This Innovative New Motorcycle Product Could Truly Save Your Life

Dainese’s better-than-ever airbag vest can protect you in a crash — without cramping your style.

Published November 7, 2024

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Updated November 7, 2024

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The trickle-down effect of innovation is real — and can be fascinating to watch over time. Take, for example, the motorcycle airbag, which has come a long way from the 1994 beach vacation where Lino Dainese tried an ABLJ (adjustable buoyancy life jacket) on a diving excursion and had himself an idea.

Some 12 years from that day, when the man sketched his notion of an airbag-equipped moto onesie on a coffee bar napkin, the brand he founded had a stuntman on a track trying out the first-ever Dainese suit with D-air tech.

If you have any doubts about the airbag’s deployment speed, we’re talking 45 milliseconds, four times faster than the blink of an eye.

These days, every single MotoGP rider wears an airbag suit, ready to deploy instantly upon impact and potentially save his life. (No, really. In 2018, electronic airbags were declared compulsory for all pro riders in all world championship classes.)

Meawhile, on the trickle-down front, Dainese just introduced Smart Air, a motorcycle airbag vest for the everyday rider that is, perhaps not surprisingly, even smaller than the ABLJs of yore.

Super streamlined

Just like the newest pro racing suits, this vest did not come out of nowhere. Dainese has been developing and selling various iterations of a consumer-friendly airbag “jacket” for a few years now.

I just dug out an old press sample, tried it on — and instantly remembered why, despite my tremendous admiration for the innovation involved, I’ve worn it out riding approximately one time.

Yes, it’s fairly low profile considering what it can do. Even so, at 4 pounds, 5 ounces (I just checked), it still feels more like a bulky weight training vest than a feathery “set-it and-forget-it” safety vest. (I feel like a jerk even saying that, but it’s true.)

With this new-and-improved edition, however, the vest appears to finally reside in that latter category.

History lesson: the successful result of the very first airbag crash test, way back in 2006.

Dainese says the new design is the most compact and lightweight execution of the concept ever, and the numbers back it up. A rep has just confirmed a weight of 1.48 kg — roughly 3 pounds, 4 ounces, more than a pound lighter than the one I’m wearing right now.

Not unlike the latest avalanche airbags, it’s also re-deployable. It can be used up to three times before requiring a replacement of just the airbag itself — and all essential components, including the gas generator, are user-replaceable.

(If you find yourself deploying this thing more than three times in the course of normal riding, you should probably have your moto license pulled, but that’s a story for another day.)

smart air vest front back — As these images indicate, the latest edition of the vest is about as low profile as you can get.

Even with all the streamlining, the new vest packs loads of protective tech. Intended for road and light off-road use, the Smart Air boasts a level 2 certified chest and back airbag, featuring proprietary microfilaments that control air to create a hardlink shield protecting vital organs.

Living up to the first part of its name, the vest pairs with the same D-air app used by the pros — and runs on a rechargeable battery that lasts up to 12 hours.

Oh, and if you have any doubts about its deployment speed, we’re talking 45 milliseconds — four times faster than the blink of an eye.

In other words, enough time to save a life.