Airbags have been standard in cars for decades and most now have several to protect occupants from all angles – but on motorcycles the idea seems to have stalled with the launch of the Honda Gold Wing airbag in 2006 .
However, Honda is pursuing a new line of airbag development that could finally bring motorcyclists the same type of safety benefits that motorists have enjoyed for so long, addressing not only the shortcomings of the Gold airbag system Wing, but also to the barriers preventing greater adoption of clothing equipped with airbags.
Currently, motorcycle airbags can be divided into two distinct forms. There's the Gold Wing's car-style bag – an idea that hasn't been adopted elsewhere – and the growing number of clothing options with airbags built into the leathers.
The Gold Wing's airbag has proven effective, with plenty of anecdotal evidence of pilots being saved from injury by the system, but it has limitations. As a front-mounted bag, its real usefulness is only in frontal collisions. Combined with the Gold Wing's armchair-like seating position and low center of gravity, which means the rider's posture is predictable and they are less likely to be thrown over the handlebars, it works well in this type of accident. However, it has proven impossible to adopt on other types of motorcycle, where riders move more and with a higher center of gravity which means they are likely to tip forward in the same type of d accident, possibly missing the airbag completely.
Meanwhile, clothing-mounted airbags like those used by MotoGP riders are effective but depend on the choice to wear them. They are also inevitably limited in size by the fact that they must be integrated into jackets or leathers.
Honda's solution to these problems has emerged in a slew of new patent applications, showing several different takes on the same idea. The basic concept is to have an airbag that is integrated into the saddle of a motorcycle but wraps around the rider in the event of an accident, detaching from the motorcycle during the fall to protect the user itself when he was ejected.
The designs differ in the shape of the airbag itself and where it is mounted. In some versions the bag is at the front of the saddle, bursting out from between the legs when triggered. Other variations of the idea mount the airbag in the center of the saddle, shaping it to wrap around the rider from behind. There are also several different shapes for the bags themselves, but all share the same idea of gripping the rider, either around the torso or arms, and then detaching from the motorcycle. This means that if you are ejected, the airbag goes with you.
There are several advantages over existing systems. Compared to the Gold Wing's fixed airbag, the new design should work in a wide range of different crash scenarios, not just frontal crashes. And unlike clothing-mounted airbags, there is no limit to the size of the bag or its inflation system since the latter remains on the motorcycle even when the airbag detaches.
This means the system could use an automotive-style explosive inflation system, which will stay in the saddle at all times and can deliver a large amount of gas in a fraction of a second to inflate the airbag before your body hits anything it's solid. Once inflated, the patent documents describe how the airbag is sealed, using heat to close and detach from the inflator, allowing it to accompany the rider rather than staying with the motorcycle. Like a car's airbag, there is a valve built into the bag itself to allow it to deflate at a pre-selected speed, absorbing impacts in the process.
Although the existence of the patent documents does not guarantee that the idea will reach production, the large number of applications that Honda has made around this concept suggests that it is a project benefiting from substantial investment .
Honda has publicly stated its intention that by 2050 there will be no fatal road accidents involving its motorcycles. While much of the work towards this goal involves preventing accidents rather than mitigating their effects, using driver assistance technologies and sensors in the process, the airbag idea presented here is certainly a valuable additional path towards this goal.
