Watch The New Gold Wing Air Bag In Action!!

[spine60]

Here it is.

https://www.ilchapterh.com/movies/goldwing%20bag1.mpg

 

[SkooterG]

Cool. Thanks Spine60 for that link.

Completely ridiculous IMHO.

 

[twowheelnut]

Completely ridiculous IMHO.

Unless, of course, you're a crash test dummy...

 

[DrEvil777]

Looks promising, now they need to put them along the sides in the event of a low-high side. Maybe a seat belt and a roof next with a roll cage. Some outrigger tires to prevent tip overs. Some front and rear bumpoers... :lol:

I remember riding without a helmet when I was younger. Now I don't wear anything but a full face. And I still don't like ABS on a motorcycle, but progress waits for no man and pretty soon I bet all motorcycles will come with ABS.

Airbags can't be too far behind.

 

[spine60]

If that is you in that avatar you will need more than just an airbag.

 

[Warchild]

If I had had this system in my ST1100 back in 2001 when I severed a deer in half at 60mph, instead of saving the bike and keeping it upright, I have no doubt at all I would have crashed the machine.

If we eventually see this in our FJRs, it better be easily defeatable.

Wonder how long it will take for the first lawsuit to happen the first time this airbag fires off inadvertantly, or causes a mishap when it fires off in an otherwise "save-able" incident...

 

[markjenn]

I think people are missing that, just like car airbags, the inflation/deflation cycle is extremely brief. The thing goes POW, does it's job, and then deflates and is out of the way. In cases of inadvertent activation in cars, there have been very few cases where the air bag has caused any problems with vehicle control.

I don't know whether safety features like this are worth the cost and complexity - that's a judgment call, just like the judgment calls on helmets, ABS brakes, protective gear, etc. But you can bet your bottom dollar that Honda has done the research that this thing will, on average, save lives and reduce injuries, just like airbags in cars.

Frankly, this sort of naysaying has occurred with every safety advance in cars and is happening again on motorcycles now.

- Mark

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

And there is the opposite result. That GL1500 looked to be about a 97. So how many people that got messed up on a Gold Wing will sue them for not offering it?

 

[ionbeam]

Completely ridiculous IMHO.

Hmmm, ya. Just because you [SIZE=14pt]can[/SIZE] doesn't mean you [SIZE=14pt]should[/SIZE]. <_<

 

[twowheelnut]

I think people are missing that, just like car airbags, the inflation/deflation cycle is extremely brief.  The thing goes POW, does it's job, and then deflates and is out of the way.  In cases of inadvertent activation in cars, there have been very few cases where the air bag has caused any problems with vehicle control.
I don't know whether safety features like this are worth the cost and complexity - that's a judgment call, just like the judgment calls on helmets, ABS brakes, protective gear, etc.  But you can bet your bottom dollar that Honda has done the research that this thing will, on average, save lives and reduce injuries, just like airbags in cars.

Frankly, this sort of naysaying has occurred with every safety advance in cars and is happening again on motorcycles now.

- Mark

Valid points for sure, but have you every been in an airbag deployment event?

I have.

I was a passenger in a 911 that hit a utility pole just aft the driver's door at about 60 mph. When my bag deployed, it scared the crap outta me, smacked me in the face so hard that my glasses flew off and were bent beyond repair and bruised and abraded both sides of my face (yes, that explains why I look the way I do!). As I was ready for the impact of the car (we were doing multiple 360's and it took a while for that pole to catch up to us...) I was not ready for the airbag. Also, it took several seconds for me to help deflate the bag so that I could extract myself and my unconscious idiot of a brother outta the now smoking car...

The pucker factor of a wreck is one thing, having that bag blow-up in my face is not something I would want to occur on my bike, especially if it stays semi inflated as did the 911's bag...

Just my opinion...

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

This seems beyond the typical safety type arguments. I think most bike riders shy from ABS because they want to do stoppies on their FJR.

