Setting up a Fresh Breeze motor with a universal harness?

[tomarnold]

I am thinking of buying a Fresh Breeze Solo 210 motor, but it doesn't have any harness or suspension system (it was mounted on a trike). Could anybody help me with some advice on what I would need to attach an Apco harness to it?

My current motor, a Rad Arrow, doesn't have any j-bars - the risers connect directly to the high hangpoints on the harness and the harness clips directly to the frame. So I have no experience of j-bars. Do you think I could buy a universal harness (like the Supair or the Apco) and then buy a set of j-bars from Fresh Breeze? I'm not quite sure which parts I would need to buy in order to set it up.

I spoke to Dan Burton at Fresh Breeze UK and he advised me to buy their harness and quick-jettison setup. Which of course is fair enough and is good advice, but I don't think my budget will stretch to that. So I'd like to know if I can do it with a secondhand harness.

Do I even need the j-bars? Or could I attach the harness to the frame like I do with my Rad Arrow and then suspend from the hangpoints on the harness?

[alan_k]

Hi Tom,

I have done the same with an FB solo, see this post viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6640&hilit=aerochute+harness

The additional posting referred to shows the frame when I had the added bar which I later removed, as explained.

I have made another amendment since to pull the shoulder straps further back, but this may not be necessary with a different harness.

Any questions just fire away,

Cheers, Alan

[tomarnold]

Nice one, thanks Alan. Will have a proper look after work today...

[tomarnold]

Another slightly different but related question...

Fresh Breeze in Germany have been really helpful and are selling me secondhand j-bars and jettison straps. They have also offered me a Wingman harness at a good price but I'm not sure if I can afford it and indeed if I even need it.

Do I understand correctly that the harness doesn't actually attach to the frame at all but that you wear the motor unit with the shoulder straps and then the harness is suspended from the j-bars? If that's right, does that mean that the harness does not attach to the frame directly? And if so, how does it not twist on your back when powering up?

[alan_k]

I made a posting a while ago showing how the J bars/wingman harness/jettison system all fitted together:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4993

You definitely need a harness as that is what is connecting you to the wing through the J bars.

I first started using a PG harness but it was a bit bulky behind my back, though it did function the same as the wingman.

You will see on the first photo there is a padded back panel on the frame with two 'wings' at the bottom. These are to help stop the motor from twisting on your back.

I no longer use this back panel.

Hope this helps,

Alan

[tomarnold]

You definitely need a harness as that is what is connecting you to the wing through the J bars.

Oops, my bad wording! I know you need a harness but I wondered if it matters what kind of harness. So thanks Alan, that was a really helpful post. I think I'll try it with my freeflying harness first as I have a lightweight airbag harness (so not bulky) which is really comfortable. Then if that doesn't work well I will look at buying a wingman.

Alan, do you have a phone number or email address you could send me via private message or email? It would be great to talk to somebody with direct experience.

Thanks again.