Not so safe racing suits and gears | GTAMotorcycle.com

Not so safe racing suits and gears

C

chichi

Member
I got an accident in the race track early July, it's highsided in the corner. My Alpinestar one-piece racing suits(atem) and brand new smx-6 vented boot did not help. I got kneecaps frature and did 1 left foot toe bone too. I stayed in hospital for 2 weeks because of that. This made me think why most of the racing suits don't have kneecaps and elbow protection unless you go for the top of the line which cost over 2k or 3k for, like some dainese ones. And most one-piece already cost more than a grand for it. We rely so much on it and trust it all in the case of unfortunate happens. I really want to blame on Alphinestar this time.
 
Sorry for your misfortune...

As far as having kneecaps, not such a good idea. Your Patela (kneecap) flots... Anything hard on it and you're garantie to have some sort of damage. But I do understand your point of view and where you're coming from !
Usually you should have some sort of thick foam on the knees, in your suit !
Pakistanian suits have hard protecters on the knees and tibias. I removed mine.

Hope you heal well and that you'll be back on the bike by end of year, just to get that fear out of you.

Get well soon... ;)
 
First of all, who's to say the gear didn't work? Maybe your foot injury would have been much worse without the boots. A highside is a violent crash and no amount of gear at any price makes you invincible to being smashed into the ground.

Secondly, you decided to save money and bought a suit that didn't include all available protection and then blame the manufacturer for not including it? What outcome are you looking for? All suits must have all available protection? Easy enough, all suits will now be $2000+. If you only have $1000, buy an old suit and hope the stitching holds :/. There is no good answer here. Personally I would rather have manufacturers spend more on protection and less on style at a given price point, but I suspect that would not do nearly as well in the market as people buy what they like.

If your argument was including protection that doesn't work (such as pads that moved out of the way during a crash with a properly fitted suit), I would entirely agree with you. Selling something as offering protection and then not designing appropriately to keep it located is 100% a manufacturer problem.

A bike carries inherent risk. Going fast on a bike even more so. You crashed in one of the most violent possible ways and got a few minor fractures, that's a win in my book even if it does still suck to be injured.
 
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Thanks for the understanding, it's suck to ask why the big brands don't do it well for the consideration of safety of racing enthusiasts. When you spent so much $ and time on this sports, and so little thing can kill you.
 
Thanks for the feedback. First of all, I did not remove anything out of the suit as originally brand new bought. Instead I had everything I could buy for the insert, like their backpack and chest pad etc. I just don't understand why even my touring pants have side hip protection, but not found in the race suits..... And why most suits people can afford don't have comprehensive protection like their top line product . I'm not saying airbags.
 
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1. It is not possible for any type of protective gear to provide complete protection against ALL possible outcomes.
2. Even if it is "possible", there may be other reasons why it is not "practical" and thus is not done. Leathers for roadracing have to accommodate rider movement on the bike, for example.
3. Even something that is "possible" and "technically feasible" may not be so at a price that people are willing to pay. For example, I know of the airbag neck protection system that Dainese has. But I don't have it.

What do you mean by "side hip protection" - show us a picture or a link. It's hard to imagine anything in this area protecting against anything other than a superficial impact.

In your other post (elsewhere) it sounds like you landed on your knees. My leathers (Dainese) have SOME protection in this area, but it is not possible for this to cushion an enormous impact, if that's what happened.

Buy the best gear that you can afford ... recognizing that it will not be perfect.

Motorcycle racing injuries will not happen to you if you confine your racing activities to a video game console.
 
I see what you mean. Nothing is perfect protection for anything, especially interm of accidents. But i'm not again Alpinestar, but I found that they didn't do enough comparing others in the price sense. For example, I had a pair of nitro racing boots for few years, costs me less than a hundred, but saved me in a big crash, and total wrecked, my feet are fine, only problem is they're hot like feet getting toasted in summer. But these new boot didn't provide enough protection even though they're big brand and more $. I just want people share what their gear buying experience for track use for over years in terms of price and safety. I wish everyone track their bikes can stand up like most Motogp guys when accident would happen.
 
