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I was really looking forward to buying the HJC CL-15 as my second helmet since I love my CL-14 but OH MY GOD THE NERD INSIDE ME JUST CAN'T HANDLE THIS http://www.tahoedemocenter.com/detail.aspx?ID=59 I need that. NOW. edit: As a matter of fact, now that my parents just inherited 150k I think i'm gonna hit them up for this helmet for Christmas when I go down to visit them Sepist fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Nov 27, 2007 |
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Nov 27, 2007 01:41
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Sepist posted:I was really looking forward to buying the HJC CL-15 as my second helmet since I love my CL-14 but OH MY GOD THE NERD INSIDE ME JUST CAN'T HANDLE THIS most of the Akuma helmets have pretty sweet paintjobs, and the little gimmick LEDs, but considering they're just mass-produced helmets that are sold under other brands like Vemar for $250 or less, the price premium they're asking for the paint and the map light is a bit much
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Nov 27, 2007 01:58
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Has anybody had any experience with Scorpion's All-In Jacket? It's bordering on too gaudy for my tastes, tho I don't like plain jane black either, but what attracted me to it was the full-sleeve liner, 5-year warranty, and all the perforation accoutrements. It seems like it's a pretty good mix of everything I'd want in a jacket for varying conditions. Any word on overall quality?
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Nov 28, 2007 09:42
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TheHeadSage posted:It's an '05 Yamaha V-Star. For the moment, I'm looking at just getting a sissy-bar added and something like this so I can go touring during the holidays. This place has some nice loving hard bags that should fit your bike. In many cases (like on the Valkyries) they look drat close to factory ones. They ain't cheap, but with $1k to play with you should be able to find something nice. I haven't actually owned any, but i ran across the site so caveat emptor. http://www.tsukayu.com/products.htm
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Nov 28, 2007 16:05
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What do you guys think of these gloves? http://sandiego.craigslist.org/mcy/497843004.html The price seems right, GP Plus-es are $160 on newenough, but based on the pictures, these are not the same as the GP Plus-es on newenough. Are they an older model? The guy says he paid $130 for them new, and that they're in great condition, so I'm inclined to just go for it, since Alpinestars seems to have a pretty good rep.
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Dec 8, 2007 20:29
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I think I've found my new "long trip" riding gear. I went Eurosport and checked out the new Triumph clothing line. I really like the Sympatex Pantha Jacket ($315) and the Sympatex Pants ($282). Right now I have some Frank Thomas stuff that is great but the jacket is 3/4 length but it worked better on the Speed Triple than on the Sprint ST due to position. Soon I will be a total Triumph gear queer.  The jacket also has a wallet pocket just inside the storm flap which Tony, the shop owner, told me will accommodate a medium sized pistol perfectly.  Texas concealed carry laws!  
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Dec 8, 2007 21:02
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I really wish some Triumph dealers carried the old Classic Jeans II. I'd order them online, but I'm not confident in their sizing. I can zip my Rivton jacket to my Cordura pants, but it would be nice to have some proper leathers that worked together.
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Dec 8, 2007 22:40
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bung posted:I think I've found my new "long trip" riding gear. I went Eurosport and checked out the new Triumph clothing line. I really like the Sympatex Pantha Jacket ($315) and the Sympatex Pants ($282). Right now I have some Frank Thomas stuff that is great but the jacket is 3/4 length but it worked better on the Speed Triple than on the Sprint ST due to position. Soon I will be a total Triumph gear queer. I really like how those pants look.
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Dec 8, 2007 22:54
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Zenaida posted:What do you guys think of these gloves? I really liked my GP Plus's. Just make sure they're not some sort of crazy chinese knockoff or something. I haven't heard of A* being victim to that yet, but it has been known to happen.
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Dec 9, 2007 03:42
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Question for the guys that have back protectors separate from a jacket: do you only wear it when you're on the track/up in the mountains or do you wear it everyday?
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Dec 10, 2007 04:24
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I wear it every day that I remember to wear it.
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Dec 10, 2007 04:31
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iroc_dis posted:Question for the guys that have back protectors separate from a jacket: do you only wear it when you're on the track/up in the mountains or do you wear it everyday? Always wear the back protector with the one piece. Don't wear a back protector for commuting. I probably should, but meh. I'll pick one up eventually for cheap somewhere.
