Alpinestars Tech-Air hits Oz

Protective motorcycle apparel has entered a new era in Australia, with Italian motorcycle apparel specialist Alpinestars recently unveiling its Tech-Air Race and Tech-Air Street systems.

Launched on Wednesday, February 22, at the Peter Stevens motorcycle outlet in Dandenong, in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs, the Tech-Air concept was introduced by Alpinestars' global communications chief, Jeremy Appleton, with plenty of racing royalty in attendance.

The latter included reigning world superbike Champion Jonathan Rea, former world superbike champion Troy Bayliss and reigning Australian superbike champion Troy Herfoss.

Race bred
Development of the Tech-Air concept initially kicked off in 2001, with the system first debuting in MotoGP in 2009. In the time-honoured Alpinestars tradition, the system was developed for the highest level of competition, with the technology then filtering down to road riders. This led to the arrival of the Tech-Air Street, which launched in Europe in 2014 and – along with the Tech-Air Race – is now available here.

The Tech-Air concept is, on paper at least, surprisingly simple. Imagine a vest incorporating a back protector, which inflates in milliseconds to provide additional (and significant) impact absorption. The vest is designed only to be worn with compatible Alpinestars apparel – the Tech-Air Race with leather race suits, the Tech-Air Street with a number of textile jackets.

At the heart of each vest is a microprocessor hooked up to four sensors, three accelerometers and one gyroscope. The microprocessor constantly overlays the information from the sensors to determine if the rider is having an accident, or if they're merely being thrown around by the bike but are still in control. If the answer to the former is 'yes', an argon gas cylinder inflates the vest in milliseconds before the first impact.

The airbag provides protection for the shoulders, chest, back and sides, cushioning the rider to the extent that as little as five per cent of the impact can be transferred to the rider, according to Alpinestars' tests. The back protector, meanwhile, has full CE certification.

On the charge
Both the Tech-Air Race and the Tech-Air Street are interchangeable with other compatible garments and each is powered by a lightweight battery, with a series of LED indicators on the rider's sleeve indicating the level of charge. The battery has a life of approximately 25 hours of riding time and two months on standby, with a full charge via the micro USB socket taking around six hours.

If a rider is 'caught short' on charge when they're out and about on the bike, one hour of charging delivers roughly four hours of protection. Zipping the jacket or suit up automatically enables the Tech-Air system.

Alpinestars says it had five firm objectives in mind when developing the Tech-Air concept:
• To create the world's first fully independent and integrated, complete torso protection system
• That no external sensors or GPS be required
• That it provides full protection to the rider before the first impact
• That it can be used with any motorcycle
• That it can be used with different but compatible motorcycle apparel

Because there's no connection with the bike the Tech-Air Street can be used with any motorcycle, and Alpinestars says it can even be used off-road for adventure-bike riding. It's not yet certified for what Alpinestars describes as 'hard enduro use', but it is developing such a beast with the help of off-road aces including Manx former world enduro champion, David Knight.

The system has been designed to work when stationary too, in that it will deploy if a rider is sitting on the bike – say at a red light – and is then hit by a car from the side or rear.

The Tech-Air Race features a dual charge arrangement: the system can deploy twice before it requires servicing. That means a rider can potentially have a minor crash, remount and keep going, safe in the knowledge they're still protected.

For both the Tech-Air Race and the Tech-Air Street, once the vest has been used it must be returned to an authorised Alpinestars outlet for servicing to have the airbag and inflators replaced. The company recommends the vest be inspected by an authorised outlet every two years.

Alpinestars says it's conducted over 800,000km of testing on the Tech-Air system, which is certified to a European PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) standard (89/686/EEC). The electronics have CE certification, while Alpinestars says the system is guaranteed to inflate in 25 milliseconds or less on the Tech-Air Street, and 45 milliseconds or less on the Tech-Air Race.

At the launch, Herfoss played 'crash test dummy' for a live firing of the system. A deployment is perhaps less impressive than you might think, with a muted bang the only accompaniment to the jacket puffing up to full volume. More importantly, the deployed suit still afforded a good range of movement – if it has deployed and the rider still happens to be on a moving bike, they can still maintain control.

High praise
In Melbourne and just ahead of the season kick-off for the 2017 Superbike World Championship, Rea was no stranger to the Tech-Air system's benefits.

"The first time I tested the suit was at Lausitzring [Germany] in Race One last season," he said.

"I had a pretty nasty front-end crash, like a highside but it threw me down into the ground. I couldn't really feel a massive explosion or anything go off, which was surprising, but I knew it had gone off and worked because I was walking off through the gravel trap.

"But the biggest proof was in the hours after the crash and the next morning – I felt completely fine. I didn't feel like I'd had a horrendous crash, and I went out the next day and won a race.

"I tested it even more recently in Jerez [Spain] and it was an ambulance job, a Turn Three highside. They carted me off and less than one hour later, after lunch, I went out and went even faster.

"It becomes part of riding, like wearing a helmet," said Rea, who freely admits his confidence level is automatically bolstered when he's wearing the Tech-Air Race.

That's high praise indeed, for a product that could well become the new safety benchmark for motorcycle apparel. Of course, any new technology usually comes with a hefty price tag, and that's the case with the Tech-Air – see the local pricing table below. Still, what price do you place on your wellbeing – or even your life? Check out the video from the European Tech-Air launch in 2014 to see the system in action...

Alpinestars Tech-Air apparel is available through selected Peter Stevens Motorcycles stores and other selected motorcycle outlets across Australia.

Alpinestars Tech-Air pricing: