Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne

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Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
Alne

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne

11 pictures

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
Thorsten Dentges

1/11
The company was founded 40 years ago.

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
Thorsten Dentges

2/11
Company founder Rudolf Nebel (left) and young boss Xander Nebel (right) are almost always on site in the store in Niedernberg and advise customers on custom-made products.

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
Thorsten Dentges

3/11
The tailors around Xander and the senior have been doing this job for decades.

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
Thorsten Dentges

4/11
The trained tailors also lend a hand in the workshop, and specialists are employed for the cutting.

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
Thorsten Dentges

5/11
The station wagons hang from time to time on the pole – but still no off-the-shelf goods.

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
Thorsten Dentges

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At Alne, the focus is on quality.

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
Alne

7/11
Tailor and model in personal union: young boss Xander Nebel hides here in a racing suit that he made himself. A good 80 percent of all Alne suits are made of kangaroo leather.

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
archive

8/11
The 90s. Oha. However, retro trendsetters could already appreciate the daring colors of model 3025 these days.

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
archive

9/11
Very pretty! In the 1980s, father Rudolf was still a model. As a young lad, he didn’t even have to pull in his stomach. The collection at the time comprised about a dozen suits and three jackets.

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
archive

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Classic 1000 model, around the turn of the millennium. Timeless and always in demand.

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
www.bilski-fotografie.de

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Racing Extreme 1: The top kangaroo leather combination costs from 2250 euros. That is not a little. MOTORRAD verdict: very good.

Sports & scene

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne

Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne
40 years of leather clothing

Leather tailor Rudolf Nebel developed one of the first motorcycle suits in the 1970s by chance. Today, the family-run Alne manufactory is still considered one of the top addresses for custom-made leather suits in the motorcycle scene.

Thorsten Dentges

08/04/2016

The sewing machine rattles over red leather – tak-tak-tak-tak-tak – and connects tanned animal hide with a heavy metal zipper. The man at the Pfaff keeps pulling the motorcycle suit under the needle, squints concentrated through his glasses, puts on again and: tak-tak-tak-tak-tak.

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The seamstress is called Rudolf Nebel and is retired. Son Xander actually runs the leather manufacture, but Dad still sneaks through the workshop almost every day. As is so often the case with the self-employed: If the company was once your baby, the bond remains close. Even if the baby is now 40 years old and therefore two years older than Xander. The senior just can’t really let go, and even if the son prefers to address him as “boss” instead of “father” or “dad”, that sounds more like an affectionate hint that the 67-year-old Rudolf should lean back a little – “Boss, let’s go, these are 20 year old patterns”, “Boss, that’s good, I’ll take care of it right away.”

Tailors have been doing the job for decades

Incidentally, the red leather is part of a tailor-made combination that is supposed to be changed by no less than four sizes. Well, someone has gained something, right? Not correct. Both Nebels have to smile despite more than 70 years of professional experience together, because such a case is rather rare. The buyer picked up the station wagon from the store at the start of the season. Fitted like a glove, everything was on pallets, the customer drove happily from the yard. Now, in addition to his motorcycling hobby, the good man chopped a lot of wood, apparently had a lot to remove and also probably put on a very effective diet, at least he lost a fat 28 kilos in less than ten weeks. In early summer he was back on the mat with the mists.

at Alne are manufacturing and tailoring under one roof in Niedernberg near Aschaffenburg, and just like customization requests for new goods, problem pieces can also be reworked. In this way, a perfectly fitting tailor-made suit can be quickly tailored from a baggy piece that costs a good 2,000 euros. Cases like this are special, but the task of bringing leather close to the body is part of everyday life at Alne. Some of the tailors around Xander and the senior have been doing this job for decades. Alne’s customers include professional racing drivers such as IRRC champion Didier Grams, Isle of Man pilots and various IDM drivers, as well as numerous amateur racers and normal touring drivers who want to be equipped as well and safely as possible. And perfectly fitting made-to-measure leather offers the highest level of security. Bar goods are not on offer at Alne.


Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne


Alne

Tailor and model in personal union: young boss Xander Nebel hides here in a racing suit that he made himself.

