Motorcycle Clothing Stitching and Thread

How is Your Motorcycle Clothing Held Together?

How much use will your motorcycle clothing be if the thread used isn’t sufficient to withstand the assault of an accident?

A lot of garments that claim to be for use on a motorcycle only use top stitching where panels are placed on top of each other and either sewn with one or two rows externally.

This includes inner arms where only one row of internal stitching would usually be sewn as a flat seam which is insufficient as it is very weak and open to the elements.

Some of the type of thread used could eventually rot or be too thin in the first place and not strong enough for the material used.

In regards to leather motorcycle clothing, if the thread used is not nylon-bonded, the tanning chemicals in the leather have an adverse effect on the thread.

It is easy to imagine what would happen to this stitching when sliding down the road in an accident. Even at low speed, the thread disintegrates with the abrasive effect of the road.

The result of this would be the panel coming completely open and the flesh of the rider rubbing along the road (gravel rash).

How to do it Right

In order to alleviate this problem, internal stitching should be used on all vulnerable area seams before single or double top stitching (one of the construction methods you never see as it is inside the garment).

This internal stitching holds the garment together even though the top stitching has failed (worn away by road abrasion), thus allowing the garment to do its job and protect the body.

In product descriptions, you should look for mention of internal stitching as well as top stitching to all vulnerable areas of motorcycle clothing. Even the stitches-per-inch count.