Air bag vest

[dduelin]

When you get out of a car you typically remember to release the seat belt and open the door. When you get in you close the door and fasten your seatbelt.

I find the airbag tether tether no more difficult to remember when dismounting and mounting the bike. Sure a few times I forgot and it tugged me to a stop at a gas pump or I rode off w/o clicking it on. In the years I've been riding a few times I've ridden off without fastening my helmet too. Disturbing yet rare. But as I said earlier the best airbag protection you can buy is the one you are wearing when you need it. Advantages and disadvantages will tilt us one way or the other towards electronic triggers vs mechanical or vests vs jackets. If you are in the market, do the research and buy the best one for you if resources allow.

I triggered my Helite Turtle 2 a few weeks ago in a low speed get-off. I was at a range rodeo course hosted by the local police motorcycle unit. The cone courses were very small and tight. At one moment I fixated on a cone across the circle I had to make and of course rode right into it. I guess the cone folded over and lifted my front wheel off the pavement and down I went, hard on my left side. I wasn't going but 2 or 3 mph but the last time I fell like this, about 16 years ago when I was 54, I broke my collar bone and strained my shoulder. At 70 years of age this time I rolled over across my back on the ground and jumped up - embarrassed as heck but not injured in anyway. The police officer coach was about 10 feet away when I hit the ground and his eyes were popping out of his head as he rushed over to me. I realized the vest had inflated and I looked like Bibendum the Michelin Man. I assured him I was OK and in a few moments the vest deflated. I had a spare CO2 cartridge with me and replaced the spent one. Getting back on my NC700X I went back through the course gate and failed to make the course again, but on the next try I completed it. The ride home was close to 20 miles in urban traffic and I was glad the vest was effective when I needed it and ready to work as designed if needed again.

 

[Daboo]

Bibendum the Michelin Man

Cool! I never knew his name, but in my pre-heated gear days, I used to compare myself to him with all the layers I wore commuting.

My first time of having my airbag vest deploy wasn't any kind of spectacular tale. But it taught me a valuable lesson. I was heading to the prison and evening rush hour was in full swing. I came to a busy intersection, stopped and saw the traffic starting to move in the lanes ahead of me going right to left. It was a huge intersection, so I knew there was a few moments if I turned now, that I could get out in front of the traffic to my left. I let the clutch out and looked forward...to see a teenager carrying a skateboard crossing in the crosswalk. He wasn't doing anything wrong, BTW. I hadn't begun moving more than maybe a half mile an hour???...but my right foot wasn't on the footpeg yet. My only choice was to grab the front brake hard and keep from hitting the kid.

The next moment, I was looking up at the sky and lying against the curb. Huh?? What happened? Oh...the airbag vest went off. I can see the bike sleeping on its side a few feet away. I do a quick check and everything seems to be fine for the body and it dawns on me that this should hurt. Hurt bad. My back is laying against the hard edge of the curb and I hit hard. But no broken ribs. Why? The airbag did its job.

I rode away with a badly bruised ego and a dirty jacket and airbag vest that used to look so pristine. I bought a new CO2 cartridge for about $22 and washed the vest.

If my understanding is correct, an airbag with sensors wouldn't have deployed. That would be a stop and drop. But I'm sure I would've had some broken ribs from that encounter with the curb. The tethered system had the airbag vest deployed before I hit the ground. It also had my airbag vest deployed when I hit the ground in 1/30th of a second. It works. All the other arguments for a sensor activated airbag are IMO simply marketing arguments to convince you to buy that instead of a simpler system.

As @dduelin said, I've tried to walk away from my bike a few times and always been brought up short. The analogy of wearing a seat belt is good. I think I'm smarter than the seat belt, and decades ago I learned how to unbuckle it before getting out of the car. I learned the same thing with my tethered airbag vest.

Chris

 

[Tedbrogden]

I understand the role these can play in reducing injuries, but how can you wear them in the summertime in Texas?

 

[Uncle Phil]

I understand the role these can play in reducing injuries, but how can you wear them in the summertime in Texas?

