's.

The alpinestars were great.  The race replica suits are top notch, they normally retail for 1700, but you can go to an oversses vendor and pick them up for 1300 +, or if you have a sposor that's a parts unlimited dealer, they can give you a nice hook up.

Overall though, if the MotoGP suits came in a primary other than black, there would be no question which suit I would pick up.  For the price, construction etc... You can't go wrong for off the rack.

[spyderchick]

Alpinestars are an ok product, mostly because of their price point. Initially, I thought that the SMX suits with the exposed armor could be a good thing by helping to cut down on repair costs. It turns out, the armor crashes fantastically well, but the leather areas on the sleeves were not well engineered, and because of the hard plastic, not easily repaired either. They do offer some models with regular armor.

Alpinestars should ditch the whole sewn on hard armor and go back to conventional pockets for their upper end suits. I heard one account of a racer sending his suit to be repaired (sleeve) and Alpinestars repair facility charges him $600. Whether or not this included shipping, that's way too much to pay for a repair. I've seen these crashed (3 sets) and I cannot get into the sleeves to repair tham, and even the shoe repair people have a hard time and are not able to do the best job.

Over engineering and high price points will hurt any brand. Dianese was THE suit to get 10 years ago. They over engineered themselves into a corner price-wise, and so now I see very few come through for any reason.

Go for the best that you can afford, but make a calculated, informed purchase.

[davegsxrold929r]

Barnicle Bill  does his own custom suits ??  what price range ?