Z Custom Leathers Super Street Pants
Z CUSTOM LEATHERS SUPER STREET PANTS
CW EVALUATION
Not your typical trousers
MOST MOTORCYCLISTS PROBABLY CONsider custom-tailored leather riding pants a frivolous expense, right up there with a polished speedometer bezel and color-coordinated handgrips. After all, who needs leather pants when you already have a one-piece roadracing suit hanging in the hall closet? What’s more, you could buy a boatload of Levi’s for the price of one pair of leather trousers.
Truth is, though, leather riding pants are surprisingly versatile, and if cared for properly, can last a lifetime. Furthermore, whereas blue jeans abrade with all the resistance of cardboard, nothing tops cowhide when you’re sliding along on your butt.
An example of the genre are the Super Street pants from Z Custom Leathers (5445 Oceanus Dr., Suite 107, Huntington Beach, CA 92649; 714/ 890-5721). Retailing for $395, these feature 1.3mm-thick top-grain leather, heavy-duty nylon thread, snap-down hand-warmer pockets, closed-cell foam padding at the hips and knees, fulllength nylon mesh lining and brass zippers. We also opted for $50 Kevlar panels in the crotch and $35 stretch knit behind the knees, bringing the bill to $475. (If you desire custom graphics or lettering, or if your waist measures 38 inches or more in circumference, plan on spending a bit more.)
One of the benefits of custom tailoring is a personalized fit. Z is located nearby our Newport Beach offices, so we had company owner Adolph Rodriguez measure our Managing Editor. For out-of-state customers, Z’s catalog includes detailed, maleand female-specific measurement charts, making it possible to obtain a flawless fit. (Do not, however, measure yourself.) Along the same lines, Z also requests that you indicate the type of riding planned-drag race, sport riding, touring, etc.-at the time of order.
Within a couple of weeks, our pants were ready for pickup. First impressions were good, but after a couple of rides, the pants simply didn’t fit. Length was fine, but the waist was, in fact, growing. Apparently, the seamstress forgot to add a restrictive nylon facing to the waistband. As a result, Rodriguez says, the leather stretched.
Suitably altered, the buttery-soft pants proved snug enough for sport riding, yet plenty comfortable for allday tours. They’re tough, too. We even got them muddy and wet while riding off-road with no negative effects. (For periodic cleanings, Z sells a $15 cleaner/conditioner kit that includes a softbristle nylon brush for removing bugs and road debris.)
Bottom line, then? Money well spent.
