Discussion
I wouldn't suggest mail order as each manufacturer sizes slightly differently and you need to make sure you get a nice snug fit, (not overly tight as uncomfort is distracting but tight enough so that in the event of a spil they don't move about too much)
As for the makes you will never go wrong with BKS, these are tailored to suit, designs that you choose, good hide well made, if you can afford them buy them. I don't know much about Alpinestar leathers (boots are good though designed for narrow feet hence I personally wear sidi) Dainese are good but IMO over priced for the quality you get, I would never say they were bad leathers because they do crash very well, but all that rider sponsorship comes from somewhere and you can get comparably leathers for half the money. Wolf for example which I believe are some of the best wearing british hide and made leathers with integral Knox armour avaliable
As for the makes you will never go wrong with BKS, these are tailored to suit, designs that you choose, good hide well made, if you can afford them buy them. I don't know much about Alpinestar leathers (boots are good though designed for narrow feet hence I personally wear sidi) Dainese are good but IMO over priced for the quality you get, I would never say they were bad leathers because they do crash very well, but all that rider sponsorship comes from somewhere and you can get comparably leathers for half the money. Wolf for example which I believe are some of the best wearing british hide and made leathers with integral Knox armour avaliable
I'd second everything Mel has said, but would just add that, if you can, get made to measure leathers. I have some quite impressive scars from comparatively low-speed spills in my ignorant early days. It sounds ridiculous, but I won't go round the corner to the shops with full leather and body armour now.
BKS are fantastic, great quality and really excellent service.
BKS are fantastic, great quality and really excellent service.
All depends what you want them for, as in all things it's a compromise between "ultimate" safety an convienience, on track or sunday morning blasts I would always say 1 piece because your not actually going anywhere, just blasting. If you have a destination then the conveinience of 2 pieces comes into play, the loss of safety (assuming they fully zip togeather) is negligible and it's bloody handy to be able to take the jacket off rather than waddleing round in trousers with the crutch round your knees, with the top half sleeves tied round your waist knackering the shape of the elbow armour. It's as always horses for courses and in time you'll end up with most options.
In my Garage hanging up I have 3x 1 piece race suits, 2x leather tousers, 1 x leather jacket, 4 pairs of boots, half a dozen pairs of gloves, 1 pair cordura trousers, 2 cordura jackets, 2 water proof over suits, water proof trousers, 6 helmets and numerous combinations of back protectors, kidney belts, chest armour, knees, elbows, etc etc oh yes and more of those over the head neck warmer things than Carnells but I can still never find one when it's cold
Mrs Mel still thinks I'm nuts when I come home with a new bit of gear but it all serves a purpose.
In my Garage hanging up I have 3x 1 piece race suits, 2x leather tousers, 1 x leather jacket, 4 pairs of boots, half a dozen pairs of gloves, 1 pair cordura trousers, 2 cordura jackets, 2 water proof over suits, water proof trousers, 6 helmets and numerous combinations of back protectors, kidney belts, chest armour, knees, elbows, etc etc oh yes and more of those over the head neck warmer things than Carnells but I can still never find one when it's cold
Mrs Mel still thinks I'm nuts when I come home with a new bit of gear but it all serves a purpose.Ben, I dont wanna hijack your thread but I am a newbie as well (SV650s) and have been advised to look for bargains at the shows such as the Ally Pally show this month.
I am hoping to pickup a 2 piece and a new lid when I go. Any advice Mel on what to look for? I don't really know the difference between a super expensive Dainese 2 pc and a cheaper Riossi one? I am obviously only aware to look for loads of CE armour, what else to look for?
Mags
I am hoping to pickup a 2 piece and a new lid when I go. Any advice Mel on what to look for? I don't really know the difference between a super expensive Dainese 2 pc and a cheaper Riossi one? I am obviously only aware to look for loads of CE armour, what else to look for?
Mags
Watch out for show "bargains" - they are often not what they seem. Invariably you will find that something billed as heavily discounted at a show will still be more expensive than as sold on the High Street. Sad, but true.