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Dec 10, 2007 04:38
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Are they particularly noticeable when you wear it? Can you pretty much not curl your back? I haven't ever tried one on so I really have no idea how comfortable or not comfortable they are edit// Also, brands to stay away from?
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Dec 15, 2007 16:48
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Does anyone have a helmet recommendation for me? I'm currently wearing a Caberg (104 Solo) but it's the wrong shape for my head, leaving me with bad frontal headaches after 30-45 mins on my bike. I'm not fussed about noise or vents; all I want is a good, comfortable fit that won't leave me feeling like I've put my head in a vice. Ideally I'd like an integrated sun-visor because I utterly love being able to adjust for changing sunlight without having to stop and swap visors.
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Dec 15, 2007 22:33
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ranathari posted:Does anyone have a helmet recommendation for me? I'm currently wearing a Caberg (104 Solo) but it's the wrong shape for my head, leaving me with bad frontal headaches after 30-45 mins on my bike. I'm not fussed about noise or vents; all I want is a good, comfortable fit that won't leave me feeling like I've put my head in a vice. I can't recommend an integrated visor, but as far as helmets, your best bet is just going to your biggest helmet retailer and trying them on until you find one that you like.
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Dec 15, 2007 22:48
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iroc_dis posted:Are they particularly noticeable when you wear it? Can you pretty much not curl your back? I haven't ever tried one on so I really have no idea how comfortable or not comfortable they are The T-Pro Forcefield Back Protector has received nothing but rave reviews from everyone that has tested them, and is made of the very popular impact absorbing foam: http://www.ridegear.com/rg/item/F-54734/T-Pro/Forcefield-Back-Protector-Pro.html Edit: Joe rocket has the t-pro re-branded under their name: http://www.newenough.com/armor/back_protector_worn_on_the_body/joe_rocket/speedmaster_motorcycle_back_protector.html
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Dec 16, 2007 05:33
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ranathari posted:Does anyone have a helmet recommendation for me? I'm currently wearing a Caberg (104 Solo) but it's the wrong shape for my head, leaving me with bad frontal headaches after 30-45 mins on my bike. I'm not fussed about noise or vents; all I want is a good, comfortable fit that won't leave me feeling like I've put my head in a vice. Round head or square head? I have a round head, so the Arai Quantum 2 and Scorpion EXO 1000 felt best to me. I second the suggestion of heading to your nearest motorbike store to try something on. The EXO 1000 has the integrated sun visor.
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Dec 16, 2007 06:58
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bung posted:I think I've found my new "long trip" riding gear. I went Eurosport and checked out the new Triumph clothing line. I really like the Sympatex Pantha Jacket ($315) and the Sympatex Pants ($282). What denier is the fabric? Is there any abrasion testing data on it? How does it compare with industry-standard Dupont Cordura of 500/1000/1500 denier? Are there any crash reports from people that suggest it wears through, or resists wearing through? If you don't know, don't buy it. It amazes me that anyone would pay $500 for protective gear, not knowing what kind of protection it even offers! The manufacturer is under no obligation to offer any standard of quality; they could stitch teflon coated toilet paper into jackets and call it motorcycle gear.
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Dec 16, 2007 07:10
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Revenant.Eagle posted:The T-Pro Forcefield Back Protector has received nothing but rave reviews from everyone that has tested them, and is made of the very popular impact absorbing foam: Where would a back protector like those rate in terms of needing one? "wear it or die" or more "nice to have if you're paranoid".
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Dec 16, 2007 07:30
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VOR LOC posted:Where would a back protector like those rate in terms of needing one? "wear it or die" or more "nice to have if you're paranoid". Most back protectors are there to protect you against point-impact related trauma; they are not meant to give you support from breaking your back. Most of the soft (foam) armor have actually been proven to be better at absorbing and spreading the impact compared to their hard (plastic) counterparts. T-Pro has a honeycomb type foam that actually uses trapped pockets of air to cushion the impact in the area. As far as "wear it or die" or "nice to have if you're paranoid", I would recommend getting some sort of back protector. Anything is better than nothing.
