Motorcycle Riding: Now Marginally Less Dangerous!

I love riding motorcycles. I love motorcycling for the same reason bullfighting is a great sport: It is an exhilarating, thrilling, and, dare I say it, fun, demonstration (if only to self) of machismo. Every ride is a potential adventure, with a man shaking his fists in the face of Death, controlling more power than necessary at velocities to make your hair stand out (straight backwards, if you have any left). I have often said, "motorcycles are so dangerous as to be ill-conceived as a method of transportation" and I mean it. They make for great racing, and if you haven't ridden down a beach or a twisty road on two wheels, you have missed out.

Still, I don't ride these days.

You see, I also love my family. They depend on me and the income I provide. A paralyzed or badly-broken daddy/husband is arguably worse than a dead one, and all of the above are possible when you crash off a bike in the same circumstances that leave maybe missing paint and zero injuries in a car.

Twice, when I was in Spain, I had my pretty face saved by a full helmet. If you ride a motorcycle without at least a full helmet, you are asking for it, IMO, but everyone has his own opinion and personal safety standards. I am a big fan and proponent of a full complement of safety gear for riders: full helmet, leathers, gloves & boots. Every. Single. Time. At a minimum, a helmet, jacket, jeans, gloves, and closed shoes should be worn when going ANYWHERE on a motorcycle, even around the parking lot.

Well, for those who do ride, I present a pair of high-yield investments in your own safety. In addition to a SNELL-certified helmet, you can (hopefully soon) have the 2-wheel equivalent of a HANS device. This restraint from BMW's Motorrad will prevent you breaking your neck, I suppose right up till the point your head pops clean off. But cooler than that (and less-reusable, unfortunately) is the Dainese D-Air Suit


image from autoblog.com

Unlike the Airbag Jacket which waits for you to go flying (activated by a clip-on like the kill switch on a PWC), the D-Air suit has gyroscopes and impact sensors to get the bags inflated before you ever hit the ground. The video shows the suit inflating at just about the same time you can tell the rider is definitely going to lose it.

This is a major advancement in motorcycle safety. I put it on a par with seatbelts for cars. I can still see (especially at race speeds) trauma to the extremities because you can't always tuck 'em in tight. At least, if you are just rolling along, you won't have your brains beaten in. The guy in the video would have been laying there moaning without the suit, I think. As you can see, he popped right up and started hooping & hollering & jumping around hugging everyone.


The Dainese D-Air suit: coming soon to a motorcycle racing sanctioning body rulebook near you! Go get one!