nerf bars pose a safety hazard?

[DGR Designs]

after reading the article on matt bartosek (sp?) and about how it happened. i am startiung to have second thoughts about racing. somebody should perhaps make up a petition to go around to make the spaces in nerf nets smaller so a boot won't get stuck. like to perhaps innovate the nets to make them safer. now i know that ***** happens. its a fact of life. but ***** like this almost makes you wanna go play golf or sumthin.:( who thinks this is a good idea? i mean maybe the nerf companies will even take this into their own hands and change their designs to keep boots from getting stuck because i know after this tragedy (sp?) things have to be changed to prevent it from happening again. best wishes to matts famliy (sp.... again)

[sportraxrider10]

Originally posted by roost_maker
now i know that ***** happens. its a fact of life. but ***** like this almost makes you wanna go play golf or sumthin.:( who thinks this is a good idea?


hey i golf and have you ever gotten hit on the sholder blade with a golf ball?:o it hurt really bad. but really i think they should make the nets closer together on the nerf bars

[RideRed04]

I think that what happend was a freak accident, and probably will never happen again. I feel for his family, it sounds like he was very passonate about the sport.

[Juggalo]

seat belts can cause death too in certain instances but they protect more than they hurt. same with nerf bars, there would be far more accidents without them. to minimize your risk i would suggest keeping your nets tight instead of sagging them.

[Ryan]

Originally posted by roost_maker
after reading the article on matt bartosek (sp?) and about how it happened. i am startiung to have second thoughts about racing. somebody should perhaps make up a petition to go around to make the spaces in nerf nets smaller so a boot won't get stuck. like to perhaps innovate the nets to make them safer. now i know that ***** happens. its a fact of life. but ***** like this almost makes you wanna go play golf or sumthin.:( who thinks this is a good idea? i mean maybe the nerf companies will even take this into their own hands and change their designs to keep boots from getting stuck because i know after this tragedy (sp?) things have to be changed to prevent it from happening again. best wishes to matts famliy (sp.... again)

Roost, thats so funny you mentioned this, I was thinking the same thing but didn't wanna post it because I thought it might of been a stupid ideah. ;) I think its a great ideah. We wan't to keep our sport as safe as possible. I have also road a couple quads and had my foot stuck in the nerfs just trail riding ect.

[Sparks425Ex]

That is sorta drastic because of one person. I mean it not like it happens alot or much at all. Yes this was tragic as to what happened to Matt but That is going a little far for one accident.

[tants]

Originally posted by Juggalo
seat belts can cause death too in certain instances but they protect more than they hurt. same with nerf bars, there would be far more accidents without them. to minimize your risk i would suggest keeping your nets tight instead of sagging them.

very well said juggs

[roostin_dale]

Yea, Matt was just very unlucky. That is something that happens only a few times to all in the sport.

[Wired]

well in most cases for me nerf bars have been life savors!!! but i have noticed a few times my boot actually getting tangled up within the nets. ive sprained an ankle because of this my first time ever trail riding. i really dont know why they dont make the wholes in the nets closer together, there really isnt any reason not to make them smaller. i think it would nothing but good for our sport if the nerf bars manufacturer's made the holes smaller in the nets. if someone has a con to why they shouldve make them smaller lets hear it, because i see nothing bad of this, only good. its not like its a major change to the design, just more material will be used. what do you guys think?

[2fastandfurious]

I like my Nerfs Saggin to the ground. Just like my pant. No, but after reading and hearing all this i am gonna tighten um up. Not like im planning to race that seriosly or anything.
-Ben
NO MATTER what you do if you do It long enough you are at a much higher risk of getting injured. ATV's pose a VERY large amount of danger in there nature..........

[Knight440]

Originally posted by Juggalo
seat belts can cause death too in certain instances but they protect more than they hurt. same with nerf bars, there would be far more accidents without them. to minimize your risk i would suggest keeping your nets tight instead of sagging them.


Well said :)

[Pro400EXC]

I heard it happened when he was battlein ole Jonesy...

anyways..I like to sagg my nets,cause it not,i can barley shift...

But yah the hoels are kinda a pain...and also Nerfs are soo nice to have,but suck a hasle,liek when you wanna work on your quad or have to back-up..

Thats why I think I'll take the nets out for GNCCin so I can back-up..

[QuadTrix6]

good point

[Rip_Tear]

You could always make more net... I also like the tight nets other then letting them drag. Heck you could even tie shoe laces in between the regular ones so that you foot can't slide though it.

