TC, would you be prepared to share the info either in here or via PM about where to buy good quality at a decent price regardless of brand, logo etc. At the end of the day all I'm interested in is the maximum protection, fit and comfort and not the brand, rider or team they chose to represent for this season
Trouble you have today is that so many fake items are quiet good on the eye.......I ve seen some "replica" leathers far better in looks than those YAM ones (Who wears those anyhow) lol ??......you should be ok from respected dealers.....but unless the unavoidable happens you might never really know what bargains your wearing.... Personally I stick by RST pro...... two suits have taken tarmac slides and well stood up to coming apart....... not the most expensive or maybe the best but I would give them a high five as I've personally tested them !!
+1 for the RST kit,the quality and durability at an affordable price is great. 6 years use out of a £100 textile jacket and I'm only throwing it out as it's well worn and ingrained with road dirt,it's still fit for purpose,stitching superb. Will be getting replaced with something else from them.
Bespoke suits such as those used by the professional racers are usually made at the man factory, Italy, Germany or wherever, but 99% of the kit you and I buy come from overseas factories simply because of manufacturing costs being a fraction of what they would be if they were made at the parent factory. Countries of manufacture change according to costs and usually go full circle. Pakistan, China, Australia, Malaysia are all coutries that have been major producers, but as the exchange rates vary competition kicks in and so it gets moved from country to country. I was in China a few years ago at one of the factories that produce the shells for a very expensive Eurpean crash helmet manufacturer. The helmets here in the UK at the time retailed for over £400 a hat. The factory in China was producing and selling the shells to the helmet manufacturer for under .50p a shell. OK, there are still shipping costs and the cost of putting the helmet together plus the internal materials, and then you have paint, export costs and the retail importer has to make a profit, but the bottom line s that the major component was under 50p to the factory. In respect of the Fake Britain item, they waere tryng to expose the leathers as fake simply because they carried the Yamaha name. They could not accept that this did not make them fake simply because they carried the name of a bike make on them, but they were cheaply made, which even then was better than someone riding in jeans and T shirt. They could not get their heads around that and so cut 99% of my interview.
Only 1 thing I have learnt about leathers, the name, the cost is largely immaterial if when you slide down the road they come apart, and I have seen very well known branded leathers that would burst at the seams if you slipped over in the boozer on a Friday night. let alone slide down the tarmac at considerable speed. So many different elements go into making good kit, the type, cut and grain of the leather, the tanning process, the thread type and stitching type to name just a few parts, and just as importently the fit..
