stretching a leather suit? | GTAMotorcycle.com

stretching a leather suit?

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uchi

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hey guys, i had a suit made last year and its always fit tight, i lost 10 pounds and it was still tight in the legs, ive got a hard time getting the zipper up on my calves and pulling the pant portion all the way past my thighs. ive tried wearing it around the house and while riding and it just isnt stretching. i cant get proper bosy position through corners in this thing because of the constriction so it just hangs in my closet while i use my two piece. is there anything i can put on it to help it stretch out or some methods short of losing more weight to get it to fit right?
 
I would suggest contacting who ever made it for you, might be to late for them to fix it but worth giving it a shot.

If that doesn't work out for you contact John Bickle the leather guy and he can help you find a solution.

If you're paying the money to get something custom made it should fit you right from the start. Not sure why you waited til know to do something about it.
 
I've currently got the same issue and have been told to hang it in the bathroom during a hot shower so that it gets "steamed". Then to wear it around right after. I have yet to try it though.
 
ill try the shower trick see how it works out. bickle repaired this suit after there was a length issue with my sleeves and he butchered it pretty bad, had to get his repair repaired so he wont get a dime from me.

thanks for the suggestions, right now im gonna try stretching it and if that doesnt work itll end up in the for sale section and ill go buy an off the shelf a star as i know they fit me
 
That sucks:( There is always Sunny and Drew, they do leather repairs too.

Where did you get the suit made? They should have covered all the costs of the repair.
 
its going back to the shop to get altered. id prefer not to say who made it but they make great products and covered the cost of both sleeve repairs for me and shipping. ive spoken with the shop owner and hes offered to have it altered so its gonna end up going back up to him to get done and i need it back for a gap trip this summer :D
 
Sit in a warm bathtub while wearing your pants for 20 minutes then towel dry and rub generous amount of olive oil on them, now go for a couple hour long ride.
 
uchi said:
ill try the shower trick see how it works out. bickle repaired this suit after there was a length issue with my sleeves and he butchered it pretty bad, had to get his repair repaired so he wont get a dime from me.

thanks for the suggestions, right now im gonna try stretching it and if that doesnt work itll end up in the for sale section and ill go buy an off the shelf a star as i know they fit me
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That's funny,, cause how I altered it was fine for Crevier, and several other CDN Superbike riders. I finished it like a Rocket,Dainese,Teknic,Berik,Taichi.As most riders want all the doubled up stuff like the cuff,tabs, removable linner zipper/velcro removed or cleaned up so the glove can fit over it. Doing it that way is effiecient and reduces pressure points on the wrist from glove pull tabs. But does look like crap at Timmies! But the mfg'er did send it back to me so I could finish it as per your request. I did order a special thinner leather so we didn"t build up too much thickness. The mfg'er was not charged. I do recall apoligizeing to you. So again,,, I apoligize! I Assumed you would prefer that type of cuff,sorry!,,,,a kidney perhaps??? But you were right it was rough but because of the type and finish of the leather tanning process and trying to cut it with out dismantling the entire arm,,so I get slammed becasue I tried to save people money.[lesson learned],,but anyway again,,another kidney??
That being said,,, try to get the tight area wet. Just clean, warmish water,really wet the area. BUT YOU MUST wear it until it dries. That is why some say there suit fits better after it has sweat in it. But I'll bet it's tight again the next time you put it on. So if you can"t wear it until it dries,, find something like a football,soccer ball anything that is just a bit bigger then your tight area. Put it in until it dries. If you do not wear it until it dries it will shrink. A few guys that have tight forearm issues we use large pop bottles after they ride to keep the arm stretched after riding. Let some air out as it crushes to allow it to just fit snug. But I will warn you again,, if you don"t wear it until it fully dries or put something in it after,,,DO NOT DO THIS becasue it will get tighter.

The reality though is it works for a small bit of room. Like a 1/4 inch,, it won"t work miracles.
 
john i know we had our issues, you can understand my frustration when my brand new suit was cut with what looked like a butter knife, it looked like ****, if it was a track only suit i wouldnt have cared but it came out looking horrible even if it did work. whether or not you charged for it is between you and the suits manufacturer. i paid for a product that wasnt built right and the manufacturer took responsibility for it which was commendable. i can appreciate the reasoning behind it behind finished the way it was, but you just simply cut the leather and stitched it and left the edge looking like crap. i guess i expected it to be finished better especially with a new suit and not one that was being repaired from a crash. sorry to have to drag your name in to this but im sure you can understand my displeasure with the way this originally started to something i had waited a long time for.

back on topic, thanks for the tips, shes going off to get altered yet again, not sure where the manufacturer is sending it and im not concerned with it either as im sure itll be done right and be functional. i dont think that 1/4 inch would be enough for this, probably needs closer to an inch to be honest with you and thats just for it to be comfortable to wear. the way it is now i have a hard time kicking my leg over the bike to get on it.
 
Give it to fat guy to wear for a month.
 
i dont want my fat friend sweating in it for a month, lol. i think by now its just about as stretched as itll get
 
uchi said:
john i know we had our issues, you can understand my frustration.
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I know and I do understand. Anybody that alters a new suit is rolling dice anyway. They are so hard to modify anymore just becasue of the pieces and the stretch panels.But anyway,,,spilt milk. Like I said ,I assumed and had we spoke it would be different. Any chance I can get a kidney back???
 
FYI , I washed one of my old suits once to see what would happen. Turned it inside out,, put it on cold rinse only. Suit came out pretty clean . So I hung it up all proud of my accomplishment. Came back two hours later and the ankles of the suit were touching the floor. It had stretched about 15 inches. Took it down laid it on towels,, two days later it was normal. So water stretching is, or can be temporary.
 
you can have them both back john, right now the kidney market is a little slow, i will however take your liver assuming like me it isnt full of delicious scotch, lol.

good to know leather will stretch that far, but as you said, it seems temporary, wonder if i can soak anything else in water and make it stretch 15 inches......yeah thats right i said it :D

glad we got things sorted out
 
Yeah i've got the same issue.
And for the sogetion, hanks for the suggestions, right now im gonna try stretching it and if that doesnt work itll end up in the for sale section and ill go buy an off the shelf a star as i know they fit me
 
leather will stretch and shrink, but mostly wants to retain its original state. If you got a suit made and it didnt fit, getting it longer shorter fatter will always be a comprimse. You can stand it in the shower, steam it, wear it in the pool, it will never be "right" . Just get a suit that fits.
 
I have that leather shrinking issue with all of my pant belts. ;)
 
My first race suit is a Motogp kangaroo suit by Berik. I took it to John asking him to alter it because I said it was too tight. However it was new and I hadn't ridden in it yet. John got me to test fit it and said many people would pay him to make their suits fit like mine, and that it would break in once I used it. He said that it would be a disservice to take my $ and change my suit, so he refused to alter it yet....and told me to race for two weekends in it , and only then, if I still felt it fit badly, would he alter it for me. After two weekends of practise, qualifying and racing, sweaty strenuous excercise of course...it fit fine and John was right.
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