What did you do to your FJ-tracer-gt today?

[Rick123]

9 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

Yeah, fortnine's video about these covered the "accidental activation" thing too - said they require really substantial force to activate.  I'm kind of curious about that, though, with regards to what happens when you just walk away.  It stays attached to the bike and you just get embarrassingly jerked back(still less embarrassing than having the vest suddenly inflate as you walk away) is what I'd assume, but?  Even so, just needing CO2 cannisters, it's not really a big deal.  They're super cheap.   I definitely think the manual CO2 style is 100% the right way to go with these.

As to weight/bulk, my point is more that it's yet another layer to put on.  I realize that my experience is probably more unique, but I ride every single day, often multiple times a day, and often with just very short trips.  I get the "most accidents happen near home" and all that, but it's a huge pain in the ass to get massively geared up to take a trip to the local grocery store.  I'd sincerely rather take the risk of injury and I've been in multiple major accidents over my riding life, so I can make that decision from experience.  This is *not* a criticism of the device: I think it's fantastic, an excellent safety device.  Arguably #2 after a helmet.  I just already struggle with the amount of gear I'm wearing.  It's kind of insane, particularly as a really big dude.  

But I'm Canadian.  A trip to the ER has no cost for me   Obviously having say a broken spine would indeed have a serious cost, I do wear CE2 back protectors on any trip.  I definitely hear the slower healing and loss of damage resistance in general, though - I found even back in my mid-thirties it was shocking how much shittier it was getting hurt, let alone now staring down 50.  

Anyways, I'm definitely not arguing against them.  More just that I wish they weren't so ridiculously expensive ($750-900cdn, depending on make/model of the manual sorts).  That's two of my heated, modular, ECE rated helmets right there.  If I had to choose today between, say, 4 broken ribs and losing $750, I'd take the ribs.

I'd absolutely be springing for one if I was doing lots of long solo trips (reasoning above), but it's - for me anyways - a huge expense.  And if I had one, I'd definitely wear it 90% of the time.  I really hope they get more popular, more entrants come onto the market, and they come down in cost.  If this was 200, 300$?  I'd be all over that.

I’m pretty sure you can get Chinese knock off for about $150. If I would relayed on it? I’m not 100% sure.

[Rick123]

Got the beak today and just finished installation. Looks pretty good.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Rick123

[2and3cylinders]

18 minutes ago, Rick123 said:

I’m pretty sure you can get Chinese knock off for about $150. If I would relayed on it? I’m not 100% sure.

None of the knock offs are worth a diddle.

Mine was under USD 600 with an extra rip cord for my VTR and 3 extra cartridges plus 40 for 2 insainly pricey retainer buckles that can attach to the handle bar or wherever so you can clip in the rip cord when you dismount and it doesn't hang down and get burned and stays handy and up in sight when you remount...

[PhotoAl]

