Airbag Jacket any good? ( Hit Air Safermoto jacket & vest)

[SaferMoto]

Originally Posted by emti

Hello I still have a good friend who t- boned a left turning car car while wearing a hit-air jacket. his Suzuki gsf?650 was totaled, he did a superman type flight about 10 yards before landing on his chest. as he lay there he thought he was broken as he felt very stiff, until he realized the jacket had done its job. He got up and help move the bike off of the road.Went to the ER and got to sleep in his own bed that night.When the insurance company presented him his check they said usually dont get to give it to the rider, mostly his family. My next jacket will be one. emti

Would really like to contact him to get the full story and feature him/her on the website Dont like to hear about crashes but LOVE to hear about the rider being relatively uninjured

[John Smallberries]

Originally Posted by Tonopah

I've been thinking about a Hit-Air Jacket for warm weather riding. The H-3 or MX-5 or MS-5. Not sure which. Would like it in light grey. I'm 5'8" with 40" chest, 36" waist and am 170 pounds. Not sure which size either.

Safermoto: can you advise regarding which jacket and what size? Thanks.




For the lady's question above, there might be a solution if you look at a jacket rather than a vest?

I've got a grey MX-5 that I've ridden in 100-degree-plus Georgia back-country heat. I wear a t-shirt underneath and dump water on myself through the mesh at every stop. (I buy two bottles - drink one/dump one) The mesh really works and let the air flow in, evaporate the water and suck out the heat.

My only complaint is the zipper - which I wish was more rugged.

I believe this is a great product and am continually amazed that more people do not wear them. Why?

I was at my local BMW store a few weeks ago and the owner gave me a puzzled look as I connected my tether. He had never seen one before.

For those worried about the accidental inflation - don't be. I've never accidentally inflated after 15,000 miles and 2 years of riding and countless on/offs. If I did - it's is no big deal. I would just unscrew the CO2 cartridge, repack the bladders and install the spare I carry in my side bag. It becomes second nature - like putting on your seatbelt.

[andreis]

Hello SaferMoto,
I'm new to this forum. This is essentially my first post, so hello to everyone and sorry for not going through the usual procedure of posting up a new thread to say "hello world".
I've joined mostly because I'm very interested in this thread and the responses SaferMoto gives.
I've looked, but haven't found, any new things you've done with the release system.

It seems to me that people who want to ride upright or people who are generally taller, have to have their tether cord very long. This would seem to delay the triggering and it does make me wonder what use it would be if you get to hit the ground first. Also, you would need some length in order to move around on the bike.

The question is : Why don't you make a self-tightening system, kinda like a seat belt works, where if you pull on it fast it blocks and in all other circumstances it allows for free extension of the cord? You can add the mechanism at the end that attaches to the bike so as to not weigh down on the rider. It would be a pretty inexpensive modification and would provide for any cord length improving at the same time the trigger time (because it would not require a certain distance from the motorcycle, as it does now).

[Tonopah]

SaferMoto is a distributer and orders the product from Japan. SaferMoto is not a manufacturer and therefore cannot alter the product design.

The design change that you suggest is intriguing -- but might complicate things. The existing tether is adjustable of course. If your riding includes standing on the pegs, you'll want to adjust the tether to be longer. But if you street ride and do not stand on the pegs, the tether can be shorter. In fact, there is no reason why you could not have two tethers on your bike -- a longer one and a shorter one -- and just snap in the one that best suits your intended ride.

What's nice about the existing system is that it is simple and does work in the extreme circumstances when you want it to work, but won't activate the air bag when you dismount the bike normally.

[andreis]

Originally Posted by Tonopah

SaferMoto is a distributer and orders the product from Japan. SaferMoto is not a manufacturer and therefore cannot alter the product design.

Oh! Sorry, I didn't know.

Originally Posted by Tonopah

The design change that you suggest is intriguing -- but might complicate things. The existing tether is adjustable of course. If your riding includes standing on the pegs, you'll want to adjust the tether to be longer. But if you street ride and do not stand on the pegs, the tether can be shorter. In fact, there is no reason why you could not have two tethers on your bike -- a longer one and a shorter one -- and just snap in the one that best suits your intended ride.

What's nice about the existing system is that it is simple and does work in the extreme circumstances when you want it to work, but won't activate the air bag when you dismount the bike normally.

And I'm not contradicting any of that. The addition I'm suggesting is not complicated at all.

It would be something like this :



only built to withstand larger forces and with the added mechanism to block when pulled harder than a certain threshold. This would accommodate for all the length needs and the cable would be already stretched when the need for deployment arises.
I'm also pretty sure it's no big thing to add to existing jackets

[John Smallberries]

I am looking for a longer tether to enable me to stand on my pegs. I don't think I'd do this on a hard-core off-road excursion, but a quick standup helps with fatigue and monkey-butt on a long ride. I can't do this today when I'm tethered. What I'd ideally like is just a longer tether with a tighter coil to keep it from hanging down too far as I walk around. I'd shy away from the added mechanical complexity any reel-type system would bring.

