Leather Advice Please

[Billy Bigwheels]

Anyone recommend some names of decent(ish) leathers for the track day - I just discover that zip together leathers means having a zip all the way around the trousers & jacket, not just the little 'anti-ride-up' zip at the back. So the dosh I had stashed aside for some sexy stainless downpipes is gonna have to be squandered on some old cow's hide. Story of my life!

I'm loathed to spend big bucks as i'm never likely to wear them much - apart from the odd saturday night with 2 gallons of whipped cream and a cat 'o' nine tails of course.
So what do I need to look for and what names are ok. Seen a set of Euro leathers for £250.00 - are they good? Told they did well in a Ride mag test? Is 250 an ok price?

Any advice appreciated - oh and a set I tried on was 46. Would that be UK or European size? I'm 5ft 7 with a 33inch waist?

Cheers all
Billy

[spacemonkey]

Don't forget the Gimp mask. This must have an all round zip too.

[Chris]

Heine Gerricke do the tribal suits for £200 for a 1 piece, or a bit more for 2 piece. A friend has one and finds it very comfortable. The armour they use is quite flexable, but rated well in all the crash tests I've seen.

[pooh]

Billy
If you can wait until the BMF you can pick up a set of good quality leathers for about £100-00 I bought a 2 piece set of Wolf leathers for £95-00 withj a slight discolouration on the dye, big deal at least a £400-00 saving.

Ian

[Billy Bigwheels]

From where though Pooh? & have you any idea about my sizing question?

[NattyBoy]

Carl..forget the rest and go for the hein gericke tribal suit. You just wont get better for under £300. You have to be careful with some of the cheaper suits as they arent normally double stitched and the strength of the seams can be iffy.

The HG suit has won MCN awards, and soeaking from experience, they do a mighty fine job of saving your arse. The CE approved armour is good and all.

Your other option is to get along to J&S in Newbury as they specialise in old stock, which normally means you get a 2 year old dainese/spidi/nankai colour scheme for mucho discount.

But if I had £300 to spend on a suit..it would be going in HG's till. I really cant recommend them highly enough (loadsa mates had em and very happy)...plus you can mix trouser/jacket sizes (unheard of when buying leathers), and choose between a one or two peice.

The black/graphite/silver job would look pretty cool too with your steed..

Nat

[Chris]

From what I know, UK size 46 would be for a 46" chest, European size 46 would be for a 36" chest. I wear a European 50 which is around 40" chest and 32-34" waist.

[NattyBoy]

Poohs talking about the BMF rally in peterhorror mate (the next one is in May I fink)..bargains like you wouldnt believe.

Nat

[Pedro]

Billy

go for the HG stuff - good quality and not pricy. Got a decent 2 piece last year with their Hiprotec armour for about £250 and it's very comfy and well made.

As for J&S, we've got a branch near me and it's staffed by muppets. One spotty youf tried to tell me that fabric jackets / trousers offered as much protection as leather! I think he had better profit in the textile stuff.

HG have just got a new catalogue out and prices are albut the same as last year

Ped

[Billy Bigwheels]

I should of read Poohs post more Caerphilly!
Think i'll wait a bit anyhow in case the event is cancelled
thanks all!

[hog]

Why not get an all-the-way-round zip sown in? I did exactly this when I bought my Ducati jacket and realised the Frank Thomas trousers had a different size zip.

Bigwheels - I see you are from Faringdon. Is that Faringdon, Oxon? If so, the person I used to mod both jacket and trousers was a woman called Cath, phone no. 01491 681143 (she is out Cromarsh Gifford way) who was recommended to me by Grant Perrin of GP Performance fame (the place around the back of M&P at Berinsfield).

Cost was £50 to sew in a new zip to both jacket and trousers and the quality was better than the factory fit ones - I thoroughly recommend her work and turn around was only a week.

Must be cheaper than buying new trousers. Hope this info helps

Howard

[Melnie Mouse]

normally, if you were 34 trouser, you would fit 44 (euro 54) suit, 36 waist a 46 sized suit... you could try Tizwaz the 2nd had leather shop in bournemouth too 01202 510008, I got a 800 suit for 200... but as long as zip 360 degrees for track use like you say...some jackets and jeans make up a suit like that, RST, Wolf, Dainese, even Akito one is double stitched.. some like Hideout and treble stitched, most most suits are pretty good anyway... just make sure it's tight rather than loose, as leather stretches, or the armour may be on wrong place and baggy if suit too big for you.... very important... :)

[Billy Bigwheels]

Cheers Hog & MM.
Yep - Faringdon Oxford, so your neck of the woods Hog & I ride through/around Crowmarsh Gifford quite often. Nice roads round there.
Might take a trip to Bourmouth soon(ish) so that's a good option too & thanks for the sizing clarification MM.
Reckon i'm gonna wait a bit to see what happpens with the track day and make my way to the BMF in May??.
Best option has to be to buy a leather jacket and sew in a zip though cus at least i'd get wear from the jacket.
Never know but I might even be down to my fighting weight by May!! hmmm

[spacemonkey]

Anyone got a number for J&S Newbuggery? I want a pair of the Wolf Nimbus ventilated jeans from 2000/2001 vintage to match my jacket...

[Billy Bigwheels]

01635 30353. They are at 53 Northbrook Street

[spacemonkey]

Surely a digit missing?

[Billy Bigwheels]

I know, I know but this is Newbury we're talking about. Try it SM it does work.

[Billy Bigwheels]

You got this option too if you want but it doesn't give that much away;

www.jsaccessories.co.uk/shop_pages/newbury01.htm

[spacemonkey]

When I used to live there the Great Unwashed descended and the place was full of bloody tree-huggers. Hope they're not still there. Is this place near the south end of the high street near the thing in the middle of the road (wishing well/market thing or summit? Been a long time..) where peeps park their bikes?

[Billy Bigwheels]

No idea SM - never been there myself?