Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 review | Airbag vest tested

Date reviewed: September 2014 | Tested by: John Milbank | Price: £519.99 | gb.alpinestars.com

The Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 on review here can be worn over or under your existing riding kit, and is designed for road riding and commuting, plus gentle off-road work.

I’ve been wearing it on a 2019 R1250GS, 1999 Kawasaki ZX-6R, and a Zontes ZT350-T to find out if it’s worth the money. Note that the Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 airbag vest is also available in a women’s fit – the Stella Tech-Air 3.

To properly understand the certification standards used, and to choose the most protective, please visit our guide to the best motorcycle airbags here

Pros & Cons

Features

The Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 weighs just 1.82kg and is extremely flexible and easy to wear, being designed to fit over or under your existing kit, and to easily roll up to stuff into your bike’s luggage or a rucksack.

Made largely of a ripstop nylon material, it has large concertina stretch panels at the sides to allow it to fit easily over your other kit.

I have the size large, which is my usual, and it goes fine over my jackets, but also sits underneath them well. If you intend to ONLY wear the Tech-Air 3 under your other kit, do try on a size smaller than you’d usually have, but I didn’t have any problems with comfort.

There are, at the time of writing, five stand-alone airbag systems offered by Alpinestars:

An unusual feature of this Alpinestars airbag vest is that there’s a zipped pocket on the outside rear to tuck a passive back-protector in, if you want to. Cleverly, there’s even a small Velcro-fastened expansion area at the base of this to accommodate different sizes, so I was able to tuck a full back D30 Level 2 Viper protector in no problem.

Of course, adding a back-protector does make the Tech-Air 3 a little less easy to stow away, and it’s not something I do as I tend to already have a back-protector in my jackets. Still, it’s good that Alpinestars gives you the option.

If you’re wearing the air vest over the top of your kit, you will of course lose access to any pockets, but fortunately Alpinestars has incorporated a decent-sized pocket on the right (big enough for keys, wallet and a large Google Pixel 7 pro phone), which is closed with a water-resistant zip. Needless to say, don’t ram so much in that it’ll restrict the airbag’s inflation, and don’t put anything sharp in there either!

It’s good to know that the system is designed to be weather-proof. You can’t submerge it, but the sealed circuit boards and water-proof connectors mean wearing it in the rain isn’t a problem.

When worn under your other kit, Alpinestars states that your jacket must have at least 4cm of space around the circumference to allow for inflation. If you’re wearing it with a leather jacket, make sure there are expansion panels built in that will provide the necessary stretch.

I’ve fired airbags under jackets before, and they certainly don’t need to be hanging loose on you, but you must make sure there is some space. Also be very careful with zipped-together 2 piece, or 1-piece leathers as they can also pull up and cause groin injury. If you’re in any doubt, check with the store or the garment’s manufacturer.

And of course, take the kit you’ll be wearing the Tech-Air 3 with when you go to try it on.

Can you wear the Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 with a rucksack?

You can wear a backpack over the Tech-Air 3, and it’s been tested to be safe with common designs loaded up to 6kg. However, there must still space for expansion, so you can’t have the straps too tight, and you might not be able to wear a chest-harness design, like that found on Kriega packs, and the new Oxford Atlas.

Trigger method

The Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 is a completely autonomous system that doesn’t need any connection to the bike.

Six sensors are built in – three accelerometers and three gyroscopes (one of each of which are triaxial) – and the vest arms simply by zipping up the front, at which point a magnet on the right behind the zip engages with the LED panel on the left. The system runs its checks, then after about 10 seconds of riding becomes fully armed. GPS is not used in the system, so there’s no need to worry about riding in tunnels.

It’s not daft… it won’t typically fully arm if it’s just zipped up without you wearing it; it’s looking for you walking, getting on the bike and riding it. Once it’s up and running, it stays armed until you take it off or it stops moving completely for 10 minutes.

Can you accidentally trigger the Alpinestars Tech-Air 3?

Yes and no. Very early on in my testing of the Alpinestars Tech-Air 3, I got home from a ride, unzipped the vest and took it off. As I swung it over my shoulders and allowed it to drop down, it fired.

