Roadracing World – April 2019

By Michael Gougis

W

omen remain one of the
greatest potential un-
tapped markets for sport-
bike manufacturers in the U.S.
In a nation where women
outnumber men by about fi ve mil-
lion, only about 19% of motorcy-
cle owners are women, and even
among the group called Genera-
tion Y, only 26% of the motorcy-
cle owners are women. It's telling
that even reaching these numbers
represents what industry leaders
are calling a major shift in motor-
cycling demographics.
As the number of women rid-
ing are on the increase, the need
for protective gear for women has
increased as well. Fortunately, a
pair of shifting trends has made it
easier for women to get high-qual-
ity track gear in recent years.
More manufacturers are of-
fering off-the-rack suits tailored
to the general shape of the female
body. And the price of custom
suits has come down, in some cas-
es to under $1,000, putting cus-
tom-fi t suits into the price range of
higher-end off-the-rack suits.
But the consistently best
option for most women is to get
a suit custom-made precisely to
their dimensions. And good-fi tting
leathers not only make it easier
and more comfortable to ride, but
also help ensure that the armor in
the suit—which helps protect the
shoulders, elbows and knees—re-
mains in place when rider and ma-
chine take divergent trajectories!
Some things to look for: Ex-
pansion panels, usually leather
accordion-type panels, along the
sides and upper back of the suit.
Check out the upper back and side
of a custom Pilot suit for a woman,
for example, to see the expansion
panels. They provides additional
comfort and a more custom fi t for
a female rider. Fortunately, these
sorts of protective expansion pan-
els are becoming more prevalent
as internal airbags become more
popular. Obviously, the suit needs
to offer some room for expansion
when the airbag deploys.
And compare the protection
and features against the compa-
ny's suits for men. Beware wom-
en's suits that have single layers
of leather where men's suits have
double layers, or single-stitched
seams where men’s suits have
double-and-triple-stitched seams.
There is no reason to settle for less
protection just because you are a
female racer or track day rider.

Below are some of the man-

ufacturers that make off-the-rack

leather racing or track day suits

designed to fi t women:

`Alpinestars: The Stella Kira

leather racing and track day suit

comes in one-piece and two-piece

versions. The Stella Motegi also

comes in a one-piece and two-

piece design, and the Stella Missile

one-piece suit is designed to ac-

commodate the company's Tech-

Air Race infl atable protective vest.

`Dainese: The iconic Italian

brand offers the Assen one-piece

perforated leather suit, the Avro

D2 two-piece suit and the Laguna

Seca 4 one-piece perforated leath-

er suits. Like the Alpinestars suits,

construction includes a wide range

of elasticized panels. All of the

Dainese suits meet CE standards.

`Held: The Ayana II one-piece suit

is made of cowhide, while the Full-

Speed one-piece suit has an out-

er shell of kangaroo leather. Both

come standard with a CE-certifi ed

Level 2 back protector.

`Spidi: The Women's Mantis

Track Wind Pro Race Suit is perfo-

rated and comes with CE-standard

armor in the shoulders, knees, el-

bows, and hips.

There are a wide variety of

custom suit manufacturers mak-

ing leathers for women. Some of

the better-known include:

`Heroic: Again, this company pro-

vides very, very detailed instruc-

tions on taking measurements for

custom suit orders, and is known

for making suits that fi t women

racers and track day riders.

`Pilot: The company's leathers

are a regular fi xture at racetracks

across the U.S., and the company

provides on its website a very pre-

cise and detailed guide for taking

measurements of a woman's body

for a custom suit.

`SYED: Syed Leathers builds

custom suits for men and women,

and offers a highly detailed mea-

surement guide for riders of both

sexes in all sizes and shapes. The

company also offers customers the

choice of a normal, tight, or loose

fi t based on those measurements,

as well as a wide range of venti-

lation, protection, and appearance

options.

`Vanson: The company's Ladies

Velocity one-piece suit is a cus-

tom garment designed to the same

specifi cations as men's Velocity

suit. And again, the company's

downloadable guide to taking mea-

surements has a section specifi -

cally tailored to obtaining accurate

measurements of a woman's body.

Alpinestars, Dainese, Sidi,

TCX, Forma and others make

track-ready boots in women's siz-

es. When it comes to gloves, it's

a bit harder to fi nd full-on racing

gloves specifi cally tailored to wom-

en. When it comes to back and

chest protection, it's harder to fi nd

women-specifi c gear. Fortunately,

there are aftermarket companies

like Impact Safe-T Armor, which

makes custom body armor for

men, women and children.

Just as with other safety gear,

it's likely a very good idea to at-

tend a track day, club race or pro-

fessional road race and check out

what the riders are wearing. There

are likely at least a few women on

the track, and like most other rac-

ers, they'll most likely take a mo-

ment (if they're not prepping for a

track session!) to tell you what has

worked for them, what fi t, and—

if they have any horror stories—

what didn't work for them.

And advice from people—lit-

erally—with skin in the game is

priceless.

Fit Is Everything

LEATHERS FOR WOMEN:

(Above) Track day rider Dr. Jill Leibold, in her Heroic custom suit at a No

Limits Track Days event at Portimao in Portugal. Photo by Alex James/Pete

Wileman Photography. (Left) Former racer Dr. Laura Ellis, in her custom

Heroic suit, with Heroic gloves, an Arai helmet, and Forma boots. (Below)

Pilot leathers include stretch panels designed to improve comfort and a fi t.

48—Roadracing World, Trackday Directory 2019