http://www.hit-air.com/english/system/index.html
Posted on 09/14/2006 12:45:28 PM PDT by martin_fierro
Motorcycle airbags part of safety trend
By JAMES HANNAH, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 14, 12:24 PM ET
MARYSVILLE, Ohio - Jeaneen Parsons' husband steered their motorcycle to the ground seven years ago to avoid hitting a passenger whose cycle went down on a twisting mountain road in Kentucky.
The couple emerged from the accident with a few road burns and frazzled nerves. The passenger's leg was shattered.
Marifran Mattson lost part of her left leg when the motorcycle she was on was struck by a semitrailer in 2004 near Crawfordsville, Ind.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was seriously injured June 12 when a car turned into the path of his motorcycle June 12. Roethlisberger, who wasn't wearing a helmet, suffered a concussion, broken nose and jaw and damaged teeth.
As cyclist injuries and deaths increase, motorcycle makers are installing more safety features — making greater use of antilock brakes and adding air bags while stressing safe-rider education and use of helmets.
Some people wonder how effective air bags will be, how much of a market exists, and how much they would save cycle owners on insurance.
Honda Motor Co. added air bags in June to its fully loaded Gold Wing, an 860-pound touring bike designed for distance driving in comfort and made near this central Ohio city.
Yamaha Motor Corp., with U.S. headquarters in Cypress, Calif., is developing an air bag system and is using a scooter with air bags for research in Japan, according to the company's Web site.
"The motorcycle manufacturers are engaging in a lot of R&D in the area of — some would call it safety, some would call it risk management," said Tom Lindsay, spokesman for the Pickerington, Ohio-based American Motorcyclist Association. "It's part of a trend."
The motorcycle industry posted $7.6 billion in sales of 725,000 on-highway bikes in 2004, up from about $4.7 billion and 471,000 bikes sold four years earlier.
Motorcycles accounted for 2 percent of all registered vehicles in 2004 but made up 9.4 percent of all highway deaths, nearly double the 5 percent in 1997, according to government statistics.
Honda's air bag system consists of crash sensors attached to the front fork of the motorcycle. The sensors detect rapid deceleration and send the information to a small on-board computer, which determines whether a crash is occurring.
The computer sends a signal to an inflator, which releases nitrogen gas to deploy the air bag, packed into a dashboard-like module in front of the driver. The process takes a fraction of a second.
The system is designed to keep the driver's body from hitting whatever the motorcycle hit and reduce the chances of the driver being thrown over the handlebars. It is not designed to protect from side or rear impacts or to protect passengers.
Honda began working on its air bag system in 1990 after determining that more than half of the motorcycle accidents that result in deaths or injuries occur when the front of the motorcycle strikes another vehicle or object.
Honda won't say how many air bag-equipped Gold Wings it plans to produce by the time the 2006 model year ends in late September, other than it will be a limited number. Last year, the 600 workers at the plant produced 60,524 motorcycles, including Gold Wings.
Parsons, 45, of Dayton, favors the idea of air bags and doesn't shrink at the added cost — about $1,500 on a $24,000 Gold Wing.
Mattson, associate professor of communications at Purdue University, where she is spearheading a motorcycle-safety campaign, also applauds Honda but said the air bags wouldn't help in many crashes, including the one she was in. And she worries that the air bags might cause riders to dispense with wearing helmets.
"I'm concerned this might send a false sense of security," she said.
Honda officials acknowledge that some people are going to question whether motorcycle air bags will be effective.
"But we've seen so many test videos — you become a believer," said Jan Gansheimer, senior manager of Honda's manufacturing/planning group.
Honda's air bag system has been tested with crash-test dummies and in one case with a human to see what would happen if an air bag deployed accidentally. Honda officials said the air bag didn't knock the driver backward or injure him, affect his field of vision or impact his travel down the highway.
Bob Hartwig, chief economist for the New York City-based Insurance Information Institute, said the insurance benefits of having motorcycle air bags probably would be small because the devices protect only the driver and only in frontal crashes. Air bags in cars protect drivers and passengers in front and side crashes.
Hartwig also said motorcyclists who buy air bag-equipped bikes are probably safer drivers and less likely to be involved in crashes.