Edited to say that if you are looking for a bike, Ally Pally show always has a fine selection of minters and there are some real bargains to be had. Last year a friend of mine picked up a spotless original GSXR1100 (when I say original I mean the seminal 1986 "G" model), fsh, genuine 4000 miles for not very much at all. I was sorely tempted by a very original Z1300 in fantastic condition which was up for about £1500. If a CB1100RC/D, the other object of teenage fantasy ever turns up at an event like this, I won't be able to leave without it. One lives in hope!
>> Edited by Mon Ami Mate on Thursday 9th January 09:23
Edited to say that if you are looking for a bike, Ally Pally show always has a fine selection of minters and there are some real bargains to be had. Last year a friend of mine picked up a spotless original GSXR1100 (when I say original I mean the seminal 1986 "G" model), fsh, genuine 4000 miles for not very much at all. I was sorely tempted by a very original Z1300 in fantastic condition which was up for about £1500. If a CB1100RC/D, the other object of teenage fantasy ever turns up at an event like this, I won't be able to leave without it. One lives in hope!
>> Edited by Mon Ami Mate on Thursday 9th January 09:23
mags said: Ben, I dont wanna hijack your thread but I am a newbie as well (SV650s) and have been advised to look for bargains at the shows such as the Ally Pally show this month.
I am hoping to pickup a 2 piece and a new lid when I go. Any advice Mel on what to look for? I don't really know the difference between a super expensive Dainese 2 pc and a cheaper Riossi one? I am obviously only aware to look for loads of CE armour, what else to look for?
Mags
If you look at a few different suits you'll soon be able to tell. Thickness of hide is an important one but again compromise is needed, I'd look for thicker hide (ideally double layer) on the impact areas (arse, elbows, shoulders, knees, hips) with a more flexible thinner hide or even stretch panels used under the arms, inner thigh chest and stomach, all seams should be triple stiched i.e the leather over lapped with three lines of stiching and any fancy graphix or patterns etc should be sewn onto the main panels and not used as an intergral part, the best suits are basically made of very few panels but have the designs put onto them. Perforatted chest area is nice in the Summer but means you will need a cordura over jacket when it starts getting nippy, removable lining is nice for when it starts to hum, and don't get caught with the big clunky armour is best syndrome, very often the best stuff is very flexible (personally I recommend Knox as the best armour) don't worry too much about a back protector as any integral one will be crap anyway, junk it and buy a proper seperate one. As for helmets always watch for the date of manufacture (normally stamped on chin strap or inside) they only have a recommended life of 5 years and very often the "bargins" are 2 or 3 years old already. Having said that if you know and trust it's history (very unlikely at the show) treat that with a pinch of salt. I recently got Mrs Mel a lovely top of the range AGV lid for a third of what it should cost full retail, purely because it had been a display model in a shop that I know very well and has no natural light in it (hence no UV damage which is the reason for 5 year life span) and was manufactured 2 1/2 years ago, you can very often get a lot more for your money this way.
Go on the BKS website and look at all the reasons their suits are so good, it will give a good idea what to look for.
mags said:. I didn't know that Knox and CE stuff were different either
???? They're not
Knox is a brand name of a manufacturer of very good armour and back protectors, which are CE approved, but made well above the standard. I know they used to and may well still do it but they also offer something like a £50K insurance policy if you break your spine while wearing one of they're back protectors.
CE stuff simple means someone has paid the stupid amount of money required to test it to a fairly mediocre level, but is a good starting point.
In fact CE is self assessed. Anyone can write CE on thier kit if they want and if they think it meets the requirements, there's no independant test house or certification body. Most respectable manufacturers will ensure that it does in fact meet the EU spec before writing CE on it, which is why it's good to buy a make you've heard of. (This applies to anything, not just bike gear by the way)
My advice is think about 3 things: budget,quality and do i really want to be sliding along the ground at 70 mph in these?