Getting hurt is no fun for sure.  The one time I went down it was a 15mph crash on a scooter on the island of Capri.  I came out of a hairpin and encountered a bus going the other way swinging wide for the turn - he was on my side.  I dodged and got too close to the side of the road as it was narrowing.  Couldn't get away from rock wall and clipped the right bar.  Boom faceplate on a rock wall at 15 mph!  Had a rental scooter helmet on top of a baseball cap which put it too high.  Concussion, cuts on face, deep scrapes on right side of chest, shattered right kneecap (lost bottom 25%) and a badly sprained right big toe.  I was just over 60 at the time.  Let me think about what was fun - pretty much nothing!!!  I don't remember anything other than the sound of the plastics hitting the rock, next thing I'm waking up in the middle of the street next to the bus and my wife is next to me with the scooter on her foot and a couple of fellas are walking up and lifting it off of her!  Anyone who has been to Capri knows how small the vehicles are and how narrow the streets are.  I got to ride in an ambulance the size of a Kawasaki Mule!  Got the full emergency treatment, neck brace,  back backboard and then strapped onto a gurney and rolled into the tiny ambulance.  Nurse put an IV in my arm as we bounced down the narrow streets to the tiny hospital.  It is a really helpless feeling knowing you are out of control and along for the ride and there is going to be pain involved.  I remember looking at the ceiling tiles as they rolled me into the ER.  ER folks were good but different - I don't know much Italian so was pretty clueless.  They looked for tears in my clothes and then scrubbed the cuts - not fun.  Then out of the corner of my eye I see the fella holding the needle and thread, one stitch next to my eye and 4 or 5 in the knee.  Ummmm no I did not leave out the part where they deadened my knee - they didn't.  It hurt!  By then they figured I wasn't hurt too bad but something was wrong with my knee so off to x-ray.  Doc did say the police were there and wanted to talk to me but my wife could do that while I went to x-ray.  Yup shattered kneecap.  Doc explained to my wife "like ceramico" then made a dropping motion onto the floor.  Yup just like when you drove[p the ceramic coffee mug on the concrete floor!  Wife had fun talking to 5 policemen, one could speak english.  She said he was filling out a long form and as she wrapped up her description with we didn't hit anything or anyone he smiled and tore the form up.  They were probably thinking the bus driver was involved but her statement cleared him and we were free to go.  No orthopedic doc on the island so they told us to go to the hospital in Sorrento.  Nice as that was where we were staying.  They stabilized my knee by wrapping it with three rolls of gauze.  Young lady that did that first tried to rip the seam of my pant leg, she was trying to save my pants but I pointed to the torn knee and said cut it which she did.  With the knee stabilized i got up and walked out of the ER - no wheelchair ride to the door.  Felt wonderful to see the light of day and take a breath of fresh air!  Wife said stay there while I go get a taxi.  Being a guy I listened carefully and proceeded to take a step down a slight incline - oops knee doesn't work anymore and it buckled!  I grabbed the handrail and waited like I was told.  Next stop scooter shop.  After a good Italian discussion with much hand and arm waving I gave him 400 euros and he signed the rental agreement.  then down 100 steps to the harbor.  Bought a T-shirt and chucked my torn blood stained shirt.  Hobbled to a ferry and went to Sorrento.  Funny moment was walking into the hotel, a very nice hotel and the sound interns saw me walk thru the door all bandaged and the momentary look of shock and horror was fun but they vey quickly regained composure!  Off to the hospital where I sat in the waiting room for the ER - a wood bench in the hallway for 5 hours!  Saw an orthopedic doc who said we had 7 days to fix and we could go to the US to get it fixed.  Next day back with a brace for fitment.  Got a prescription for blood thinners and an antibiotic.  Blood thinners where syringes and needles!  After screwing up the first time I learned how to do it.  Again I didn't leave out the part about a prescription for pain meds - none.  Had to get a car and driver to take us to Rome where we spent the night in a hotel and then flew back to Atlanta.  Delta was fantastic.  Changed our tickets and gave us seats with an empty seat between up and two behind us.  After we took off my wife jumped into one of the empty seats behind us so I had 3 seats.  Still a miserable time.  Landed in Atlanta and drove 2 hours home and then had our daughter drive us to the local hospital as I felt some pain in my chest wall when I breathed.  I had a friend who died from a blood clot after a motorcycle crash.  I talked to him the day before and he said he was better but was short of breath.  He would not go to the ER - they found him dead the next day!!!!!!   Got a through checkup in the ER and some pain meds :-).  When I got to the ER my manager walked up to me as I was registering at the desk.  Another person from our group had fallen in the parking deck and was in the ER!  We had a small group and he had 2 employees out of 11 in the ER at the same time!  

Long story but a painful adventure for a slow speed crash.  Had I been wearing normal safety gear - full face helmet, jacket whit shoulder and elbow protection, pants with knee protection and my boots would have probably walked away with no real injuries.  When you are out there remember wear the gear!  For my solo trips I have a SPOT sos unit and a Garmin inReach Mini.  I keep the SPOT in the top of my tank bag and the inReach Mini in my jacket pocket.  I have been in some lonely places in Montana, Wyoming and Utah and like the security.  The inReach Mini does tracking so my wife can see where I am and if I don't arrive where I'm supposed to  she will know where to look.  

All the above is why a good reliable airbag vest in very high on my list of equipment to get.

[petshark]

6 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

Getting hurt is no fun for sure.  The one time I went down it was a 15mph crash on a scooter on the island of Capri.  I came out of a hairpin and encountered a bus going the other way swinging wide for the turn - he was on my side.  I dodged and got too close to the side of the road as it was narrowing.  Couldn't get away from rock wall and clipped the right bar.  Boom faceplate on a rock wall at 15 mph!  Had a rental scooter helmet on top of a baseball cap which put it too high.  Concussion, cuts on face, deep scrapes on right side of chest, shattered right kneecap (lost bottom 25%) and a badly sprained right big toe.  

Thank you for sharing! I hope that knee healed well.

It might be an idea to have a pinned thread with these kinds of stories that we can go and read whenever we start to get tired of putting on all that gear.

Edited March 11, 2021 by petshark

[bowlin01]

I have just ordered a Helite Turtle 2 Airbag Vest after watching Ryan's video on YT, some interesting comparisons between differing types of airbag types for thos of you considering a purchase.

 

[2and3cylinders]

PhotoAl,

You stated you were 60 when you had your incident on Capri but not how long ago it occurred.

I'm not surprised the Policia did not cite you or the bus driver.