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Dec 16, 2007 08:04
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Revenant.Eagle posted:Most back protectors are there to protect you against point-impact related trauma; they are not meant to give you support from breaking your back. Most of the soft (foam) armor have actually been proven to be better at absorbing and spreading the impact compared to their hard (plastic) counterparts. T-Pro has a honeycomb type foam that actually uses trapped pockets of air to cushion the impact in the area. How is this compared to the stand alone back protector? I've been thinking about getting it for my jacket to replace the dual density foam that is already in there. I'm not gonna get a stand alone back protector 'cause I know I'll never wear it.
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Dec 16, 2007 15:10
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Uthor posted:How is this compared to the stand alone back protector? I've been thinking about getting it for my jacket to replace the dual density foam that is already in there. I'm not gonna get a stand alone back protector 'cause I know I'll never wear it. that pad is essentially their stand-alone back protector without straps. it's not as good as a stand-alone because the armor will move around with your jacket, which probably doesn't have a tight fit, but it's better than the EVA foam that came with it.
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Dec 16, 2007 15:35
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Jazzzzz posted:that pad is essentially their stand-alone back protector without straps. it's not as good as a stand-alone because the armor will move around with your jacket, which probably doesn't have a tight fit, but it's better than the EVA foam that came with it. Doesn't look like it goes as far down your spine as many of the other stand-alone protectors do. They pretty well get to the small of your back if not the top of your rear end
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Dec 16, 2007 16:15
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Pretty much echoing what was said before me. I've got the optional back protector for my A* jacket, but honestly I can't see my self wearing a standalone for anything other than a loooong tour or trackday.
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Dec 16, 2007 18:15
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I picked up one of these last week (yes, a muscular black man in tight leather pants) Dainese Wave back protector. I've been thinking about a back protector for some time, even more after my "off" where I bruised my back quite close to a vertebrae on a rock. Of course now that I have it I'll probably never land on my back again  . Still, it's good piece of mind and pretty serious protection. Aluminum honeycomb and tough impact resistant plastic plus it seems quite breathable. I can use it for snowboarding too, which will make me feel a little better about carrying snowshoes on my back as well as hitting some rockier areas.
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Dec 17, 2007 02:09
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I've got 2 helimot back protectors. They use half memory foam type stuff, half segmented armor. The foam lays over the segmented armor, and hopefully in case of an off it would help avoid damage from landing on a rock or something. It's not going to magically save your rear end from wrapping around a telephone pole backwards or anything, but it will help avoid back trama. I really, really like my helimot ones because i forget they're there. They also wrap around a bit more than anyone else's, which is kinda nice. The one custom built for my one piece fits in between all of the other padding on the suit, where the one that's just designed for normal use fits quite nicely under my old one piece. I've worn a number of other ones, but none have ever fit quite as well as the helimot one. He makes 3 different sizes with 3-8 plates depending on how big you are. I'm of the attitude that like any other gear, any back protector is better than nothing, so buy one that you'll wear.
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Dec 17, 2007 19:21
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Z3n posted:I've got 2 helimot back protectors. They use half memory foam type stuff, half segmented armor. The foam lays over the segmented armor, and hopefully in case of an off it would help avoid damage from landing on a rock or something. It's not going to magically save your rear end from wrapping around a telephone pole backwards or anything, but it will help avoid back trama. I really, really like my helimot ones because i forget they're there. They also wrap around a bit more than anyone else's, which is kinda nice. The one custom built for my one piece fits in between all of the other padding on the suit, where the one that's just designed for normal use fits quite nicely under my old one piece. I've worn a number of other ones, but none have ever fit quite as well as the helimot one. He makes 3 different sizes with 3-8 plates depending on how big you are. If the Helimot protector CE approved? There is a lot of feel-good "armor" on the market, and from what I remember, Helimot does not do any sort of testing. I have a Motoport suit which does a similar spiel with the armor (exceeds CE standards, blah blah). I don't trust it one bit. The point is that armor should have a proven ability to absorb and distribute a certain amount of force. Motoport's internal "testing," for example, shows really better-than-CE dissipation...at 8 joules (v.s. 50 or 100 for CE testing). Perhaps the extra coverage and greater comfort of this kind of armor is worth it to you, but don't think that it will offer any significant protection in a crash, unless it has been proven to do so in formal tests. Helmut is a cool guy, no doubt, but I don't make safety choices based on someone's personality when there are internationally recognized standards that permit anyone to prove the quality of their safety equipment, and for consumers to make informed comparisons.
