[chocwheaton]

What's that skip? You want me to turn you into a piece of motorcycle safety gear? ;D
Well ok, since you're on our coat of arms and are a national icon, I guess it's ok. Just look into the barrel of this here gu...arh, sleeping stick. Us aussies will shoot, skin and eat anything :

I'm in the market for new 1 piece leathers for track only use (track days and my first season of racing) [clap]. I have a few questions for anyone that has some knowledge of the following:

Kangaroo leather?
Anyone have a suit made with it? What do you think of it? Worth the extra $$?

Brands I'm considering that do either off the rack or made to measure kangaroo suits

WOLF
http://www.wolf-moto.com
This is an English brand and I've never seen one of their suits. Off the rack sizes. Anyone had experience with them?

MotoGP (Berik) http://www.motogpapparel.com/mgpweb.nsf/Products/C80069EFD9D62508862570B5006CA5C7?opendocument
Off the rack sizes. Anyone had experience with this brand?

GiMoto
http://www.gimoto.com
Made to measure and off the rack. These I really like if I can justify the extra money. They have some really nice stuff but it's a bit pricey.

 

[Hailander]

Re: Kangaroo Leather? Worth the extra $$$ in a one piece suit for racing/track d

I don't know about motorcycle leathers, but kangaroo leather has been used in soccer shoes for decades, it is the best you can buy for Soccer shoes that is. My experience with kangaroo leather is that they are softer to the touch, they shape better to your foot after extensive use, and they seem to last longer than the "cow" leather. Again, this is for shoes, I don't know how they translate to jackets and pants.

 

[spidey]

A friend had a GiMoto suit that came apart after one supermoto crash. I wouldn't say one incident says anything about the quality of their suits in general, but that's all I know. He now has a Helimot.

Kangaroo leather is good stuff, but not necessary for a track/racing suit. I'd go with a custom fit suit with the best quality leather (like Helimot) before spending any $ on kangaroo.

It's great for gloves though. [thumbsup]

 

[TerribleTabo]

Today, most leather is made of cow hides, but many exceptions exist. Lamb and deer skin are used for soft leather in more expensive apparels. Kangaroo leather is used to make items which need to be strong but flexible, such as motorcycle gloves. Kangaroo leather is favored by motorcyclists specifically because of its lighter weight and higher abrasion resistance as compared to cowhide.

KANGAROO LEATHER is widely accepted as being one of the strongest light weight leathers available. Yet the reasons for this strength are not widely appreciated.
Studies conducted by the Australian CSIRO confirm that kangaroo is one of the strongest leathers of similar substance available (Stephens 1987).

Similarly when split into thinner substances kangaroo retains considerably more of the original tensile strength of the unsplit leather than does calf. When split to 20% of original thickness kangaroo retains between 30 to 60% of the tensile strength of the unsplit hide. Calf on the other hand split to 20% of original thickness retains only 1-4% of original strength (Stephens 1987).

Studies of the morphology of kangaroo leather compared to bovine help explain these remarkable differences.

The collagen fibre bundles in cattle hide are arranged in a complex weaving pattern. The fibres are often at angles as much as 90 degrees to the skin surface. Cattle hide also contain sweat glands, erector pili muscles and a distinct gradation in elastin levels, concentrated in the upper part of the skin.

Kangaroo on the other hand has been shown to have a highly uniform orientation of fibre bundles in parallel with the skin surface. It does not contain sweat glands or erector pili muscles and elastin is evenly distributed throughout the skin thickness (Bavinton et al 1987). This structural uniformity explains both the greater tensile strength of the whole leather and the greater retention of strength in splits. Bovine skin is much more complex in cross section. Hence in whole section it has many more weak point from which tears can start when placed under tension. In addition when sliced into splits the collagen fibres running at significant angles to the skin surface will be cut. These then become weak points in the structural strength.

Thus the structural uniformity in the morphology of kangaroo leather readily explains its dramatic strength and the retention of this strength when split.

This uniformity requires efficient fat liquoring and staking to obtain optimal results from processing. These processes have the effect of unsticking fibre bundles from each other, thereby enabling each bundle to move independently. Since kangaroo fibres are aligned parallel to each other they contact other fibres along much of their length. Bovine fibres on the other hand only contact other fibres at the points where they intersect with them.
www.kangaroo-industry.asn.au/produc...o-industry.asn.au/products/leather_review.htm

 

[chocwheaton]

Re: Kangaroo Leather? Worth the extra $$$ in a one piece suit for racing/track d

I'd go with a custom fit suit with the best quality leather (like Helimot) before spending any $ on kangaroo. [thumbsup]

Thanks Spidey,

I'd never heard of Helimot before. Just checked out their web site and I don't like my chances of being able to buy one of their suits from Australia.

Oh...that site has got to be the worst site I've seen in ages. Try finding their suit catalogue from www.helimot.com. The only way I found the catalogue is because google found it hidden under that domain. Yikes Guess they must make good suits though.

