Ducati Monster Forum

all my personal emails are gone from TOB...you guys know the drill....

One of us (ozmonsters) bought some great gear from Japan from RS-Taichi.

Can that person write a review, post a picture and who they dealt with over there...

I'd like to get something custom made for summer....the ASmerican sizes mean I'm a XXXL chest and a medium waist!

thanks in advance

Spider

Vince!

It's been so long since I've seen you!

You've really fixed yourself up.

 [thumbsup]

Should see me after a night on the piss :o

Its good to see you noticed my good looks,being the hansom devil i am [thumbsup]

enough of the cr@p!

I found the handsome devil.

It's Palooka from Queensland....!

Yes, it's me.

Spidey seems keen on knowing about the RS Taichi suit that I have so I thought I'd share.


I've had Dainese and AStars in the past and although they are pretty good quality I could never help feeling that the stuff you see the GP riders wearing and the stuff us guys can buy off the shelves is somewhat different. Let's not go down the path of us not having GP star bodies!
I came across a guy one day wearing Kushitani leathers and the difference in the build and the leather suppleness between them and the Italian off the peg stuff was like night and day.
So when it came to replacing my leathers I was kinda over getting off the peg stuff that was too short in the arms and legs (being a tall svelte kinda build) that I started to hunt around for a custom set.
I found that RS Taichi have a facility on their website for custom, made to measure, orders to be taken and decided to give them a holler. They basically let you design and have made your own leathers. If you want you can take one of their existing designs and tweak it a bit for your individual measurements. This costs a little more but you end up getting something that's a perfect fit. The cost is comparative to any of the high end makers but the leathers are made for you.
I had a bunch of questions to ask and a very very polite and helpful guy from Taichi (whose name is Taka) responded to all of my questions in a most helpful way. Most of my questions were about making sure I gave him the right measurements. He came back back to me quite a few times to make sure that I'd measured everything up the right way. He even sent some photos through of himself showing where to measure from and to.
BTW, this guy fits out the GP racers who wear Taichi leathers and he couldn't have been more helpful.

Anyways, long story short, they made me up a custom set of leathers with the best materials you could imagine for about the same price you would pay for an off the shelf set of any of the name brand leathers. Nice touch was when they sent the leathers over express post with a declared value of $100. No import duty folks!

The leathers themselves are made from top quality leather and the colours are screen printed on, not different coloured panels stitched together like most manufacturers. They are a perfect fit and when I'm riding they are so comfy that it almost feels that I'm not quite protected. There's not pulling or rubbing anywhere like all the other leathers I've never had.

Japanese leathers have to comply to safety standards, which surprisingly, is not required anywhere else. Can you believe that?! There's no guaranteed safety standards with most makers.

There's some really thoughful touches like a tag inside the front zip that records your name and blood type. Every internal seam is trimmed so there's nothing to irritate.

These leather are made to save your skin and I have no doubt that if (god forbid) they are put to the test they will come through with flying colours.

Cheers
Palooka

Thank you so much, great review Palooka.

I might clean up this thread a little and put it in the gear section - or reference it anyway.

appreciated

Spider

Hey Palooka,

    I've just read your words sounds like a dream.
I have had a look at the site, did you get a Racing Leather Suit or a two piece jacket/pants?
If you got the suit which one was it just out of interest and to put it in the back of my mind for future purchase options.

cheers
Matty...

Hey Matty,
  I basically took the NXL070 GP MAX R070 suit and customised the colours and had it made to measure. Have a look on their website http://www.rs-taichi.com/main/indextop.html and you'll see the one I mean.

Cheers
Palooka

wow they look good  [moto] will they help hide my beer belly [laugh]

Hey Spider,

RS Taichi has a shop at Laguna Seca and since you mentioned the gear I thought I would have a look - Very impressive gear and the guys behind the counter knew their stuff! If had had the available cash I would look at getting one of their suits as they are A1.

Well worth the effort of getting the suit customised ! [thumbsup]

Ciao,

R_usty

yeah, I wanted a 2 piece for street riding in summer and unfortunately they won't custom that. Palooka's contact was actually over there for the race and to work at the shop - pretty helpful guy - he's looking at my measurements (go on Jukie!) and will tell me if I can fit into anything that is stock.

Thanks for the feedback Rusty!

I went to the RS Tachi store in Kanagawa yesterday (HQ is in Osaka). It's based out of a Harley shop.. lol. Anyone, They really did know their stuff. Very helpful. Lots of off the peg stuff and a team to help fit and design custom stuff.

Glad to be ok help guys.

The gear they make is real quality but you will find the off the peg sizes are Japanese. By that I mean really narrow shoulders and waist. Taka was very appologetic about this but until they get more "western" customers it's unlikely to change.

Cheers
Palooka (from Kuala Lumpur)