This was an early version of the firmware, and Alpinestars has since changed the disarming time after unzipping the vest from ‘a few’ seconds to just half a second. The company was quite open in acknowledging this when I spoke to a representative, and it’s understood that – while it’s treated very much on a case-by-case basis – genuinely accidental deployments have sometimes been handled under warranty. But the chances of that happening now are extremely slim, and making it fire by falling off your bike at a standstill for instance (it won’t always happen but fall awkwardly and it could) is not a fault of the airbag.

So yes, it has fired accidentally, but that was over a year ago and the system has advanced significantly since then through updates to the algorithm. I haven’t had (or heard of) any problems at all since, and am very confident that a false deployment is now extremely unlikely.

An interesting article here on ADV Pulse sees the Tech-Air 3 used off-road with great results.

Protection & Certification

The Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 is designed to detect crashes into another object, an impact while you’re stationary, low-sides and high-sides. Detection time is approximately 40ms, with the inflation time (it’ll vary fractionally depending on the size) being an additional 25ms, which makes for a total that’s typical of good electronic airbags, and slightly faster than tethered systems.

Once inflated, the full back is protected, as well as the chest, with a bag that covers the full width – a great feature, especially where impacts with cars and road furniture are more likely. The bag, or bladder, is effectively multiple tubes to give wide coverage without inflating to be very thick like a single tube can. It also allows the space to be optimised for maximum pressure.

The back and chest are linked by a channel that runs over the right shoulder, which maybe offers some protection to the collar bone, but it’s not on the left side, and this bone is more likely to be damaged through impact with an outstretched arm than anything an airbag could prevent. There’s also no support for the neck, as Alpinestars has long believed that it’s better to allow the neck to have more movement in a typical crash than to hold it steady.

Dr Meng Aw Yong – A&E specialist and former track-side doctor – doesn't agree though. He told me that, while the head and neck shouldn’t be locked solid as forces would be transmitted directly to those structures, in an accident the head is more likely to suffer frontal impact causing extension forces on the neck and possible spinal injury. As the head and helmet are quite heavy, these forces could be transmitted to the neck with serious consequences, so air cushions around the area will absorb some of the force and can reduce harm like fractures or spinal injury caused by excessive flexion or extension. Dr Meng points out that the humps on the back of race leathers not only aid aerodynamics – they can reduce excessive neck movement. He also stresses that an airbag shouldn’t cover all of the front of the neck, otherwise it could compress the airway.

Only the Tech-Air Off-Road supports the head as it replaces the passive neck braces typically warn in the Dakar.

The BEST motorcycle airbag

Your guide to the safety standards, coverage and advice from medical experts

As an electronically-deployed system, the Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 cannot be certified in full under the EN1621-4 standard that the mechanically-triggered MotoAirBag uses, for instance, as it’s not been updated yet to include electronic triggers. However, Alpinestars HAS used the impact testing requirements of this standard to certify the chest AND back protector as both meeting the highest Airbag Level 2, meaning that in testing there was a mean maximum of less than or equal to 2.5kN transmitted. Airbag Level 1 requires ≤4.5kN, whereas the requirement for a passive back protector is ≤9kN for the highest Level 2. The Tech Air 3 also meets the requirements of a sub-200ms inflation time, and it’s a full chest protector – chest protection under EN1621 that’s in two parts needs to have a maximum gap in the middle of 40mm.

It's excellent to see that Alpinestars is not only helping riders compare systems by certifying to this standard while we wait for a dedicated electronically-triggered version to be completed, but also that it’s met the higher Airbag Level 2.

It’s impossible to say how well any airbag – or indeed any piece of protective equipment – will perform in a real-world crash, but Alpinestars has been working on airbag tech since 2001, with the first seen out in the wild (on track in MotoGP) in 2009. The data gathered from crash dynamics helps to constantly evolve the trigger algorithm, so keeping in mind the years of racing, including 50% of the entire MotoGP paddock now being in Tech-Air, all of the Red Bull rookies and Asia Talent Cup, as well as riders in MotoAmerica, BSB, WSBK, the Spanish championship and MotoE… that’s a lot of data; there are about 50 crashes each weekend in MotoGP alone. Plus, when a system goes in for service, anonymous data is also collected there. Basically, Alpinestars has an enviable amount of data to pull from as it constantly develops its systems.