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Hello,

No offence but you keep repeating that you thought your gear was lacking. You can't verify your statement of "but I found that they didn't do enough comparing others inn the price sense". How do you know if you had a Joe Rocket suit for similar price on you may have broken you leg and wrecked a knee. Maybe your equipment did the best it could. Unless you can repeat the fall (or one similar) with different gear you can't compare. As John Hinds (RIP - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsZBXlTHPCg) states, 'a highside is not just a fall at speed but also a fall from height'. Jump off a picnic table and land on pavement on your knees, I bet it will suck no mater the padding. If you went over the bars and your legs flung to the pavement with your knees hitting primarily first, double ouch.

I have lowsided twice in my Joe Rocket suit, each time 70-80kph only. It had protected me pretty well each time though I have had to send it to John Bickle for seam fixes. I bought it at a price point and knew it, I have upgraded the pading in the pockets as they were getting a tad worn out. I have written off 2 LS2 Arrow helmets as well. (use SMX Plus boots without issue so far) But I won't blame my battered left shoulder on my gear, I lowsided going left and landed elbow...shoulder ... head. Maybe if I spent more on my gear my shoulder wouldn't have hurt so much. Or maybe I could have spent $2000 on the best suit and dislocated my shoulder. It's sometime a crap shoot.

The only thing you can do, if you feel the brand let you down so much, is speak with your wallet and not buy that brand again. (or send the manufacture your thoughts on how they can improve the product?)

Jeff
 
My $1400 dainese suit has the same padding as my $3000 d-air. Elbow sliders are for dragging your elbow. There's no real hip padding in either suit which is why I wear Knox padded shorts. I also wear a chest protector with both suits. Every time I've crashed wearing my alpinestars supertech boots my feet/ankles came out ok but that doesn't mean that they will protect me the same in every crash.

The suit you were wearing is a good suit.
 
I think you are maybe expecting more from your equipment than it will ever handle in all situations. I remember Jorge Lorenzo highsiding one time a few years ago because the traction control was turned off and I believe he broke both his ankles. Many top riders have gone down and had injuries and i'm sure they get the top of the line equipment no doubt. When I looked at Sportbike track gear and the Astar Atem suit they show a lot of protection in the knees , hips, shoulders and elbo areas. If that was your suit and it had that protection then your crash was pretty hard to cause your injuries. I do hope you heal up soon and are able to get back out there and enjoy the sport. Look seriously at what may have caused your crash and perhaps you can avoid this in the future. Safety gear is mean to help protect you in case of an accident but the idea is that u hopefully never have to use it.
 
Tuck and roll, really all depends on the type of crash whether well placed armour will help.
 
I double checked my pretty wrecked suit, is Carver not the new atem. I had it for 4 years, save me from a lowed side on the left, that time didn't touch my knees or head luckily.
 
The Carver is the cheapest suit A-Star makes. You get what you pay for. My Dainese was around $1k and has knee and elbow protection so I dont know where you are getting $2-3k suits only business.

You want hip protection? Buy padded/armoured shorts. They are inexpensive and will be less likely to move around in a crash.

Motorcycles are dangerous. No amount of protective equipment can make them safe, or can guarantee you escape injury in a crash.
 
Different pieces of gear have different items. Buy the pieces that have what you want or get them as extra. More $$$ doesn't equal more safety.
 
GreyGhost said:
A highside is a violent crash and no amount of gear at any price makes you invincible to being smashed into the ground.
Click to expand...

I disagree, this looks like it would be pretty close to invincible



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Lol, that's a good suit. I guess most of the superbike racers must have their custom suits with lots of paddings and armours underneath, but you just don't see them. Where the most common armours and paddings do they insert there?
 
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