They have requirements, though. Your bike must be in sound shape, no leaks, lots of beef on the brake pads, and lots of rubber on the skins. When on their track, you have to remove your side mirrors (or tape them over, and tape up your headlight. If you crash, they want to minimize the stuff that has to be cleaned up, which is understandable.
As for our bodies, they have a requirement for those, too. You have to wear protective body armor, and the list of things they accept isn't very large. They did suggest a body suit which I looked in to it. I'm not gonna lie; this stuff isn't cheap, but I figured; what the hell. Maybe I'll even get smart and wear this stuff on a regular basis. After all, the reviews said you can wear this under jeans and shirts and no one will know.
So I ordered it and it arrived last night. Opening the shipping bag it came in, a number of promotional flyers and cards came dropping out onto the floor, along with the pants and the jacket (two packages).
Opening up one of the packages, more promotional business cards, flyers, adverts, etc. came falling out. (Yes, if you look at them, they are differen than the first picture.)
Viola! The suit.
The material is a fine mesh (air flow) which will allow air to pass through so you stay somewhat cool and won't overheat (which is the main problem with so much of the protective stuff out there).
The pads laid out on the side are thigh pads.
The rest of the pads come pre-loaded into the pockets but they leave the thigh ones out in case you don't want to use them. I bought 'em so I was gonna use them, at least for on the race track. Holy hell, they weren't easy to get in! The pockets were inside the leggings (of course) and the pads are held in by the pouch cover which is slit down the middle and overlaps itself. Suffice to say it took me a while to figure out how to get them loaded in.
The material being mesh means it takes some TLC to pull on. Too rough and it'll tear, so I took my time. Actually, I didn't have much choice. The reviews I'd read on line said to go a size smaller than what the sizing guide suggested, which I'd done. The pants were super tight around the upper thighs and belly (gotta cut down on the beers and burgers!) and it took a bit to get them all the way on. (The jacket went on very easily and took no time at all.)
Ta da!
The suit does fit super tight, which is what you want so the pads won't go flopping out of place. I could see these easily staying put with a pair of jeans over them. I wasn't sold on the comfort, though. They were tight in the area where guys don't like things to be tight, and since these things are going to be under a pair of jeans; it'd be tough to make adjustments on the fly, if you know what I mean.
I had to admit; all the important joints were covered...
Thighs, knees and shins (boots will protect the ankle and feet)...
A side shot of the lower leg. They come with zippers to help get them off...
Shoulders...
Elbows and forearms.
I tried using the standing mirror to get a picture of the back, but I wasn't able to finagle the angle and the lighting. Suffice to say that this thing also has pads protecting the back/spine, and the lower back (bottom of the spine).
As long as you've got something over this thing to keep everything in place, I think it'll work just fine.
Here's hoping I don't wind up testing it any time soon...
Ride Hard, Use Protection
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