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Airbag Equipped Motorcycle Jackets |
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File under New Products Safety
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Paris, France
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There used to be a time, not so long ago, that airbags were a novelty in cars. Now, no-one would buy a car without airbags. Then a few manufacturers started offering an airbag slipover vest for motorcycle jackets. The first ones took too long to inflate and were bulky.
But today things seem to have changed and airbags are slowly becoming mainstream for motorcycles. There are now several motorcycle jacket manufacturers that are offering integrated airbags. In other words, the jackets have not been modified to incorporate airbags, but have been produced with airbags in mind, so that they don't look bulky, and you will not resemble the Michelin Man.
The first one I was pointed to was the French "ProtAirBag". They have several model jackets, from full winter to summer jackets, or just slip-on vests.
All jackets are "real" motorcycle jackets, in other words, are fully protected, water resistant and have many pockets (there are even a few that have purpose built pockets for mobile phones).
They have four different jacket styles and several accessories available.
The jackets are clipped onto the motorcycle via a cord. If you are ejected from your motorcycle, the jacket inflates within 0.2 second. Several seconds afterwards, the jacket deflates by itself.
Click here to go to their website (in French, but lots of photos).
Taiwan manufacturer MotoAir have an even more impressive catalog of motorcycle jackets equipped with airbags.
From long jackets to racing jackets, and several vests, their catalog lists 16 jackets and vests.
They also offer ski and other outdoor sport jackets with built-in airbags.
Click here to access their website (it will ask if you want to download the Chinese fonts, but you don't need them).
Mainstream motorcycle jacket manufacturer Dainese also has an offering, but in contrast with the others, this jacket is operated electronically. All others are attached to the motorcycle with a ripcord. Dainese's d-Air vest is attached without wires. A wireless sensor communicates with the controlling unit inside the motorcycle. It monitors the position of the vest and together with other data decides whether or not to inflate.
It's pricey, costing over US$ 1,000.
So far, there are still not that many airbag equipped motorcycle jackets available, but more and more are hitting the market. Jackets are all real motorcycle jackets and prices are becoming reasonable.
I would guess that in the future, say 10 years from now, airbags for motorcycles will become a law, much like helmets. On one side it does give you additional safety, but on the other hand it does pose several problems, one would be for the Hell Angels types.... where do they put their club logo ??
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