The Multistrada D-Air® model, featuring a fully integrated, intelligent system of sensors wirelessly connected to Ducati Apparel airbag jackets by Dainese. Combining the expertise of both Ducati and Dainese, the intelligent passive safety system uses sensors built into the Multistrada's existing electronics to constantly understand the vehicle's dynamic situation and deploying only when subjected to a genuine accident scenario. The Multistrada D-Air® system completes the data analysis and airbag deployment inside both the rider and passenger jackets in just 45 milliseconds, considerably reducing the risk of injury upon impact. The innovative new model will be available in European Ducati Dealerships from May 2014 onwards. http://www.ducati.com/news/ducati_a...e_multistrada_d_air_/2014/03/21/3147/index.do
Nice idea as long as it doesn't malfunction when you land a wheelie too heavily or get a mother of all tank slapper's...... but, I'm sure they've thought of that. I wonder what the accident scenario parameters are? The price will interesting as well given its Ducati/Dainese branding.
They said at the factory, that the jacket will cost aprox 1500eur and the MTS d-AIR will cost around 700eur over t standard MTS S.
So it wouldbe about correct as leathers were coming with well leathers and all sensors that were going tobe conencted to bike. Price included authorised service wiering all that in. As Multistrada jacket is not leather then price seems about correct. 1500 for jacket (500 savig over leathers) and 500 for electronics and factory wires it all in during build process so no extra cost there.
Yeah, this is good stuff. Apparently, the road kit is more reactive than race. In a race scenario, you pretty much high side or lowside. Not to difficult to accommodate. In a side on crash, the system has to respond much more quickly to protect the rider. The system must recognise that the bike is impacting something and trigger often before the impact has finished. Good stuff and compared to the cost of the kit bought separately, good value.
They couldnt even get the keyless petrol caps and steering locks to work reliably. I envisage a lot of folk inflating at random moments
No doubt it's good stuff and, if you've got the cash in your wallet, why not? Looking at the airbag coverage (which is greater than anything else I've seen ie neck protector type) it would definitely have reduced my hospital time by a fair bit. But, for the average rider to fork out about £1250 on the jacket alone, it ain't realistic and it will remain the preserve of the relatively small minority that can afford it sadly. Hopefully other manufacturers will follow the design/function concept and prices will become a bit more realistic. As an aside, I wonder how many of us if asked to choose between the jacket and a QD Exhaust would opt for the jacket..........
I would be interested to hear what the service and recharge costs are. Let's assume you drop your bike in a car park whilst manoeuvring. If the jacket goes off' how do you deal with it so its safe to continue your journey. Also what happens if your jacket was laying on the ground / pub table when this happened (ie your not actually wearing it) Good idea buthowthe above is dealt with is key to how practical it is. A company local to us do an over jacket used by horse riders. It inflates super quick and is easily reset.
I would imagine like a car airbag that it deflates after a period of time having being deployed. But likewise, would be gutted to drop the bike and maybe damaged a bar end or something only for the jacket to blow up and cost me £1500 on top! Maybe covered under helmet and leathers part of your policy which has a separate excess normally? Though that does mean you are going to be claiming for a low speed drop... From what I am reading on the MCNEWS (NOT MCN!), $220 service "contract" for two years covers unlimited airbag replacement on the previous suit. http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/model_eval/2012AprDAir.pdf
This is actually based on the D-air tech from Dainese which has been developed with Rossi etc. You can buy the kit from Dainese, with the bike bits at around £600. Its a bluetooth based sensor system, meant to detect crashes and not things like bike drops. If its good enough for Rossi, its good enough for us. Imagine if it deployed while racing! the jackets will need to be charged I think every week or so. There's something about bluetooth pairing etc. Can't remember exactly. Was discussing this at Bikestop. Overall, seems like a very sophisticated system. Looks like Ducati is going to sell a D-air Ducati branded touring jacket. Much better than the Rev-its! Probably leather as well. The D-air range comes in the form of racing leathers and touring Goretex. The air bladders are distributed differently if I remember correctly. There is also a vest which comes both in matte and hi-viz that you can wear over your existing clothing. One thing they didn't mention, is that each bike's base unit can be paired with 2 jackets/vests at the same time for pillion and rider. The whole idea is to make it as unintrusive as possible but respond rapidly and at the right time. No accidental discharge from forgetting to unclip the cord! Hence they cost more to service and must be done at factory because it will only discharge when needed. Other vests come with refillers because accidental discharge is not uncommon. yes I know, the costs do add up. But the MTS market segment, well I think its really made for them, er us. Its interesting, when I checked the D-air site last November, the bike on the demo vid was the Muiti. Now we know why.
I looked at getting the D-Air vest last year, but it proved difficult to find someone to fit it at the time (self install is not permitted) and it came with so much extra ugly hardware that I was put off. Integration with the existing bike electronics seems like a great idea, but that jacket price is STEEP! I wonder what models it will work with? Does it need the Skyhook sensors to function correctly? I'll try to find out more..
It'll only function if your back brake does so most of you are screwed ;-) Too early and too expensive. Give it 2 years.
I like it, price a bit steep though. Probably could have paid for the jacket/system with my changes from leather to textile and back again. Never been completely happy about the protection textiles offer.
Still think a stand alone air bag vest is better and more flexible as you can jump on any bike and still get it activated if you fall off. The force required to activate them by the lanyard is quite high so walking away from your bike won't set it off!! Unless you run away fast. :Cyclops: Also far cheaper and not reliant on Ducati electrics.
+1 @Biot Since hearing about the new Ducati/Dainese system I looked around at alternatives and found these guys: Motoair whose airbag system seems pretty comprehensive with prices from £195 -£360: They do the vests and even a range of leather jacket options. A wee bit more affordable and much more multi-bike useful imho.
ive ridden for 30+ years in leathers/jeans/lthr jack(depending on age at the time)and now kevlar jeans n jacket,had spills,learned to ride better each time. better off spending money on some bike lessons if you think its inevitable youll need fkn airbags. even better buy a car perhaps.. ooor ,a bus pass.. :chortle:
True true gregotch. Risk will always be assessed by the individual rider. It's up to you how far you go as an individual to minimise, or not, that percieved risk! I have only come off on track days and don't have an airbag vest. That is my choice. I do however have a very good set of leathers (BKS made to measure). Along with a top spec helmet, gloves and boots. If I do get knocked off the replacement bill just for my gear will be huge :Smuggrin:
