OK, so what’s stopping me from getting back on the track? I can ride the bike, I have the means, so why am I not there?
Leathers. I need leathers. They don’t let you on the track without them. Problem is, I’ve gotten much fatter over the years, and I don’t fit my old leathers at all. I can’t fit off the rack leathers either—so what to do?
I’ll need to get them made to measure. But this will take a while and cost a lot, won’t it? What are the cheapest made to measure? Still investigating.
Pakistan. Loads and loads of the racing suits are made in Pakistan. Even a lot of the big Italian brands are actually made in Pakistan. There are also Pakistani sellers on eBay who might or might not be actual manufacturers. How can you know what you’re getting?
Then there are some US-made versions, but they do run expensive.
The price range for made-to-measure racing leathers runs from around $800 at the cheap end to thousands of dollars for big names like Spidi, Vanson, Alpinestars, and so on.
Everybody seems to have similar turnaround times: about 6-8 weeks or a bit more. I’d better pull the trigger on this if I’m going to get to the track at all this year!