Leathers for track use

[Bigyin]

I think all come with decent knee/elbow armour, and they expect you to buy a decent back protector - I'm old school though, I don't know if I believe in it so much, the leathers are basically abrasion resistance and to keep you all together in a bag, I don't know if armour is actually worth much in a track impact.

Proper back protectors are now compulsory on UK track days and not just the 6mm foam insert some leathers come with .....i have an extra D30 panel in the pocket of my leathers that passes the checks.

I am a fan or hard armour having lobbed myself down the road about 80mph and the textile jacket wore through but the hard armour took the rest of the slide and didnt have a scratch on the skin. My leathers would have took the slide but the armour is an added back up

[Horse]

I am a fan or hard armour having lobbed myself down the road about 80mph and the textile jacket wore through but the hard armour took the rest of the slide and didnt have a scratch on the skin.

From what I recall from your photos, if you'd slid much further there wouldn't have been much keeping the armour in place

[porter_jamie]

Just dug my old 90s ones out and unsurprisingly they don't fit. Boots look fucked and my old arai is going to the tip tomorrow.

[Dodgy69]

What bike you gonna be squeezing. ??

[porter_jamie]

What bike you gonna be squeezing. ??

Well I had a plan to get the rd400 Ready for early stocks but that's a bit iof work really. So maybe some time of mini twin?

[KungFooBob]

I used to race Earlystocks, maybe 17 years ago!!!

I came 2nd in the 250 modified Championship one year.

[porter_jamie]

I dunno if early stocks even exists anymore. I looked at the website and doesn't appear to have any strokers. There's bound to be somewhere to race it though. My new local track is darley moor so a wobble round there would do me.

[KungFooBob]

They're still going, but they had to open it up to early VFR's and GSXR's so people are racing them instead.

Have a look a BHR, they have a class for everything.

[Zimbo]

High speed crashes on track are about as benign as high speed crashes can get. Abrasion is of course bad, but no amount of armour is gonna save you from a Lamp Post, even at 50mph.

My fastest crash was losing the front tipping into Gerrard's at Mallory, so 100mph I guess. As my knee was already on the tarmac I just sort of toppled and slid until I hit the gravel, I just held my arms in and legs straight and waited until I stopped tumbling, not a bruise, not a graze, leathers wore through in a couple of places but zero injury to me, not even stiff next day. Out again in the next race in borrowed leathers and got third off the back of the grid, so perhaps it even made me quicker!

All my other crashes were much slower, usually losing the front somewhere, and hurt a hell of a lot more!

[Yorick]

High speed crashes on track are about as benign as high speed crashes can get. Abrasion is of course bad, but no amount of armour is gonna save you from a Lamp Post, even at 50mph.

My fastest crash was losing the front tipping into Gerrard's at Mallory, so 100mph I guess. As my knee was already on the tarmac I just sort of toppled and slid until I hit the gravel, I just held my arms in and legs straight and waited until I stopped tumbling, not a bruise, not a graze, leathers wore through in a couple of places but zero injury to me, not even stiff next day. Out again in the next race in borrowed leathers and got third off the back of the grid, so perhaps it even made me quicker!

All my other crashes were much slower, usually losing the front somewhere, and hurt a hell of a lot more!

Highsides hurt, a lot

[Zimbo]

Highsides hurt, a lot

Fortunately I only had 49bhp so the risk of highsides was fairly low!

[Sadlonelygit]

Highsides hurt, a lot

Fortunately I only had 49bhp so the risk of highsides was fairly low!

Hold my beer!
High sided a Bob Farnham tuned GT50 at moped mayhem at Donnington around the Melbourne loop, not so much about the power, more the speed of entry plus the angle of dangle and rear shocks off a z650 combining into a heroic power slide terminated by the swallow tyre finally gripping and launching me a good 18" into the air!

[porter_jamie]

I used to race Earlystocks, maybe 17 years ago!!!

I came 2nd in the 250 modified Championship one year.

What wheels are they?

[The Spin Doctor]

I used to race Earlystocks, maybe 17 years ago!!!

I came 2nd in the 250 modified Championship one year.

You sure that's not a pit bike? Looks tiny

[Bigyin]

I used to race Earlystocks, maybe 17 years ago!!!

I came 2nd in the 250 modified Championship one year.

What wheels are they?

Front looks like YPVS wheel to me like this one ....back looks different

[KungFooBob]

I used to race Earlystocks, maybe 17 years ago!!!

I came 2nd in the 250 modified Championship one year.

What wheels are they?

It's a full YPVS front end.

The standard RD250 front wheel weighs more than a whole modern fireblade.

[porter_jamie]

I got some ypvs forks I'll look for some wheels then. Twin disks?

[KungFooBob]

My RD originally had that single piston pivoting calliper that needed the angled pads. IIRC the YPVS forks/wheel bolted straight into the original yokes. Yes, twin discs.

I've still got the rear YPVS wheel in the garage, it was far too much work to make it fit the RD.

[Scud]

I’ve been looking for new leathers for trackdays as mine seem to have shrunken around the middle over winter.
I was thinking a set of 2 piece for practicality, but sports bike shop are doing rst 1 piece airbag suit for £420, going to call in tomorrow and see how they fit

[Bigyin]

I got some ypvs forks I'll look for some wheels then. Twin disks?

My old RD250LC had a YPVS front end the previous owner had put on it as it had twin discs rather than the single original one.