One point to note is that, if wearing your airbag over other kit, it’s more susceptible to abrasion damage. In a typical urban incident, it’s likely there’ll be little sliding involved, and the protection from hitting something (or being hit), which will more than likely happen before any slide, is very impressive.

On track the opportunity for long slides need to be seriously considered, as well as on the road at higher speeds, though it’s most likely that the most damaging impacts would be at the start of a crash, not after a prolonged slide. However, for the best protection, the vest should be worn under other gear.

From April 21 2018, all new motorcycle clothing is deemed to be Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). To meet this legislation, it must be tested to a recognised standard. For more information on the new laws, click here.

Check the inflator on the lower back doesn’t get in the way

Comfort on and off the bike

Whether over or under my existing kit, I find the Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 to be comfortable and unrestrictive, which is particularly impressive when worn over my other kit, as it really doesn’t feel tight at all. Some prefer to go down a size if wearing it under other gear, but I like to have the versatility. This is of course subjective, so be sure to try it on with your own gear before buying.

The one issue I sometimes have is that the inflator – which is low on the left of the back – can nudge against raised pillion seats. It’s only really an issue if the vest is under other gear, where it sits a little lower and can’t ride up as easily. On the R1250GS it’s just about noticeable if the rear seat is set forwards (it’s adjustable), and on the Zontes it can be a bit annoying due to the short and deep rider seat compared to the pillion section behind it. On my ZX-6R it’s not an issue at all. If you have a back-rest – or you’re a pillion that sits against luggage – do check you’ll be comfortable, but this is the case with most airbags.

The Tech-Air 3 has as light a construction as it can, which is great for storage, but the main panels of the vest (and of course the airbags themselves) aren’t breathable. This means any vents on the body of your jacket are blocked, and with no 3D mesh inside, there’s less opportunity for air to flow. However, only in the hottest UK weather is this likely to be a consideration, and then it’s not too bad. Worn over a mesh jacket like the Knox Urbane Pro or Honister, air should still be able to move around underneath to some extent.

A women’s Stella Tech-Air 3 is also available.

A clever design feature of the Tech-Air 3 is a hidden strap in the rear that allows you to bundle the vest up for storage. Bundled up, it measures about 35 x 23 x 14cm

Convenience

Wearing an airbag over your existing kit can be a bit of a pain as it blocks your pockets and it can spoil the look of more casually-styled gear (like the Spada Temper Trucker jacket I love), but the advantage of the Tech-Air 3 is that it’s so easy to shove in your luggage when you get off the bike.

Any electronic system of course needs charging, so consider where you’ll store it to be able to run a USB-C cable from the chest unit to a charger. On the one hand, you need to get into a routine of keeping it topped up, but on the other, it arms automatically when you put it on, so no worries of getting into your journey and realising you forgot to connect the tether.

The Tech-Air 3 takes up to four hours to charge if it’s fully flat (using a 1A USB charger) via the USB-C port under the LEDs on the chest, though one hour of charging at 1A should give about 10 hours of use.

Note that the inflator box should not be opened by the user

The battery is claimed to last up to 40 hours with a full charge, so for most riders a routine of charging it once a week will likely be all that’s necessary. It is important to make sure the activation magnet doesn’t turn the vest on while it’s hanging up, and the best way to do this is to zip it about two-thirds up, with the magnet hanging off away from the LEDs.

It’s worth noting that the 2,600mAh 3.6V cell inside the system does appear to be easily replaceable.

The main zip has a clever magnetic bottom that locates easily, making it pretty quick and easy to use, though you do have to remember to clip the chest protector into place first. This is only really to ensure it’s not folded back on itself, and once the zip is run up, the magnetic trigger automatically and reliably locates the control unit and starts it running.

When the front’s closed, the chest unit vibrates to let you know if there are any problems or it if it disconnects, and once you have a steady blue light, it’s running. The LEDs will also glow red during the startup sequence if there’s less than four hours of charge left, yellow for four to eight hours and green for more than eight hours.

