one piece suit weights.

[corvus]

Anyone ever weigh their suit. Hearing alsorts of things when it comes to different manufacturers and the weight of their suits.

What makes and models are the lightest in cowhide?

Thanks

[SouthsideDuc]

Originally Posted by corvus

Anyone ever weigh their suit. Hearing alsorts of things when it comes to different manufacturers and the weight of their suits.

What makes and models are the lightest in cowhide?

Thanks

Interestingly enough, this came up as a topic of conversation at my last track day. I've never weighed my Alpinestars as lightness is pretty low on my list of criteria for a suit. If you are looking for the lightest suit possible, you might want to contact a custom suit maker and let them know that weight is important to you. You could also try calling an online site run by racers (e.g. www.sportbiketrackgear.com) for suit recommendations.

[corvus]

thanks.

have not weighed any but it seems by the hand weighing some suits seem considerably lighter then others off the rack even though they claim to have same thickness of leather.
and will look thr same in hide coverage, starting to think the armour may be a big factor

[Shazaam]

My top-of-the line AGV (made by Corner) one-piece leathers weighs 7.9 lbs. My T-age Dianese suit weighs 10.2 lbs. The additional kilo of leather, padding, armor, and reinforcing panels equals more protection against injury.

Of course, it makes no sense to buy a suit based on weight considerations alone, so if you should examine the suits from different makers to see why the major manufacturers have the better reputation.

Leathers

Here's a subjective alphabetical listing:


(1) Higher quality custom leathers:

Bates (US) - http://www.batesleathers.com/
BKS (UK) - http://www.bksleather.co.uk
Vanson (US) - http://www.vansonleathers.com
Z Custom Leathers (US) - http://www.zcustom.com/

(2) Higher quality off-the-rack leathers:

Dainese (Italy) - http://www.dainese.com, http://www.bimoto.be/
Kushitani (Japan) - http://www.kushitani.com/
Spyke (Italy) - http://www.spyke.it

(3) Mid-to-high quality custom leathers:

Helimot (US) - http://www.helimot.com/
Syed (US) - http://www.syedleathers.com

(4) Mid-to-high quality off-the-rack leathers:

Alpinestars - http://www.alpinestars.com
Belstaff - http://www.belstaff.com
First Gear (Hein Gericke) - http://www.intersportfashions.com
Hein Gericke (Germany) - http://www.hein-gericke.de/
RS Taichi (Japan) - http://www.rs-taichi.co.jp/
Spidi (Italy) - http://www.spidi.it
Teknic - http://www.teknicgear.com
IXS (Germany) - http://www.ixs.de/

(5) Lower-to-mid quality off-the-rack leathers:

AGV - http://www.agvsportsgroup.com/
Fieldsheer - http://www.fieldsheer.com
Prexport (Italy) - http://www.prexport.com/
Joe Rocket (US) - http://www.joerocket.com


(6) Unrated quality custom leathers:

Tiger Angel (US) - http://www.tigerangel.com/frontpage.html
Barnicle Bill (US) - http://www.racingleather.com/home/home.html


(7) Unrated quality off-the-rack leathers:

Conner -
HJC -

(8) Sources for quality used leathers:

New Enough (US) - http://www.newenough.com
First 4 Gear (UK Portal) - http://www.first4gear.com/leathers.html
Motorcycle Leather Exchange (US) - http://www.motocycleleatherexchange.com

Please feel free to add your own ratings.

[corvus]

thanks

[NoCompromise]

Originally Posted by Shazaam

The additional kilo of leather, padding, armor, and reinforcing panels equals more protection against injury.

Of course, it makes no sense to buy a suit based on weight considerations alone, so if you should examine the suits from different makers to see why the major manufacturers have the better reputation.

+1 Thanks, as always, for your excellent input Shazaam. I would make one change to your list - Helimot belongs in the upper echelon of custom suit manufacturers. I don't own one of his suits, but I know his reputation by riding and racing in Nor Cal. If you look around the AFM (club racing organization) grid, you'll find a huge percentage of racers who swear by his suits (and put their money where their mouth is).

