When I saw this I went WTF!?

Air bag jackets for motorcyclist. You've got to be kidding me right. I watched the video and the air bag around the shoulders looks like water wings and not much protection at all. As far as Jorge' Lorenzo didn't look like he was wearing one. May be I missed something.

No thanks, not for me at this time. What do you guys and gals think?

[video]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/this-could-be-big-abc-news/step-towards-safer-motorcycle-riding-154804126.html[/video]

 

Cursty took a spill on the first turn on the way to Paloma, His wife got him an air bag jacket affter that..........
The jacket cost more than his bike...........lol

 

RS Taichi GMX Motion Airbag Jacket is about $850 it only protects head and neck. It inflates into a collar. It is reusable.

Hit-Air makes a vest that yoU can were over your current gear or totally integrated jackets.

 

Nice white 7g in the opening shots. Other than that- nuh-uh....

Give it another 5 years or so for the technology to be better developed & become affordable for people like most of us. 8K for a suit.....

 

Friend of mine got a jacket that inflates. He is a bit wary, just got his riders permit & 1st bike at 60. Lives in Sydney & uses one of the worst arterial roads for traffic.Its reusable & from memory it didn't set him back that much (he's careful with his money). I don't totally disagree with the concept, if it makes him feel more confident while learning & it will certainly come in handy if he comes off in river . If they tried to make them compulsory, well that's an all together different thing.

 

Just to be pessimistic. I can see going down off the side of a road the air bag fills and you bounce back out in traffic then get deflated by a semi.

I have my old Dacor inflatable divers vest I could try. Just need to attach the fill lanyard to the bike. Fall off and it automatically fills like a balloon. Mmmmmm I could put two on. One backwards and one forwards then become balloon boy.

Would work great if you went in to a river or lake.

 

yup......been around for a couple years now. lol You should see the ones for the Gold Wings....

 

There are plenty of motogp videos from this past season that show them in action. I think it is good tech. This is the next evolutionary step in the current argument.........I'm sure that troll Nolan will be along shortly to shit in this sandbox.




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Karma is a byyyeach aint it lol

 

I saw this actually tested by a real human on a show called "Guinea Pig." Even though he is a stunt man and he crashed into something soft-ish, the reality is he was able to drive a motorcycle 40mph into something, the vest inflated (covering his neck, shoulders, back and elbows) and he stood up and walked away. The fact that it then deflates and needs only a new tiny CO2 can to be installed, I think is amazing. I wouldn't want one yet, but how many times have you been able to walk away from a 40mph collision with no injuries to your upper body. Soon enough, the technology will be there to make it a little more practical, though. I can just see clipping the jacket to the bike, riding, stopping for gas, standing up from the bike and forgetting to unclip and BOOM! the jacket inflates and you need another CO2 can...

 

My only concern with this technology is that dickhead bureaucrats will try to make it compulsory. - Any VFRW member who lives in New South Wales will be abundantly aware of how hated motorcyclists are by the government body that regulates motoring; they would just LOVE to be able to impose more stupid bullshit on us.

Seriously, we are talking about an organisation whose former head said that if motorcycles were invented today, there's no way his agency would allow them to be used on the road! And he also said that any legislation that meant there'd be less bikes on the road was a good thing.
Fucking "civil servants".

 

Actually I have several times. Most of them were on the race track at speeds between 50-80mph. The only time I got hurt was hitting a tire wall with guard rail behind and broke my wrist. The other was a high side at about 80mph. My foot was between the frame and asphalt and it broke five bones. Neither one of those would have been better with the balloon jacket. The other few times were low sides at speed where I got up and walked away.

The worst one on the street was hitting the right side rear fender of a Honda Accord at about 25-30 as he pulled across in front of me at the last second. I flew about 40-50 foot before landing. I had a leg compression injury when my leg was between the car and bike. Otherwise I could have walked away.

So have I been the luck one? May be so. Out of all the crashes (about 5 racing and 4 street) I only just scratched my helmet twice. I'm not convinced this is worth it. Granted these are a new thing and will evolve in to something better may be.

I remember back in the eighties when Joan Claybrook (bitch imo) had a motorcycle made (government study) with out riggers with little wheels on them to promote motorcycle safety. The rider also sat behind the engine down low. Bureaucrats trying to protect the puplic usually end up killing them at times.

 

Very similar experiences and thoughts here.

It's hard to determine what luck is in these cases as if you were REALLY lucky you wouldn't have crashed at all, but I digress. Been off twice on the track where I would estimate departure on both incidents at about 60 mph.

Had a get-off on the street at about 70-80 on a demo ride (VERY long story) where I was only wearing Jeans, work boots, Joe Rocket mesh jacket/gloves, and helmet and walked away without attention. I did have a few areas of skin that got it which were cleaned with antiseptics.

Short version is you won't find me throwing down that kind of $$$ on a balloon jacket anytime soon either.

 

Yeah, I hear you, were the reasons why they castrated the "Old" road with 60KPH speed limit & resurfaced it with bitumen & loose gravel. You must have heard about the day the RTA & Cops pulled all bikes over at the old toll gates & made everyone wait for over an hour while the cops did rego, breath & modifications checks & RTA conducted noise & fuel checks (using leaded in a unleaded bike). I still reckon its this attitude that led them use steel cabling on highway speed barriers. I'm just waiting for the day when they tell we can ride motorcycles as long as it has 4 wheels.

 

Once again, norkleboy attempts to align himself with the fast guys and yep, those multi million dollar MotoGP racing budgets. This might be likened to a NYC fashion show and what the real shit looks like at WalMart six months later.

This Nolan dude I hear, is the guy who invented the inflatable pooper scooper.

 

they would appear to do al lot to mitigate potential injuries, the only downside is the cost at this point. I for one like the idea of less injuries with my crashes.

 

You could have a point on the jacket but don't think we're totally hated, I love the ability to use Bus and Transit lanes during peak congestion times and have free parking areas all over Sydneys CBD.

 

Yeah, that is a certainly a reasonable fear. Let's see, the odds of that series of events happening are what? So you would risk increased injuries in 99% of accidents, so that you don't have to worry about the less than 1% of accidents? Never mind that you wouldn't "bounce" anyway, it isnt' made of of "superball" material and inflated to 90psi. They are made to absorb as much of energy as possible, not rebound a person.

are you the type that doesn't wear a seatbelt in a car just in case you drive in the water, you don't want to have to take a seatbelt off before you can get out of the car?

 

in a controlled environment? happens all the time, watch a motorcycle race, they fall at over 100MPH sometimes, get up and walk away more times than not it seems. But, that is a controlled environment, and they don't always walk away.

at least the one I have looked at the required pull to inflate the vest is not something you would do accidentally, as that was a concern of mine as well. Unless you get off your bike and BOLT into the Quickie Mart, you are not going to inflate the vest. I beleive it requires 60 pounds of force, that is more than a slight tug of turning toward the pump. Although this could start the whole pump while off or on the bike debate again....