My first set were £250black / jeans and jacket which was all I could afford and provided good use for 2 years however came apart quite easily. Second set Dainesse 2 piece £600 approx which again tore nicely on the road. Third and current pair 1 piece crowtrees- 5 years old, fit great 1.5mm leather and have kissed the ground twice at around 30-40mph. No breakage, just scuffing which adds to the character. Paid £850 for 3 colours but prices start around £650. Furthermore you are guaranteed that no one else will be wearing the same leathers as you..
The most important aspect of any leathers is that they a) fit (MTM will do this but take a bit longer to break in and b) the stitching is robust. My MTM have hidden stitching therefore even if the external stitching breaks, the intregity of the suit is not lost and they won't open up (Crowtree showed me one of their leathers whch have been long the track at over 100mph and had not opened up).
One point to make is that I am 6' 4" and 100kg therefore off the peg is not a great option.
re 1 peice v 2 piece. 2p will fit better but get used to dragging the arms around behind you when you only have it half zipped up. A real pain when not on the bike..2 piece are far more practical but don't look as good on the track day photo's.
My first set were £250black / jeans and jacket which was all I could afford and provided good use for 2 years however came apart quite easily. Second set Dainesse 2 piece £600 approx which again tore nicely on the road. Third and current pair 1 piece crowtrees- 5 years old, fit great 1.5mm leather and have kissed the ground twice at around 30-40mph. No breakage, just scuffing which adds to the character. Paid £850 for 3 colours but prices start around £650. Furthermore you are guaranteed that no one else will be wearing the same leathers as you..
The most important aspect of any leathers is that they a) fit (MTM will do this but take a bit longer to break in and b) the stitching is robust. My MTM have hidden stitching therefore even if the external stitching breaks, the intregity of the suit is not lost and they won't open up (Crowtree showed me one of their leathers whch have been long the track at over 100mph and had not opened up).
One point to make is that I am 6' 4" and 100kg therefore off the peg is not a great option.
re 1 peice v 2 piece. 2p will fit better but get used to dragging the arms around behind you when you only have it half zipped up. A real pain when not on the bike..2 piece are far more practical but don't look as good on the track day photo's.
With any leathers, what is important is how they fit. To big and baggy and they will snag in the event of an off which in turn could increase the severity of the injury, too tight and it will restrict blood flow. It needs to be as tight as you can get it without causing restriction, bearing in mind that the leather will give by up to two inches within a very short period of time.
Leather quality is more important than thickness. You can get 1.4mm of carboard, or .6mm of really good quality hide which is more protective. Remember if the leather is too heavy come the summer, particularly if you suffer in the heat you may find it a bit over bearing. You can also consider Goatskin, which is half the thickness of Cow but twice as strong and more supple, or a new one that is slowly coming into the UK is Kangaroo hide, lighter, supple but very strong.
The best cow hides come from either Brazil (Scott leathers, Wolf) or leather from the Southern German cow in the Black Forest (Harro). The majority of skins come from Pakistan which are OK, but there can be quite a few inconsistencies.
CE approval is only worth what you want it to be worth. To obtain CE approval, the manufacturer provides the garment to Satra in Northampton with a list of what they want testing, and providing it does what they say it will do it will obtain CE approval. So for example if you send in leathers and say that the stitching conforms to CE requirements, then if the stitching does conform to those requirements it will recieve CE approval even though the leather may be substandard.
1 piece or 2 piece? Many people recommend 1 piece for the road. This may provide a sense of security, but riders injuries have actually been made worse in some cases because of it.
A 1 piece is designed for the race track where everyone travels in the same direction on a smooth tarmac surface and medical help is never more than a couple of minutes away. The stress panels on a 1 piece are different as they are designed for the racing crouch, so they tend to bag quicker than a two piece.
Out on the road, if a rider comes off and is injured, medical teams need to examine the rider quickly and thouroughly when they arrive. Now imagine that the rider has a fractured collar bone (common injury) and lower body injuries. They cannot easily cut through the leather, so the alternative is to try and peel it over the top of the broken collar bone and then peel it down to get to the lower body. Time consuming and painfull. Remember that leathers are designed to act as a splint and reduce blood loss in the event of an accident, so in this case it is now ceasing to do what it was designed for.
