“When I see the stand-by lights flashing on the
forearm of my leathers, I know I’m good to go.”
When deployed, the airbags in the vest inflate
for five seconds before slowly deflating. This
provides cushions of air between 2cm and 3cm
thick at critical parts of the rider’s torso. A crash
at Laguna Seca by Jorge Lorenzo during early
data collection for the Air-Tech Race’s develop-
ment showed the impact G-force on Lorenzo’s
shoulder was reduced from 25G to just 2G. The
Spaniard could still ride hard enough to grab
pole position in qualifying later that afternoon.
Static lab testing by Alpinestars has also prov-
en the value of wearing the vests. In a drop test
between the vest and an ordinary passive back
protector, the active airbag transferred just
2kNm of energy to the test dummy’s spine. The
passive back protector transferred 22kNm.
The differences between the Race and Street
versions of the Air-Tech vest are relatively
minor ones. The more road-oriented protec-
tor has a slightly larger total airbag area of
between nine and 11.5 litres according to size,
while the Race airbags total between seven and
nine litres. A key difference is that the Street
continues to provide protection when the bike
is stopped so that it can account for a bike be-
ing hit from the back or side while at a
traffic light.
When I see the stand-
by lights flashing on
the forearm of my
leathers, I know
I’m good to go