Motorcycle Airbag Suits – Gimmick or Innovative Safety Gear?

Fact - Since the introduction of Dainese D|Air suits, from over 1000 monitored incidents there has not been a single broken collarbone.

Fact – Since the introduction of Dainese D|Air suits, from over 1000 monitored incidents there has not been a single broken collarbone. 

As a Ducati dealership, we've been involved with motorcycle airbag suits since 2014 when Ducati introduced the first ever production motorcycle wirelessly integrated with airbag riding jackets. The Ducati Multistrada D-Air® featured a fully integrated, intelligent system of sensors wirelessly connected to Ducati airbag jackets made by Dainese.

This was a ‘world's first' in the motorcycle industry and brought together two innovative designs from two famous Italian brands.

Jumping forward to 2016, we've taken on the Dainese brand within our motorcycle clothing department. One of the factors in this decision is that alongside the great range of leathers and motorcycle gear produced by Dainese, we wanted to be able to offer the D-Air suits and jackets.

To us, it all makes sense when it comes to two wheel safety, airbag suits are a significant step forward, but that does come at a cost. There is now airbag motorcycle clothing which works totally independently on a standalone system and doesn't rely on any sensors on the bike.  An example, is the Dainese D-Air Racing Misano suit priced at £1739, and the Misano jacket at £1199.

Since the introduction of the D'Air airbag suit there has been zero collar bone breaks during incidents. In addition to the protection, the Misano suit also offers 12 channels of telemetry with every race track available, riders are able to plug the suit into a laptop to see speeds, forces etc. as they progress around the circuit. This type of telemetry alone would cost you in excess of £1000.

Remember when airbags in cars were first introduced, now they are the norm, and whilst the motorbike airbag jacket patent was first registered in 1976, it is only recently that inflatable safety wear and systems have started to really catch on for motorcycles and riders.

With racers such as Rossi and Guy Martin wearing airbag motorcycle suits, and having seen some high speed crashes where these suits have certainly proven themselves, there is no question whether they work.

Whilst still more expensive that your average set of leathers, the price of airbag clothing has dropped over the last few years and there are now more options to choose from.

Undoubtedly, we'll see more of this type of safety motorcycle clothing becoming more the norm over the next few years, after all it was only 1973 that motorcycle helmets became compulsory!

If you're interested in finding out more about the Dainese D'Air range, then contact Julie in our Motorcycle clothig Department on 01508 471919 or email clothing@seastarsuperbikes.co.uk.