Dainese Smart GO Airbag Vest

The Smart GO from Dainese is a super-lightweight, highly breathable airbag that follows very much in the footsteps of Alpinestars' latest Tech Air 5 Plasma.

 

As one of the largest players in the airbag market Dainese conducted their own research in an attempt to understand why the take-up of airbags has historically been so poor. The first airbags were introduced over 30 years ago, yet today the estimates as to how many  people regularly wear one vary from less than 1% in many markets to perhaps just over 2% in others. That is to say that, for road riders, airbags have simply not caught on.

 

What Dainese discovered from their research was that whilst many bikers accept the benefits that an airbag can bring, very few have been motivated to wear one because they are heavy, cumbersome, reduce mobility and, in warmer weather, can impair breathability to a potentially dangerous extent.

 

It was Alpinestars' hugely popular Plasma 5 that perhaps showed the future direction for airbags. It signalled the end to the 'arms race' for airbags that offered ever higher levels of protection; airbags that, ultimately, nobody wanted to wear.

 

But Dainese has moved the game on, creating an airbag that is lighter and more breathable than the Plasma 5, but that in the most vulnerable zones offers higher levels of protection. 

 

Importantly, the Smart GO comes in at a price that leads to a situation where the reasons 'not' to wear an airbag start to disappear.

The Smart GO is incredibly lightweight and incredibly thin.

 

It weighs just 780 grammes. Now that's half the weight of the Plasma 5, and about a third of the weight of many Motoairbag, Helite and Inner&Motion vests!

 

The Level 2 back and chest protectors in a Rukka jacket come in at 800 grammes, so we have a situation where, with the Smart GO, you could reduce both the bulk and the weight in a jacket in exchange for a huge increase in protection.

 

Under EN 1621-2 and EN 1621-3, the maximum transfer of energy that is permitted for a Level 2 back or chest protector is 9 Kilonewtons. This in response to an impact of 50 Joules. Well, impressively, the Smart GO meets the EN1621-4 Level 2 standard for airbags. And what this means is that it will transmit no more than 2.5 Kilonewtons. Simply put, it provides the ability to absorb the energy of an impact of almost four Level 2 back protectors. And it does this without the inclusion of a rigid back protector. In anybody's book that is impressive!

 

Now a lot of those guys banging out product reviews from their garages will, I am sure, be keen to point out that there are airbags that offer higher levels of protection. Level 2 is the highest level for an airbag, but people will cite the fact that other airbags provide wider coverage over a greater area to protect the shoulders, to lock the neck in place, and so on.

 

And of course these guys will be correct, but they are missing the point. After all, what is the point in manufacturers continuing to produce ever more protective airbags that nobody wants to wear?

 

The other respect in which the Smart GO excels is in its breathability. Because it is worn with shoulder straps, it's more like a rucksack than a jacket or vest. Air will be able to flow into the flanks, across the shoulders and around the neck. It also sits short enough at the front for air to reach the core.

 

Listen, there's a truth about airbags. They are airtight.  They are always going to somewhat impede the flow of air to the body, but this new generation of airbags flows far more air than airbags of old. The Plasma 5 flows more air than any airbag that went before. Now it's difficult to be definitive, but our initial thinking is that, because of the way it's constructed, the SMART GO will flow even more air.

 

And it is because of the Smart GO's lightness and breathability that we think Dainese's latest offering has the potential to fundamentally change perceptions. For many years we at Motolegends were not airbag fans; it was the Plasma 5 that caused us to review our position. Given the impressive level of protection it offers, we suspect that the SMART GO will, for many, become a bit of a 'no brainer'. This is the vest that could at last put the airbag on every motorcyclist's shopping list.

The Smart GO operates by means of 'gyroscopes' and 'accelerometers' of some description, so does not need to be connected to the bike. The system automatically detects what Dainese terms 'dangerous dynamics', triggering the airbag in a matter of milliseconds, with a view to being fully inflated well in advance of any impact. The algorithm has been created by Dainese specifically for road riding and light off-road use.

 

You do not need to charge the Smart GO. You can connect it to Dainese's ultra-compact power bank that will power the airbag for 72 hours. There may be other power banks that you can use, but given that it would need to be approved by Dainese it's probably easier to use theirs. It is priced at £35.

 

Or you can use your phone, provided it is USB 'on-the-go' compatible, as almost all modern phones are. 

 

The Smart Go is a one-size-fits-all solution, meaning that the airbag can potentially be shared with other riders. It is also unisex. The man from Bennett's has suggested that the Smart GO cannot be worn by women; but he's again mistaken. You should not ride in the Smart GO only if you have silicone breast implants. And not all women have silicone implants; indeed sadly very few of the ones I meet!

 

The Smart GO can be worn over or under your protective jacket, but in our view one of the benefits of an airbag this thin is that it can easily and invisibly be worn beneath a motorcycle jacket. Wear it on the outside of your protective jacket, of course, and it becomes more likely that it could become damaged in an accident.

 

Your outer jacket should ideally incorporate an amount of stretch. Many jackets these days are labelled 'airbag ready'. Failing this the age-old advice that suggests there should be room to run a golf ball between your body and the jacket still applies.

 

The Smart GO will pack up into a tiny package that is no larger than your average laptop. And this means that it can fit easily into your daily backpack, a top box, a pannier or, if you ride a scooter, under the seat.

 

There is no subscription with the Smart GO airbag. The all-in price is £275 plus VAT if buying for business use; that is £329 including VAT.

 

A new argon gas canister costs £59. It can be replaced by the rider following an integrity check. The airbag has a life of three activations. After three activations you will need to buy a new vest. Or take up a hobby that is going to be less dangerous for you; like alligator wrestling. Because, let's face it if your airbag goes off three times, two wheels may not be for you!

 

The Smart GO can be connected to a 15 litre water-resistant rucksack that attaches by means of an innovative magnetic clip system. The rucksack is priced at £119.

Nobody can deny that an airbag can deliver added protection in an accident. But until recently very few people were convinced that the upsides outweighed the downsides.

 

But with airbags like the Tech 5 and the Smart GO the tide, as we see it, is turning.

 

The Smart GO is impressive. It's the lightest airbag ever. It will allow air to flow in the way that very few airbags do. Yet certified to the highest Level 2 standard under EN 1621-4 it packs a mighty punch, albeit perhaps at the expense of the area it covers. It is so thin that, on the bike, most riders will barely be aware they're wearing it. And certainly, unless you wear it over your jacket, nobody else will know. And of course at just £329 it is less than half the price of the Alpinestars Tech air 5 Plasma.

 

Whatever reasons you ever had for not wearing an airbag, with the Smart GO there can't be many that are still valid.

 

On so many levels the Smart GO is hard to ignore. Hard to dismiss.

 

If ever, in the world of motorcycle protective wear, there was a case of less is more, the Smart GO is it!

 

If you have any further questions about the Smart GO, hopefully Dainese will have addressed them in their comprehensive Q&A section, which you can visit by clicking here.