Klim Introduces AI-1 Motorcycle Airbag Vest
With each year more and more pieces of safety equipment and technology from the automotive industry is incorporated into motorcycles and riding gear. From ABS brakes and traction control to adaptive cruise control and blind spot awareness, it's nice to see that companies are finally taking motorcycling and rider safety seriously.
Airbag systems for motorcycling have been around for nearly two decades with companies like Dainese and Alpinestars leading the way. In 2018 MotoGP made it mandatory that all riders wear race suits fitted with an airbag system to help prevent serious injury in the event of a crash.
Some of early iterations of the airbags for motorcycle riders were tethered type systems which meant that a line was attached to a hard part on the motorcycle and the other end was attached to the airbag. The air bag would then be deployed when the rider was ejected or fell off the motorcycle and the cord was pulled. While a useful system, not all motorcycle crashes involve the rider being ejected or leaving the bike. A slow speed hit or tip over could cause injury without the tethered system having been activated due to the rider not leaving the bike.
One of the latest companies to introduce an airbag system for
motorcycle riders is Klim with its brand new AI-1 Airbag motorcycle
vest. Klim teamed up with In&motion to create a vest that
features a tetherless system similar to Dainese's D-Air and
Alpinestars Tech-Air. The Klim motorcycle air bag vest operates off
of a brain pack that is housed in the back of the vest and is
continually monitoring sensors that operate off of algorithms to
determine deployment. A subscription service for the "smart"
technology enabled brain allows the brain to be updated with data
logged from other riders, allowing the crash-detection algorithms
to continually learn.
Upon deployment an inert gas canister housed within the brain
compartment expands the vest in less than 60 milliseconds to
provide protection to the thorax, abdomen, spine and neck.
Additionally, to prevent neck injuries the shoulder area of the
vest will go up under the helmet to keep the head and neck stable.
The vest itself weighs less just over 3 pounds and can be worn under pretty much any motorcycle jacket. The really great thing about the Klim AI-1 airbag vest is that it can be deployed up to three times and re-used by the rider without having to be sent in to the manufacture. Additional gas canisters can be purchased and installed by the user. After the third deployment the vest needs to be sent in for inspection.
Watch the vest in action and learn more about this new product from Klim in the video here.