I love my Hit-Air, but every product can be improved. My total list of "like to haves" is now up to 4:
1) stronger zipper
2) hi-viz color
3) longer tether option for peg riding
4) 500 denier Cordura nylon on the non-mesh areas

[JR356]

Originally Posted by John Smallberries

I am looking for a longer tether to enable me to stand on my pegs. I don't think I'd do this on a hard-core off-road excursion, but a quick standup helps with fatigue and monkey-butt on a long ride. I can't do this today when I'm tethered. What I'd ideally like is just a longer tether with a tighter coil to keep it from hanging down too far as I walk around. I'd shy away from the added mechanical complexity any reel-type system would bring.

I love my Hit-Air, but every product can be improved. My total list of "like to haves" is now up to 4:
1) stronger zipper
2) hi-viz color
3) longer tether option for peg riding
4) 500 denier Cordura nylon on the non-mesh areas

There was some discussion earlier or on another forum about longer tether for certain bikes or taller riders.
As I recall SaferMoto had a suggested fix for this,but think it required buying and modding a second tether and possibly another clip to add length.
Would contact them directly about this.

JR356

[Thinc2]

Originally Posted by andreis

Oh! Sorry, I didn't know.



And I'm not contradicting any of that. The addition I'm suggesting is not complicated at all.

It would be something like this :



only built to withstand larger forces and with the added mechanism to block when pulled harder than a certain threshold. This would accommodate for all the length needs and the cable would be already stretched when the need for deployment arises.
I'm also pretty sure it's no big thing to add to existing jackets

I really love this idea

[JRWooden]

Excellent idea....
A light-weigh version of a "retractable rope grap" would do the trick....

Here are some "heavy duty" versions - designed to stop a person in free-fall (say off a roof) yet allow them to walk around while working...

http://www.majorsafety.com/index.cfm...rope-grabs.cfm

[bajaburro]

stay off your bike and you wont get hurt,or maybe get a small blue contvertable.there is always a chance of geting hurt in anything you do.enjoy riding while you can no matter what jacket you have.

[Tonopah]

It's all about how far you are willing to go to reduce risk.

A helmet will reduce your risk of a debillitating or fatal head injury -- you'd probably agree with that statement -- but you do have to actually wear the helmet. A lot of people ride wearing tennis shoes but others ride with proper boots in order to reduce the risk of foot/ankle injury. Your choice.

The air bag vest is likely to reduce the risk of injury in certain common types of crashes. Wear one or not. I do when commuting.

It's just a higher level of ATGAAT. Individual choice.

[andreis]

Originally Posted by JRWooden

Excellent idea....
A light-weigh version of a "retractable rope grap" would do the trick....

Here are some "heavy duty" versions - designed to stop a person in free-fall (say off a roof) yet allow them to walk around while working...

http://www.majorsafety.com/index.cfm...rope-grabs.cfm

Yep, exactly what I was thinking
Just need to find one with the right specs (or adapt the ones that don't fit) ;)

[SaferMoto]

Originally Posted by JR356

There was some discussion earlier or on another forum about longer tether for certain bikes or taller riders.
As I recall SaferMoto had a suggested fix for this,but think it required buying and modding a second tether and possibly another clip to add length.
Would contact them directly about this.

JR356

TallRob on this site has two tethers joined together which works well for him, let me know if you need help with the setup.

[SaferMoto]

Originally Posted by JRWooden

Excellent idea....
A light-weigh version of a "retractable rope grap" would do the trick....

Here are some "heavy duty" versions - designed to stop a person in free-fall (say off a roof) yet allow them to walk around while working...

http://www.majorsafety.com/index.cfm...rope-grabs.cfm

It is all about reasonable cost, the current tether is a very cost effective solution.

[SaferMoto]

Originally Posted by andreis

Hello SaferMoto,
I'm new to this forum. This is essentially my first post, so hello to everyone and sorry for not going through the usual procedure of posting up a new thread to say "hello world".
I've joined mostly because I'm very interested in this thread and the responses SaferMoto gives.
I've looked, but haven't found, any new things you've done with the release system.

It seems to me that people who want to ride upright or people who are generally taller, have to have their tether cord very long. This would seem to delay the triggering and it does make me wonder what use it would be if you get to hit the ground first. Also, you would need some length in order to move around on the bike.

The question is : Why don't you make a self-tightening system, kinda like a seat belt works, where if you pull on it fast it blocks and in all other circumstances it allows for free extension of the cord? You can add the mechanism at the end that attaches to the bike so as to not weigh down on the rider. It would be a pretty inexpensive modification and would provide for any cord length improving at the same time the trigger time (because it would not require a certain distance from the motorcycle, as it does now).

Thank you for the suggestions, I have a "direct line" the the manufacturer and will pass your suggestions along

The current system is simple and works but we are always open to improvements and suggestions. I will send a email to the man who invented the air bag system and let you know what his reply is

Thank you