Another Take on Airbags for Motorcycle(ists)

[Scout]

Thought this was interesting - a new version of an airbag for motorcycles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo9Vlt5tGwY&feature=bz303

It's obviously being demonstrated in a staged, low-speed crash but it seems to do an admirable job of minimizing neck motion and preventing head impact.

Generates lots of questions... First, is this for real? It would be interesting to know how it stays put, what inputs trigger a deployment, and what keeps it from going off inadvertently. I wonder if the pyrotechnics could ever actually cause an injury, and if it would have a chance of being economically produced. Hmmmm...

[Lel399]

Yes they are real; there are two types... tether types and impact/g sensor types.

short answer, yes they are already mass produced, marketed and sold...... just not in the US. They are actually pretty popular on street bike jackets in Europe... problem is they cant be sold in the US because of the liability laws etc that are put on manufactuers.... (RS-Taichi, Dainese and a few others already are selling them to the public in other countries)

http://www.rs-taichi.com/main/item_rsj678.htm

thats the short answer

[d_mob]

they look sweet... i wonder how expensive it is to "repack" into the hump after deployment...

http://www.motogpblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/grotzky-airbag-071.jpg

[d_mob]

on a side note, it looks so nice to leisurely slide into a HUGE runoff of soft pea-sized gravel. is the airbag even necessary for these guys?!? must be nice...