Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
A made-to-order set of Barnacle Bill leathers has sold for $1325 to benefit the Roadracing World Air Fence* Fund.
The auction started on the auction website eBay Friday, February 1 with an opening bid of $300 and blew right past our reserve price of $750 on the first day. The weekend saw the most bidding activity of the seven-day auction with 10 of the auction’s 11 bids coming in the first two days.
On February 7, we threw in an added half-page of exposure (for the winning bidder) in Roadracing World magazine to the prize. Shortly afterwards, the high bid of $1325 was reached. The winning bidder was “outrace” or Andre Espaillat as he is known around the racetracks of the South-Central U.S.; Espaillat couldn’t be reached for comment at post time.
Five Air Fence Fund benefit auctions of racing memorabilia and products have raised over $10,800 and brought the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund’s total to nearly $170,000 raised in just 10 months.
The original posting about the auction of the Barnacle Bill leathers can be seen below.
Custom leather suit maker “Barnacle Bill” Burns has donated a custom-made set of his motorcycle leathers (in road race, flat track, speedway, drag race or street style) to be auctioned off with the proceeds, minus the cost of the eBay service, going to the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund.
Burns is offering to make a suit to the specifications of the winning bidder, as if they were a customer ordering one of his standard racer package deals, and Burns says, “The most important suit that I will ever make is the suit that I make for you.”
All of Barnacle Bill’s suits are custom-made from hand-selected 3.0-3.5-ounce leather, feature triple-stitched and glued seams from the inside of the garment to increase durability, come with plastic composite body armor, have optional venting, an optional aerodynamic hump, includes the rider’s name on the front and back and road race suits come with knee sliders. Additional lettering is available at an additional cost.
Virtually any design, color or combination of colors is available to the winning bidder. And the suit can be made in either a one-piece or two-piece design.
After their bid is received, the winning bidder’s name will be forwarded to Burns by Roadracing World. The bidder and Burns will then begin to work on the winning bidder’s new suit. Burns says that the suit will be ready to wear in approximately four weeks, if not earlier.
“Hurt racers don’t come back as customers,” said former racer Burns on why he is donating a suit to the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund. “I’ve hit something solid before, and it doesn’t feel good.”
Custom-made leather suits typically range in cost anywhere from $800 to well over $2000.
Although leathers are the most effective safety clothing worn by motorcyclists on the street and the racetrack today, sometimes well-made leathers are not enough. As a result, the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund was established to raise money to purchase and deploy Air Fence* and Air Module soft barriers to protect crashed riders from hitting walls and other hard objects at racetracks.
To go directly to the auction on eBay, click here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1802522825
*Air Fence is a trademark of Airfence Safety Systems of Australia