On the other hand a 2 piece will look after both upper and lower body, medical crews can examine the lower body easily if required without disturbing the upper body and vice versa, it is less time consuming and it continues to act as a splint thereby retaining a certain comfort level.
I have seen a number of riders whose injuries were actually made worse by the fact that they were wearing a 1 piece, and in fact 1 bled to death because medical crews couldn't get to the burst vein in the lower leg quickly enough, whereas with a 2 piece it would have been by comparison quite easy.
If you want to have a bit of one upmanship on the dealer when you are looking, look at the range of leather garments and see if they have any with white in them.
The most difficult colour for leather to take is white, and only the best hides will take it properly. A poor quality hide will have a hard(ish) feel to it and it will go off white very quickly. A good quality leather died white will feel the same throughout, and will be a proper white. If the manufacturer has white in any of their garments and it looks and feels OK, the chances are that they are using good quality skins and the rest of the range is probably made to a similar quality.
Look at the grain. If it is particularly grainy, then the chances are that it has come from the neck. If it is smooth (ish) then it has come from the main body and is fairly tough.
When an animal is skinned, the hide is divided into three layers. The top layer is used for protective clothing such as bike leathers, the second layer is used for fashion garments and the third layer known as Napper is treated with a chemical to prevent it reacting with salt from sweat and the like and is used for the really cheap imitation bike type jackets.
Leather quality is more important than thickness. You can get 1.4mm of carboard, or .6mm of really good quality hide which is more protective. Remember if the leather is too heavy come the summer, particularly if you suffer in the heat you may find it a bit over bearing. You can also consider Goatskin, which is half the thickness of Cow but twice as strong and more supple, or a new one that is slowly coming into the UK is Kangaroo hide, lighter, supple but very strong.
The best cow hides come from either Brazil (Scott leathers, Wolf) or leather from the Southern German cow in the Black Forest (Harro). The majority of skins come from Pakistan which are OK, but there can be quite a few inconsistencies.
CE approval is only worth what you want it to be worth. To obtain CE approval, the manufacturer provides the garment to Satra in Northampton with a list of what they want testing, and providing it does what they say it will do it will obtain CE approval. So for example if you send in leathers and say that the stitching conforms to CE requirements, then if the stitching does conform to those requirements it will recieve CE approval even though the leather may be substandard.
1 piece or 2 piece? Many people recommend 1 piece for the road. This may provide a sense of security, but riders injuries have actually been made worse in some cases because of it.
A 1 piece is designed for the race track where everyone travels in the same direction on a smooth tarmac surface and medical help is never more than a couple of minutes away. The stress panels on a 1 piece are different as they are designed for the racing crouch, so they tend to bag quicker than a two piece.
Out on the road, if a rider comes off and is injured, medical teams need to examine the rider quickly and thouroughly when they arrive. Now imagine that the rider has a fractured collar bone (common injury) and lower body injuries. They cannot easily cut through the leather, so the alternative is to try and peel it over the top of the broken collar bone and then peel it down to get to the lower body. Time consuming and painfull. Remember that leathers are designed to act as a splint and reduce blood loss in the event of an accident, so in this case it is now ceasing to do what it was designed for.
On the other hand a 2 piece will look after both upper and lower body, medical crews can examine the lower body easily if required without disturbing the upper body and vice versa, it is less time consuming and it continues to act as a splint thereby retaining a certain comfort level.
I have seen a number of riders whose injuries were actually made worse by the fact that they were wearing a 1 piece, and in fact 1 bled to death because medical crews couldn't get to the burst vein in the lower leg quickly enough, whereas with a 2 piece it would have been by comparison quite easy.
If you want to have a bit of one upmanship on the dealer when you are looking, look at the range of leather garments and see if they have any with white in them.
