backnon Nov 6th 2018 I purchased a 1260s from Ducati Manchester, rose down on my part ex from Cumbria, and set off late morning on my new ride. Unfortunately 5 miles from home on the a66 a young lady pulled out from a side road and I hit her at 60mph. She came out that late I didn’t even get chance to brake. I was flung over the car 50yards, the bike went right into a field and I ended up after 2 hours with the medics in the road on my way to Preston hospital in a helicopter. Had a six hour operation the day after for broken left tib and fib, broken right femur and broken right hand. Thanks to my Rukka suit and bmw system 6 helmet no upper body injuries. Anyway I am now well On the way to recovery and I would like to get back into the saddle. So the question is , after this accident , is the d air worth the extra money, after all I am going to be nervous and the wife is not keen on me riding again. Would thebairbag suit have made things better? Or are their any products for leg protection too?
Glad to here you have recovered and I quite understand how you feel. IMO, the D Air is just one of a number of similar products now on the market. I wear and external air vest, https://www.lovelifeandride.com/, and if you search, there is a thread where this and others has been discussed. I do not know of anything similar to protect your legs. Andy
Thanks Andy. I need to convince the wife I won’t die if I ride again. 20 years and my first accident was nearly fatal. It’s a shame no one does leg armour more than knee and shin pads. Ive seen the Helite vest
TBH it sounds like you were wearing decent gear and it did what was required at the unfortunate moment. I'd imagine that your Rukka has all the armour in the appropriate places? Chest and back protectors etc? Please don't read this the wrong way, I'm not meaning it in a critical sense... What might be good for your confidence and for your sense of "taking back control" could be to do a riding course with ROSPA / IAM or similar and fortify yourself with advanced hazard anticipation / mitigation techniques? Getting that kind of instruction pretty much always delivers a few gems to every rider and from the point of view of getting your confidence back to where it needs to be so that you enjoy your riding it could be a good investment. It sounds like from a "protection" standpoint you're doing all the right things already. This might help to get you to the next level of avoidance? Good to hear you're on the mend, stay safe!
We had 2 recent accidents on a group riding weekend, 1 rider over cooked it and low sided at speed and as he was stood up after the slide, the bike bounced of the road side vegitation and hit him in the back. He was not wearing a vest and sustained a broken shoulder blade, many broken ribs and a punctured lung. The second rider went wide on a fast left hander and hit a pot hole on the other side of the road. He slid for over a hundred yards with the bike on top of him. He was wearing a vest and sustained gravel rash on his hand where his summer glove disintigrated. Both my girlfriend and I wear Helite vests for road and track riding. Andy
Thanks for the reply and I appreciate your comments, I am a Dvsa instructor and have done Iam , rospa I haven’t. I saw the car at the road Side but she came out so late I couldn’t do anything, which was good in a way because 1 I didn’t tense, and 2 I hit her on the front wheel, another couple of feet and I’d have gone through the car! I will Look up the rospa thing, as any training can’t be bad. I now have metal Rods in my left leg from knee to ankle plus a plate and screws, and a metal rod from knee to hip in my right leg. I am after something to protect this? Plus I’ve got every man and his dog saying I shouldn’t ever ride again , I must be stupid
Ah you know your onions then! Sounds like you've been through the wringer! Deffo some leg armour then...
The only thing I was told I could of done knowing an accident was about to happen in my big one. Was that I could of jumped up in the air, not lost any speed but not had my left leg crushed. Everything is wonderful with hindsight. I mostly wear hi-vis now because the other party claimed (wrongly) I had no light on even though that is not a lawful requirement. I carry puncture repair kits & a ungawdly powerful mini compressor. And some gaffa tape/zip ties & tools (kidnap kit) spare 3L filled fuel can & a decent first aid kit in my top-case. Though I do have the outer mounting kit which I must get around to doing. Those things make me feel calm. Car drivers can be in zombie mode & do the most galling things. And nothing will change that I'm afraid too say. My wheels have lunasee hi-vis which create a tronesque look that makes me stand out in the most dangerous situations at night. That has helped a huge amount in making idiots realize a motorcyclist is coming. Might be worth passing the Roadsmart IAM course & going out with them. I did four years with the coventry social group but got worn down when some funding was going to India. A nation not known for actually having any road laws enforced.
Forcefield and Knox both make close fitting armoured shirts and leggings for riding. I use The Forcefield products for riding off-road and they seem to work very well. Also comfortable to wear. https://www.forcefieldbodyarmour.com/armoured-clothing
The guy who owns Knox is a good friend of mine and has offered to fit me up with some armoured shorts and leg bits. The helite looks good but unless I’m wrong it has a lanyard that attaches to the bike to activate it ,I would definately get off the bike and forget and set it off! Whereas the d air is a Bluetooth system
I have always thought that Bluetooth is not something I'd like to rely on for a safety critical system, also I am sure that I'd forget to charge it up on the day that young lady decided to pull out again!
The fact I teach and had this accident really Gauls me, however I’m not perfect by any means, most teaching involves either cbt or rising at a max of 60 around the same routes. Plus you are always watching the pupils more than yourself. I have been out with a yellow helmet and orange hi viz and still cars haven’t seen us!
I was lucky in that my Rukka suit saved me, due to the armour it had. The only thing I would have worn different is I had a pair of shortie Alpinestars boots on . I have a pair of sidi vertigo boots also. If I had worn these maybe my left ankle breaks wouldn’t have happened ?
I must say I appreciate all the info and feedback, had a number of friends saying I’m an idiot if I get back on a bike, but they don’t understand. I might go for a white multi this time, reflecting light better
The bikes coming out soon with have onboard radar braking & a number of novel safety kit. Strange how so called friends use flippant phases, life is very short. I'm personally glad you're ploughing on with getting back into the saddle.
The Helite requires 30kg of force to activate and the lanyard has a stretch length. After a while, connecting and disconnecting becomes second nature and anyway, if you forget, the replacement cylinders are £12. The big benefit of the Helite is there are no limits on the number of times it can deploy whereas the Dainese is twice before factory reset. Helite vests now have additional wear panels velcroed the the vest in the areas commonly worn in a slide and the vests are rebuildable. I collided with a pub fence 46 years ago resulting in being in a coma for 7 days, 3 bruised vertebrae, a smashed collar bone and a partially severed finger. I started riding again 2 months after the accident and have rarely missed a day since. The IAM Roadsmart affiliated group I am a member of offer an EAR (Extended Advanced Review) with a National Observer which is a full day riding assessment. One of the statistcs says, if you have no further training/assessment, you revert to your old habits within 3 years after your test. ROSPA has for many years and IAM Roadsmart now offer formal test reviews every 3 years. A Bikesafe day with your local traffic police is always a good shout. Andy
How many D'Airs have been sold? how many of those have been involved in accidents where the vests have been inflated? It is a form of insurance; "are you feeling lucky punk?" The chances are if you buy one you'll never use that feature. If it gives your wife peace of mind, go for it. Good on you for wanting to keep riding.
