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Airbag jacket looks like better safety solution than adding anti lock brakes to the Z1000

lmckusic

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Guest
I have come across information about a personal airbag jacket.
The Youtube reviewer FortNine has a video. His video concludes that the Helite brand airbag jacket is the best choice for a road rider. The tittle is:

Motorcycle Airbags Exist – But No One Uses Them?​


The Helite website has jackets starting at around $900. The URL is
 

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Best solution is to not have a collision. Only partly joking.

If that's the budget and there's no option to move to an ABS equipped bike, then I'd think it would be better than trying to retrofit ABS to a C-10. The airbag vest would likely help in all collisions whereas the ABS only helps in cases where braking errors cause you to drop the bike such as grabbing too much brake as a startle response.

I've done some reading on them. I expect it would pay for itself in a lot of crashes. I once read a comment about fitting snow tires on cars in northern climes... That it was cheaper than the insurance deductible.
 
I've been wearing a HitAir jacket for years, and I ride in Texas heat.


Your can search Youtube for demos and some real live accidents.

They were cheaper than the motorcycle brands, do not require a subscription, were the inventors of the air bag for horse riding and motorcycles and are reusable.

The Japanese police have used them for years.

The sizes are small and stock may be limited. I ended up with a horse riding Vest.

DS
 
I've been wearing a Hit-Air MLV-P vest for years now. If it needed to be replaced, I'd go looking for another.

I've ridden with it in temps up into the 115F range for hours. In high temps, it actually helps because it slows down the evaporation from your cooling vest enough to make it last. I ran across a couple in South Dakota in 105F temps and their cooling vests only worked for the first 30 minutes. Mine last a couple hours.

Chris
 
I have one and love it, however in my opinion it should not be thought of as a replacement for ABS. ABS prevents the crash and an airbag vest does it's best to prevent injuries for the crash.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

State patrol in many states spec ABS on all their motorcycles. Also, police motorcycle riders receive more training than most riders out there.

Do not get me wrong, airbags are great! I use one and first I want my money in devices or training that will help prevent the crash and second on devices that will help me to feed myself if I have one.

Dan
 
I've been wearing a Hit-Air MLV-P vest for years now. If it needed to be replaced, I'd go looking for another.

I've ridden with it in temps up into the 115F range for hours. In high temps, it actually helps because it slows down the evaporation from your cooling vest enough to make it last. I ran across a couple in South Dakota in 105F temps and their cooling vests only worked for the first 30 minutes. Mine last a couple hours.

Chris
These go on the outside of your riding gear?
 
The price of the full sized jackets have went up in price like everything else,I was considering buying one when they were 600 bucks but now at 900 almost 1000 ain’t gonna happen
 
Heh heh, yeah, mine did too back in '03 but it was not all that much comfort being transported in the "Bus" with 3 piece clavicle and 2 broken ribs in the back. Pretty sure a vest like this may have negated those injuries and the subsequent pain for the next 2 months. On the plus side...I have a really cool bump in my collarbone and I only charge 1 buck per feel at rallies!
 
Heh heh, yeah, mine did too back in '03 but it was not all that much comfort being transported in the "Bus" with 3 piece clavicle and 2 broken ribs in the back. Pretty sure a vest like this may have negated those injuries and the subsequent pain for the next 2 months. On the plus side...I have a really cool bump in my collarbone and I only charge 1 buck per feel at rallies!
i am still considering buying the full jacket, i saw arider go down recently and the way it happenef i do beleivevthe air bag jacket would gave offered him more protection.
 
Will you be buying a winter and a summer airbag jacket? If you gain weight and need or want a new jacket, you'll be buying another jacket. Will the airbag jacket give you the airflow for the summer that you'd get in a dedicated summer jacket? Or the warmth and weather protection you'd get in a fall/winter/spring jacket?

A vest can work with any jacket you buy. An airbag vest can go over any jacket.
 
Will you be buying a winter and a summer airbag jacket? If you gain weight and need or want a new jacket, you'll be buying another jacket. Will the airbag jacket give you the airflow for the summer that you'd get in a dedicated summer jacket? Or the warmth and weather protection you'd get in a fall/winter/spring jacket?

A vest can work with any jacket you buy. An airbag vest can go over any jacket.
Well maybe you swayed me into looking at the vest since i do have a couple of quality jackets, might be the smart thing to do !Ty
 
I’ve been test riding one of the cheap Amazon tethered motorcycle vests and am surprised at the quality of a something costing less than $150. It’s essentially a cylinder inflated life vest with the pull cord mechanism tightened a bit and the cord fastened to the bike so the vest inflates on a get-off. Fits over all my jackets and even on long rides and being tired the cord always adds the needed tension reminder to unclip. I honestly think I’d have to leap off the bike to ”accidentally” fire the vest. The only downsides I’ve found so far is that in hot weather the vest blocks jacket vents and the zipper pocket to hide the air cyllinder appears weak (but hasn’t failed). Note that I have NOT tested this in a fall. So far it’s just been a fashion accessory.
 
Well maybe you swayed me into looking at the vest since i do have a couple of quality jackets, might be the smart thing to do !Ty
I've been wearing an airbag vest for probably five years and have had a lot of time to think about it. :)

Chris
 
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