Bandit Alley
GENERAL MOTORCYCLE FORUMS => GENERAL MOTORCYCLE => Topic started by: Sven on September 08, 2005, 11:02:15 AM
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Honda unveils world's first airbag-equipped motorbike
Thu Sep 8, 2005 1:00 PM BST
TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co. unveiled on Thursday the world's first airbag system to be mounted on a production model motorcycle, with plans to offer it on the new Gold Wing touring bike to hit U.S. showrooms next spring.
The airbag module is built in between the bike's handles and activates when four crash sensors detect a severe frontal collision, creating a buffer as the rider is flung forward on impact.
Honda, Japan's third-biggest car maker and the world's top motorcycle supplier, said the airbag would be effective in significantly reducing fatalities and serious injuries, citing data which shows that most occur during frontal collisions.
Honda will eventually offer the airbag option in Europe and Japan, Operating Officer Suguru Kanazawa told a news conference. The company declined to say how much the add-on would cost.
The 1800cc Gold Wing is Honda's biggest motorcycle and starts at $18,600 (10,130 pounds) in the United States. It sold 12,000 units in North America last year, 1,600 in Europe and 270 in Japan.
Officials said Honda aimed to offer the airbag on more motorcycles in future, but acknowledged a number of hurdles.
Because the airbag works by absorbing kinetic energy from the forward-flying rider, the motorcycle itself needs to be heavy enough not to tip over, throwing the driver over and past the deployed airbag.
The airbag also needs enough space to blow up safely in front of the rider, meaning the system can't be mounted on a sporty bike where the driver leans forward into the handle.
Still, Chief Engineer Satoshi Iijima said having the airbag could mean the difference between life and death. While the system works best in a straight-angle frontal collision at up to 50 km (31 miles) an hour, the airbag can slow down the rider being thrown off at twice the speed, causing only a minor injury in an accident that would otherwise result in certain death.
Honda is at the forefront of vehicle safety technology, offering Japan's first airbag in 1987 on the Legend high-end sedan. It began research and development on motorcycle airbags in 1990.
As part of its safety drive, Honda has also developed technology to warn motorcyclists of oncoming cars that are hidden from the rider's view, and headlight designs that help others on the road better gauge the distance from the motorcycle.
Those technologies are not yet available on production models.
© Reuters 2005. All rights reserved
I totally don't get the point of this. It seems like the factors required to (a) cause the bag to inflate and (b) make it of any help would be a fairly limited set or circumstances. -SSS
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Honda unveils world's first airbag-equipped motorbike
Bahh, Harley has had airbags on their bikes for years! :monkeymoon: :wink:
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Honda unveils world's first airbag-equipped motorbike
Bahh, Harley has had airbags on their bikes for years! :monkeymoon: :wink:
You meant, "scumbags", didn't you? :grin: OK, OK! I'm just kidding and I know it's mostly yuppies on 'em nowadays. :motorsmile: :motorsmile:
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Cold comfort in this additional detail, from several press releases:
The airbag opens in front of the riders and reduces the speed at which they get thrown off the motorcycle, lessening injuries when they hit the road or another vehicle...
...and then a parachute opens from the rider's helmet, so that he floats ever-so-gently back to earth, landing as soft as a snowflake on a baby's outstretched hand...
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Cold comfort in this additional detail, from several press releases:
The airbag opens in front of the riders and reduces the speed at which they get thrown off the motorcycle, lessening injuries when they hit the road or another vehicle...
...and then a parachute opens from the rider's helmet, so that he floats ever-so-gently back to earth, landing as soft as a snowflake on a baby's outstretched hand...
...as a down pillow gently emerges from his butt...
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D.A., I had struggled with a way to add that element, so I guess we're on the same wavelength!
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I can imagine that it really works in a straight line collision scenario... but how many crashes are perpendicular?? Seems to me alot of accidents are more of a glancing blow from the rider swerving ,trying to avoid the collision altogether. Not knocking the idea at all....i would think something is better than nothing.
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I agree, Mike. For this reason the idea of an airbag jacket or suit might be better.
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:idea: I can see it now, as soon as the bike senses a blow (car, driveway lip, small cat)...POOF...instant Michelin Man!
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:idea: I can see it now, as soon as the bike senses a blow (car, driveway lip, small cat)...POOF...instant Michelin Man!
Haven't you guys seen that video?? That thing actually exists. I saw it on some SPEED TV show a year ago.
It's a jacket with a lanyard that attaches you to the bike. If you fall off it deploys a small compressed air or CO2 cartrige that blows the thing up like an airbag, minimizing internal injury.
They had a stunt-man on a Sportster lowside over and over again and it worked great every time. I thought it was really cool. They showed it in super slow-motion. No matter how the guy tossed himself off, it inflated before he hit anything, but never too early (while he was still on the bike).
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They aren't quite that sensitive, just like airbags in cars don't go off that easily. You may think I'm joking about an airbag jacket, but they are already here.
Halolabs Airbag jackets (http://www.halolab.com/)
Test of MotoAir jacket (http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/airbag-jacket/motorcycle-airbag-jacket.htm)
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Wow, those Halo vids are cool! (Not sure why they were using Latin to explain them...) I guess they would be good for cold weather riding, since you're not going to get a mesh version.
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Did you not notice the MotoAir jacket tested was a mesh version?
The full line of MotoAir jackets can be seen on their web site:
http://www.motoair.com/
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Wouldn't that be like a mesh jacket with a raincoat underneath? The inflatable bags by nature can only breathe as much as something like Gore-Tex can...which is not as much as the summer weight mesh jackets we're used to.
I love the explaination: Should any accident occur, if only you can get away from the motorcycle, the air bag will completed.
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It isn't going to get quite the airflow of an ordinary mesh jacket, but they are using tube like structure, that when deflated should be able to take up a minimum of space since it could be folded into a small strip-like form that'll unfold when inflated, much like an auto airbag or the slides on an airliner's door.
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Yeah, what they really need is an Airbag riding suit. One where as soon as you get thrown from the bike your suit inflates and you look like the Pillsbury Stay Puff , or , the Michelin Man! :toofunny: