My airbag vest arrived#

Sat Dec 14 14:45:29 2024

My airbag vest arrived today, earlier than expected. Its a mechanical tether system, so the options are either a long strap with a buckle that goes around the seat, or a short strap with a hole in it that can be bolted to the frame, if you have a suitable existing threaded hole and bolt in the frame.

I've gone for the second option, and attached it to one of the bolts that holds the rear footpeg on. I had to enlarge the hole in the strap a little (hot nail) but think it'll be fine. Pictures are of the strap with the fairing pushed back to get access, and of everything in place

I realise I didn't post here about my change of mind. I decided to place an order for the M1 vest (not the V1 as I erroneously referred to it) , because an airbag with a sleeveless jacket seems a bit pointless when I could buy an airbag with no jacket at all. The web site said expected 3rd Jan, which was fine as I 'm not expecting much time for riding anyway in the next couple of weeks, so I was quite pleasantly surprised first to get an order confirmation saying expected Monday, and then to get a text message this morning saying out for delivery.

Anyway, I've tried it on over normal clothes and the S size seems right for my weedy upper body (36" chest if I puff it out) : there are a couple of straps/buckles to adjust it so it looks like it can go a fair bit bigger or smaller. Haven't tried it over riding kit: as per above, I'm not expecting much time for riding anyway in the next couple of weeks,

Looking at the pictures, yes, it does look like the buckle could dangle into the path of the wheel if I (or anyone) is riding without the airbag attached. (It doesn't, but maybe it could when the suspension's loaded). Should figure out how to clip it out of the way somehow

Or I could rotate the strap to come out of the other side.

The minor misgiving I have about this is the possibility that because the strap is behind the plastics, an "airbag event" could pull on it and snap the plastic. But maybe in an airbag deployment event then a broken fairing is not the most pressing of my concerns