 

[spidey]

Yeah, their website blows. They're local so it's not a problem for us. You could order over the phone, but you better have someone take goooooood measurements of you before you order. Personally, I'm wary of ordering custom-fitted stuff without an in-person fitting. To each his own.

If you're lookin' at that much money, see if there is a local custom suitmaker that has a good rep. You can probably get 'roo suits cheaper than we can, so that might actually be an option. Or just pick a coupla big reds off the side of the road, throw 'em in the back of truck and lug 'em on in to the suitmaker. ;D

 

[simonster]

yeah. like tabo said. roo leather is significantly lighter/more flexible than moo leather, and stronger at the same time. pretty much ideal characteristics for our application.

i have a pair of roo gloves that i bought years ago, and loved how much more comfortable they were, so i was dying to get a roo suit. unfortunately, roo was illegal in CA up until a year or two ago. i would have had to have it shipped to a buddy in another state and then forwarded along to me.

when they finally became available, i bought the motogp compression roo suit. great fit off-the-rack for me. they tend to be cut a bit slimmer than A*, which was perfect for me. similar in cut to a dainese.

 

[TerribleTabo]

roo leather is significantly lighter/more flexible than moo leather,

Ha ha! This just sounds so funny to me!
[laugh]
Roo than Moo!
[clap]

 

[simonster]

Ha ha! This just sounds so funny to me!
[laugh]
Roo than Moo!
[clap]

ya. moo is poo. roo is coo! if you buy moo, you is foo!

 

[chocwheaton]

Re: Kangaroo Leather? Worth the extra $$$ in a one piece suit for racing/track d

...i bought the motogp compression roo suit. great fit off-the-rack for me. they tend to be cut a bit slimmer than A*, which was perfect for me. similar in cut to a dainese.

That's good to know about the MotoGP fit. I don't think I'll be able to try one of the MotoGP suits on either, and a slimer fit is what I need. Joe Rocket fits through the shoulders, then the rest hangs off me like a tent :

 

[Ara7]

All Moto GP suits are made of Kangaroo. It is stronger and lighter than leather .
Now that being said, I don't think the average person needs Kangaroo riding suits. If I had the extra money though, I'd probably pay the extra and get the 'Roo. My Held gloves are half 'Roo and they are soft and a lot more comfortable than Cow (sorry Cows).
The Kangaroo suit will also make you go faster. We all know Kangaroo's are much faster than Cow's!


Ara

 

[simonster]

All Moto GP suits are made of Kangaroo. It is stronger and lighter than leather .
Now that being said, I don't think the average person needs Kangaroo riding suits. If I had the extra money though, I'd probably pay the extra and get the 'Roo. My Held gloves are half 'Roo and they are soft and a lot more comfortable than Cow (sorry Cows).
The Kangaroo suit will also make you go faster. We all know Kangaroo's are much faster than Cow's!


Ara

i'm with you on the roo comfort stuff, but fyi, not all motogp suits are roo. they have moo, they have textile, they might even have a line made out of menstruating guinea pig hide. i can't remember.

 

[chocwheaton]

Re: Kangaroo Leather? Worth the extra $$$ in a one piece suit for racing/track d

So has anyone had any experience with crash testing motogp suits?

Also, can one of the owners of these please let me about the stitching? Does it look like there's hidden stitching and at least double or triple stitched seams on critical areas?

Those MotoGP suits really do look like good value for money for roo skin.

Cheers

Greg

 

[Ara7]

i'm with you on the roo comfort stuff, but fyi, not all motogp suits are roo. they have moo, they have textile, they might even have a line made out of menstruating guinea pig hide. i can't remember.

Just going by what I've read and heard which was they were all made out 'Roo and only 'Roo. Could be wrong.
Dianese will also make a couple of their suits out of 'Roo for around $3000.
Talk to Michael (the Dianese store manager). He'll fill you in.

Ara

 

[chocwheaton]

Re: Kangaroo Leather? Worth the extra $$$ in a one piece suit for racing/track d

Just going by what I've read and heard which was they were all made out 'Roo and only 'Roo. Could be wrong.
Dianese will also make a couple of their suits out of 'Roo for around $3000.
Talk to Michael (the Dianese store manager). He'll fill you in.

Ara

Yeah they make 3 suits, one of which is kangaroo:
http://helmetharbor.com/streetclothing/moto_gp/opening.htm

I like Dianese gear...but 3 grand!!!! That's a LOT of money for suit! Probably still cheaper than skin grafts, but not by much ;D

 

[Ara7]

Re: Kangaroo Leather? Worth the extra $$$ in a one piece suit for racing/track d

So has anyone had any experience with crash testing motogp suits?

Also, can one of the owners of these please let me about the stitching? Does it look like there's hidden stitching and at least double or triple stitched seams on critical areas?

Those MotoGP suits really do look like good value for money for roo skin.

Cheers

Greg

Greg,

I've never seen any Moto GP riders suit fall apart or even look torn after 100+ MPH crashes. I'm guessing they'll hold up.

Ara

PS- I've heard skin grafts costing well over $10,000.