[400exrules]

holy crap that would suck so bad if u were flyin through fifth gear and your foot fell through, it could get snapped or u could run over it...............OWWW. i would keep the nets tight cuz it gives a safer feelin

[DGR Designs]

well as i can see, there are mixed opinions on this topic. it is interesting tho on all the replies this is getting along with the pros/cons about them. keep all the info coming! (by the way, good idea with the shoelaces)
~Dave

Also i might add to the point that even tho it MAY have been a freak accident, it COULD happen again. so why not fix it while they have the chance and avoid possibble future injuries resulting from this? now im not saying that EVERY possible safety hazard on a quad it'self should be innovated but instead watched possibbly more closely anf think of ways to make it better. heck, i would dish out more money for a safer quad. i mean im only 15 and yes, at this age plenty of ***** happens, but down the road say when i have kids involved in the sport, id much rather have them riding a safer quad and still having fun then be on something less safe and have that possibbility of serious injury. don't all you parents aggree?

[400exrules]

ya they need to work on improving it because if it happened once it could happen a thousand more times

[Juggalo]

i think its a good idea to make the holes smaller too. but i am not that worried about it, because sure its more dangerous and yeah i've got my feet cought in em before but it was a freak accident. if somebody offered replacement nets i might think about buying them tho. somebody should make them and sell them. just buy a bunc of sets of replacement nets and take em to an upholstry shop and get some extra fabric sewn in there.

[Ryan]

Well I believe its for the better. Think of it also this way. Your on your cell phone (I hate em) and your talking to your physic and you end up rear ending some old lady and killing her, whatever. In NY there has been many car accidents related to this situation so they banned talking on the cell phone while driving. This is kinda off the subject but anyways, some good person is now gone from this. No one really knows if its the Nerf Bars that toke the tole but who knows. I have too caught my foot in there a few times and my one friend had his boot caught in there and flipped his quad, he hurt his leg and when the atv flipped it brang him with it.

Just to be on the safe side I think it would be a great idea to have the Nets closer together. Right now, the slightest thing to make our sport more safe is a step up. Atvs are known to be extremely dangerous so it wouldn't hurt to make them more safe, unless they have a specific reason on spreading the nets far apart.

[roostin_dale]

I saw some of you saying you keep em low so you can shift. Well, i just cout out one square around the shifter so the net isnt in the way. And i have big feet so my foot doesnt go through....lol

[hondamxer161]

if you got some extra webbing, you could use a grommet machine to secure the new pieces to the old webbing. my buddies and i have used this to fix broken nets, so i know it would work.

mike

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by 400exrules
ya they need to work on improving it because if it happened once it could happen a thousand more times Yes.. I agree also.. I was just talking to someone about this yesterday. The nets need to have smaller holes, I have had my foot in them befroe, just like 400exrules said it can happen to others ..In this sport you need to have as little room for margin of error..

[exriderdude]

how many of you have had you foot go through the holes in the net??

i dont know about you guys but the holes in mine are too small to have your foot go through, i think most of you have had your foot go through where the shifter or brake lever is, you know what i mean. Where the nerf ends on the inside by the frame, there is a gap, thats where my foot gos through, and it really sucks. i think that is the problem, not the holes in the net.

[bradley300]

I have dg nerfs and the holes are very small which is what i like. the only down side to this is when there is real sticky, thick mud, it piles on top of the nets. the is however a big gap between the last net and the framerail.

we just need to use our resources to come up with a solution, maybe Jnine could help out? every body in our sport (and out of it) thinks it need to be safer so why not do these small things?

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by exriderdude
how many of you have had you foot go through the holes in the net??

i dont know about you guys but the holes in mine are too small to have your foot go through, i think most of you have had your foot go through where the shifter or brake lever is, you know what i mean. Where the nerf ends on the inside by the frame, there is a gap, thats where my foot gos through, and it really sucks. i think that is the problem, not the holes in the net. Maybe I should REphrase my wording here..its not the actual holes un mine in the netting ,but the gaps in between the netting I was referring to,;) (like by the shifter) and towarfs the top of the netting,my foot has got wedged in between also.yes, I found this to be even owrse before I got my boots, one time I had on tennis shoes and the lace got caught on the shifter and I could not free up my foot:eek: WEll, thats all it took to go buy my boots..But a re-desing should be in order. I like my nerfs, but would like to see them be a lil more better designed.

what happened to the guy? what was the freak accident?