Safety has also gone beyond air bags and helmets. Worldwide Riders, a Cheyenne, Wyo.-based motorcycle accessories company, sells vests with protective bladders that inflate as riders are being ejected from their motorcycles.
Harley-Davidson Motor Co., based in Milwaukee, emphasizes training and driver education. The company began opening motorcyling academies in 2000 to train new and experienced riders. About 90,000 riders have taken courses at the schools, which operate in more than 30 states.
Jake Balzer, an analyst with Guzman & Company, an investment banking firm, said there may be somewhat of a market for air bag-equipped motorcycles, but questioned whether Honda will sell that many unless states require motorcycles to have the devices.
"A lot of people riding motorcycles don't even want to wear helmets," he said. "I don't see them going out and spending the extra money to put air bags on their motorcycles."
Tim Buche, president of the Motorcycle Industry Council, said many motorcyclists love new features and will be attracted to air bags.
But he said the market will determine whether the idea will spread.
"If air bags are going to be successful, they are going to be available on other motorcycles," he said. "It remains to be seen."
It's too late for me as I've been blessed to ride motorcycles accident-free for decades...
~ Blue Jays ~
That's not a bad idea!
Luciana Paluzzi in Thunderball knew the score :)
Dumb, Dumb, Dumb!!!
What don't you like about airbags as an option on full-sized touring rigs?
~ Blue Jays ~
There ya go!
"I have a 2005 BMW K1200LT"(light truck)
any chance you going to the 20th Annual Hoosier Beemer Rally?
"My philosophy is to do all things possible, and learn all I can, to avoid hitting things, rather than invest time and money to minimize damage from hitting things."
i KNOW you have anti-lock brake on that Kbike(light truck) couldn't you say the same about them. anti-lock brake only work when you lost traction why would this be any different?
personally i wouldn't have either on my sport bike. too much extra poundadge but you old guys on the LTs need all the help you can get. LOL
as for my old beemer with the toaster tank? NO ONE is touching that tank.
I can grab all the brakes, hard as I can, on a bad gravel road, and it comes to a perfectly stable clean stop. You just better be ready to put your foot down.
I would not want anti-lock brakes on my SV either, that whole weight thing as you say. Besides I wouldn't be able to do stoppies.
I don't like air bags in or on any vehicle.
Why don't you like airbags in a car or truck, for example? Airbags don't do anything and simply sit there quietly unless they're called upon to protect the driver and passengers beyond a certain level of impact.
It makes complete sense to me why one wouldn't want them in a Honda CBR 1000RR for example...but if I'm purchasing a huge touring rig with all the bells and whistles it seems like something that could come in handy when the chips are down.
~ Blue Jays ~
I got that you like airbags, enjoy yours.
I don't like airbags, because I don't like airbags ~ do you understand?
Make up a reason for the reason I don't like airbags.
Reasons are made up by our fertile minds. >:-}
I've thankfully never experienced airbags up-close-and-personal. That said, I know I would rather have some slight burns across my knuckles from the charge rather than sticking the hard dashboard into my face. I walked away from a bad wreck in 1991 and the airbags didn't need to deploy because I was T-boned from the side when another driver missed a traffic light. Modern vehicles would likely behave differently under the same side impact.
As far as motorcycles are concerned, the weight penalty would be far too great on something like your Suzuki SV650 as well as on my favorite Honda CBR. I'm puzzled as to why you won't provide a basis for your dislike of airbags. What's not to like? They prevent horrible injuries. They sit unnoticed for years until called upon.
~ Blue Jays ~
Blue Jays ~ why don't you let it go, I don't like 'em and my wife doesn't like 'em.
Enjoy yours.
End of airbag conversation.
Your style of writing on this thread can only be described as evasive and doesn't contribute to a free and open exchange of ideas and opinions. It isn't difficult to post a reason or two why one doesn't like airbags and it might make you and your wife's position on that automotive / motorcycle option easier to understand.
What are your feelings on constructing automobiles with internal steel rollcages? This is something that similarly works great with cars but has absolutely no application with motorcycles.
~ Blue Jays ~
I don't care if anyone doesn't understand or like my positions. That's their problem, not mine.
I don't want a rollcage in any of my vehicles, the street ain't NASCAR. 99% of rollovers are cockpit error.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.