No, it doesn't. They're not that big. They slow your forward progress so your face doesn't impact hard things.
No, it doesn't. They deflate instantly, there are huge vents in the backs of the bags. I've seen dozens of them over the years as an EMT, they don't pin anything to anywhere.
Because, they'd use exactly the same bags as in a car, is that it?
So many people have seen "Vacation", they think a deployed air bag stays inflated. :)
Dave
Might be the wrong attitude for an EMT to have, but there it is. I gotta be me, y'know?
Technical impossibility never stopped brain-dead lawmakers from mandating things though, _especially_ in the Peoples' Republic of California.
One of our firefighters left the sled, slid face-first across the field, and impacted a rock with her elbow. The ortho guy described it as "You know, when you finish a bag of potato chips, the crumbs left in the bottom of the bag? That's what your bone in your elbow look like right now".
Not directly related, but see:
LOL! Thanks for the link, Robert.
Dave
Or don't think that hitting the bag or the bag hitting them is the same as any other obstacle unless the bag were already soft and deflating on impact.
The technology of an air bag is complex. Fast enough to catch, soft enough to cushion, but slow enough in deflation to protect the average individual....
I've laid bikes down, usually with nothing more than bruises. The one crash I did have was in the woods, where a kid was doing donuts in the middle of the trail, after a drop off (blind) jump. He hit me head on. I rose up under the crossbar braced handlebars, and whanged my thighs hard enough to tear the ligaments on both sides of my groin.
That's it for my experience with a motorcycle head-on, for which I'm grateful (I had the torn ligaments, the kid had a broken leg). I cannot see how an airbag will work properly in a great many conditions, though, as there must be some protection (force?) downward to maintain a seat on the bike, which, after impact will be toppling to one side or another, at whatever speed remains.
That leaves the rider, and any passenger, open to the joys of having a
700-900 pound motorcycle topple on him, which I guess is a possiblity anyway. In a couple of instances, I laid the bike down on the pavement, and let it slide away from me--but I never rode a Hardly Ableson or any of those half ton monsters where not getting out from under means auto-amputation.It should be interesting. I would bet it comes out as an option, which means it is almost certain to die the same death that seatbelts did in '57 Fords.
they showed crash pictures of this on the news last night.
it's not an option. will be on all goldwings next year. inflated, it appears to be shaped in such a way that you aren't launched over it, but held sort of under an edge of it. it's only good in up to 31 mph crash. it will only be useful in a head-on collision where you're still vertical (ie left turners in front of you) which are the majority of highway accidents the last time i looked. if you're struck anywhere else besides the front wheel or you hit something not head on, or the bike is on it's side before you hit, it would appear to be pretty useless.
regards, charlie cave creek, az
Side air curtains will be on the next generation. :)
Dave
Innovation.
Check out side-impact "curtain" airbags on Volvo's new convertible:
looks useful for sleeping, if they'd stay deployed long enough for a catnap. :)
dave
I tried, and tried.. but can't get the image out of my mind. They abandoned the tests when a test-rider triggered the device bounced over the median into the path of an on-coming truck, bouncing him into a subdivision where he hit a flag-pole whipping him back into the path of a...... anyway...he was never found. . . . . . . . . ...whaddaya think? Too much Wiley???
I have no idea. Maybe, some engineer has a sense of humour and designs one that looks like a fist? A fly-swatter? A boxing glove?
Work with me here, Dave...
I was the first car in line at a red light as some clown (coming from my right attempting to turn into my street) turned in front of a minivan which promptly t-boned the idiot. Right in front of me, I saw the van's passenger-side bag explode in the old lady's face and it was gone again that same fraction of a second. The driver's bag..I guess same deal, because I never saw it at all, but did see the slack bit of cloth hanging from her steering wheel... Broken collar bone, thassall. The car which turned in front of the van was full of teen-age school kids.
7 of them in a K-car. No bags. Lots of bruises, 5 were wearing belts, the other two used the other 5 as bags, I guess. Remarkable little damage.
I'm tryin, baby, I really am. There are reasons that airbags aren't perfect, but the ones you cited aren't realistic.
What the rider needs is "airbag leathers" When they depart the bike at speed, their leathers inflate, like the inflatable airbags used to bounce pathfinder across mars during landing. A few bounces and the rider comes to a stop and punctures the airbag. Of course, even an airbag might not help if there is a brick wall coming at the rider at 60MPH.
Might be a pretty hefty set of leathers, however.
scott
>
Modern bike! Mine was built in '52, though I won't ride it on road being a hardtail track/road bike
When I bought my 1st motorcycle (50+ years ago) the dealer took me to a big grassy field and had me practice laying it down and getting away from it. If anyone didn't learn it to his satisfaction, they didn't get a bike.
Can you hear the insurance companies cringing?
If it's at all like automobiles, the bags are not very effective without the use of a seatbelt to hold the driver in a position where his forward momentum will be directed toward the bag. On a bike without a belt, I would think the bag would just be something to bounce off as you fly through the air.
Art
David wrote:
What if his passengers happens to his 350 pound sweetie? He'd be ping-ponging for a while, eh?
Hehehehe.. the word 'ripple' just set me off.
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