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by atv_king300ex
what happened to the guy? what was the freak accident? heres a lil info on a tradegy:( http://www.exriders.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39771

[250rmike]

i like to sag my nerf nets alitte but not a whole lot. just so their nit tight. as for getting ur foot underneath just adjust ur shifter and that fixes that. for those of u against nerfs think of all the injuries from races tires hiting where the nerfs should be it happens alot or when someones foot falls off the pegs only place it has to go is down and back which is rough terrain and tires and trust me tires hurt. nerfs do more good for the sport than bad. maybe they do need re-designing. and as for being a dangerous sport its no more than car racing or dirtbikes. i mean look at the amount of injuries on dirtbikes compared to quads i bet quads have alot less

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by 250rmike
i like to sag my nerf nets alitte but not a whole lot. just so their nit tight. as for getting ur foot underneath just adjust ur shifter and that fixes that. for those of u against nerfs think of all the injuries from races tires hiting where the nerfs should be it happens alot or when someones foot falls off the pegs only place it has to go is down and back which is rough terrain and tires and trust me tires hurt. nerfs do more good for the sport than bad. maybe they do need re-designing. and as for being a dangerous sport its no more than car racing or dirtbikes. i mean look at the amount of injuries on dirtbikes compared to quads i bet quads have alot less Yes.. they do more good than harm,and could use a redesigning.I would never be w/o mine .. my shifter has been adjusted,but I have still found the ole foot to slide off as you mentioned and go through the side before,but never got hurt. But .. MY ole man has, and let me tell ya.. it messed his foot up good! I still wouldnt trade this sport dangerous or not,...

[joeroadking]

funny I just had this conversation with my bro yesterday, I fell offf the peg on a r I had years ago that had nerfs on it and my foot went thru the net area, I think they are dangderous as **** the first thing I do when I buy a used quad is take the nerfs off if it has them , I actually go slower on a quad wirth nerfs just because of the fear of getting stuck in thouse suckers! sounds crazy but thats just me also I feel like when I am going threw rocks tech stuff the tend to hook on stuff. just my opionion.:D

[breaks-alot]

In honor of Matt please read what I have to say. Matt was one of my best friends. We went ridding all the time together this summer. He is my hero. I have had the displeasure of not only seeing the bike that he died on but also having to work on it and see the broken netting. He broke the netting on both sides. His foot was caught on the right side. I have spent what seemed like an eternity looking at it with a blank stare. His foot was ripped out of his boots. Now think about how hard it is to take off your boots unbuckled. He foot was ripped out of his boots still buckled. The boot was still in the netting. He would have had just about every bone in his foot broke to get it out of there.
I have had my foot caught in my netting also, the part between the frame and the netting. It happened on a landing where I almost flipped over and my foot would have been caught also. This is NOT a freak accident. Think about if your foot slips off the landing of a jump and you land on the netting. Your thinking is that there going to hold your weight, well with the design that they are now they WILL break. The ONLY way to make this situation safer is to convince ATVA to change the rule. The netting NEEDS to be smaller holes. 2X2 squares would greatly reduce the risks of breaking the nets. Also having the netting ALL THE WAY TO THE FRAME would make you safer.
We are in the R&D department in making this possible to use your existing nerf bars. I think buying aftermarket netting could be understandable considering that my friends’ life has been taken to understand how horrible of a design this "safety" feature is. So please do whatever possible to help get this rule changed.

Thank You for your time,
Ben Gunter


BTW For anyone who wanted to know what brand nerfs were. They were the same kind of witch many of you have; AC.

[mxdave28]

Well put ben..... i too was a friend of matts and was down in florida at the race in fact i was sitting on the gate ready for my 2nd moto when i watched matt crash..... i had the chance to meet and talk to couple really nice people ron cappintina(sp) and ohhh christmas what was his name grrrr...anyway, capp, was showing me where most of the problems are and how he would like to see things changed with the atva..... the area of concern is the very first strap closest to the frame on the AC pro pegs...everybody cuts that very first section out because of the "brake and shifter" levers....i myself had the "normal" ac nerfs and there are no mounts for this but, the pro pegs have them!!!! and people cut them off....Ben Gunter, you and the cause have my full support on trying to get things changed!

[300exTJjeeper]

I am sorry for your friend and everybody that new him, I just got done reading the thread about it. I am getting ready to buy some nerf bars with the nets.
But this is the thing my mom likes to sewn, you know like clothes.

So I'll be giving her the nets to make them smaller she will sewn in more netting on them to make real small holes.

I suggest is that you can take them to a trailor shop of something of that nature and I am pretty sure they will do for a small fee that has a big effect.

My mom said the materials are only about 5 bucks and about a 1 hour worth of time.

Ounce again I am truly sorry and hell be im my prayers tonight.

William