The most difficult colour for leather to take is white, and only the best hides will take it properly. A poor quality hide will have a hard(ish) feel to it and it will go off white very quickly. A good quality leather died white will feel the same throughout, and will be a proper white. If the manufacturer has white in any of their garments and it looks and feels OK, the chances are that they are using good quality skins and the rest of the range is probably made to a similar quality.
Look at the grain. If it is particularly grainy, then the chances are that it has come from the neck. If it is smooth (ish) then it has come from the main body and is fairly tough.
When an animal is skinned, the hide is divided into three layers. The top layer is used for protective clothing such as bike leathers, the second layer is used for fashion garments and the third layer known as Napper is treated with a chemical to prevent it reacting with salt from sweat and the like and is used for the really cheap imitation bike type jackets.
Blimey! that must have taken you ages to write!
Thats excellent advice from you guy's, very much appreciated, thanks.
I am not really tied to a budget as I cant put a price on my health, but I would be most upset to fork out over a grand on some flashy Alpinestarts/Dainese 2 pc that my closest dealer has and then find after one year I could have spend the same on something much better from BKS/Crowtree.
I will be visiting BKS at the Ally Pally show to see what their stuff is like, a custom made appeals to me as I am a funny shape (very long legs and arms and no body) so seeing as they are within my reach that sounds pretty good to me.
Mags
Thats excellent advice from you guy's, very much appreciated, thanks.
I am not really tied to a budget as I cant put a price on my health, but I would be most upset to fork out over a grand on some flashy Alpinestarts/Dainese 2 pc that my closest dealer has and then find after one year I could have spend the same on something much better from BKS/Crowtree.
I will be visiting BKS at the Ally Pally show to see what their stuff is like, a custom made appeals to me as I am a funny shape (very long legs and arms and no body) so seeing as they are within my reach that sounds pretty good to me.
Mags
That's an interesting point regarding, not being able to remove 1 piece leathers for emergency crew's.
My friend was racing at brands hatch in October, he was involved in a crash at Paddock Hill (where else…!) and broke his wrist and shoulder. He was taken to the hospital where, left for the usual 2 hours in a corridor, his injuries where assessed and found to be non-threatening, they set about removing his leathers. I can't remember the name of them, but they were about £1k of custom made jobbies.
It took them half an hour (no exaggeration!) to basically cut the top half of his suit off, they cut up each side of his body and lifted what effectively would have been the front of the suit off him, so he remained laying on the back section. They were moaning the whole way through doing this, I asked why they weren't using the special scissors, which I thought they had, which could cut through anything, which I was replied with, we are…
I was with him, whilst they where doing this and they really did struggle some times to cut through, especially around the knee, elbow and shoulder. They were both commenting that they were going to make a report (to some legal council) on these suits, as if his injuries where life threatening, depending on the circumstances, it would have really implicated the amount of medical support he could have received.
Given the choice, I'd still want to be wearing my 1 piece if I had a crash, but it makes you think…?
I low sided my bike on a trackday at Silverstone a few years ago (about 50mph), I had a pair of 1 piece (Frank Thomas - £450) leathers at the time, slight rip in the collar, and a scuff on the bum & elbow, and nothing else. Strangely enough I ended up with a massive bruise in the only place where the suit had no leather, the top of my inner thigh, nr me wedding tackle. How on earth…?? I now wear a box when riding, just in case….!
jj
My friend was racing at brands hatch in October, he was involved in a crash at Paddock Hill (where else…!) and broke his wrist and shoulder. He was taken to the hospital where, left for the usual 2 hours in a corridor, his injuries where assessed and found to be non-threatening, they set about removing his leathers. I can't remember the name of them, but they were about £1k of custom made jobbies.
It took them half an hour (no exaggeration!) to basically cut the top half of his suit off, they cut up each side of his body and lifted what effectively would have been the front of the suit off him, so he remained laying on the back section. They were moaning the whole way through doing this, I asked why they weren't using the special scissors, which I thought they had, which could cut through anything, which I was replied with, we are…
I was with him, whilst they where doing this and they really did struggle some times to cut through, especially around the knee, elbow and shoulder. They were both commenting that they were going to make a report (to some legal council) on these suits, as if his injuries where life threatening, depending on the circumstances, it would have really implicated the amount of medical support he could have received.
