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Deans BMW
02-17-2007, 10:39 AM
Brought to my attention by Steve Carlton from the Pelican site.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=330814&perpage=20&pagenumber=1



It's 1 Down, 5 Up..right?

Registered: Dec 2003
Location: So cal
Posts: 1973
If you don't read any other post this year...PLEASE read this one!
as some of you know, i make my living in the professional supercross/motocross industry.

i want to tell you about something that could possibly save your life...and keep you out of a wheelchair.

i have WAY too many friends that i used to race with, who are now in wheelchairs due to paralysis.

This is my effort to make sure YOU do not become one of them.

This post might be a long read. trust me...it's worth it.

in my industry, we've recently been making a big push on a product called the leatt brace. their website is: http://www.leatt-brace.com/ the brace you want to look at is the GPX version.

the leatt brace is designed to help minimize paralizing neck injuries...the kinds of injuries that put you in a wheelchair...or worse.

the feedback i've gotten from pro mx/sx/road racers is that: the brace is comfortable. it doesn't interfere with your helmet. it doesn't make additional noise. it doesn't weight much. you almost don't notice it's even there.

from what i've seen, the leatt brace is just as important as a helmet, boots or gloves. hopefully, by the time you're done reading this, it will become a mandatory piece of your riding gear.

my friend david bailey, a former motocross racer, recently marked his 20th year in a wheelchair.
although he's been bed-ridden for the past year, he mustered the effort to talk about the leatt brace. the video is called "Stand for Something".

david's video is sponsored by Nike. it's 12 minutes long. the video is mostly an "inside industry" thing, some of which is directed at particular riders. it's worth a watch. the link is: http://www.vitalmx.com/index.php?op...edia_owner=1180

since david's video came out, there's been a giant swell of support in our industry. many of our pro riders have been practicing with the brace during the week...some of them (like Kevin Windham), will be wearing the brace this weekend at our supercross event in San Diego.

many others are trying it. it was worn by 70 of the competitors in the recent Dakar race...bike, car and truck guys.

it's been worn and tried by not only US based road racers, but by many MotoGP guys. You'll be seeing it throughout this season worn by famous guys who are way faster than we are.

the leatt brace is a product that was developed by a South African doctor. Over the past year, he's received "funding" from a variety of companies, including BMW and KTM.

the leatt brace is available in three configurations (all fiberglass, half fiber/half carbon, all carbon), and costs between $400 and $1000 dollars.

yep it's expensive. but even the most inexpensive version is less than the cost of a good wheelchair, or a good helmet, boots, radar detector, ohlins shock, etc...


please follow the links above. think about getting one.
personally...from what i know, what i've seen and what i've learned....i ordered one last week...and i'm absolutely NOT going to ride again until i have mine. and i won't ever ride again without it.

if this post encourages just one of you to belly up and get one...then it will be worth it.

thanx for reading this.

...brad


__________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~
'04 boxer cup. (i changed a couple o' things.)

"Since ya'all was wearing them fancy costumes...I thought you'ze was planning on goin' fast."
--- windbreaker bob



Perhaps you should read the entire thread on Pelican.

DarthRider
02-17-2007, 11:17 AM
Thanks Dean. I saw the David Bailey vid a couple of weeks ago and sent it on to all the dirt racers & riders I know. I didn't think much about it's application for street riding & paved track riding.
I think the acceptance the brace is gathering from the likes of Kevin Windham is a fitting tribute to David Bailey and his efforts to promote it.

ATGATT is always changing, isn't it? Don't forget the earplugs too...

BobFV1
02-17-2007, 11:28 AM
ATGATT is always changing, isn't it? Don't forget the earplugs too...

With my 9-gallon tank and advancing age, I am going to have to add "Depends" to the list!

geechie
02-17-2007, 11:28 AM
Geeze, Dave.

I just bought a brand new Arai Vector (silver) so's not to clash with the new ride. That sumbitch was expensive enough! That's it for a while.

George

DarthRider
02-17-2007, 11:54 AM
Geeze, Dave.

I just bought a brand new Arai Vector (silver) so's not to clash with the new ride. That sumbitch was expensive enough! That's it for a while.

George

George, if that is your first Arai you are in for a great treat!
Were you fitted for it? One of the great things about Arais is often a negative too if they are not properly selected & fitted...they have several distinctly different headshapes so it's not just finding the correct size with them, but the headshape too.
In general terms the size is a safety issue while the headshape is a comfort issue.

Man, a new R1200R (according to the rumor mill :linzi: ) and a new Arai...life is sweet.
Or, as my Old Grand Daddy used to say, "Them that deserves, gets!)

socalrob
02-17-2007, 01:40 PM
Not sure I can dismiss this for street riding.

As I do dirt ride now & then, I will think about picking one up & trying at least there. Couple of years ago I went head first over the bars in the dirt (looped the bike at the bottom a drop off I did not see) & heard a nice distintive "crack" come from my neck. Not a comfortable feeling, but turned out no harm.

I have a big head (can't wear some one size fits all hats), my family has bad necks (although riding seems to make mine stronger), so I do figure I am at higher risk for neck injuries.

