Berik/Arlen Ness Leathers

[Toast]

Has anyone had any experience with leathers sold under either of these brands? Construction quality in stitching, materials?

I think (but could be wrong) that they're made by the same people, with Arlen Ness perhaps being the higher end.

A mate of mine's heading to China soon, and offered to pick up a one-piece on my behalf. Apparently it will be about $1k NZ.

Also, is there any real benefit in buying one of these over one of the $600ish suits you can get in NZ?

Cheers,
Phil.

[Waylander]

If you're getting Arlen Ness leathers, don't get them from china. Nothing but very cheaply made knock-offs there.

[Scouse]

I have an Arlen ness leather Jacket Had it for 18 months now or 8000k's still looks like new seems to be of good quality it seems to weigh a lot more than other jackets like spidi, spike or alpinestar it has pading and armor in all the right places so I guess I am saying that I would recomend them to you

[Jackrat]

Waylander is on to it.
Don't buy them from China,they won't be the real deal.

[Toast]

Same friend who's heading back there now bought some Berik ones...they seem pretty good quality to me...but I'm no expert.

Isn't all this stuff made there or Pakistan anyway?

[avgas]

Isn't all this stuff made there or Pakistan anyway?
LOL pretty much - last time the gf went to Shanghai, she came back with a Repsol Jacket for me - inside it has the honda label and everything so it is the official jacket. Been riding with it for about a year now and it still has no faults. Which is more than i can say about the Spidi jacket i had for 2 weeks. I find that it is rarely a labour problem thing with chinese stuff....more a materials thing, which is usually easy to spot when buying (loose threads etc)

[Waylander]

Same friend who's heading back there now bought some Berik ones...they seem pretty good quality to me...but I'm no expert.

Isn't all this stuff made there or Pakistan anyway?
Not Arlen Ness stuff. It's made in a factory near where he makes his bikes.

[Toast]

Not Arlen Ness stuff. It's made in a factory near where he makes his bikes.

Oh, and where's that?

[Waylander]

Have a peek.

http://www.arlenness.com/

Be advised. The Ness family build some pretty extream choppers.

[Scouse]

Not Arlen Ness stuff. It's made in a factory near where he makes his bikes.

My Jacket is made in China and like I said above its 18 months old and still looks new none of the stitching is failing it is a good quality jacket most apparel these days are made in China I would still avoid stuff made in Pakistan

[Toast]

Have a peek.

http://www.arlenness.com/

Be advised. The Ness family build some pretty extream choppers.

They build choppers? Shit, cheers for the warning bro, I think I'll look for the Chinese rip-offs aye :) P/T (what does that stand for btw?)

[Scouse]

Have a peek.

http://www.arlenness.com/

Be advised. The Ness family build some pretty extream choppers.

Dont think much of their line of helmets though

[sub_low]

Yes Berik Leathers are infact italian, you can check out the entire 07 range here

www.berik.it , www.arlenness.it

I think the Berik design team do most of the Italian Arlen Ness racing range also hense the association of the 2 company's . Lorris Capirossi looks like he's endorsing them this year on the MotoGP Grid and Shinya Nikano has done for some time so I guess its safe to say they are not some no-name cheap brand. In fact anyone that isnt wearing Dainese or Alpinestars seems to be wearing either Berik or Arlen Ness mostly in MotoGP and WSB,BSB etc.

Thier top of the line range for both makes are also available in kangaroo hide for those reallyhot summer thrashing days where you need the them lighter so you dont cook but stronger everywhere incase you come off. For the price and features personally i dont think you can beat of fault them. Ive had my 1 piece for 2 years that i bought at the Donnington MotoGP in 05 and youd never know that they are almost 2 years old. Inside lining hasent even shown any sign of wear. Id say buy them if you have the chance. Be weary however, just becasue they say on the label inside they are the real deal be skeptical of anything of this nature form China.

When you only have 1 skin suit can you really afford to take a chance ?:nono:

[doc]

Waylander is on to it.
Don't buy them from China,they won't be the real deal.

Jackrat where you been haven't seen you on here for a while ?

[Fishy]

Hey Phil,

They are supposed to be awesome suits mate, from every review I have read on them they are definitely supposed to be the bizzo. Last time I looked there were plenty available on Ebay too, some with titanium skid plates in the shoulders and knee area (on the kangaroo hide range ) and they look awesome too.

Josh

[cowpoos]

Has anyone had any experience with leathers sold under either of these brands? Construction quality in stitching, materials?

I think (but could be wrong) that they're made by the same people, with Arlen Ness perhaps being the higher end.

A mate of mine's heading to China soon, and offered to pick up a one-piece on my behalf. Apparently it will be about $1k NZ.