Given the choice, I'd still want to be wearing my 1 piece if I had a crash, but it makes you think…?
I low sided my bike on a trackday at Silverstone a few years ago (about 50mph), I had a pair of 1 piece (Frank Thomas - £450) leathers at the time, slight rip in the collar, and a scuff on the bum & elbow, and nothing else. Strangely enough I ended up with a massive bruise in the only place where the suit had no leather, the top of my inner thigh, nr me wedding tackle. How on earth…?? I now wear a box when riding, just in case….!
jj
Because of my job, I get motorcycle cases in all the time, and those who have been wearing 1 piece invariably end up being injured worse than those wearing 2 piece.
Without trying to frighten anyone, my brother in law is a good example.
A good few years ago, he was involved in a head on collision with a vehicle travelling i the opposite direction. He was wearing a two piece and after the collision was found about 200 yards from point of impact. It was initialy dealt with as a fatal, but he was alive and still concious. His right arm was hanging on by a thread, but his lower body injuries were the life threatning ones.
The Paramedics were able to stabalise him and get him to hospital. They cut his trousers off at which point he lost just over three pints of blood in less than thirty seconds. He had just under fourty (40) fractures to his left leg including three to his femur. Because the leather had done the job, not only had he not bled to death at the side of the road, it had held the bones together like a splint until he got proper medical attention. His arm was hust about held on by his jacket.
There was talk of him losing both his arm and leg, but because his trousers helfd him together so well, they were able to pin his leg in stages whilst at the same time work on hos arm which was still being held in place by his jacket.
6 weeks later he was out of hospital, and within about 10 weeks he was driving again.
The surgeon who operated and was himself a motorcyclist claimed that had he been wearing a 1 piece, at the very least he would have lost his arm, more likely arm and leg, but because they could gain access easier than with a 1 piece he made a very good recovery, although his severed arm is not that clever anymore. As far as his leg is concerned, you would not believe that it had been that badly damaged save for a few scars.
Having attended over 8,000 motorcycle accidents in my time, and dealt with countless more through my job, and having prepared case studies for numerous bodies, visited the factories in Italy and Japan, and been involved in the design of leathers, for road use give me two piece every time.
It is not for me to say don't use 1 piece, but many riders have a false sense of security, and I know a lot of riders who are now cripples because of q piece suits and many more who made a full recovery because they were wearing two piece.
BKS are well made, but many Police forces stopped using them because riders were collapsing with the weight and heat during the summer months. I still have mine which cost my force about £1400 and I haven't used it for about 8 years, and I have a brand new one that has never been used, it is just so heavy.
Most of the massed produced leathers such as Dainese, Alpinestars, Akito, Frank Thomas et al come from a small town in Pakistan called Sialkot. You can pick up a top of the range Dainese from their factory outlet shops for about £30 without the badges, but it is exactly the same suit. Problem is it will cost you about £400 to get there:wobble
Without trying to frighten anyone, my brother in law is a good example.
A good few years ago, he was involved in a head on collision with a vehicle travelling i the opposite direction. He was wearing a two piece and after the collision was found about 200 yards from point of impact. It was initialy dealt with as a fatal, but he was alive and still concious. His right arm was hanging on by a thread, but his lower body injuries were the life threatning ones.
The Paramedics were able to stabalise him and get him to hospital. They cut his trousers off at which point he lost just over three pints of blood in less than thirty seconds. He had just under fourty (40) fractures to his left leg including three to his femur. Because the leather had done the job, not only had he not bled to death at the side of the road, it had held the bones together like a splint until he got proper medical attention. His arm was hust about held on by his jacket.
There was talk of him losing both his arm and leg, but because his trousers helfd him together so well, they were able to pin his leg in stages whilst at the same time work on hos arm which was still being held in place by his jacket.
6 weeks later he was out of hospital, and within about 10 weeks he was driving again.
