Leathers age and use

Guy on the board has some gear for sale. Right size, right colors, right price. How would I know the age and if the suit will pass tech? I want to do a few track days next season, nothing big deal,

 

If it’s a name brand, the color/design combo will give you an idea about age.

Honestly, if the suit looks clean and lacks dry looking cracks, it’ll probably be fine. Just stick to known quality brands like A*, Rev it, Dainese.. etc.

 

my suit is over 20 years old and if you take care of it - it can hold up well. I crashed 2x in my suit did a great job. I would check the armor to see if you can replace that if it is getting old.

 

No rips/holes? Send it! Meaning- just use it.

 

My heroic suit is 10 years old, and I just crashed in it for the first time last month. Rode the rest of the weekend, no issues. Just make sure its taken care of! =)

 

tell me more about this leather tech check... sounds like a tech inspector is blowing smoke.
A quality leather suit doesnt disintegrate unless its been put away wet... repeatedly. For that reason alone I wouldnt entertain a used set of leathers regardless of brand.

 

Its not a tech inspector blowing smoke, good point tho, I am asking so I know I can get thru tech. I havent raced in some years, just spent a ton of $$$$ on restoring my bike and dont want any hang ups when I show up at the track.

 

I have one suit from 2005 that has been through hell and back, plus proper maint. It's got areas where the leather just doesn't feel like leather anymore despite cleaning and conditioning, it's going to the retired bin. My 10yr old Heroic is coming back from it's pre-season cleaning soon, going to get one more year out of it before it gets forced out for lacking an airbag.

 

As long as there are no obvious holes, tears, and it's in one piece... You'll be fine.

 

I would guess they want to verify the integrity based on my CCS experience. Helmets are definitely checked.

 

Pull hard on the leather in places and see if it tears, when leather gets compromised it becomes very easy to tear it, should feel flexible and not stretch much, etc. Also check the seams, depending on the thread used to put it together the stitching can fail before the leather does.