If you dismiss this thing as just too geeky to be seen riding in, isn't that what we bitch at the HD crowd for?

DarthRider
02-17-2007, 01:51 PM
Not sure I can dismiss this for street riding.


If you dismiss this thing as just too geeky to be seen riding in, isn't that what we bitch at the HD crowd for?

Rob - I wasn't dismissing it at all for street riding!
I was just saying that when I saw the David Bailey vid I didn't think about it in street terms.
I would definitely use it on the street...want to buy me one?
I'm not as "religious" about ATGATT as some, I'd probably just use it for fast, sport" rides & track days.
I broke my neck & collar bone in 1972 going "over the bars" of my old Yamaha RT1-B bone-breaker. It would have been nice to have had the collar then for sure!
It was only luck-of-the-draw that I didn't end up like Bailey.

Dirty Doug
02-18-2007, 07:41 AM
This reminds me of the Hans device we use in auto racing. Before the Hans some drivers used a stiff foam coller. These were found to be more of a danger than a help. Upon impact the coller would act like a pivot point for the neck and do major damage to the neck. The Hans has been a great invention for auto racing and I think we now have something for the motorcycle guys. Thanks Dean for bring this up I think it well worth looking into.

K-Rider
Doug

Steve Carlton
02-20-2007, 01:50 PM
I ordered the basic brace, as I plan to start off-road riding again soon. I expect it to work on the street as well. There's also a thread running on ADVrider:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173305

black6
02-21-2007, 07:10 PM
Well I bought one, so maybe it will be delivered in time for the April ride. Hard call here. You are right it is like a safety belt, never needed one in 40 years and that is a good thing but I still wear it.

I already have one strike against me in that some of my back is missing so I wear a back protecter, what next... pretty soon they will have to wheel me out to my bike I have so much stuff on.

At the end of the day like MSF preaches, one has to remove one rung from the wheel of crash to keep it from happening- if not good idea to have a back-up plan. no pun intended

Thanks for suggesting this.

black6
05-14-2007, 04:56 PM
I actually bought one of these and was very excited when it arrived. The brace is well built and under the RIGHT circumstances (dirt) should work well. As a road rider however it does not fit over, or with leathers.

I ride with Rocket gear and the brace is desinged to fit next to the skin. It is interesting, the concept is right on the money one can feel how the brace transfers the helmet impact to the rest of the body and NOT to the neck- pretty cool. However when I put the barce on, one can't turn your head or move the head back since the leathers interfear with the brace.

The problem is that in road riding you have to contend with leathers- in other words the brace has to fit OVER and it doesn't. I spent quite a bit of time with the technical staff and even took a series of 30 pictures showing the fitment problems which they were going to evaluate. You will note in thier literature that the brace is fitted to models WITHOUT a back protector. In rode racing-riding back protectors are required. So the brace is meant to stand alone and not really work as a system with leathers- yet.

It works well with dirt riding armor which is quite a bit different than road wear. Yes, I cut up my leathers- ouch- to try to get it to fit and then since my wife refused to help me sew them back together I spent the better part of the night sewing them myself- she is a good person and realized that I need these types of challenges::remybussi: I did look pretty funny in the sewing shop dragging around my rocket gear to get the right color thread- Just a warning here- I degress!

Now I am in the process of returning it and have not heard back from the company after emails and telephone calls- do we have anyone on the team from South Africa that could step in? if you have questions send an email- I do not always follow up on the thread like I should

Steve Carlton
05-14-2007, 06:02 PM
Try contacting Cindy at Leatt at cindy@leatt-brace.com
(800) 691-3314. She helped me out when my brace was left on the doorstep of a residence I had moved away from by UPS.

I think there's still a 6-8 week wait list to get one, so I'm sure you could sell it if you had to.

kocook
05-16-2007, 09:31 AM
Was thinking about one. No doubt this would be extremely useful in preventing the very prevalent street bike injury of the broken collarbone. This injury typically occurs with lateral head movement when the elbow contacts the ground. The collar bone is broken when it slams into the bottom of the helmet. Preventing that one injury is worth the price tag.

So I emailed them asking about fitment with leathers. The response had a caveat regarding back protectors. Not giving up the back protector to avoid a broken collarbone. However, I know a rider who tracks regularly and has one; so will discuss with him.

black6
05-22-2007, 01:51 PM
Thank you for the eamil address. I am still trying to get a refund- no luck yet even though they have the brace. I have not even been able to get anyone to return an email.

Right- it does not work with a back protector- that was a deal breaker for me. Also it does not go over leathers very well- rides up and hits the helmet so you cant turn your head. These are not issues however in off-road where it works great.

black6
05-29-2007, 11:54 AM
Steve,

That was it, thank you a million. As soon as Cindy got involved it was taken care of within 24 hours. They are going to keep me abreast of when they update the road version of the brace- so I am looking forward to that.

Steve Carlton
05-29-2007, 08:35 PM
Glad it worked out! So, they're coming out with a road version, huh? Interesting...