I haven’t been on track for many years and I've booked a few trackdays for this summer... what could go wrong? I'm now shopping for a new set of leathers and I'm thinking a built-in airbag suit is a good route forward. I thought it was going to be pretty straightforward finding a good quality 1 piece, but having read loads of reviews & product descriptions on line, I'm finding it far from a simple process. First off, the back protector... should I continue to wear my old Forcefield protector in addition to having an airbag suit (and allow for a larger size)? Some suits have passive back armour as well as offering airbag back protection. Or should I just focus on the setups offering 'Level 2' protection? Subscription fees? I like the RST suits, but I'm not crazy about forking out about £100 a year to subscribe for their 'In-Motion' service... Are there other quality manufacturers that don't charge a yearly fee? I'd greatly appreciate any advice you guys have. Cheers Todders
Initially I was thinking around £750ish would get me a decent set of new (Level 2) racing leathers. Then I stared thinking if I do have an off and a resulting injury, will I forever be thinking I should have spent a little more on a suit? That said, I don't really want to be paying £1,000 + on a new set of leathers then have to pay an additional yearly fee of £100. And I'm also fine with buying a used suit as well, so long as it's a good spec and fits well. Hmmm...
Just heard back from RST... their GP Evo (1 piece suit) is £695 plus £660 for the airbag = £1,355. The airbag has no subscription fee. I'm sure it's an absolutely superb piece of kit, but I'm not sure I'm able to stretch to that price just at the moment. I'll continue with my shopping.
4SR with the Alpinestars Race vest. I'm on my 3rd pair of 4SRs and they're brilliant quality and crash really well. I've had 2 sets from Dean Ellison but he's stopped selling them now. The delivery times straight from 4SR are really quick. I've used quite a few different sets of leathers and my last set of Alpinestars airbag leathers were really bad, they did their job but they really are 1 crash only leathers, just fell apart. The first set of 4SRs I bought are still in tact even after 4 or 5 crashes. Another plus on the 4SR suit is price, they often have sales on and the price is really good even before the discount.
Many thanks for your information, I'll have a look at the 4SR range! I quite like the idea of having a separate race vest as it gives the option to swap leathers and still have adequate protection. Is your vest the Alpinestars Tech-Air? I'm guessing that you’ve had the vests air cylinder refreshed a few times, is the process/support service OK? Thanks again! Todders
Yeah I've got the Tech-Air Race vest which has 2 deployments available (they do other models that are cheaper with 1 deployment available). It's £300 for a full service if you need to get both done, I can't remember what the small service was. I use BKS for the servicing and the service from them is superb. I've also got the Ixon vest that can be used under a hoodie or an airbag ready suit, but that's subscription and uses the same "brain" as the RST which is an InMotion. The beauty of the InMotion is that you can change the canisters yourself for about £80 but the protection isn't anywhere as good as the Alpinestars vest in my opinion.
Hey Carson. With your new 4SR suit, did you need to go up one or two sizes to compensate for depth of the Tech-Air Race unit?
I think the AR designated suits are built to accommodate an airbag so sizes should be normal. But wait for Carson or check with 4SR.
I just ordered a new set of "RST Pro Series Airbag One Piece Leathers" from Essex Bikers Centre (through eBay). Regular £799.99 reduced to £429.99. With that amount of discount, it'll take some of the edge off paying for the "in&motion" subscription fee. The basic suit looks pretty sturdy and has a fair amount of Level 2 armour, so hopefully it'll do the job. Thank you all for your assistance! Cheers Todders (P.S. if all goes as planned, hopefully I'll meet some of you guys on a sunny trackside on this little silver bike)
