Avoiding paralysis!

[itchybro]

Read THIS THREAD!!

 

Very thought provoking.

[Mike]

I've heard of this, but haven't seriously considered one . . . yet. The product information on the Leatt neck brace is here.

[NoHeat]

Looks promising for beating one street-riding injury that worries me - T-boning a minivan or SUV at an intersection. Due to the vehicle height you don't fly over the minivan, instead you hit it face first. Your body continues moving toward the minivan while your face doesn't, so your neck rotates more and more and you suffer a possibly fatal neck injury, even though you've got a helmet on. That's what you see in those crash-test videos for motorcycles without airbags. Airbags prevent this type of injury, and maybe this collar would, too.

 

Reading that thread it sounds like fitting with street-riding jackets is an open question still. Would be nice if jackets were offered with a special collar already built in so that mating the jacket to the collar is no issue.

[sgendler]

Speaking of t-boning a minivan, I was told by his future daughter in law that Gleno was killed by a crushing chest injury after t-boning the minivan. I didn't confirm this with anyone else, but see no reason to doubt her account. That pelican parts thread includes some stats on where injuries are likely to occur and the chest was more likely (and apparently less survivable) that trauma to the neck. Just something worth considering. All of the sudden hype about this new brace feels a little bit too much like a marketing campaign rather than real grassroots hype. It is the same materials being passed around from site to site. I'm not saying that it isn't a valuable piece of safety gear, but I'd like to see a bit more independant analysis before jumping on an item that costs $500+ and requires replacement every 3 years.

 

I'm especially concerned about the level of inconvenience to a touring rider. Wearing a brace like that at a track day is a no brainer. You've got long breaks between sessions where you fully undress, and comfort isn't a primary concern over the course of a 20-30 minute session. The story is very different when you are talking about a touring rider who is on the bike for most of an 8-12 hour day, and stripping off a jacket and helmet at gas stops in order to get 5 minutes of relief from heat and discomfort before hopping back on the bike for another 150 miles.

 

--sam

[Green RT]

Brad, from the PelicanParts forum post, didn't include the usual disclaimer about not being connected with the manufacturer. I assume we are safe in assuming he had no ulterior motive behind his highly positive post.