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Warning: Dangerous Imitation Motorcycle Airbags
large took 100 the canister at one end, the gas
milliseconds. In must travel a long distance to fill
contrast, the two and pressurize the airbag
Chinese airbags effectively.
took a sluggish
5 0 0 Are Generic Motorcycle Airbags
milliseconds to Worth the Risk?As of this writing,
i n fl a t e . “ T h e the airbags Martin tested cost as
f r o n t o f t h e little as £65.64 on AliExpress,
Chinese airbag compared to £550 for the Helite
inflates quickly, Turtle 2. Other fully-certified
but the back options, such as RST jackets with
i n fl a t e s s o autonomous In&Motion airbags,
LHR Motorcycle Magazine has
highlighted alarming reports of slowly that you can feel it start at £399, while Alpinestars and
happening—this is all wrong; it
Dainese models are priced at £499
imitation ‘motorcycle’ airbags
available on Amazon in the UK. should inflate explosively and and £750, respectively.
instantly. The inflation pressure felt
These potentially deadly products inadequate as well, though I had T h a t ’s a s i g n i fi c a n t p r i c e
were ordered to be removed by the
Office for Product Safety and no straightforward way to measure difference. However, the lack of
it.”It's important to note that just
assurance that these imitation
Standards (OPSS) due to a
drowning risk, yet they continue to because the front inflates does not airbags can generate sufficient
mean it offers protection. Until the
pressure for effective protection
be marketed as motorcycle entire airbag is fully inflated, the raises serious concerns. Their
protective gear, lacking the
necessary testing and certification gas inside can be displaced during slow inflation times could render
them ineffective in a crash—akin to
an impact, rendering it essentially
under the EN 1621-4 standard for
motorcycle use. useless. putting on a seatbelt after an
accident.
Helite vs. AliExpress Airbags
Without proper testing, there's no You should also be wary of claims
assurance that these airbags will Why Are These Imitation regarding certification or “built-in
inflate to the required pressure,
adequately cover critical areas, or Airbags So Slow? Knight armor,” which the ads
suggest is 2cm thick.
deploy quickly enough to provide A slow-inflating airbag could mean
any real protection.
the difference between life and Martin measured the foam in the
death. The two Chinese airbags generic airbag and found it was
Martin recently purchased two of
these airbags from AliExpress for Martin examined were equipped only 9.2mm thick.While these
with a single 35g CO2 canister
imitation airbags might seem like a
his own investigation. He each, while the Helite used a larger cost-effective option, they could
discovered that they inflate FIVE 45g canister. That’s 28% more end up being a complete waste of
TIMES slower than a certified CO2 in the Helite inflator. money.
a i r b a g f r o m r e p u t a b l e
manufacturer Helite, and take two While 45g CO2 canisters are They may lack adequate armor
and a half times longer than the available in both thread sizes, the and inflate only after an impact has
maximum allowable inflation time design of the piercing blade could occurred.
for airbag vests.“I’m certainly not significantly impact gas flow. The
the first to buy an airbag from
Alibaba or AliExpress and film the Helite features a 5.9mm diameter B e t t e r t h a n n o t h i n g ? N o t
blade, while the Chinese versions
deployment,” he shared with us at necessarily. LHR
LHR Motorcycle Magazine, to have a narrower 4.1mm blade,
which may restrict gas flow.
understand why these ‘cheap’
airbags are so much slower.”Using
high-speed video at 240fps, Martin Additionally, the bladder design of
the generic airbags differs
compared the performance of two
AliExpress airbags to a properly significantly from Helite's. Helite
employs two loops connected with
certified Helite vest. His medium- a bridge at the neck, while the
sized Helite Turtle 1 inflated in just
75 milliseconds, while the extra- generics use a single long tube
that wraps around the body. With
Editorial sponsored by Twiggy the Weed Kid News
