Was Wondering.....
- Thread starter kawijay
- Start date
HondaGalToo
Control Rider
Agree with D-Zum's Barnacle Bill recommendation for suit alterations. Another great option is Lizzy Leather, I believe she is in VA.
A regular tailor most likely will not touch a heavy leather motorcycle suit.
Agree with the compression spandex stuff...I wear long sleeved pants and shirt. Otherwise there's no way I'm getting out of my suit without help! LOL
A regular tailor most likely will not touch a heavy leather motorcycle suit.
Agree with the compression spandex stuff...I wear long sleeved pants and shirt. Otherwise there's no way I'm getting out of my suit without help! LOL
buzz-06
Member
I called axo directly and requested getting a custom suit made. They sent me a measurements chart and then I worked with a designer to get it looking how I wanted it. There are lots of options for customs that all run about the same price. My suit was $1600, had I purchased the alpinestars suit I wanted at the time it would have cost me atleast that much between the suit and the alterations.
Bill and Lizzy are awesome and believe me they do all the repairs on my custom suits when I have an oopsie. However with custom suits being so readily available to the general public at price points that near rival an off the rack plus alterations, to me it just makes sense to go custom.
Greg ZX6R
Member
Regarding custom suits, they can be a great thing when then arrive to you and fit correctly, but a pain when they don't. My custom Pilot suit was one of the horror stories you might find on the web, as it didn't fit well anywhere except the arms. I drove to Lizzy on 3 separate occasions to get it as close to "right" as it is now. In the future, I will likely buy off the rack and have the suit brought in if necessary. Despite my experience, plenty of people have had good luck with custom suits.
Mike:p
Don’t be a Hero, be consistent.
Then you are all set as long as both the shirt and pants are long sleeve are long sleeve.
kawijay
New to this
exactly!
I have 3 suits. When I started, I bought a two piece suit brand new from an online vendor (Rev***). They were actually a great company to deal with as I really bought 2 suits knowing that I'd return one based on fitment/etc. So long as you don't actually ride in it or remove tags, they were great for returns of this kind of stuff. It cost a little extra on a credit card up front, but they are very responsive in terms of refunds. There are other great vendors out there that are similar - I just didn't know my way around at the time. If you can actually touch and see the stuff - like with one of our local vendors such as Shagmoto, that would even be better.
My idea for a 2-piece was that I'd be able to use it for both street and track riding. I've never done it. Honestly, I don't do much street riding these days. You'll hear that a lot from many people. More track time results in less street time - for MANY reasons. I then picked up a used Alpinestars suit in my size (same size as the 2 piece suit). I've been wearing that as my primary suit - taking my 2 piece as a backup.
Last month I was fortunate enough to luck onto a very slightly used Heroic Stage III top of the line custom suit being sold by a very very nice gentleman who seems to have been (unfortunately for him) a clone of my size/dimensions. I bought it for less than 1/3 of the price he paid a year ago, and I wore it at Barber. It is incredible - I did not anticipate how much nicer it was. It fits snug everywhere, is much lighter, and I have a lot more flexibility. It is full Roo skin and Stingray, so I know I need to be a little careful with it but at the price - and because it just happens to be a perfect fit (much better than my A*) it was an awesome deal. I just shipped it back to Todd at Heroic just to have some other guys name removed from my butt (OK, waiting for the comments there - setup for somebody). Heroic is also fast and good at alterations, and their customer service is top notch. There is another N2 guy who's wife just bought him a new Heroic suit (not the top model, but VERY good) and when there was a slight sizing issue, Heroic immediately had a brand new replacement with 2 days. The Heroic suit is now my primary, the A* my backup, and I'm looking to sell the 2 piece suit.
BTW, I've also used Lizzy, and agree that she is very good, reasonable and is where I'd go if I wanted something done to an off the rack suit.
For under-suits, keep your eyes open at Cyclegear. Their "Heat Out" products go on sale a couple times per year, and when they do they are remarkably cheap and decent. I use two sets per track day (fresh set after lunch) just because they're so cheap and it's nice to get out of sweat drenched stuff at lunch and start fresh at 1pm.
My idea for a 2-piece was that I'd be able to use it for both street and track riding. I've never done it. Honestly, I don't do much street riding these days. You'll hear that a lot from many people. More track time results in less street time - for MANY reasons. I then picked up a used Alpinestars suit in my size (same size as the 2 piece suit). I've been wearing that as my primary suit - taking my 2 piece as a backup.
