Are inflatable (airbag) jackets worth the extra cash?

[The Turbonator]

Just having a look at them and was wondering if they're worth the £600 or whether they offer no real improvement over a jacket with armour protection.

Link to the one I've been looking at:

http://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/c...

[John D.]

Handy for Euro trips on the ferry.

[Rawwr]

I think physics would suggest they're a great idea but personally I'd go for a separate vest rather than one integrated into a jacket, so you can at least use it with your choice of jacket.

[bogie]

Well I think in general airbags must be helping/be better...at least according to the manufacturers/riders using them for racing. Sliding down a race track at high speed and being able to race the next day is a bit different to many fatal road accidents though

The thing is with these things its hard to prove the value of them, because you cant generally repeat and analyse accidents exactly the same way each time.

If the cost delta for the same jacket with/without airbag was £100-150 im sure there would be a lot more of them sold and worn, until then its a slow adoption, as the jackets are nearly 2x the price

I prefer the Ducati and Dainese system where theres a sensor on the bike, but of course its not cheap. I dont know if I could be bothered with a tethered setup.

Still, No amount of armour is going to save you on the road from a high speed collision with something hard, mostly all this stuff is to prevent what could be minor offs/slides being a lot more severe and keep your skin intact

[Mastodon2]

Once the airbag is deployed, has the jacket had it, or can it be reset for a reasonable fee? I'd imagine some people would be put off if the jackets were done in one use where a minor off might cause the bag to deploy when the chance of spinal damage is minimal. For example, low-siding on diesel on a roundabout, the bike is going to be scraped, but if you keep your helmet off the deck your clothing might get away unscathed, but if you're wearing an airbag jacket you could end up looking at an additional £600 bill on top of your damaged bike.

[bogie]

The process for reset/recharge is different per manufacturer, but not very expensive

Of course if its built into a jacket and you've trashed the jacket, you may want it repairing too

You can understand why insurers offer upgrades for helmets/kit these days, as you could easily be wearing £1500 of gear that needs replacing in an off....after its done its job

[The Turbonator]

You just replace the canister once it's deployed, the airbags slowly deflate by themselves after deployment.

[13aines]

I would buy one if I had the cash - anything to avoid breaking my neck again.

For me I know if I hit a car or road furniture hard i'll be toast airbag or not (although better off in one of these relatively) but for accidents like mine, where I just came off of the bike and hit the deck hard on my face, the airbag jackets which deploy around your neck and hold your helmet in place and thus prevent hyperextension/hyeprflexion of the neck are worth their weight in gold I imagine.

Instead I wear a Leatt STX brace as I managed to get one for £180. Won't get on the bike without it anymore.

[Drawweight]

Personally I wouldn't bother.

If I believed I'd need an airbag jacket to keep me safe every time I went out on the bike I'd give up riding and take up knitting.

I can go out with leathers on or just a jacket, jeans and trainers. I don't feel any safer or ride any differently whatever I wear.

[The Turbonator]

Drawweight said:

Personally I wouldn't bother.

If I believed I'd need an airbag jacket to keep me safe every time I went out on the bike I'd give up riding and take up knitting.

I can go out with leathers on or just a jacket, jeans and trainers. I don't feel any safer or ride any differently whatever I wear.

It's not my riding skills I worry about it's other driver's observation skills, especially when I have a family at home.

[Rawwr]

Drawweight said:

If I believed I'd need an airbag jacket to keep me safe every time I went out on the bike I'd give up riding and take up knitting.

It's got nothing to do with need. It's if something goes wrong, I'd like to believe I have as much protection as possible.

[MrOrange]

13aines said:

Instead I wear a Leatt STX brace as I managed to get one for £180. Won't get on the bike without it anymore.

Thanks for that, PH is ace. I've just ordered one from Sportsbikeshop for half price. Neat. "Cheaper than a wheelchair".

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

Having hit a deer 2 weeks ago on a D Air multistrada and gotten up to tell the tale, I am very glad I was wearing one. I hit the deck at about 60mph and suffered only a few bruises and some superficial scratching. The jacket did its job very well indeed.

Its shredded now mind and the replacement cost is pretty high so im just negotiating this with my Insurance company.

[13aines]

MrOrange said:

Thanks for that, PH is ace. I've just ordered one from Sportsbikeshop for half price. Neat. "Cheaper than a wheelchair".

No problem. Where I got mine too. Make sure you size it up right - it takes some trial and error but should be okay without the armpit straps from what I read when sized up properly.

The only problem I have is that I get it right, then wear a thicker jacket, and it's not right... or change back protector in jacket recently - now not right, rides up. Put on the standalone back protector, doesn't fit right again - needs the wings bringing outward, and the spacers changing to get it right.

Oh, and I put it on after my rucksack, get comfortable, then when I get to my destination seem to have the leatt stuck in the rucksack and unable to gracefully remove either.

I think i'm going to start using the straps, or do a bit more tweaking to get it right for my summer kit recently dug out.

Without it right it obviously won't do it's job, but also seems to be very obtrusive. Get it right though and you barely know it's there even doing shoulder checks.

Won't ride without it now! I'm very lucky to not be full of metal with vertebra fused together, or even paralysed.

Edited by 13aines on Monday 18th May 20:41

[MrOrange]

Well, the Leatt arrived today and I gotta say I'm impressed. It's a bit of a faff to set it up, lots of trial and error but I seem to have it nailed now and it's amazing how much it stop the hyper-extension/turn of my neck whilst atr the same time I can hardly feel it there. Mucho impressed for less than 200 notes.

Reminds me a lot of when I first started wearing a HANS device, and now I don't even notice it. Best recommendation on here for quite a while

[13aines]

Glad you\re happy with it - are you using the straps?

I'm surprised so few road/track riders wear the Leatt road braces.

It doesn't take a fast crash to break cervical vertebra, or even an impact with road furniture/vehicles, as I proved.

I never even considered how unprotected the neck is before!

[MrOrange]

Not used the straps, it seemed a good fit - it'll get a bigger workout over the summer (including some track days).

I had a pretty big (45g) crash in a race car over 10 years ago and have damaged/fused/compressed verts 4/5/6 and I really like the idea I have a little more protection. If I was wearing a HANS device then I would have not felt a thing - unsuprisingly I went out and bought the next week but at £600 that was expensive.

Like you, I'm really surprised you don't see more (or any) on the roads, especially as it's not expensive. I'm also a fan of "all the gear, all the time" having been down the road a few times in my bikey history.

[SVS]

Any more thoughts on these airbag wotsits? Seems like they've evolved, what with Dainese's next generation airbag and the new Alpinestars Tech-Air jackets designed for road riding.

Though I wonder about these, as the neck protection doesn't look as good as Helite airbags or a Leatt. Any thoughts?

[Richyboy]

The dainese one looks quite good.

[SAS Tom]

I'm going to do a Dainese training course on D air next week. I'll let you know what they say. I've tried a helite vest and I can see how they work. It does feel like you've had a crash when you set one off to see what happens!