What do we call a “printed suit”?
We’re talking about a suit that has the design printed directly onto the leather. The suit is not cut and sewn from a large number of separate pieces of colored leather, lettering and logos. It is instead, cut out of the largest pieces of leather to reduce the seams to a bare minimum, which means increased safety. Complete color graphics are applied to the leather through a special type of printer. It is the latest Japanese technology that we have been working with at PSi since 2010.
Why was this method incorporated into the production of PSi motorcycle leather suits?
The first person to wear a PSi suit made entirely with printed leather was Karel Abraham. Based on his request for the lightest yet safest race suit available this method was developed into our production and successfully implemented. This suit construction allows the maximum “wrapping” together with the machine, thus providing a reduction in aerodynamic drag. This aspect can significantly affect the top speed of a rider. Additionally the suit is overall very comfortable allowing maximum mobility while maintaining the highest safety.
What kind of leather do we print to?
Printing is usually done on white leather. It is specially treated leather from a highly reputable vendor from Italy. We offer both specially treated cowhide and kangaroo leather, which is characterized by high abrasion resistance, elasticity and all the while being 30% lighter and very soft. A favorite “style” became printing black graphics into fluorescent colors like yellow, green, orange…
What’s everything that can be printed?
The advantage of this technology is that it offers many possibilities. You can print anything, tiny logos, shaded images, photographs, color transitions. We print can print a large range of color shades which allows, for example an exact match to the color of your motorcycle.
Polymer technology based on the principal of UV curing offers color stability of the print through the life of the gear, which prevents the colors from fading over time. This method allows for truly wild designs and the imagination has no limits. Customers express their individuality through the originality of their suit and that creativity further enhances our production. For the period of time that we have been using this technology, we have produced hundreds of leather suits, and each one is different (except for race teasms J)
To sum it up, Japanese technology “printing directly onto leather” moved one piece race leathers into the highest levels of safety and comfort at the same time. Fewer seams provide better mobility and more protection. Leathers produced this way are from about 0.5Kg to 0.9 Kg lighter. Thanks to this the most demanding customers find us from around the world.
You too can have the exact same race suit as riders in Moto GP compete in. Complete your very own design utilizing our DESIGNER application on our website.