OT: Motorcycle AIRBAGS???? Believe it or not!

[Odinn]

On 9/9/2005 3:40 AM Upscale mumbled something about the following:

One would have to be going pretty damn fast to be slung 100 ft in an accident.

[Odinn]

On 9/10/2005 2:53 AM John Emmons mumbled something about the following:

lightweight :) 25k avg for me, and some of the guys I ride with on occassions ask me when I'm going to start riding my bike (they avg between 40k and 80k a year).

[Odinn]

On 9/11/2005 8:52 AM George mumbled something about the following:

Here in Motorcycle Safety? MSF doesn't encourage a laydown for ANY reason, and MSF considers a laydown as lowsiding.

[Odinn]

On 9/9/2005 12:04 AM Robatoy mumbled something about the following:

I had my head examined and there was nothing in it.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I would think they would design it to do just that, maybe sort of envelop you front and top.

[Odinn]

On 9/17/2005 11:49 PM Edwin Pawlowski mumbled something about the following:

No thanks. I'll take my changes with a get-off instead of an airbag holding me down onto a bike.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Good luck. Cushioning of a well designed airbag would be far more effective than flying 75 mph into a solid mass. Just curious, do you wear seatbelts in a car or would you rather take your chances getting tossed out the door?

[Odinn]

On 9/18/2005 1:12 AM Edwin Pawlowski mumbled something about the following:

And what do you think would happen at 75MPH with the airbag? It's only good for approx 30 MPH according to Honda. I've already gone head on with a car at 30+ MPH on a bike, and if I had been held down onto the bike, I would have been part of the car, instead of laying several feet away from the wreck.

And what do you think would happen if that airbag deployed when hitting a bad dip or bump? How much force is needed to deploy it, and where must the bike hit the object to deploy it? The front wheel is the leading most edge on a motorcycle, and can get a fair amount of force applied to it without ever hitting another object.

[hoot]

At 35Mph it would take roughly 2 seconds to travel 100 feet. Do you think you'd tumble for two seconds at 35Mph ? When i was younger i came off a bike at 60Mph and the police estimated i traveled nearly 50feet before i touched the ground. My back still aches.

hoot.

[Odinn]

On 9/18/2005 2:08 AM hoot mumbled something about the following:

I didn't travel anywhere near 100 ft. I might have traveled 100 ft total if you include the upward ejection, the arc, and the downward fall.

OTOH, when I hit a deer 6 years ago doing 60 MPH, I traveled a total 216 ft, some of it sliding, some of it tumbling, very little of it in the air. If an airbag had held me to the bike, I wouldn't be here today, as the bike tumbled end over end a couple of times as well as rolling over a few times. Being ejected AWAY from the bike was MUCH safer than being held onto the bike.

[hoot]

Mate... i agree totally, no way in the world would i want to be held to the bike. I was just making the point that you don't have to be going very fast to be flung a hundred feet. Your 216ft at 60Mph illustrates that nicely. For my money 60Mph isn't "very fast". Here in Australia there has been talk over the years from various "safety bodies" about seat belt alternatives for bikes, the thought of being tethered makes my blood go cold. hoot.

[Odinn]

On 9/18/2005 2:31 AM hoot mumbled something about the following:

For some reason, I was thinking of 100 ft in the air, not total distance traveled after hitting an object. Even so, 216 ft is probably not the norm in a 60 mph crash with a bike into something that an airbag MIGHT be of use.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Or with a properly sized and deployed bag, you may have been slowed down considerably for less impact. Neither one of us knows that though.

Wow, the guys at Honda probably never thought about that. We should tell them.

What I don't understand is how you can condem a piece of equipment when you've never seen one, do not know how it works, do not know what circumstances deploy it, have no idea of its capabilities. Last year I had a discussion with a neighbor about seat belts. He still insisted he is safer without them because he does not want to get trapped in the car. Just a couple of days after this, there was an accident on the highway near us. The driver was thrown from the car, slid on the road and then the car spun around over top of her killing her. He wears his belt now.

I still see a lot of riders with no helmets because they are safer also. Just like the kid down the street that has been in a nursing home for the past 12 years.

Your bike, your body, do as you please.

[CW]

My father in law refused to wear seat belts. He always said that, in an accident, he would rather be thrown clear than stay with the car. He was fortunate to have never had to test his theory.

[Odinn]

On 9/18/2005 9:22 AM Edwin Pawlowski mumbled something about the following:

Slowed down? The bike was buried into the car. Had I been held to the bike, I would have been buried in the car along with the bike. That I DO KNOW for sure.

Go back and read what I wrote. I asked a question about what would happen if it discharged when it shouldn't. This isn't as much of an issue in a car, as you have a seat back that you would get pushed back onto. On a motorcycle, you may or may not have a seat back. Also having your hands ripped from the handlebars, especially if one is knocked loose while another is still grasping, can cause an accident on it's own. This isn't near as much a problem in a car if an airbag should go off while driving down the road.

[Charlie Self]

I'll unequivocally stated that being OFF a motorcycle that goes down is far better than being ON one. That doesn't include high-siding, of course, but if you were belted to a bike and went down at road speeds--say 75 or 80 mph on some Interstates--the bike would slap you to death quickly, ro slide along and do a friction amputation of your leg and anything else caught underneath. Get off it, let it go (hell, hang on if you want: I did a couple times off-road), hope the guy behind you sees you and can stop in time.

[George]

You suffer from a serious lack of knowledge. The chain of posts provides ample evidence that you neither understand the concept or operation of an airbag, the concept of pushing away (laying down) from a heavy piece of metal nor do you care to learn.

Circumstances may protect you, regardless. You will, of course be ungrateful.

[hoot]

The assumption is that an air bag would keep you on the bike, i can't even picture how that would work. But i can see a use for bags that guard against puncture and tear injuries as you leave the bike. My brother has a nice scar on his thigh from coming off a dirt bike when we were kids. And nasty leg injuries are pretty common in sudden stop bike crashes.

hoot.

[CW]

This was simply an illustration of someone discounting a safety device due to ignorance, not a call for seat belts on a motorcycle.

[Odinn]

On 9/18/2005 10:33 AM hoot mumbled something about the following:

My headon with the car resulted in 2 small breaks in my foot (when I landed on my feet). The deer incident resulted in 3 cracked ribs and cracked shoulderblade (as well as some roadrash on the arms).