warregl Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Hi all, I'm in the market for a one-piece set of leathers and have decided that I need to go the custom route. The reason is I'm 6' 230lbs with a 50" chest and broad shoulders. Off the rack suits that will fit my chest and shoulders are made for people that are 6'3" to 6'4". So rather than buy a set and have them altered 6 ways to Sunday, I am just going to bite the bullet and have a custom set made. That said, do any of you who have gone through this have any suggestions about the fitting process (any areas to watch out for, considerations that need to be made)? My tailor has no experience measuring for motorcycle leathers so I want to make sure I'm armed with as much information as possible. Thanks, Carey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khp Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Hi all, I'm in the market for a one-piece set of leathers and have decided that I need to go the custom route. The reason is I'm 6' 230lbs with a 50" chest and broad shoulders. Off the rack suits that will fit my chest and shoulders are made for people that are 6'3" to 6'4". So rather than buy a set and have them altered 6 ways to Sunday, I am just going to bite the bullet and have a custom set made. That said, do any of you who have gone through this have any suggestions about the fitting process (any areas to watch out for, considerations that need to be made)? My tailor has no experience measuring for motorcycle leathers so I want to make sure I'm armed with as much information as possible. Hi Carey, I've had custom leathers done twice now (first time in 1998 and then in 2009/10) - I'm tall & skinny at 6'6"/190lbs. Both times, I made it simple for myself: I simply had the company that does the leather suit take the measurements. They will usually ask you to take "tight measurements" and then add the necessary numbers to that. The first time I did it, they first took my measurements and then did a control measure on a finished standard suit where we knew how much off it was (e.g. 5 cm too short in the arms, 10cm in the legs, etc). One of the standard pitfalls of measuring is that while you should make the measurement tape be tight, it shouldn't be "painted on your body". Better just slightly loose. If you have a real tailor help you, she/he should be able to judge that. The suit will be most likely to be a bit tight to begin, but the leather will stretch after a couple of uses. If it's really badly tight, jump into the shower with the suit on and let it soak and then do some stretching in the suit - that will accelerate the enlargement process. But do remember to rub it in with leather grease. Which company will do the custom leathers for you? Hope this helps and good luck, you won't regret it! Kai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warregl Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks Kai, that's great advice. I want to have an idea what to tell the tailor should he ask. By the way, this is the tailor who alters my business suits so he was quite amused (and more than a little intrigued) when I explained what this was for. Unfortunately having the company measure me is not an option (unless I fly to Iowa and that makes the suit a bit more expensive!). I'm considering going with a small company called Ayden Lee Racing. I became familiar with them through NESBA and the people that have their suits have good things to say about them. I called the owner and so far I've been impressed. He is even sending me a suit to try on (although we don't expect it to fit) and examine for quality. It should be here this week. If anyone is interested I'll post up my thoughts on the suit and the process once I'm finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks Kai, that's great advice. I want to have an idea what to tell the tailor should he ask. By the way, this is the tailor who alters my business suits so he was quite amused (and more than a little intrigued) when I explained what this was for. Unfortunately having the company measure me is not an option (unless I fly to Iowa and that makes the suit a bit more expensive!). I'm considering going with a small company called Ayden Lee Racing. I became familiar with them through NESBA and the people that have their suits have good things to say about them. I called the owner and so far I've been impressed. He is even sending me a suit to try on (although we don't expect it to fit) and examine for quality. It should be here this week. If anyone is interested I'll post up my thoughts on the suit and the process once I'm finished. Please do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradvanhorn Posted February 8, 2011 Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 I bought my leathers from Pilot, and they were an excellent company to deal with. I am 6' and 185 lbs, and with fairly ordinary dimensions, so it wasn't difficult to fit me to a standard sized suit. However, they told me they can make a few adjustments here and there if a standard suit size doesn't fit you correctly, and I recall this adds no expense or a minimal expense. Their custom sized leathers are a bit more expensive (though I didn't find the added cost unreasonable), but obviously it would then be fitted to you and you alone. Anyway, not sure which company you were thinking of using, but I had a great experience working with Pilot, and I highly recommend them. (Also, I crashed in my new Pilot suit, and it protected me beautifully, so they have my gratitude.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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