FRENCH motorcycle leather maker Furygan and equine, motorsports and ski safety equipment provider In&Motion are set to launch their first collaboration.
The firms are set to announce a range of motorcycle leathers that feature airbags, similar to those already used in most top-level motorsports.
The short video, posted on social media, shows a Furygan leather jacket being inflated, simulating an accident on a motorcycle. The clip, filmed in super slow motion, shows the shoulder section of the leathers bulking up to at least twice the normal size.
The move could mean that In&Motion will soon be providing airbag suits for Furygan’s racers on the track, instead of the Dainese DAir or Alpinestars Tech-Air systems they currently use.
With the timing of this video being as it is, it's highly likely that the new suit (or even complete range) will be unveiled at EICMA.
How does an airbag suit work?
An airbag suit inflates to protect a rider when they are about to have an accident. The inflated padding protects the back, shoulders, kidney area, chest, and upper abdomen. The system is totally separate to the bike, with all the sensors and electronics being held within the leathers.
The system monitors the rider’s movement and is able to actually predict when a crash is about to occur. The algorithms are so advanced they can decipher between as an out-of-saddle moment – like a near-highside that a rider saves – and a full-on collarbone braking accident. Alpinestars first brought the idea to the public eye in 2001. It didn’t take long for this to then become a mandatory piece of equipment in most forms of top-level motorcycle sports.
Marc Marquez 2019 MotoGP bid saved by airbag suit
2019 MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez demonstrated exactly how important airbag suit technology has become in racing after he suffered a massive 26G force crash during FP1 for the recent Thailand MotoGP. Despite the severity of the incident, Marquez bounced back only hours later in FP2, thanks largely to the Tech-Air leathers he was wearing, which protected his body from anything more than bruises.
