Some advice on leathers please... :-)

[thor]

Hiya,

I'm thinking of getting my first set of leathers. I already have some good cordura stuff but I bought them baggy so I could wear extra layers during the winter. Now with the liner out and just a T-shirt underneath, the jacket is way too loose and flappy for higher speed stuff and I'll definately get bad wrap around if I hit the deck. I've got some draggin' Jeans and sidi black rains for when I don't want to change, but I thought I should invest in something with better protection. It doesn't need to be ultra-race stuff, or massively vented for hot weather. I want something safe, and practical, and not too garish. Some rain protection would be good too if I get caught in a shower.

So... Here are my questions.

Should I get a two piece suit? Can you race in zipped up two pieces? If I ever do a track day, it would nice to have something I can use already. If I do, is there a trade off in practicality?

How much would I looking at paying? What specific things should i look out for? Leather thickness, stiching etc.

How tight should it feel when new? I tried a jacket in Joe's shop and it fitted fine, apart from the fact I could not touch my own back. Would that give in due time or not at all?

Thanks in advance...

[Itching 2 go]

dude,

when looking at leather remember it it bunches up in places when new it is not the right size!

Get a 2 piece full circumfrence zip together suit as A) it is more practicle B) you can still do trackdays in it.

If you wanna race it has to be 1piece!

get a suit that is comfortable, if it bunches up around the back of the neck the top half is to tight and you will need to go up atleast 1 size. Get trousers with knee sliders as you will eventually start to want to get your knee down and realise you need to shell out on another pair of trs. just make sure the suit is a snug fit without being uncomfortable.

Construction, Make sure you get a suit with as few panels as possible, the more panels it has the more likly it is to burst a seam. inspect the stitching, you don't want to purchase a garment with exposed seams as these will obviously wear and brust as soon as they make contact with tarmac. You ideally want to have tripple stitching, not just rolled over stitching.

Materials, leather is cheaper than roo hide and has some benefits that roo does not! The reason roo is used is that you can have the 'same' strength hide with thinner panels, therefore more comfortable and cooler. The downside is that it does not havve the same thermal protrection so you can actually still get friction burn through the hide.

In my opinion I would look for a suit that has cow hide in the main impact areas(elbows, knees, hips shoulders and ****) and if it has roo hide anywhere else great, tho not really that fussed. look for a nice quality leather, not a fasion leather! If it feels as thin and as soft as Hannah's jacket stay away! There are some fasionable leathers out on the market that are utter poo. I have seen the same style of suit burst on 3 occasions. Don't go by a name brand go by the quality of the build and materials used. If it feels like it could tear easily, it probably could!

HTH

[Iansv]

Good advice Joe, remind me to take you leathers shopping :lol:

[Itching 2 go]

Good advice Joe, remind me to take you leathers shopping :lol:so long as we aint talking ann summers ok, you wouldn't believe i used to specialise in leather before i became the spares dude!

[Iansv]

:lol:

but was THAT Ann Summers ? :shock:

[Itching 2 go]

:lol:

but was THAT Ann Summers ? :shock::lol: maybe :wink:

[Hulsey]

I've just bought my first leathers as well. I got the RST Pro leather jacket and will be getting the matching jeans in a couple of weeks once I've saved up enough. First impressions are excellent. It seems to manage the paradox of being cool when its hot and warm enough when its cold. It has perforations on the chest that act like mini vents and a zip out lining vest type thing. It halso has two connecting zips, one 360 degree one to join to the jeans, plus a shorter one to attach it to other brands of jeans. Its got armour on shoulders and elbows and a flimsy back protector that will soon be replaced with a proper one. The fit is just right, most decent shops will have a trying on bike horse type thing that you sit on to see if it rides up/bunches/pinches anywhere. Colours are obviously a taste thing but I think these get the balance between garish and bland just nice. I've got the black/blue one.