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Dec 17, 2007 19:40
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ClockworkZero posted:I picked up one of these last week The only down side with the aluminum honeycomb is that it's one shot. If you get another impact in that same area (although highly unlikely), it's just like having no armor there. Thats why the T-Pro are so highly rated. They can be used over and over and over.
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Dec 17, 2007 20:39
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Revenant.Eagle posted:The only down side with the aluminum honeycomb is that it's one shot. If you get another impact in that same area (although highly unlikely), it's just like having no armor there. Thats why the T-Pro are so highly rated. They can be used over and over and over. If it saves me from paralysis once, I'll gladly buy another.
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Dec 17, 2007 20:51
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MotoMind posted:If the Helimot protector CE approved? There is a lot of feel-good "armor" on the market, and from what I remember, Helimot does not do any sort of testing. I have a Motoport suit which does a similar spiel with the armor (exceeds CE standards, blah blah). I don't trust it one bit. The point is that armor should have a proven ability to absorb and distribute a certain amount of force. Motoport's internal "testing," for example, shows really better-than-CE dissipation...at 8 joules (v.s. 50 or 100 for CE testing). Perhaps the extra coverage and greater comfort of this kind of armor is worth it to you, but don't think that it will offer any significant protection in a crash, unless it has been proven to do so in formal tests. Helmut is a cool guy, no doubt, but I don't make safety choices based on someone's personality when there are internationally recognized standards that permit anyone to prove the quality of their safety equipment, and for consumers to make informed comparisons. This is a good point. No, it is not CE approved. However, I know enough track riders and racers that swear by Helimot gear to give him the benefit of the doubt. Looking at the construction of my suit, it's got so many options that should be there on other suits, so much padding in so many important places that are seriously lacking on other suits, and the thickness and feel of the impact foam is enough to sell me. When i can put on my gloves and punch a wall as hard as i could want to without breaking anything or experiencing anything but minor discomfort, I feel that that is enough protection for me. Considering i cannot find any complaints about the crashworthyness of Helimot suits (as in, absolutely zero), I feel that that's enough for me to put my money and body into it. I'm sure i will crash test it at some point in the future. I will know then if it was worth it or not, but i feel that it's a fairly safe bet. I understand completely where you're coming from, on not trusting someone who isn't submitting their gear to CE, but also have somewhat of a stance on CE testing that matches my stance on SNELL testing...I think that many makers are moving towards making gear that passes standards, rather than making gear that protects riders as well as possible. I feel that Helimot has enough crash test experience, has listened to enough racers and track riders, that i'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Couple that with the absolutely amazing fit, and i feel more secure in my helimot suit then i do in my old, ill fitting joe rocket suit. After all, i wouldn't have trusted the armor in my old suit to stay in place in an off...a problem with my body shape, and that would require probably upwards of 500$ of modification costs. Honestly, had a reasonable quality suit fit me off the rack, i probably would have saved my money and bought one of those. As i was looking at around 500$ in refitting to get a suit fitted to me, i figured i was better off going with a custom suit in the first place. I absolutely wish that helimot would get his stuff CE testing, however, i can see why he doesn't...don't pass and everyone freaks out, and pass and he sees absolutely no gain. Not to mention that they're going to want to test every varient of his suit out there, and considering he revises his suits with most every purchase (if you have the chance, find someone's 10 year old suit and compare it to a new one, they're very different), he'd be constantly recerting his stuff. AFAIK, he can't just submit a sample of his impact foam and say "ok, i'm using 2 inches of this over the knee of every suit", he has to submit every design and version of each of his pieces of gear. When you consider there's 15+ varients on one of his backprotectors with the different plates and sizes, every suit is custom, etc... In the end, this is just my opinion. It's my skin, and i feel comfortable trusting someone with Helmut's experience, regardless of certification. If you don't feel that they're worth the money, and they are incredibly expensive, you shouldn't buy one. I'll have more of an opinion on it when i crash test it, but the fact that the armor doesn't move around on me, that it actually fits, is far more important to me than wearing anything with CE armor in it that doesn't fit right, like my joe rocket one piece. I encourage everyone to make an informed decision on their gear purchases. As a result of seeing 10+ top level racers who swear by his gear, his gear on the cover of magazines, worn by the editors, him gearing the pridmores and the CLASS staff and many, many other riders, with absolutely no complaints from any of them (I've never heard of a split seam on a helimot suit) You can find someone complaining about every brand out there...that i can't find one for helimot gear despite the number of racers wearing them, really says something to me. Z3n fucked around with this message at 20:56 on Dec 17, 2007 |