Same way you wear them in the heat and humidity in Tennessee in the summertime - you just sweat a little bit more.
I've worn mine riding through Las Vegas in above 100 degree temps.
My Hit-Air does not block that much of the wind when moving along.
When you stop, you're gonna roast anyway even if you are not wearing anything ...

 

[Daboo]

I understand the role these can play in reducing injuries, but how can you wear them in the summertime in Texas?

I was born in Texas (Harlingen) and moved around there as an Air Force brat, but I've never ridden in Texas. But New Mexico last year was 105F and maybe that qualifies.

Above 93F, your thyroid can't keep up with the cooling needs of your body. David Hough has some excellent articles on riding in extreme heat. Anyway, he says at those temps to start limiting the amount of airflow over your body because the air is actually acting like a hair dryer on your skin and heating you up. All the sweat is evaporating before it can cool you. So the Hit-Air vest I have will allow some air to flow on your body...but not too much in conditions like that.

I met a couple in Wyoming one year. Temps were up at triple-digits. She said their cooling vests only lasted a half-hour. Mine lasted me almost three hours. It helps. If you don't have one yet, a cooling vest under the jacket is like air-conditioning on a motorcycle.

Just like riding anywhere, you learn to compensate and adjust for the conditions. I live where it is cool for most of you. Mid to high 70s is normal in the summer months. But those are the months when I'm traveling outside the Pacific Northwest and the temps are in the 90s and 100s. I adjust what I wear.

I had a lot of debate in my mind about the cost of one of these. $600-700 now, is a lot of money. My wife pointed out that it's a fraction of what it costs for an emergency room visit.

Chris

 

[bdalameda]

The Klim vest is only $300, but the subscription adds $120/year or $12/month. If you buy the module outright, it adds another $399 so the Klim vest is competitive with the Turtle 2. They mention pausing the subscription, but no mention if you want to suspend it for cold months (it is not unrealistic for us northerners to want to shut it off for 4 to 6 monhts). The adventure riding option is $25/yr or $8/mo. There was no threat that there would be no price increases for the subscription.

How many upgrades have you had in your 3 years?
What does a new cartridge cost?

With most PPE, when you need it, it's too late to put it on. I like @Rubio's comment about marine PFD's. Who wears these unless mandated by law (ex. personal watercraft)?

Baby water buffalo size? Phil from my perspective hugging you, I think you outgrew baby size a long time ago. (Said w/ no disrespect).

Even cremation is expensive. If you have gone through one (funeral) living is cheaper.

The surviving "in good shape" is key. Many folks survive a crash, but the lingering effects may decrease the quality of life. Anything that helps to mitigate the injuries and the pain of recovery is worth it IMHO.

I have only had on box replaced as an upgrade. I have had several software updates over the years and they have added an ADV mode for the controller that works better for riding off road. It is my understanding you can pause the subscription for winter non-riding months. The prices have not gone up for at least three years and the cost of the airbag itself has dropped by 100.00 since I bought mine. I think the argon cartridge cost is about 75.00 and you can replace it yourself up to 3 deployments after that they want you to send it in for an inspection. There is a manual air inflation valve if you want to inflate the bag just to inspect it.

 

[bdalameda]

@bdalameda - Is it true that you are really only renting the KLIM airbag vest? It looks like there's a $120 per year subscription amount. If it deploys three times, you have to send it in for inspection. Is that at your cost, or theirs? And when you send it in, what do you use while you're waiting for it to be returned?

Getting one of these is a good excuse to lose weight or update my riding gear. I don't have 5 inches of excess room inside my jacket to allow for the expansion when in an accident. If I wore it with my current gear, I'd either have broken ribs or internal injuries just from the airbag deploying.

Chris

You don't rent the vest itself just the control unit is on a subscription, if you want to go that way. You can also buy the controller outright. For 120.00 a year I think this is pretty cheap to maintain the controller as well as replace it if anything goes wrong like a battery problem. They overnight a new control box along with a prepaid shipping box for the old unit to return it if you have any issues with it. You really don't need 5" of extra room for the vest to deploy. My regular jacket has enough stretch to it and I use my standard size jacket. You can see on the video of a deployment test inside a jacket, the jacket gets very tight but it is plenty protective. They have a really good record of successful deployments with the In & Motion system.