“It’s the economy, stupid!” Wrong…..it’s your skin!! The Komodo Gear Challenger Race Suit costs $700.00, and you are right; you can get an on-line “smoking deal” for $300.00; BUT, how is the “smoking deal” put together and out of what is it made. And one more question: have you ever seen an AMA pro wearing one?
The Challenger Race Suit is constructed of premium grade, full grain cow leather. Full grain means that Komodo Gear uses the full thickness of the pelt to construct the suit, not the “pretty” part that has been shaved off to remove the blemishes. This, by the way also makes such leather thinner. All seams are folded, glued and then triple stitched. Impact areas are reinforced, and where they use accordion stretch there is a separate layer of 1.3mm full grain leather beneath. All armor is genuine C.E. rated materials.
So, you do the numbers…if you hit the pavement doing 100+MPH what do you want between you and the asphalt; a Komodo Gear quality Challenger Race Suit or the $400.00 you saved? Remember “it’s the economy stupid”, but, can you survive it without your job?
Tag Archive for leather suits
Why Choose the Challenger Race Suit over a $300.00 Deal?
Motorcycle Race Suits and Christmas Wishes
Motorcycle Race Suits and Christmas Wishes
The Komodo Gear Challenger motorcycle race suit is the result of the company’s commitment to the “people” who race! When Komodo Gear entered the motorcycle racing industry, it was not because the sport needed another company to manufacture leather motorcycle road racing suits, but because the industry did need a company that put a face on the racers that participated in the sport. From the very beginning, Komodo Gear has been “track side” getting to know the racers and their teams, listening to their ideas for suit design based on the needs they identified, soliciting feedback on the suit designs we manufactured. Because we are “trackside” so much, we have the opportunity to “be there” when a racer crashes, to get the first reactions, to see suits first hand after a crash, and to get a feel for what is working and what is not in our suits as well as others on the market.
Because Komodo Gear builds race suits for people not “markets” our products are dictated by function not form. Originally our race suits were designed and built for the amateur and privateer racer… to provide maximum protection at exceptional value. However, times have changed, and so have the needs of our sport. Unfortunately, “value” has been supplanted by “price” as the operative consideration in choosing a race suit. So, we at Komodo Gear created the Challenger Race Suit, priced at $700.00 on our web site. We tried to make it cost less but we could not do it and not make it cheap. “Cheap” and “protection” do not belong in the same sentence! But we did make a Komodo quality race suit that is affordable even in today’s environment.
Remember our “Christmas Wish” that your 2012 racing season would be safe and successful! The Challenger race suit will help you fulfill both parts of our wish! Check it out!!
Beamhouse Operations
Beamhouse Operations
Bet you never thought you would ever see the title of “Beamhouse Operations” on a Motorcycle blog. But remember, in our discussion of how Komodo Gear produces the “safest race suit on the planet” we were discussing the “tanning process” of leather and I told you there was a series of steps in the process, collectively called, the “beamhouse operations”.
They include, in order, soaking, liming, removal of extraneous tissues (unhairing, scudding, and fleshing), deliming, bating (including puering), drenching, and pickling. To have safest race suit, each step is critical in creating the best leather
In the process known as soaking, the hides are soaked in clean water to remove the salt left over from curing and increase the moisture so that the hide or skin can be further treated. After soaking, the hides and skins are taken for liming: treatment with milk of lime (a basic agent) that may involve the addition of “sharpening agents” (disulfide reducing agents) like sodium sulfide, cyanides, amines etc. The objectives of this operation are mainly to remove the hairs, some of the soluble proteins like mucins; and remove the natural grease and fats to some extent bringing the collagen in the hide to a proper condition for satisfactory tannage. Komodo Gear (www.komodogear.com) makes sure each step is followed closely to assure highest quality.
Unhairing agents used at this time are: Sodium sulfide, sodium hydroxide, sodium hydrosulfite, calcium hydrosulfide, dimethyl amine, and Sodium sulfhydrate. The majority of hair is then removed mechanically, initially with a machine and then by hand using a dull knife, a process known as scudding
The pH of the collagen is brought down to a lower level so that enzymes may act on it, in a process is known as deliming. Depending on the end use of the leather, hides may be treated with enzymes to soften them, a process called bating.
Once bating is complete, the hides and skins are treated with a mixture of common (table) salt and sulfuric acid, in case a mineral tanning is to be done. This is done to bring down the pH of collagen to a very low level so as to facilitate the penetration of mineral tanning agent into the substance. This process is known as pickling. The common salt (sodium chloride) penetrates the hide twice as fast as the acid and checks the ill effect of sudden drop of pH. By close attention to detail, Komodo Gear assures the hides used for a Komodo Gear motorcycle race suit give the maximum protection possible.
