Is The Air Bag Vest And Suit About To Blow Up?

[Hugh Janus]

The Airbag Vest (Illustration by Justin Page/)

The full-face helmet is only about 50 years old. And not to be too obvious, but before that, not one person ever used one on a motorcycle. Today many riders wouldn’t ride with anything less. Could wearable air bag ­protection in your riding jacket or race suit become the safety standard in the same way?

Leading gear companies Dainese and Alpinestars have been working over the course of the past two ­decades to make it so, and motorcyclists have enjoyed the fruit of this rivalry that has created the most ­technologically advanced safety standard to date.

The race in earnest began in 1995, when Dainese initiated developmental work on its air bag system—­later named D-Air. Alpinestars arrived at the party in 2001 with its Tech-Air project. Work for both companies began primarily in the regulated and semipredictable space of Grand Prix racing, where each company steadily collected the data used to improve algorithms and the rate of crash detection. By 2009, both Alpinestars and Dainese had fully functioning prototype systems being used by racers in MotoGP. The first race-situation activation of D-Air was triggered at the 2007 Valencia GP by Italian racer Simone Grotzky.

Dainese’s Smart Jacket is capable of a single deployment. Following activation, the system must be taken to an official D-Air dealer for maintenance and recharging—the service costs $249.99. (Dainese/)

Wearable air bag protection was made publicly available in pre-equipped race-focused suits and expensive jackets by both Alpinestars and Dainese in 2011, although neither system hit the US market until 2015 due to varying standards on electronic devices. But finally, MotoGP-level protection was available for all.

The objective of air bag systems is to detect and protect against an injury before any impact has actually occurred—chances are, before you even realize you’re crashing. To be able to do this, the brain of the latest D-Air system, or Intelligent Protection System, uses seven sensors, including three accelerometers, three gyroscopes and a GPS unit. In current systems, Dainese claims the sensors autonomously scan to detect a nascent accident 1,000 times per second. In the event the system determines that a crash is imminent, the system inflates within milliseconds, with the goal of being completely expanded prior to impact. This last point is arguably the most important factor.

Weighing in at roughly 4 pounds, the Smart Jacket is lightweight and easily stowable. Versatility is key. (Dainese/)

Once triggered, a rush of gas from charged, ­high-pressure cartridges fills areas surrounding the shoulders, chest, ribcage and back on the most advanced systems —a volume as large as 11 liters on the street-based D-Air Road system. And how does this compare to the protection of traditional equipment? Dainese says there is a 90 percent reduction in force transmitted to the body. Or as Alpinestars expresses it for the Tech-Air system: It’s the same level of protection as wearing 18 back protectors in the area covered by the air bag.

The next step in air bag development? Leading ­companies have objectives of improving the versatility of systems while making them more affordable. Meet the recently introduced Dainese Smart Jacket and ­Alpinestars Tech-Air 5 systems. Both are slim, ­self-contained systems with the capability of fitting under street jackets, matching brand or not. The only requirement is roughly 2 inches of free space in ­circumference underneath your chosen garment.

Sign up here to receive our newsletters. Get the latest in motorcycle reviews, tests, and industry news, subscribe here for our YouTube channel.

These systems are serious steps in the right direction. What you get is the latest safety technology derived from MotoGP racing, millions of real-world testing miles, and thousands of analyzed air bag deployments—all optimized with algorithms specialized in detecting accidents found in real-world scenarios, even at a standstill. And in the case of the Dainese Smart Jacket, it’s priced at a relatively affordable $699.95.

Crash detection is vital to maximum protection. Here, my D-Air Racing suit has activated—notice the inflated shoulders—prior to impact. (Corey J Coulter/)

Personally speaking, investing in air bag protection is a no-brainer. At the 2018 season-opening MotoAmerica Supersport race at Road Atlanta, a wicked slide catapulted me to the biggest highside of my racing career, triggering the inflation of my D-Air Racing suit before hitting the tarmac. The injuries? Double sprained ankles and a knock to the head—but zero injuries to my collarbones, chest or shoulders, not even the one with an existing, nagging injury. The air bag protected me in a huge crash and is the reason I was healthy enough to compete at the following race only two weeks later. I’ll never race without an air-bag-equipped suit again.

Alpinestars says the air bag will inflate between 20 to 40 milliseconds after a crash has been detected. (Alpinestars/)

KTM factory MotoGP racer Pol Espargaro sums it up best: “Once you’ve tried D-Air, it’s something that you can’t do without,” the Spaniard says. “At one time, not wearing a helmet was the norm. Now it’s mandatory to wear one, and you can’t do without one. It’s the same with the air bag.”

Yeah, exactly.

Source