Service: maintenance and repair of leather suits

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Service: maintenance and repair of leather suits
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Station wagons, jackets & pants

Service: maintenance and repair of leather suits

Maintenance and repair of leather suits
The second skin should be well cared for

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Anyone who gives everything on the circuit and always drives the last groove will not be spared from falling. We show how your second skin is repaired and give tips on how to care for it so that the combination lasts as long as possible.

Mathias Heerwagen

11/22/2011

Sanded leather on the elbow, the knee protector shows its inner workings and some seams on the shoulder were also chafed away in the last fall. When the motorcycle season ends on the road and on the racetrack, it’s time to take care of the battered leather. At the station wagon manufacturer Swabian leather The high season is now starting in Winterbach. We pay the company a visit and see how broken station wagons can be made safe and roadworthy again.

Up to 30 station wagons are delivered by post every week, almost all of which have been damaged by falls. The spectrum ranges from slight abrasions to torn patches and sanded-through seams to completely torn buttocks. At first glance, the station wagons often look worse than they are actually damaged. The classic fall zones on the knees, hips or shoulders are most frequently affected. But even badly battered station wagons bring professionals back into shape. When it comes to repairs, there are two options: on the one hand, on safety, and on the other, on optics. During repairs to ensure safety, for example, sanded-through seams are renewed or damaged protectors are replaced. Abrasions that do not look good, but do not affect safety, are not repaired.

This type of repair is particularly used in racing, as the risk of another fall is relatively high and the station wagon does not necessarily have to look like new. Nevertheless, the damaged sponsor patches are renewed before each race. Between the races of the Yamaha R6 Dunlop Cup, the seamstresses at Schwabenleder mend rows of station wagons. “There are already candidates who fall to the right side in one race, to the left in the next race and then to the right again later,” says seamstress Jasmin Stozek. Security repairs are comparatively cheap. When repairing optics, on the other hand, even parts with only small scratches or abrasions are replaced. This drives up the price significantly, but many drivers no longer want to be reminded of a fall.

Jasmin Stozek has a station wagon on which the safety repair would only cost around 160 euros. However, the customer wants the station wagon to look almost like new and pays a good three times as much for the repairs – 450 euros. It goes without saying that such work is not worthwhile with cheap brands. However, anyone who pays 1300 euros and more for a station wagon is still well served with the repair.

Customers are often amazed at the cost of supposedly small repairs. Protectors that are not put in pockets but are sewn directly to the leather are particularly safe. However, it makes repairs more complicated, because the protectors usually have to be removed before the leather can be repaired.

If, for example, only the lettering on the elbow needs to be renewed, the seamstresses have to cut the leather on the elbow, separate the protector from the leather a small piece, sew on the lettering and then sew the whole thing back together again later. That takes – and costs.

Made-to-measure changes


Service: maintenance and repair of leather suits


Army car

Even a small hole is a lot of work. The lower part of the sleeve needs to be completely renewed.

Not only falls require the work of professionals. Beer and chips did a great job and you can hardly get the zipper of your favorite combination closed? Size adjustments are usually not a problem, Swabian leather suits can be changed 10 to 12 centimeters in circumference at the waist, hips and bust – this corresponds to about three clothing sizes. For this purpose, leather strips are sewn in on both sides, and in the case of two-piece suits, the jacket is lengthened at the connection zipper. A change is always cheaper than a new station wagon and costs around 150 to 300 euros, depending on the workload.

It also works the other way around: A customer has lost around 40 kilograms, but absolutely wanted to keep his station wagon. The Schwabenleder team has made the combination around 35 centimeters narrower and a little shorter in the stomach and waist area – no easy task. Basically, almost everything can be changed on a station wagon, even unusual dimensions such as wrist and ankle widths. However, the workload can only be assessed when the station wagon is on the table. Even then, there are still surprises every now and then: “I once pulled out the front zipper on a third-party product and suddenly had several individual pieces of leather in my hand that were attached to it,” says Jasmin. The sewing together of the parts took significantly longer than the usual replacement of the zipper – and the customer had to be billed pro rata.

EBay bargains bought blindly on a motorcycle often turn out to be spoiling fun because they don’t sit well. The unfortunate Carsten Stoll bought an Arlen Ness station wagon at auction and found out at home that it was pinching in the crotch. He will pay around 130 euros for the change, the supposed bargain is almost nonexistent. The auctioned station wagon is a few centimeters too short or too long? No problem, changes in length are part of the day-to-day business of experienced leather tailors. 

Brandings and logos


Service: maintenance and repair of leather suits


Army car

When repairing a torn knee slider holder, the seamstress cuts off the damaged Velcro and cuts the protector out of the pants. She places a new piece of Velcro with foam and sews it back onto the protector. Then she sews it into her pants and colors the sanding marks.

In the event of a fall, the brandings and lettering on the station wagon usually suffer as well. Several providers have specialized in their repairs. Skill Skin from Stefan Rottger is particularly well-known in the scene. Customers can choose from 3500 fonts and 350 types of leather and put together their own lettering and logos. A typical name lettering costs a flat rate of 75 euros, a small sticker 20 euros, and a larger one for the thigh 35 euros, each including sewing work. The prices for elaborate, colorful cartoon characters start at around 250 euros, there is no upper limit.

But what use is the chic station wagon if it doesn’t protect well? According to this motto, many customers have the often inferior original protectors exchanged for high-quality protectors such as those from Sas-Tec while their station wagon is being repaired. “The demand is very high,” says Stefan Rottger. Nevertheless, the Skill Skin Team manages to process every order within seven days.

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