I have some insight into the Italian medical system and particularly their EP (Emergency Physician) specialty.  My eldest kid is an EP here but spent 1 year at U of Bologna (her classes were taught in Italian not English) and another in Turino doing a Fulbright Scholarship medical research grant.  Apparently she is so fluent in Italian she passes as a native often.  For the last several years she has been the US "ambassador" to Italy for the

National Association of EMS Physicians | NAEMSP

---

NAEMSPThe National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) is an...

 and before Covid19 was visiting Italy 2 or  3 times a year to lecture and further their still developing national EP specialty educational system, which is light years behind the US and Australia (oddly enough).  She also started a program for Italian EP residents (ie, post med school) to come to Chicago, put them up in an AirBnB for a month and supervising them observing (no hands-on training other than in her simulation lab) in 3 or 4 hospital ERs. This is because when you visit most ERs around the world (and small towns here) the attending is NOT an EP!!  Usually they are just an MD (hopefully) from some other specialty like a GP, Internist or Ortho to a Gastro doc.  In fact, in countries like Germany where the MDs are unionized, they've fought development of a EP specialty because the make so much more an hour volunteering for ER shifts.

So you're lucky you got out alive, as I've heard some screw up horror stories about Italy, Spain, France, etc.

 

 

[2and3cylinders]

2 hours ago, bowlin01 said:

I have just ordered a Helite Turtle 2 Airbag Vest after watching Ryan's video on YT, some interesting comparisons between differing types of airbag types for thos of you considering a purchase.

 

The Helite T2 is also very good and maybe a bit more burley than the Hit-Air but not as fast and more expensive.  I also don't understand reflective strips down low where their nigh invisible.  My unit at least has them up high.  Hit-Air has been making air vests by far the longest, and also markets to Equestrian riders!  Japanese attention to detail and quality is evident throughout their product.

[koth442]

I gave the FJ a loving pat as I hopped on the Daytona 675 and rode to work. 

[1moreroad]

47 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

 

I have some insight into the Italian medical system and particularly their EP (Emergency Physician) specialty.  My eldest kid is an EP here but spent 1 year at U of Bologna

Dang. That's a resume! Proud poppa much?

[draco_1967]

56 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

The Helite T2 is also very good and maybe a bit more burley than the Hit-Air but not as fast and more expensive.  I also don't understand reflective strips down low where their nigh invisible.  My unit at least has them up high.  Hit-Air has been making air vests by far the longest, and also markets to Equestrian riders!  Japanese attention to detail and quality is evident throughout their product.

Which Hit-Air model do you have? I'm seeing .09 seconds for their VHR, but .25 (according to their website) for the MLV. The Turtle 2 is .1 seconds.

The electronic vests are faster, but I really don't like the idea of having to pay a subscription or send it back to the manufacturer for evaluation every time.

As far as what I did to my Tracer recently, I have moved it in and out of the new garage several times over the last few days as the sheetrock guys are finishing up the inside. I can't wait for it to be done!

[2and3cylinders]

2 hours ago, draco_1967 said:

Which Hit-Air model do you have? I'm seeing .09 seconds for their VHR, but .25 (according to their website) for the MLV. The Turtle 2 is .1 seconds.

The electronic vests are faster, but I really don't like the idea of having to pay a subscription or send it back to the manufacturer for evaluation every time.

As far as what I did to my Tracer recently, I have moved it in and out of the new garage several times over the last few days as the sheetrock guys are finishing up the inside. I can't wait for it to be done!

 I've read different numbers for all of them but I agree a vest makes the most sense if you've already invested in expensive protective gear putting a vest under a  such a jacket is nuts.

 Good luck with the garage and I won't mention my man cave again

[2and3cylinders]

9 hours ago, 1moreroad said:

Dang. That's a resume! Proud poppa much?

 I didn't intend to act like a beaming parent, I was just trying to relate to the situation Internationally related to visiting ERs compared to the United States in general.

[2and3cylinders]

On 3/9/2021 at 8:49 PM, betoney said:

Bret, I am interested in your thoughts -pro or con- with the vest.  I am in the market for one and have been eyeing the Hit-Air brand.

Thanks, Brian

Go for it and buy direct and get an extra rip cord and 2 retainer buckles for another bike (Kimberly will give you 1 free buckle if you buy 2, tell her Bret sent you), and the 3 pack of 60 cc cartridges.  I excluded the Helite Turtle 2 BECAUSE it has a back pad (though I guess you wouldn't have to use it),.  It didn't seem like it would flow air through it like the hit-air will / does with it's open back design. In hot weather with a mesh jacket the Hit-Air will likely be cooler.  Can't wait!

Get the Large like me..

Kimberly von Schweinitz
HIT AIR SPORTS
803-422-4469

Kimberly@HitAirSports.com

 

HIT AIR....NOT GROUND

 

[Dark&Stormy]

Got my reflashed ECU back from 2WDW and sync'd the throttle bodies with a MotionPro SyncPro tool. 😎