However, this has its price. A combination made of high-quality cowhide or kangaroo leather starts at around 1300 euros. Not everyone can and does not want to afford this luxury, but the manufactory’s order book fills up with a few hundred orders over the course of the year. In addition, there are repairs and changes to third-party products. Customers come directly to the store north of the Odenwald or order directly from the configurator in the online shop (www.alne-leder.de). After measuring the driver and choosing an individual color and equipment option, the manual workers get to work. A total of ten leather professionals work at Alne, and depending on the time of year it can take six weeks for the job to be completed.

Alne customers usually have patience, after all, good things take time, and hopefully such a one-off item will be valued for many years to come. And even if the wearer had contact with the ground, which is by no means uncommon for motorsport enthusiasts, the suit does not have to go straight to the trash. Often the leather tailors still find an affordable solution to revive the station wagon. Nevertheless: In Germany the market share is cheaper, imported goods from Pakistan and China manufactured in huge factories and distributed via retail outlets, chain stores and the internet are overwhelming with overall declining sales of leather suits. At the retail price of some discounted one- and two-piece suits, the Nebels cannot even buy the leather for a station wagon from the wholesaler. Asserting oneself under these tough competitive conditions – no easy task.

The grandfather had been tailoring fashion leather since 1961

The Bavarian company is now celebrating its 40th anniversary. Right from the start, in the 1970s, you had to assert yourself against the big players. The grandfather had been tailoring fashion leather, traditional costumes and “all sorts of other stuff”, as Xander and Rudolf Nebel put it, since 1961. At that time, industrial mass-produced goods and catalog mail order companies made business difficult for smaller manufacturers. Rudolf, who was in his twenties and a wild motorcycle aficionado, wanted to make a leather suit suitable for private use. Without the stretch inserts that are common these days, the adjustment was tricky.

However, one of the seamstresses mixed up the sleeve halves when cutting, so that they were sewn together incorrectly. When trying on the clothes, Rudolf noticed this immediately, after all his arms involuntarily pulled up in a strange way, but first he wanted to take a test drive. Lo and behold: more freedom of movement and better fit with a stooped racing position, exactly as the hotspur wanted it to be. The first motorcycle leather suit was ready! And with that came the insight to occupy this small niche as a leather manufacturer in order to be able to survive in the long term.


Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne


archive

The 90s. Oha. However, retro trendsetters could already appreciate the daring colors of model 3025 these days.

In 1976 Rudolf and his father traded under the name “ALNE Lederbekleidung”, derived from his name (ALois NEbel). So back then they started with shirt sleeves. A down-to-earth attitude and a good measure of serenity have characterized the small company to this day. Neither son nor father spread stress and hectic rush when they stroll through the workshop with stoic calm. And one thing is certain for you: it will be done by hand.

The focus is on quality, which is not a problem in view of the manageable quantity. The kangaroo and cowhide leather is always supplied by the same wholesaler and carefully selected. We have known and trusted each other for years. As a trained tailor and clothing technician, Xander lends a hand with many of the items himself, and has been the new head of the family business since 2014. He now has a young son himself. Good prerequisites that the “Ne” in the company name will endure for a long time to come.

Tried: Alne Racing Extreme 1


Portrait of motorcycle suit manufacturer Alne


www.bilski-fotografie.de

Alne currently: The top kangaroo leather combination costs from 2250 euros. That is not a little. We say how much it offers.

High-quality Sas-Tec protectors protect all relevant areas including the collarbone and ribs, the integrated back protection extends down to the rump area. Compared to cowhides, the kangaroo leather used is pleasantly light. Incidentally, a variant made of cowhide is available from 1900 euros. Thanks to made-to-measure production, a perfectly fitting fit is achieved that, thanks to the Kevlar stretch inserts, can be used in any exercise on the motorcycle without constricting.

So the station wagon fits like the proverbial sneaker. Because of the perforations in the chest area, you don’t succumb to a heat collapse even on midsummer trips. Conclusion: The Alne Racing Extreme 1 is ideal for motorcyclists with a passion for sport. Sure, it has its price. But as a quasi once-in-a-lifetime purchase, it is definitely worth it.

MOTORRAD verdict: very Good

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