[skullvulture]

I've got my track bike now, so step two is getting good protective gear. After trying on a bunch of of the rack suits I've found I'm a 44 wide and a 46 tall, so I'm going custom. Despite the girl who'd measure me at the shop that deals Vanson is a total fox I can't justify spending $2k when Barnacle Bill makes an equally protective suit for much less. I talked to him on the phone yesterday, what a great guy! Here's what I've got for my design. I want something that's classic and not flashy. What do you guys think?

 

[method]

That looks really cool. I'm jealous

 

[donniej]

He used to have a great reputation on the CCS board, but it's been a long time since I've been on there.

 

[tcl]

How much less, if you don't mind me asking? And, would an even more simple pattern cost less?

 

[skullvulture]

$1200 fully loaded w/ aero hump and vanson style double zipper front. Except he doesn't put hard back protectors in, so I found a good deal on a Tpro forcefield i'm going to have him install in it. It was $1175 before I showed him my design.

 

[NOsquid1]

A steal of a deal. That's most probably where my next suit is coming from.

Really, a suit made by a master craftsman in the US for that money is unbelievable in the current market. People often pay as much or more for Chinese sweat shop stuff with a fancy brand name.

 

[sv650motohitman56]

Barnacle bill took a alpinestar track pants and a spinner jacket let them out and sewed them into a one piece suit for me and did a great job. 200$

 

[cfreger]

Are you getting the perforated or non-perfed leather? I'm not sure I care for the way he does perfed leathers. The holes look too big.

 

[ANGELofDEBT]

I am interested in getting info but it seems Bill's website is down
http://www.racingleather.com/

Anywhere else on the net to get info from BB?

 

[thejimdaddy]

a few years ago, around christmas on the wera board, he offered a suit in a raffle to a needy family, with alotta medical bills, something like that would make me wanna buy a suit from him, not to mention the suits are quality as well

 

[martin_j001]

He's still got a great reputation on the WERA boards too. Money well spent for sure, congrats on the new suit!

 

[littlefred811]

GREAT! THANKS A LOT!

I was planning on getting a new model 05 or so suit in the discount section, 'cause I'm old, slow, and broke. Now, I'm feeling morally obligated to buy a high quality, custom fit, fair valued suit from one of our indigenous craftsman.

FLIPPIN' AWSOME. It's going to take a few weeks more to save up the green, but I believe I'm going to try and buy from him. I dig helping people who help others, and our little community.

Seriously, thank you for posting this.

Ciao for now

 

[DMCCOY]

BBs suits are awesome. I ordered mine this past summer after narrowing it down to BB or Syed. I ordered the BB because of the spaced out perferations with larger holes, and the double layer of leather anywhere the perferations are. He perferates his suits this way because he will tell you he has seen way too many suits rip along the dotted lines where the perferations are tiny and close together. He uses CE approved armor and tripple stiches and glues his seams. I went with barnacel bill because for around 1k you get a custom fitted suit that has CE armor, glued and tripple stiched seams, and perferations that will not tear.

 

[tcl]

It's going to take a few weeks more to save up the green, but I believe I'm going to try and buy from him.

FYI, you only pay half when ordered, half some weeks later when it is ready.

 

[skullvulture]

Are you getting the perforated or non-perfed leather? I'm not sure I care for the way he does perfed leathers. The holes look too big.

...I ordered the BB because of the spaced out perferations with larger holes, and the double layer of leather anywhere the perferations are. He perferates his suits this way because he will tell you he has seen way too many suits rip along the dotted lines where the perferations are tiny and close together. ...

+1 I thought they were a little goofy too, but after talking to him that's what I'm going with. They flow more air and are much more durable. However, he said he does whatever the customer wants, so if if you want tinier holes, he'll do it.

I am interested in getting info but it seems Bill's website is down
http://www.racingleather.com/

Anywhere else on the net to get info from BB?

Works for me, but there's also a good long thread on the WERA site where he answers a lot of questions:

http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?t=128616

 

[cfreger]

Well, I wasn't sure about his perforated leathers. Now I know the story. Congrats on the new suit, and thanks for letting us know about it. I'll definitely keep this guy in mind. (Besides, anybody who rides a Yamaha SR500 -- my first bike -- must be a cool dude.)

 

[Tuna]

Is it just me or do his suits seem a bit too loose and have a lot of places where the leather is bunched up when you're on the bike? Every picture I've seen of his suits, there are large bunches of leather in at least the mid-section. Often times there are in the legs and arms too. That's one of the things that's bothered me about his suits. ???

 

[DMCCOY]

I thought the same thing about his suits looking loose from looking at his picutres. The main reason I wanted a custom suit was so that I could get a tight fitting suit. If you look through all the pictures on his page there are a few photos of people with suits that fit tight, but not many. You have to specify you want it to fit tight and he will make it that way. Most of the pictures you see of the loose fitting suits, is because the person wanted to fit layers of clothes under. When I ordered mine, I told Bill I wanted it to fit snug. My suit fits great in the mid section and legs, but its a little loose in the arms for me so I am sending it in to have it snugged up. I probably should have said "tight" fit, and that I did not want to layer any clothes at all underneath. If you decide to order from Bill, just tell him what you want it to fit like on the phone and I'm sure he can do it.

 

[skullvulture]

Yeah I'm going to tell him "racer fit" and he's the kind of guy who truly isn't happy until you're happy.

 

[cfreger]

I thought maybe the loose-looking fit on the seated models pictured was because he uses thicker leather, so it bunches up more? I think most protective gear specifies 1.2-1.4 mm thick leather; BB's site says he uses "3-4 oz. thickness." Is that 3-4 oz per square inch? Anybody know what that translates to in thickness in millimeters?