The surgeon who operated and was himself a motorcyclist claimed that had he been wearing a 1 piece, at the very least he would have lost his arm, more likely arm and leg, but because they could gain access easier than with a 1 piece he made a very good recovery, although his severed arm is not that clever anymore. As far as his leg is concerned, you would not believe that it had been that badly damaged save for a few scars.
Having attended over 8,000 motorcycle accidents in my time, and dealt with countless more through my job, and having prepared case studies for numerous bodies, visited the factories in Italy and Japan, and been involved in the design of leathers, for road use give me two piece every time.
It is not for me to say don't use 1 piece, but many riders have a false sense of security, and I know a lot of riders who are now cripples because of q piece suits and many more who made a full recovery because they were wearing two piece.
BKS are well made, but many Police forces stopped using them because riders were collapsing with the weight and heat during the summer months. I still have mine which cost my force about £1400 and I haven't used it for about 8 years, and I have a brand new one that has never been used, it is just so heavy.
Most of the massed produced leathers such as Dainese, Alpinestars, Akito, Frank Thomas et al come from a small town in Pakistan called Sialkot. You can pick up a top of the range Dainese from their factory outlet shops for about £30 without the badges, but it is exactly the same suit. Problem is it will cost you about £400 to get there:wobble
I went down the road a couple of years ago when the gearbox on my (now ex) Bimota seized. The drama began at around 150mph, and the bike and I parted company at around 110mph. I was wearing a two piece Dianese suit.
The suit was a mess (unsurprisingly) but it did not go through anywhere. All the hard armour on the knees, elbows, shoulders etc. did its job perfectly. I had a lot of bruising, skinned the backs of my hands and a broken collar bone. The final parting from the bike was a highside when the back tyre burst and I hit the road with the side of my helmet and shoulder first. I also had a Dianese helmet which took the beating without allowing any injury.
Given the scale of the accident and its speed and the fact that I slid over 400yds on a very abrasive tarmac road I was (eventually!) delighted at the relative lack of injury. OK the suit, helmet, gloves etc became bin material, but they did the job and my household insurance policy covered the replacements. I would only ever use Dianese now because I have proved their worth to my total satisfaction. I believe the hard armour in their suits is great if you slide down a road. A couple of friends have BKS suits which I feel are very heavy and I am not convinced that they would neccessarily be better in my type of accident. I feel that all those economy suits on the market provide a false sense of security, and I would hate to imagine the mess had I been wearing a cheap suit. The only other lesson I learned was that even expensive summer gloves will not do 400yds of tarmac without letting go. I had always thought the gloves with carbon over the knuckles were a pose. Now I know better and would never have anything else. Buy the best kit you can, and don't forget that the gloves, boots and lid are equally as important.
I've just reread this and I sound so old and serious !!
The suit was a mess (unsurprisingly) but it did not go through anywhere. All the hard armour on the knees, elbows, shoulders etc. did its job perfectly. I had a lot of bruising, skinned the backs of my hands and a broken collar bone. The final parting from the bike was a highside when the back tyre burst and I hit the road with the side of my helmet and shoulder first. I also had a Dianese helmet which took the beating without allowing any injury.
Given the scale of the accident and its speed and the fact that I slid over 400yds on a very abrasive tarmac road I was (eventually!) delighted at the relative lack of injury. OK the suit, helmet, gloves etc became bin material, but they did the job and my household insurance policy covered the replacements. I would only ever use Dianese now because I have proved their worth to my total satisfaction. I believe the hard armour in their suits is great if you slide down a road. A couple of friends have BKS suits which I feel are very heavy and I am not convinced that they would neccessarily be better in my type of accident. I feel that all those economy suits on the market provide a false sense of security, and I would hate to imagine the mess had I been wearing a cheap suit. The only other lesson I learned was that even expensive summer gloves will not do 400yds of tarmac without letting go. I had always thought the gloves with carbon over the knuckles were a pose. Now I know better and would never have anything else. Buy the best kit you can, and don't forget that the gloves, boots and lid are equally as important.
I've just reread this and I sound so old and serious !!
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