Triumph collaborates with Alpinestars for 2009 clothing

During last weekend's dealer conference, in addition to its new 2009 models, Triumph revealed that it had collaborated with Alpinestars to develop a comprehensive new range of clothing. Now, thanks to a leaked internal document, we can exclusively reveal details of what's being officially called "Triumph, engineered by Alpinestars." The collection, the company's largest offering to date, seeks to banish memories of past clothing ranges, which, despite a few genuinely timeless items, were big on crapyness and short on style. Follow the jump for details.
Triumph says, "Our collaboration with this world leading manufacturer brings the very best sports products to Triumph riders. We have worked closely with Alpinestars to develop our own premium collection of products focused on performance and sport bike riding. The "Triumph, engineered by Alpinestars" riding garments include a top of the range one piece suit, jackets and jeans, along with a glove and boot collection." Here's the headline pieces:

AS 1 Suit:
The flagship of the new range is this 1-piece leather suit. Essentially a rebadged Alpinestars MX-1 (their second tier race suit). It's high quality and fully featured. Leather is 1.2-1.4mm thick, is double layered in the relevant areas, has really solid CE armor and comes with the world's trickiest to wear back protector that should actually be quite safe once you get it in, which takes 15-minutes every time you take it off. Unique Triumph details include logos and a natty British flag on the Velcro flap that covers the zipper.

AS 2 Jacket and AS 3 Jeans:
A replacement for Triumph's long running two-piece suit, these are based on Alpinestars' RC-1 Jacket and Track pants. Both high quality, if hardly subtle, items.

AS 1 Boots:
A restyled S-MX R, Alpinestars' mid-range sport boot, we actually prefer this design's solid colors and neat inner flag to the standard item.

AS 1 Gloves:
Our Alpinestars GP Techs performed admirably in a severe crash, destroying themselves in the process. These GP Pros are similar and should feature an equivalent level of protection.

T-Shirts:
There's a bunch of new T-Shirts on offer, inspired by old Triumph ads, posters and promotional material. We kind of like this design, which was pulled directly from a 1950s print ad. Still present will be the slightly suspect As Worn By Steve McQueen shirts.

Overall, we don't know whether to be impressed or disappointed by Triumph's approach. Sure, all it's done is write Alpinestars a check and slapped on some logos, but this does mean that first rate gear will now be available at Triumph dealers and to those who insist on wearing clothing that's the same brand as their bike (we've always been convinced that such people are deeply disturbed). The thing is, many dealers are prepared to incorporate clothing and helmets into finance deals and since dealers are more prevalent than motorcycle-specific clothing retailers this may make it easier for more riders to find and afford genuinely good protection, which is always a good thing. Prices look to be more or less in line with what Alpinestars asks in-house.

In addition to these products, there'll be a wide range of gear; some based on other Alpinestars items, some unique. Triumph will also be incorporating Gore-Tex Pro Shell Leather into some of its products, although we're not sure which ones.