“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 Motorcycle race suite
Why Choose the Challenger Race Suit over a $300.00 Deal?
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.
Race Suits and Horses-Asses
Did you know that the first motorcycle race suit was made of horsehide? In the 1950’s, Geoff Duke, the racing legend, enlisted his tailor Frank Barker from St. Helens Lancashire Briton, to make the first of his now famous leather one-piece race suits….out of horsehide!! The choice of horsehide for the leather was not because Duke did not like horses, but rather because horsehide has a firm grain that keeps the material durable; in fact, horsehide is the most protective of the animal skins available. The density of the grain also makes it an excellent repellent for moisture. Because of this, the hide can withstand the forces of friction and hold up well in humid areas.
Now you may ask, why do motorcycle apparel companies like Komodo Gear (www.komodogear.com) use cowhide today instead of good old horsehide for their motorcycle race suits? The density and non-porous nature of the horsehide made it the most popular form of leather in the United States from the 18th century until the late 1930s, when horses, like cattle, were slaughtered for their meat. Though it has been illegal for some time to slaughter horses and ponies for human food consumption, it is still legal to buy and sell the hides. Most of the horse hides on the U.S. market are imported from Europe, India and Mexico, where human consumption of horse meat is still legal and hides are therefore more plentiful. However, with the rise in the popularity of beef as a food source, the supply of cowhides has been so plentiful that that cost of horsehide in comparison to cowhide made the continued use of horsehide cost ineffective.
There is another reason horsehide has been replaced by cowhide in motorcycle road racing leather suits. While horsehide garments tend to be more durable than cowhide they are much harder to break in. Through the tanning process, horsehide takes on a greater thickness than cowhide. While the leather’s thickness protects the body better than cowhide does, that greater thickness makes the leather take longer to mold to your body for a comfortable fit. Horsehide race suits were also fairly high-maintenance, and had to be oiled or waxed about once a month, which is another reason the majority of leather products, both fashion and protective, seen in stores across America are cowhide, including those made by Komodo Gear.
