15 Years In Development, Dainese D-Air Suits Are Coming To America

on June 9, 2015 at 2:38 pm

Presented By Wingz – Scheduled Airport Rides

Being left alone, with my mind, is actually quite dangerous.

Drivers in America are all afraid of motorcycle riders, especially when we don’t have a separate lane from them. A motorcycle can accelerate and bypass a car very quickly, and a fatal crash could happen within seconds if the driver accidentally turns the steering wheel just a little bit. Unfortunately, it’s part of the game, and most of motorcycle riders love that adventurous feeling of challenging the traffic.

When a car gets hit, its airbags are activated immediately in order to protect the driver and passengers. But when it comes to a motorcycle, there is no airbag at all.

As I said, there “was” because motorcyclists in America are now being protected with a new technology from Dainese. This intelligent protection detects dangerous situation and automatically inflates special airbags around the body of the rider. A deployment algorithm analyses data from various sensors and decides whether to deploy the system or not. While the D-air Racing system was designed specially for track use, D-air Street is for everyday use.

D-air suits claim to reduce impact force by up to 85 percent, and have been in use by top-level racers since 2007, and they have been available to the European public since 2011. And with the launch of its latest D-air Racer Misano in Costa Mesa, California, D-air is now officially being sold in the U.S.

The highest-level suit, Misano, will retail for $2,499. It offers premium protection features, including the wireless and fully automatic D-air Race system. It’s also comprised of three accelerometers, three gyroscopes, a GPS module, ECU (Electronic Control Unit), battery, airbag, and a gas cartridge, with all of the electronic components housed within the suit’s speed hump. Weighing about 1.8 pounds, this new suit is just a few millimeters thick when empty and slips between the lining and leather of the suit. Inflation is by way of a cool-gas generator similar to what’s used in modern automotive air bags, and it pressurizes the bladder in approximately 30 milliseconds. Triggering time included, the entire activation and inflation process takes just 45 milliseconds, insuring the rider is protected well before he hits the ground.

How does your suit know when you are crashing?

Thanks to many sensors integrated in the suit, it’s able to compare data to protocols outlined in complex algorithms that have been refined during more than a decade of development. It also incorporates full data acquisition, including lap-time data, speed, braking distances, and riding lines.

D-air only offers one deployment. After being deployed, the suit must be returned to Dainese’ stores in Costa Mesa or San Francisco for an inspection and airbag replacement with the cost of $200 — which includes shipping. A 24-month service package is available for $299 and covers unlimited airbag replacement.

Pre-orders for D-air Misano suits are being taken now, and delivery expected in September. Click here to make your purchase.

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