The app can track your ride if you want, showing elevation, speeds, distance and time

The Alpinestars Tech Air app, available on iOS and Android allows for quick, simple over-the-air updates when necessary, which saves having to faff around plugging the vest into a computer. It will also let you see the battery level as a percentage, disarm the vest if you need to (though it’s quicker just to unzip it) and track your rides, but you need to open the app, connect it to the vest, then click ‘start my ride’. Some people might want to have all their trips recorded, so it’d be great to have the option for the app to always run in the background and pair/record automatically (like the BMW Motorrad Connected app).

Reviews of both apps are pretty poor online, though I’ve had no issues with it beyond occasionally needing a restart, and neither has Paul Varnsverry, who has the Alpinestars Tech-Air 5 reviewed here.

Build quality

Build quality of the Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 is very good, with nice attention to detail like the reflective strips at the shoulders and in the back expansion areas, the useful pocket and lightweight but tough construction. Inside, there are some cables that should be considered if the vest is being scrunched up into a bag, but it’s great to see how modular and hence repairable it is.

Washing

The entire airbag and electronics can be removed from the Alpinestars Tech-Air 3, making washing much easier. Day-to-day it can be wiped down with a damp cloth, but if it gets really grubby, the instructions take you through the steps of stripping it for cleaning.

Costs

The Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 retails at £519.99 (at the time of writing the street price is £499.99), and there are no ongoing subscription costs.

However, it’s recommended to have it serviced every two years / 500 hours of use, and while an accidental deployment is now extremely unlikely, it does need to go back to a service agent for repair (BKS Made-to-Measure in the UK), so here are the costs:

Worn over the Spada Temper Trucker jacket – and others – the Tech-Air 3 remains comfortable and unrestrictive

Three alternatives to the Alpinestars Tech-Air 3

There are now many choices when it comes to motorcycle airbags, and the tech is constantly evolving. This review will also shortly be updated to include a video guide to all the main products on offer, but here are some other electronic versions to consider…

• Alpinestars Tech-Air 5, £669.99 | The Tech-Air 5 offers more protection than the Tech-Air 3, but that of course comes with a little more bulk, and it’s only designed to be worn under your other kit. Read the full review of the Alpinestars Tech-Air 5 here.

• Dainese D-Air Smart Jacket, £599 | Also designed to be worn over or under your other kit, the Dainese has a slightly thicker 3D mesh liner, but offers a little less protection than the Tech-Air 3, meeting EN1621-4’s requirements for Airbag Level 2 on the chest, but the lower (but still better than a passive protector) Airbag Level 1 on the back. Read the full review of the Dainese Smart Jacket here.

• MotoAirBag V4 | This is a mechanically-triggered system, though it uses an extremely clever ‘Fast Lock’ that allows full freedom, but locks during violent movement to allow for very fast activation. Fully certified front and back to EN1621-4 Airbag Level 2, it can be worn as a vest over the top of other gear, or on its own as a mesh jacket with the removable armoured insert. Read the full review of the MotoAirBag V4 here.

DO NOT be tempted by cheap airbags sold on the likes of Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Temu and Facebook marketplace. These are often rebranded cheap flotation devices that do not inflate quickly enough to offer protection. Read our report of dangerous and illegally-sold airbags on Amazon here.

These are just three of many alternatives – you can find all the airbags we’ve tested here  and be sure to regularly check for the discounts available through Bikesocial membership.

Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 review: Verdict

Thanks to the adoption of the impact requirements under EN1621-4, Alpinestars is able to prove the impressive protection offered by the Tech-Air 3. It is limited in some ways compared to systems like the Tech-Air 5, for instance, but as a very convenient, compact airbag designed for commuters, urban riders and general road use, it’s a great design. The fact that it’s also suitable for green-lane riding is a bonus.

Airbags can drastically reduce injuries, and have come a very long way over recent years. The Tech-Air 3’s algorithm has progressed in the time I’ve been using it, and as it can be incorporated into the majority of your kit very easily, it comes highly recommended.

Do you own this airbag? Tell us what it’s like, or ask us questions about it at bikeclub.bennetts.co.uk.