Ever get too good of a deal?

My current harnesses are Racequip FIA 6 points that I bought 5 years ago on closeout for $130 a set. Shipped and with tax. I must have known that was a deal, and I've bought harnesses since then, but I had no idea how good a deal that really was until today when the replacements I finally had to buy showed up with SFI tags instead of FIA. Whoops, that's what I get for shopping on my phone while I watch TV. 

So at $190 a set these are good until June 2022, or I can return them and get some FIA Sabelts for 300 a set and get 2 more years out of them. Worth it? 

For the record it's a DE car but I have had DE techs check the dates, including PCA last year who noticed the pending expiration and told me to make sure I replaced them for next year. 

Weird, I have never had a track day group care about certifications on belts.

I've also had a DE tech tell me to cover the negative terminal on my battery so I'm not saying this is necessarily a club policy, but I also can't seem to find any club rules that explicitly allow expired belts even though it's "conventional wisdom". 

Yes.

I bought a bevel drive Ducati for a parts donor.

A year later it turned out to have been stolen from a friend of a friend.

At least I still had all it's pieces.

In reply to steronz :

I am not sure what you are saying. Is it the fact the the belts went from 130-300 over six years?  Insurance, overhead or changes to the materials to meet the new specs could all contribute to that. What were others selling them for then and what are others selling them for now?  

In reply to dean1484 :

I'm sure they retailed for about $300 5 years ago too, I just forgotten that I'd bought a closeout special. Messed with my head is all, so I didn't check the details. 

codrus said:

Weird, I have never had a track day group care about certifications on belts.

NJMP seems to be a stickler for this. They've always checked my belts. Last go around I had to wear my 3 points instead of my harness because of the date.

In reply to fatallightning :

That's a New Jersey thing. They've got strict laws about race equipment and it's enforceable by the police!

steronz said:

I've also had a DE tech tell me to cover the negative terminal on my battery

Aw man.  I'd have laughed in his face and asked to see who appointed someone so incompetent so I could chew them out.

(Unless you have a positive-ground car, I guess, in which case he knows his E36 M3)

I just got a Racequip FIA 6pt harness from Summit for $249...  Racequip 853013

As far as tech, out here most HPDE is on the 'honor' system, and you're responsible for yourself.  We did attend a PCA weekend once, where the tech guys seemed utterly baffled by our Miata and ZL1.  Apparently PCA folks are incapable of torquing lug nuts on their own, so they do everyone's car at tech.  It almost started an argument when I stopped them from torquing my Miata's lug nuts to Porsche spec... 

steronz said:

In reply to dean1484 :

I'm sure they retailed for about $300 5 years ago too, I just forgotten that I'd bought a closeout special. Messed with my head is all, so I didn't check the details. 

Ahh. Ok now that makes sense. 

Knurled. said:

steronz said:

I've also had a DE tech tell me to cover the negative terminal on my battery

 

Aw man.  I'd have laughed in his face and asked to see who appointed someone so incompetent so I could chew them out.

 

(Unless you have a positive-ground car, I guess, in which case he knows his E36 M3)

And in the groups I have run with you would have then been told to not run and depending on how badly you pissed off the event chair you may have been invited not to return. 
 

What is with people not adhering to safety rules. Thinking they don't apply to them. They are there for your protection. They are also there to keep insurance costs down and that keeps your track time costs down. One person crashes and dies with expired belts and the lawsuits start. Your and my costs go up. Way up.  Or worse yet no more track time. 
 

People should be thankful that the inspectors take the time to look. What they find may save your life some day and yet we berate them. I just don't get it. It is a thankless job and no one is perfect. instead maybe more people should consider volunteering to be a safety stuard. 
 

Remember that with out them we don't get on track at all. 

There's no such thing as too good of a deal. 

dean1484 said:

Knurled. said:

steronz said:

I've also had a DE tech tell me to cover the negative terminal on my battery

 

Aw man.  I'd have laughed in his face and asked to see who appointed someone so incompetent so I could chew them out.

 

(Unless you have a positive-ground car, I guess, in which case he knows his E36 M3)

And in the groups I have run with you would have then been told to not run and depending on how badly you pissed off the event chair you may have been invited not to return. 
 

What is with people not adhering to safety rules. Thinking they don't apply to them

The NEGATIVE terminal.  The one that is connected directly to the body of the car with a thick cable.  What's going to happen, the body is going to touch the negative terminal and then... nothing happens?

I would not mind being told to not run with a group that was being run as incompetently as that.  Which is fine, as I wouldn't want to run with them in the first place.  What other basic safety directives are they completely clueless about?

I am all for adhering to safety rules.  In fact, I help write them.  What I am NOT for is incompetence in the name of safety.  Someone that clueless would be better off stamping hands or playing roadblock on the access road or anything but tech inspection.  Something beneficial to the club while keeping within their abilities.

Remember a couple years back Allstate did the Mayhem Sale where they sold a couple's stuff while they were at the Sugar Bowl?

I ended up getting one of the toolboxes.  I think I paid $27 for a three piece toolbox from International.  List price is (currently) about $800?

I did spend about 6-8 months wondering if I got ripped off though.