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Dec 17, 2007 20:54
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Z3n posted:I absolutely wish that helimot would get his stuff CE testing, however, i can see why he doesn't...don't pass and everyone freaks out, and pass and he sees absolutely no gain. Not to mention that they're going to want to test every varient of his suit out there, and considering he revises his suits with most every purchase (if you have the chance, find someone's 10 year old suit and compare it to a new one, they're very different), he'd be constantly recerting his stuff. AFAIK, he can't just submit a sample of his impact foam and say "ok, i'm using 2 inches of this over the knee of every suit", he has to submit every design and version of each of his pieces of gear. When you consider there's 15+ varients on one of his backprotectors with the different plates and sizes, every suit is custom, etc... Well, an armor panel itself can be CE certified. That's how it works with most garmets. They get certified knee panels from a supplier and then put in some memory foam for the hips. The garment has a nice CE tag hanging from it, but it only actually applies to the knee armor. That probably wouldn't work if the armor has to be custom cut, but it would be better than nothing to at least prove that the armor design meets CE standards and show testing on equivalent armor panels. I'm pretty sure his armor would not meet CE standards; Helimot is not a materials engineering shop, so they just have to buy rolls of more or less standard foam and cut it into armor. That might be OK for offering general protection on the track, but I am concerned about street riding where there are sharp edges and solid objects all around me, so I'm not dealing with a glancing blow, but an impact that could severly damage a joint unless I have armor that dissipates it the impact effectively. I agree entirely about fit and placement of armor. I would rather use minimally effective foam armor than CE certified panels, if they're going to slide around in a crash. But if I had a choice, such as exists for back armor, I would always opt for the CE certified. It has a specific function and I know it will perform at that level. I haven't heard of any complaints about safety from riders in Motoport gear either, and it feels just as protective in punch tests as the CE stuff (if not more protective), but since I consider gear to be a form of insurance, I need to look at the facts and make my purchases accordingly. In this case, it's cheap fix. I bought four panels of Leidel & Kracht CE approved knee/hip armor for $5 a piece, and intend to swap them into my Motoport pants. In any case, no point in arguing ad infinitum. If someone is wearing Helimot or Motoport gear, they are probably well ahead of 95% of riders. It's that majority that I'm trying to reach out to by nitpicking on Helimot armor. The real point is for manufacturers and riders to take safety seriously and thoughtfully. This means looking past marketing and reputation, and considering the underlying metrics which allow you to judge a garment as safe or unsafe. When manufacturers opt out of this process, it hurts the motorcycle riding community as a whole. So I don't want to be the one saying that Helimot sucks, just that people should expect quantifiable information about the performance of safety equipment. MotoMind fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Dec 18, 2007 |
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Dec 18, 2007 00:32
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MotoMind posted:Well, an armor panel itself can be CE certified. That's how it works with most garmets. They get certified knee panels from a supplier and then put in some memory foam for the hips. The garment has a nice CE tag hanging from it, but it only actually applies to the knee armor. That probably wouldn't work if the armor has to be custom cut, but it would be better than nothing to at least prove that the armor design meets CE standards and show testing on equivalent armor panels. I'm pretty sure his armor would not meet CE standards; Helimot is not a materials engineering shop, so they just have to buy rolls of more or less standard foam and cut it into armor. That might be OK for offering general protection on the track, but I am concerned about street riding where there are sharp edges and solid objects all around me, so I'm not dealing with a glancing blow, but an impact that could severly damage a joint unless I have armor that dissipates it the impact effectively. Well, i don't particularly look for puncture protection in my gear. If i hit something fast enough for it to go into me, I really don't think that there's much that any armor is going to be able to do about it. Especially when you consider that you can jam a pen through a T-Pro back protector with one hand. The