All else being equal, I would favor a heavier suit because the leather is most likely thicker and more protective. I have T-Pro armor in one of my suits and it's not light, but it's the best you can buy. If you're racing at a high level then I think it's reasonable to value lightness/flexibility at the expense of protection.

[tye1138]

From my experience, Shazaam's list is pretty accurate.

But at the same time, let me talk a tiny bit about this, having crashed a lot on different suits.

On Shazaam's list, the top 4 are very bulky suits. You won't be wanting to wear them because they are between 2.2 and 2.4mm thick! They are also super heavy and the perforations arn't as defined as thinner suits (if they even have them). The flip-side of the coin is, they may hold up to series crashing better then the thinner suits. I've seen many worn z-leathers and vanson suits, I have yet to see any that wore clean through, so that shows 2.2 - 2.4mm thickness is really a benefit.

There is a trade off with everything you buy. Do you want comfort/mobility or do you want something that "if" you crash, will save you better?

I went with comfort/mobility and I will have scars on my body for life because of that decision. But if I had to do it again, I'd continue to make the same decision and there is a very good reason why. When you have a comfortable suit, it doesn't feel like you have anything on at all. The last things on your mind are; "I'm over-heating" or "Its hard to get my knee down". You focus more on the riding and not the fact your gear is bulky. Ohh and trust me on this, all those custom 2.2 - 2.4mm suits are VERY bulky, I've worn them numerous times and they always felt way over-kill.

So lightest suits eh...

Spidi K2 Kangaroo suit. I have 2 of them. This is by far my favorite suit and lightest I've ever found. I've crashed in both of mine several times and have had Z-leathers patch'em back up and re-enforce sections that needed it. I have two small wounds from the myriad of crashes I've had in these suits. For how I crashed and the speed, I'd say they held up quite well for being .8mm thick Kangaroo.

Pilot. These suits weigh close to what my kangaroo suits weigh. I'm shocked at how nice the leather is. I had a 130mph crash on them and only tore two small holes in the arms from dragging them on dirt/rocks for 200 feet or so. Pilot is going to fix the area that was damaged on my suit in a new version due out this year because of other people complaining about the same sort of injury. If I race again, I will buy another one of these suits, I honestly liked it a great deal.

I've used Alpinestar's and dainese before. Both suits have excellent fitment and are well made, but are bulky. The reason is quite simple; if they're bulky then nobody can complain if you crash and it wears through the leathers because it just won't wear through that easily. This is a good thing, not a bad thing, its one reason why I usually recommend buying one of those suits because they are just good off the shelf suits.

Anyhoo, thats my leathers story!

Ohh and in terms of protection. Pilot just came out with a back protector and chest protector which are super cheap and work very well. I was shocked how well they fit under my suit and how well they protected from landing on my back at 130mph... not bad. Plus they breath very well, so you arn't covered in sweat all day.

[Twisted10]

motogp kangaroo suits are pretty light. i love mine.

[Chuckracer]

Originally Posted by tye1138

F

But at the same time, let me talk a tiny bit about this, having crashed a lot on different suits.

You've been down exactly twice. Once at Fontucky when you over shot a corner, ran into a haybale and fell off, and once at Willow, your "career" ending crash.
You've owned exactly two brands of race suits: Spidi and Pilot. That's it. That's the only suits you have experience with, the only suits you can comment on.

Tye, you've been doing great for the past couple months. You haven't been here telling stories and stretching the truth all the way around the internet. You were making few posts, and they were good ones. Suddenly you are back telling stories about your "experience"...and it's just BS. Enough already. You raced for two whole seasons and did a handful of trackdays. Stop trying to make us believe otherwise.

[LessPeople_MoreRobots]

Originally Posted by Chuckracer

You've been down exactly twice. Once at Fontucky when you over shot a corner, ran into a haybale and fell off, and once at Willow, your "career" ending crash.
You've owned exactly two brands of race suits: Spidi and Pilot. That's it. That's the only suits you have experience with, the only suits you can comment on.

Tye, you've been doing great for the past couple months. You haven't been here telling stories and stretching the truth all the way around the internet. You were making few posts, and they were good ones. Suddenly you are back telling stories about your "experience"...and it's just BS. Enough already. You raced for two whole seasons and did a handful of trackdays. Stop trying to make us believe otherwise.