designers of airbag jackets for ladies
designers of airbag jackets for men
airbag jacket company, importers of airbag jackets,Buy the jackets that have been discussed on BBC Radio,TV on their road safety programmes.
As well as Radio Verulam and
Century North West Radio
3 Counties Radio
If you care for someone make them wear an Wairbag jacket.
Not only do all jackets have airbags but they have high visability trim to make the rider more obvious to other road users.
To talk to us about safety on a motorcycle please call Chris on : 0794 153 1513
Motorcycle Airbag Jacket
Back in the old days, automobiles didn't have seat
belts or padded dashboards, much less "passive
restraint systems" like airbags. Airbags were
something you read about in a Popular Mechanics
magazine "Cars of the Future" article. Why would
anyone possibly need or want an airbag?
Mention the words "motorcycle airbag jacket" and
you'll get about the same 1960's type reaction. Let's
face it, most motorcycle riders in the U.S. think of a
T-shirt and high-top sneakers as protective riding
gear, and many states are actively working to
eliminate helmet laws. Why should anyone want a
motorcycle airbag jacket?
But webBikeWorld visitors are smart, and any new
technology that has the potential of providing better
safety is of interest. Motorcycle airbags are at the
very beginning of working their way into the general
riding public's consciousness.
If you haven't seen one, it's hard to imagine what
they look like or how they work, many people envision
some type of bulky backpack, styled by the Geek
Brothers.
But the future is now, and the motorcycle airbag is
here and ready for retail. MotoAir is a Taiwanese
firm that has developed a fashionable array of airbag
jackets for motorcycling and an array of outdoor
activities, including water sports, scooter riding,
bicycling, horseback riding and others.
My guess is that you'll soon be seeing more and more
motorcyclists equipped with these products on a road
near you. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and predict
that some day almost all motorcycle jackets (and maybe
pants?) will offer the option of an airbag lining.
Until then, MotoAir has a large selection of airbag
jackets ready and waiting. The summer mesh jacket
(Model YR5010B) shown here is just one of many
different styles available. MotoAir offers both 3/4
length and short motorcycle jackets, several of which
include CE-approved armor in addition to the airbag.
Vests (or waistcoats) are also available, and they can
be used under all types of motorcycle jackets,
providing there's enough room for the airbag to
inflate.
The Model YR5010B is a quality garment that could very
well stand on its own even without the airbag insert.
It's made from the now somewhat ubiquitous nylon mesh
hot weather fabric, albeit denser than I've seen on
other summer mesh products.
The jacket has decent styling and a full-length
internal open mesh liner. It seems to be sewn
together carefully and it's very comfortable. It also
includes 3M Scotchlite reflective piping that
demarcates the red fabric from the black.
The waist and the sleeve cuffs do their job with the
liberal use of sewn-in elastic, which gives the
garment the comfort of a casual golf jacket. There's
a "hook and loop" type fastener at the bottom of the
jacket that secures the zipper, and quality YKK
lightweight zippers are used throughout. The neck has
a short (about 55mm, or 2-3/16") collar, lined with a
very soft velvet-like material and a snap closure.
The jacket has two external slash hand pockets, each
160mm wide by 160mm deep (~6-1/4"). These pockets are
lined with nylon, but they don't have a zipper or
other type of closure. This limits their usefulness,
but I try to make it a habit not to carry anything in
my pockets when riding anyway, especially hard items.
I have two fears: one is that something important will
go floating out of a pocket whilst I'm riding; and the
other is that I don't relish the thought of bouncing a
rib against, say, a cell phone during a crash.
An additional chest pocket on the left-hand side is
about 130mm wide (~5-1/8") and 170mm deep (~6-3/4"),
and has a zipper closure. An internal pocket lives
just under the jacket's left flap; this pocket does
have a zipper closure and is about 140mm wide (5-1/2")
by 130mm deep (~5-1/8"), and it's useful for stowing
something soft, like a wallet.
This summer mesh airbag jacket has a neat feature:
the sleeves are removable, turning it into a vest that
can be worn alone or under other types of motorcycle
gear. Just be aware that the MotoAir jackets all fit
slightly bigger than normal to make room for the
inflated airbag, so if you use the vest under another
jacket, make sure there's enough room for it to
inflate (more on this later).
Each MotoAir jacket includes an airbag vest fitted
between the outer shell and the inner liner. The
jacket has the appearance of a motorcycle garment and
the airbag functionality is not noticeable. But the
airbag's design differs, depending upon the intended
use of the jacket (e.g., motorcycling, horseback
riding, skiing, etc.). The jackets that are designed
to be used when riding a motorcycle include a large
upper section that emerges from the back of the
jacket's collar when the airbag is deployed, and is
designed to cushion the rider's neck area.
The airbag is made from a thick vinyl material,
probably similar to what one might find in an
airliner's life vest or other inflatable marine
personal safety device. It consists of several
roughly tubular-shaped chambers, two in the front of
the jacket, and two running up the back of the jacket.
There's a figure-8 shaped set of connected tubes that
cover the back; one circles around the upper back and
one down low.
The process of inflating the MotoAir airbag is fairly
simple. The MotoAir airbag is not inflated with
sodium azide or the other harmful explosive materials
that are used to inflate automobile airbags. A simple
compressed carbon dioxide cylinder is used instead.