Also, is there any real benefit in buying one of these over one of the $600ish suits you can get in NZ?

Cheers,
Phil.
I reckon you could do worse than getting a quasimoto 1 peice custom race suit...I"ve got some $$$$$$$ alpinestar leathers and 2 bins later they priddy well rooted...there are guys out there with quasi gear that spend more time on their arse than on their bikes at the track...and the suits are still mint!!!
PM white trash and go round and hav a look at some gear

[Toast]

I reckon you could do worse than getting a quasimoto 1 peice custom race suit...I"ve got some $$$$$$$ alpinestar leathers and 2 bins later they priddy well rooted...there are guys out there with quasi gear that spend more time on their arse than on their bikes at the track...and the suits are still mint!!!
PM white trash and go round and hav a look at some gear

I started this thread a year ago, and as it happened, I did end up going for a Quasi suit. 2-piece though, 'cos that's all he had at the time.

I will say that my mate has got a Berik suit though, and it looks near bulletproof. Definitely worth a try if you can find 'em.

[cowpoos]

I started this thread a year ago, and as it happened, I did end up going for a Quasi suit. 2-piece though, 'cos that's all he had at the time.

I will say that my mate has got a Berik suit though, and it looks near bulletproof. Definitely worth a try if you can find 'em.
tis quite old when ya read the date eh!! lmao

[vifferman]

Not Arlen Ness stuff. It's made in a factory near where he makes his bikes.
I believe all the Arlen Ness stuff you can buy here is now made in China. Designed in the US perhaps, but very few manufacturers now DON'T take advantage of the cheap manufacturing costs (and no worries about environmental laws, unions etc.) in countries like the Philipines, China, Korea, etc.
There's NOTHING on their website to indicate they make their apparel locally either.

So Arlen Ness are in Dublin, CA, huh? I drove past there a couple of weeks ago, and didn't even realise they were there. Perhaps if I'd known beforehand, I could've made a point of not calling in...

Would've like to have checked out West Coast Choppers though, but didn't have time. :(

[imdying]

Yes Berik Leathers are infact italian, you can check out the entire 07 range here

www.berik.it , www.arlenness.itWow, both of those companies have gone a long way out of there way to make the shittiest most unuserfriendly websites known to man. Good one.

[James Deuce]

I've crash tested an Arlen Ness jacket, and it is indeed the bizzo. Landed on my elbow, no damage to the internal armour. Looks good now it has been repaired too. Zips together with my Spyke trousers.

[madmartin]

Well it's an old thread, but it's all i get when i google "Arlen Ness Suit too hot"

I've been riding for several years in a suit branded "Dragon Rider" which is Arlen Ness for the Japanese market, looks just like an Arlen Ness suit, but the arms are a little bit shorter. It's had :wait: about a dozen crashes on the road... finally i made a hole in the leather itself (yes the stitching survived them all) so i decided to replace it with an Arlen Ness Magnesium suit on eBay. The price was right so i parted with my hard stolen cash and it arrived by snail mail one afternoon just after i'd been for a ride.

So a test riding i went, this thing is a higher spec suit with Magnesium sliders and an "air mesh" lining, like a foam thing with holes in it, designed to create a pocket of air between you and the leather subsequently keeping you cooler. Bugger is the thing works in the opposite way i think, unless you get into licence losing warp speeds i seem to just cook inside it. Although the size is the same as my old one, the two linings are a differnt fastening design so i can't swap it out either.

Just my two cents, great suits, but just not so great when it's warm out

[cs363]

I believe all the Arlen Ness stuff you can buy here is now made in China. Designed in the US perhaps, but very few manufacturers now DON'T take advantage of the cheap manufacturing costs (and no worries about environmental laws, unions etc.) in countries like the Philipines, China, Korea, etc.
There's NOTHING on their website to indicate they make their apparel locally either.

Pretty close, they are actually designed and made by Madif Industries (as are Berik): http://www.comxport.com/paises/madif_industries_ltd-world-483397.php

Edit: More than likely actually manufactured in mainland China, even though the company is listed in Hong Kong as this is pretty common practice in that part of the world.

AND, not dissing Chinese manufactured product, the key there is quality control and that is largely up to the individual brands concerned as to how how much of a free reign they give the factories, better brands seem to have a tighter control on it. There's a huge range of stuff being made in China/Asia these days and some is fantastic quality whilst sadly some is still utter crap - buyer beware.

[Dave-]

Crashed in my berik standard issue black and organgy/red leathers a few times. Still going hard with no holes or major issues.

[Thomo84]

I've got an Arlen Ness jacket and after a couple of crashes its starting to get pretty battered. Definitely thinking about a Berik jacket, just not sure which one