However, the argument of the airbag taking control out of the driver's hands on a bike rather than a car are very different. At times, the best thing to do on a bike is not be on it. I have never bailed from a bike, but I can visualize situations where I might. Certainly I don't want the thing on top of me. I can see the bag preventing someone from getting off when they want to...but then, at that point it's probably too late anyway if the bag is deployed.

Okay, so now I'm left with Warchild's good example of cutting a dear in half and still going. We recently saw an ST1100 that did the same thing. It's pretty clear that an airbag deployment in this case would be a bad thing...how many times will it be bad vs good?

Jeeze...do we have statistics on front end collisions with hard things vs. Deer, side impacts, etc?

 

[RonBB]

I seem to remember seeing or reading something about an air bag vest for the rider that was under development somewhere. I think they were triggering it with a break away lanyard or something. I think I liked that concept better than this one. Seems like in many cases it would be better to be off & away from the bike bouncing along in the air bag vest. Of course in the type of accident shown this might be better. Heck, I'm still not convinced that I ever want a bike with linked brakes.

 

[Mighty Joe]

My brother has a GL1800 and he said that his dealer and all the other dealers at the unvailing for the '06's were all very underwelmed. Where is the eletric windsheild for Godsake?

Airbags on a bike?.....Honda makes some great bikes, but they(as a company) seem so out of touch! Go figure!

 

[markjenn]

All good points and I don't think we have a whole lot to go on in deciding the tradeoffs.

I doubt the airbag is likely to prevent one from leaving the bike, or if it does prevent it, then it's doing it's job and that's a good thing, not a bad.

Yes, there may be accidents scenarios where the airbag would deploy and my chances would be better without deployment, but they may be highly unlikely scenarios, in the same way that there are weird accidents where a helmet is a bad thing. And I've seen nothing about how the deployment sensor works - perhaps it would be smart enough or have it's threshold set high enough that a "slicing a deer in two and staying upright" accident wouldn't trigger deployment.

My main point here is that I think everyone needs to keep an open mind.

- Mark

 

[yanktar]

I'm sorry, but I just can't take this seriously. This looks like a gag to me--a phony, a troll to see who bites. My BS meter pegged on this one!

 

[radman]

I was a passenger in a 911 that hit a utility pole just aft the driver's door at about 60 mph

I'd be willing to bet he lost it ass first. 90% of 911 crunches are from the rear end trying to lead the front. Don't believe, try and find an intact 911 rear clip...

 

[twowheelnut]

I was a passenger in a 911 that hit a utility pole just aft the driver's door at about 60 mph

I'd be willing to bet he lost it ass first. 90% of 911 crunches are from the rear end trying to lead the front. Don't believe, try and find an intact 911 rear clip...

Up hill ess bend, a quick right/left combo. Wet New England road. And, yes, the ass end stepped out coming out of the right hander and was over corrected. Felt like Billy Preston... 'Gonna go 'round in circles...' The car is somewhere on the site called wrecked exotic cars or some such...

Edit: Yup still there!

 

[yanktar]

I was a passenger in a 911 that hit a utility pole just aft the driver's door at about 60 mph

I'd be willing to bet he lost it ass first. 90% of 911 crunches are from the rear end trying to lead the front. Don't believe, try and find an intact 911 rear clip...

I test drove a 911. Hated everything about it--including the fact that even the fuggin cup-holders were extra--and you can't even change the oil yourself.

Also test drove a Boxster. Fun for 30 minutes then I couldn't WAIT to get my butt out of it. Damn near deaf from the engine, and felt like I was driving a go-cart.

So, yet again, Radman, I find myself in total agreement with you--this is getting too weird...

 

[galxy5]

sooo...

what kind of whiplash did the dummy suffer????

on Saturday nite I was at the local rod n bike gathering and a guy was talking about the new Wing with air bags !!

what next???

wheels that pop out of the bags when you exceed a pre set lean angle ?????