Each airbag has a triggering device that is can pierce
the carbon dioxide cylinder when mechanically
activated. The trigger is attached to a 2mm thick
plastic covered cable with a breakaway device in the
middle and a safety clasp on one end. The clasp must
be attached to the motorcycle; to do this, MotoAir
supplies a couple of extra lengths of plastic covered
cable with screw ends. One of these can be used to
loop around the motorcycle's frame, or some other
sturdy attachment point on the bike.
When the rider is ejected from the bike, the force on
the cable triggers the pin that pierces the carbon
dioxide cylinder, and the idea is that the weight of
the rider's body will cause enough force for the
breakaway connection to separate.
The carbon dioxide cylinder is located on the outside
of the airbag in the area of the right hip. When the
airbag inflates, presumably the inflated airbag will
protect the rider from landing on the hard metal
cylinder and triggering device.
The airbag is reusable by simply unscrewing the empty
cylinder and replacing it with a new one. The
airbag's inflatable neck section must also be tucked
back in under the jacket's collar and the "hook and
loop" closures hold it until next time.
It may be difficult to find a location on some
motorcycles near enough to the cable to get everything
connected. I'm not sure what the maximum recommended
length for the entire cable assembly should be; I
assume that if it's too long, the rider might
theoretically be too far away from the bike before the
airbag deploys.
It takes a few rides to get used to hooking oneself up
before starting out, but it can quickly become a
habit, similar to buckling a seatbelt before driving a
car.
I'm also not sure how a rider's body weight comes into
play with the adjustment of the breakaway device.
There are a couple of screws on the breakaway unit, so
I assume it can be adjusted, but I didn't find any
directions that described this. MotoAir is in the
process of setting up U.S. distribution, so perhaps
some of the details will be worked out later.
There's enough play (about 30-60cm, or 12" - 18") in
the coiled cable to allow dismounting with the device
still attached, but it's not hard to remember that
you're connected to the bike. As soon as I swing a
leg off my bike, I can feel the tug of the cable,
saying "Hey, remember me?".
The directions indicate that it takes somewhere around
8-12kg (~17-26 lbs.) of force before the airbag will
activate, so it's unlikely that it would inflate just
by walking away from the bike with the cable still
attached.
The airbag assembly doesn't seem to add much weight to
the jacket. It's hard to tell, because it isn't
possible to remove the vest from the jacket, but the
entire jacket only weighed in at about 4 pounds.
It feels slightly heavier than a non-airbag equipped
mesh jacket, but the extra heft doesn't seem
noticeable.
Now I really don't know how much extra protection the
airbag might provide, and I'm sure no one will offer
any guarantee of its performance. Sorry, but I don't
plan on crash-testing it to find out!
I can say that when the device is triggered, it
instantaneously (or thereabouts) inflates, and it
immediately forms a very tight layer around the body.
The jacket goes from feeling like it's about one size
too big to feeling like it's about 3 sizes too small
in very short order.
The zipper must be completely closed for the full
effect; in fact, I'm kind of surprised that there
isn't some feature that forces the wearer to zip it
all the way up before riding.
It would seem that much of the potential protection
would be neutralized by an open jacket, because the
airbag wouldn't be able to tightly hug the rider's
body.
The combination of the airbag and the jacket sure
seems to me as if it would provide extra protection in
a crash. I can't, for example, imagine voluntarily
tossing myself onto the ground without the airbag
inflated, but it wouldn't take too much of a bet --
maybe a single pint -- to get me to try this when the
airbag is full.
Having come from a perspective of not considering a
motorcycle riding airbag device as anywhere within the
realm of possibility to now having the opportunity to
try the MotoAir product, I can easily foresee a day
when this feature could (and probably will) be added
to any type of motorcycle jacket. I would like to
have all of my riding jackets equipped with airbags...
Some questions remain though -- how to adjust the
breakaway device and the length of the attachment
cable based on body weight; if an airbag can co-exist
with armor inside a motorcycle jacket; and the optimum
expansion size of the airbag.
Since the airbag expands to several times its original
size, it might not work when worn with a motorcycle
jacket that's more confining than the MotoAir summer
mesh.
It would be nice if an independent standards
organization ran some sort of tests to determine the
efficacy of the airbag, which could help determine how
much, if any, extra protection it does offer. I
wonder if in our litigious era perhaps no one wants to
take the responsibility?
Too bad... But if gut feel still means anything, I
would have to say that if I had to crash, I'd rather
have my airbag vest between me and any immovable
objects.
BBC Radio One: Dan Whitworth
Daily Telegraph: Murray Wardrop
People we have sent pictures of our Airbag Jackets:
Nik Samson - Biker and Trike
Mau Spencer Twist and Go & Classic Scooterist Scene
Andy Dukes - Motorcycle Rider
Ian Granger - UBG
Radio Programmes we have been on:
Somerset BBC Radio
Verulam Radio - St.Albans
Century North West Radio - Manchester
Papers and Magazines:
Jeremy Condliffe - Congleton Chronicle
Michael Carol - Motorcycle News
European Society for Emergency Medicine (EuSEM)
Churchill House, 3rd Floor, 35 Red Lion Square
London, WC1R 4SG, United Kingdom
Motorcycle News
TWIST & GO
CLASSIC SCOOTERIST SCENE
www.twistngo.com www.scooteristscene.com