Last month I was fortunate enough to luck onto a very slightly used Heroic Stage III top of the line custom suit being sold by a very very nice gentleman who seems to have been (unfortunately for him) a clone of my size/dimensions. I bought it for less than 1/3 of the price he paid a year ago, and I wore it at Barber. It is incredible - I did not anticipate how much nicer it was. It fits snug everywhere, is much lighter, and I have a lot more flexibility. It is full Roo skin and Stingray, so I know I need to be a little careful with it but at the price - and because it just happens to be a perfect fit (much better than my A*) it was an awesome deal. I just shipped it back to Todd at Heroic just to have some other guys name removed from my butt (OK, waiting for the comments there - setup for somebody). Heroic is also fast and good at alterations, and their customer service is top notch. There is another N2 guy who's wife just bought him a new Heroic suit (not the top model, but VERY good) and when there was a slight sizing issue, Heroic immediately had a brand new replacement with 2 days. The Heroic suit is now my primary, the A* my backup, and I'm looking to sell the 2 piece suit.
BTW, I've also used Lizzy, and agree that she is very good, reasonable and is where I'd go if I wanted something done to an off the rack suit.
For under-suits, keep your eyes open at Cyclegear. Their "Heat Out" products go on sale a couple times per year, and when they do they are remarkably cheap and decent. I use two sets per track day (fresh set after lunch) just because they're so cheap and it's nice to get out of sweat drenched stuff at lunch and start fresh at 1pm.
HondaGalToo
Control Rider
Agreed, and get a stand alone back protector, rather than using the cheap foam that comes with the suits. There are a lot of good ones out there. Can't go wrong with Forcefield if it fits in your suit (they are a bit thicker), especially the ProSub 4. Couldn't fit the Prosub in mine, so last season I replaced my very old Knox Contour with the new Alpinestars Nucleon KR-1, which came highly recommended to me by a friend in the biz. Other good brands are Knox and Dainese. Also, Impact Safe-T, which are custom made.
If you are going the custom suit route, ensure you get it made to accommodate chest and back protection. Chest protectors weren't widely used when I got my suit made, so unfortunately I can't fit one in there. I don't even think the custom Impact Safe-T will work...
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kawijay
New to this
Random question....is there a specific color your numbers have to be displayed on your bike? Black numbers with a white backround ok? Or does it have to be yellow backround with black numbers? I will be in the novice class.....so it will be my very first time at a motorcycle track....I want to have everything in order. I may have overlooked this part in the rule book. Would it be a good idea to get stickers made? I know it has to be displayed in the front/rear/sides of the bike. If I could get Kawi green numbers with a black backround that would be awesome
Motofun352
Control Rider
There's info in the rule book. As I recall they are supposed to be 6" tall. Please make them easy to read, this helps us when coaching to make sure we get the right info to the right person.
kawijay
New to this
So color doesn't matter?
mpusch
Micah
You don't need a specific color, it just needs to be very visible and easy to read. Heck, I use red painter's tape for my numbers.
Color doesn't matter, it just has to be a very contrasting color difference. A very poor example would be white numbers on a yellow back ground...something nearly impossible to see. It should be something that's clearly visible at a glance.
If your bike is still a street bike, I always recommend just buying a new windscreen, and get a number plate made and put it on that windscreen. That way when it's track time, you do a simple windscreen swap and your numbers are done. Also, very easy to fit 6" tall letters on most windscreens.
HondaGalToo
Control Rider
Good idea on a second windscreen for track use. If you don't want to purchase another windscreen, another option (which I did back when I used my bike for both street & track) is to get a piece of vinyl that'll cover your headlight and stick the numbers on it. (I used white vinyl with black numbers). Then, tape the piece of vinyl with attached numbers around the edges over the headlight. Then you can just take it on and off.
Numbers have to be displayed on the front and/or sides. You don't have to do both, but it can be helpful.
kawijay
New to this
Wow....that's great to start out with. If I cannot come up with a good color scheme for my numbers, I will have to give it a try
kawijay
New to this
Talk about saving money! This is great
HondaGalToo
Control Rider
Sure, I've seen numbers placed there. I wouldn't put them only on the rear seat cowl, however.
HondaGalToo
Control Rider
Vinyl comes in lots of colors! Kawi green on a black background could work...I think the kawi green should be enough of a contrast, as long as it's not a real dark green, which I don't believe it is.