A really nice safety feature to have when traveling by car is obviously the fact that you have airbags surrounding yourself to keep you protected in the event of a crash. Unfortunately for us with taste best suited to wind and speed, that key feature has been missing until recent years, and even then it comes at quite the premium. Alpinestars has been leading the pack when it comes to motorcycle airbag vests, and their premiere Tech-Air 5 is coming into 2021 with some important updates to make living with a motorcycle airbag vest a little bit easier.
Nothing has changed when it comes to the actual integration of the product into your rides. The vest is still worn under your regular protective jacket and in the event of a collision, the six onboard sensors will monitor the impact and deploy the airbag if necessary.
This year, however, the vest will (obviously) connect with your smartphone via Bluetooth. Before this model, the previous iterations were locked to “Street Riding Mode” through the app, but now you have access to ‘Race Mode’ when you get to the track. When changing modes, the algorithm for crash detection changes and makes the vest more suited for track/road use depending on the mode that you choose.
If you’re lucky enough to live close to a Certified Tech-Air Service Center, the 2021 update also comes with an ‘Inflators Only’ option that will allow for the replacement of the argon canisters for $179. Beyond the canister swapping, the service repair techs will also be able to inspect, clean, and even replace the airbags at an additional cost.
The Alpinestars Tech-Air 5 will be available at official retailers with an MSRP of $699.95.
The Helite vest has recently cleared U.S. regulations. Once the vest is activated, the user can have it ready for use again within minutes with a new inflator cartridge (And not the time delay and $179 charge of Alpine Stars).
Chase, it’s not clear to me here. Is this an update to existing tech air vests or is this a new vest? Also, that last paragraph is a bit odd. It’s always been the case that you would/should/could send your vest off to get new canisters if deployed. I hope to God nobody has been going out and buying a whole new vest!
The need to send back to HQ for new canisters is a bit silly, but of course it does not matter if you did not survive
Here in Australia there are no tech service centres. Even in non-Covid times the need to wait a month while someone in Italy restores the vest is a bit of a joke.
The BMWMOA had a test of a vest where the operator could change the gas cylinders, but thats in the USA
Based on the announcement from A*, this is a firmware update which will include all vests.
As far as the last paragraph, it used to be that after every deployment A* would charge $300 for a ‘full service’. Now you can just have the canisters swapped up to three times (at $179) before the vest needs a ‘full service’.
Unless Alpinestars figures out a way to fix the “altitude” problem, I wont be buying. I ride mountain passes above 6,000 ft frequently that is best with heated gear however this vest has a disclaimer to notify the owner that it wont work with heated gear above 120 degrees and at altitude
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I just talked to Alpinestars tech support. The disclaimer about elevation is legal bs due to potential effects on the battery life with increased elevation. Re: heated gear: as long as the vest is over the heater gear it should have no effect on the vest. I seriously doubt that the tech guy would bs me about this. It’s the lawyers who write the disclaimers….welcome to the litigious USA.