armor type that i distinctly dislike is the hard plastic stuff. It doesn't absorb much of any initial impact, and serves only to stop questionable puncture wounds. If you go into something solid at 30-50mph, all the gear in the world isn't going to save you. I don't tailor my gear purchases towards the impossible situation to live through (like a 180 mph off at the isle of mann), i look for gear that's going to protect me in a standard off...fall off the bike, slide for a bit, tumble about, maybe bounce over a curb or something. I don't feel more protected because i've got 2 letters stamped on my armor. While the idea of CE testing is great, i think that makers get overly concerned with simply passing the testing, and not concerned with improving their armor or their design. Furthermore, my joe rocket one piece has basically zero hip padding. Considering you're quite likely to slam your hip into the ground should you be in an accident, this is an important area to protect. Why isn't there armor that is comparable to the elbow, shoulder and knee armor there in the vast majority of one pieces? My joe rocket suit has a small piece of foam there. Same with my old A* pants...it certainly wouldn't effectively dissipate the force of my hips hitting the ground. I disagree with the idea of them opting out of testing "hurting motorcycle riding as a whole". When your entire garment is designed around passing a certain specification, i think that it's easy to lose track of other goals, like rider comfort, reviewing crashes, and adding more armor rather than simply upgrading the existing common impact locations. There's no reward/notification for passing CE more than everyone else...I think that independents can push for better gear without being locked in to a certain standard. However, when there's no official baseline for a given product, you must be very, very careful about what you buy. Thusly, had there been any debate over the effectiveness of Helimot's armor, I probably wouldn't have gotten it. For the price, a single substantiated negative review would be enough to put me off of it. Considering that in the 20+ years that he's been making suits, i can't find a single negative comment about them, I'm hard pressed to find fault with his gear, regardless of CE certification or not. I'd be curious to send my old back protector to some place that did CE certifications, just to see how it faired. I do understand where you're coming from...it's very difficult to differentiate if gear is good or bad when there is no standardized testing for it. But i'd rather have gear that's been tested by people hitting the ground and coming back to talk about it and improve on it for the last 20 years than something that passes an arbitrary impact standard. Call me old fashioned. Z3n fucked around with this message at 01:26 on Dec 18, 2007 |
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Dec 18, 2007 01:19
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Z3n posted:But i'd rather have gear that's been tested by people hitting the ground and coming back to talk about it and improve on it for the last 20 years than something that passes an arbitrary impact standard. Call me old fashioned. If I had to choose between one or the other I'd rather have gear that is scientifically tested to pass a standardized set of criteria based on real-world requirements as opposed to going on anecdotal evidence alone. Every crash is different - I'd rather go down on gear with a proven baseline and not have to trust word of mouth.
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Dec 18, 2007 07:51
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A lot of GOOD gear is not CE certified because it's custom. Any gear that's made one-off for a rider can not be CE certified, as CE testing is destructive testing. The chest protector that you see a lot of riders wear in motogp.. that's not CE armor.
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Dec 18, 2007 10:55
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Been a while, but I thought I would post an update. I know, I know, these are not bike rated, not armored, not leather etc etc, but still. Last year it got cold here in the Carolinas, not as cold as you Yankees are used to, but cold enough that I started thinking real hard about some new gear. Lowest temp for my morning commute was 13 degrees. Anyway, this year I bought a set of Carhartt Arctic Extreme insulated coveralls. They were advertised as being wind proof and good for sub zero temps. I tried them out at 45 degrees, just to see if they were windproof and found that I was just too drat hot to be comfortable. Good stuff. This morning it was 17 degrees and a perfect day to try them out in colder weather. With a fleece balaclava, 2 layers of glove liners under my gauntlet gloves and wearing a long sleeve shirt/jeans under the coverall, I tootled off to work. According to the NOAA weather website, the wind chill at 60mph when it is 15 degrees out, is -11 degrees. Since it was 17 and I was doing at least 70, I figure that is about right. Conclusion: If you like to ride to work all year long, this is the best $150 you can spend. At 70mph on the freeway, there was a little bit of bleed through on the chest zipper and I had to make sure my legs were tucked in to keep the wind from forcing its way into the leg bottoms, but otherwise I was very comfortable. Just thought others might be interested.
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Dec 18, 2007 15:24
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Jazzzzz posted:If I had to choose between one or the other I'd rather have gear that is scientifically tested to pass a standardized set of criteria based on real-world requirements as opposed to going on anecdotal evidence alone. Every crash is different - I'd rather go down on gear with a proven baseline and not have to trust word of mouth. Yeah, I understand this view on things completely...as I said, had there been any negative reviews ever about helimot gear, I wouldn't have purchased it. As it is, I couldn't find even one, which means there's a ninja helimot squad out there keeping the bad reviews down, or he makes really, really quality stuff. Furthermore, after 20+ years of making, repairing, and designing suits, I'd hardly say that his experience is based only on anecdotal evidence. It's not like he's simply assumed that people crash like this or that and designs his suits as a result, he has people come back to his shop with their thrashed suits and talk to him about how they could work better, potential design flaws, etc. All of these standards started somewhere, and i would imagine that they started with the people who have been making gear like this for a long time. quote:A lot of GOOD gear is not CE certified because it's custom. Any gear that's made one-off for a rider can not be CE certified, as CE testing is destructive testing. The chest protector that you see a lot of riders wear in motogp.. that's not CE armor. It's kinda funny, I was just thinking about his chest protectors as i'm considering buying one for my next track day...only place i don't feel armored to hell.  Edit: This is interesting as well: http://www.johnsonleather.com/Downloadable_Articles/RideArticle_2-07.pdf Cheese sandwich passes CE testing better than some CE approved knee armor. Z3n fucked around with this message at 18:23 on Dec 18, 2007 |
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Dec 18, 2007 18:00
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That's it - I'm buying a unitard and lining it with cheese sandwiches for my next track day. We can all have a nice snack at the end.
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Dec 18, 2007 19:01
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Z3n posted:
I think you misunderstood the article. Standard foam and non-CE pads failed at 15J and 30J respectively. The sandwich failed at 50J, as did standard CE armor. High-quality CE armor made it to 75J.
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Dec 18, 2007 19:49
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MotoMind posted:I think you misunderstood the article. Standard foam and non-CE pads failed at 15J and 30J respectively. The sandwich failed at 50J, as did standard CE armor. High-quality CE armor made it to 75J. Err, sorry, yeah. The standard stuff failed at the same time as the sandwich. Either way, the point that i was trying to make is this: What is there that differentiates between the "good" CE armor and the "standard" stuff? Considering that CE requirements are simply a baseline and not a high grade of protection, how exactly are we supposed to differentiate between all of them? The makers don't seem to be too forthcoming with the results of their CE testing, so there isn't much we can do about that... Also, it's worth noting that at 3x the impact force, the high level CE stuff outperformed the FT stuff at 30j. Which is pretty impressive...but hardly speaks to the performance of CE tested items as a whole. When one item of CE approved gear fails at 50j and another passes at 75j, it's frustrating to be unable to differentiate between them beyond "CE approved armor". They are defining new standards, but they're not common yet. Personally, while the standards are moving in the right direction, i'm pretty leary of taking them as gospel just yet.
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Dec 18, 2007 19:57
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| # ? May 22, 2024 13:18 |
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So Ive been checking out helmets lately. I ordered a Shark RSI which fits great except for the cheek pads which crush my face and make me end up biting my cheeks. Anybody know if it's possible to swap in some smaller ones that will give me some more room and were I could get them? I tried e-mailing Shark but they haven't responded to me. I guess if I can't get them I'll RMA it and go with the Shoei RF-1000 I have coming since they have smaller pads available on their website. The Shark just looks so much cooler and fits the rest of my head perfectly.
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Dec 22, 2007 03:58
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