Ixon IX-U05 review | New In&Motion airbag system tested

Date reviewed: October 2024 | Tested by: John Milbank | Price: £499.99 + control unit | www.ixon.com

The Ixon IX-U05 on review here is an evolution of the existing In&Motion airbag system used by a variety of brands. Unlike the previous designs, which have tubes running down the chest and the back (with a passive Level 1 back protector also incorporated), this is a more complex airbag that also covers the shoulders and ribs, though reduces coverage at the abdomen.

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 Ixon IX-U05 uses the In&Motion control box that’s explained in full here and is supplied with the vest, but it needs to be activated; either at a cost of £120/year or outright for £400.

You can choose between ‘street’, ‘track’, ‘adventure’, MX, or ‘adventure race’ modes, but once locked in, if you want to use the others there are additional fees, as explained in our article.

Once activated, this box can be used at no extra cost in any In&Motion-equipped product, whether it’s from Ixon, RST, Furygan, Klim, Held, Tucano Urbano or any other brand.

The IX-U05 uses a new design of airbag bladder that covers the chest, back, shoulders and ribs, and is made of plastic reinforced with fabric. The inflator sits within a Level 1 passive back protector that’s over the top of the bladder and is an automotive-style device that fires electronically, and can be replaced up to eight times at a cost of £94.99. Note however that the inflator in this product has a new connector insert, so be sure to buy the IMI 7112 model.

This new airbag design, which In&Motion calls the ‘Performance Module’, doesn’t replace the Ixon IX-U04, which is recommended for road use and uses the ‘Essential Module’. This version is intended more for track days and off-road use, with additional protection to the shoulders and ribs replacing the abdomen protection offered by the IX-U03 for instance.

Can you wear the Ixon IX-U05 with a rucksack?

Ixon states that the IX-U05 can be worn with a backpack as long as it’s not over 8kg, that the straps aren’t tight (they need 10cm of space available at the shoulders), and that abdominal and chest straps mustn’t be used. You also shouldn’t use rucksacks that harness across the chest like those from Kriega and the Oxford Atlas.

Trigger method

The Ixon IX-U05 is triggered via the control box, as detailed in this article. It’s designed to detect a crash while moving, as well as while stationary, and draws on the years of anonymous data of almost all of the thousands of In&Motion users from around the world. This means that not just crash data is analysed, but also riding data, making for a potentially accurate algorithm that analyses your ride 1,000 times per second, and can inflate to optimum pressure in just 60 milliseconds. And hold that pressure for at least five seconds.

Updates to the system are fairly frequent, and extremely easy to carry out via the smartphone app.

Can you accidentally trigger the Ixon IX-U05?

Despite trying hard on very poor road surfaces, I’ve been unable to accidentally trigger the Ixon IX-U05.

Any system – either electronic or mechanical – has the potential to deploy accidentally, but in my experience all the leading electronic airbags have now become very reliable.

If the bag is accidentally deployed, In&Motion will be able to analyse the data, and if it’s found to be a genuine system error, the company promises to replace the inflator free of charge.

This is the airbag bladder inside the IX-U05

Protection & Certification

The Ixon IX-U05 is certified using the French CRITT standard, which tests impact using a flat striker and a flat anvil, rather than the EN1621-4:2013 standard that uses a narrow ‘kerbstone’ striker that’s designed to represent the edge of your bike’s screen, a narrow part of a car (like a roof-rack), the top of a fence or a kerb. This hits a hemispherical striker that’s shaped like a section of your back or chest.

EN1621-4 is the standard adopted by the rest of the EU and UK by the likes of MotoAirBag, Alpinestars and Dainese.

If you’re looking to buy a motorcycle airbag, it’s important to properly understand what the standards mean and the differences between them as in my testing, those certified to CRITT were unable to offer anything like the protection against narrow object impacts of those certified to EN1621-4, so this complete guide to the best motorcycle airbags will help you.

This is the striker and anvil used in the EN1621-4 protocol

Safety certification standards are intended to provide comparisons between products, and should not be confused with the energy and forces involved in real-world crashes as the dynamics will vary significantly.

To better understand the difference between the Ixon IX-U05, which is certified to the French standard, and an airbag certified to EN1621-4, I took it to an independent lab to carry out indicative, comparative testing that would help us better understand the protection on offer.

Here are the results, carried out at 24°C with a kerb striker and hemispherical anvil, as used in EN1621-4. I’ve used MotoAirBag in the comparison as it’s easy to recharge and is fully certified to EN1621-4 Level 2, so gives us a valuable baseline…

This is the striker and anvil used in the French CRITT standard

This test method is designed to replicate an impact with a narrow object like handlebars, a road sign etc, but the Ixon gave disappointing results, due to the striker displacing the gas and transferring a relatively high force to the anvil.

I also ran tests using the same hemispherical anvil that represents your body’s shape, but with a flat, 130mm diameter striker that mimics the side of a truck or the road, to create a comparison that was closer to, if not matching the CRITT AMC-013 standard:

As you can see, the Ixon performed better in this test, though still transmitted a significantly greater amount of force than even the passive protector.

Interestingly, the passive protectors transmitted MORE force with the flat striker than the kerbstone one, which is because these products are designed to spread the energy of a hitting an object.

My testing focussed on the chest protection as this is – arguably – the most important. Spinal injuries are perhaps more likely to be caused by severe deflection of the head, or through twisting, which is often the result of hip impacts.

Anecdotally, many racers and riders use In&Motion airbags and have been happy with the protection provided. While it’s impossible to assess the effectiveness of any device in a chaotic crash (and we can’t ask them to do it again without the airbag), it’s still possible that an airbag such as this can provide some valuable padding in a fall, particularly when not striking an object.

The Ixon IX-U05 is also classified as the maximum 5 stars under the SRA rankings shown here, which means it’s scored between 91 and 110 points in total from the following categories:

As the distribution of points awarded for any product isn’t stated, this is perhaps a less useful ranking system than it might be. All CRITT-certified airbags must give an acceleration result of under 500g to be rated by SRA. Beyond this, points are awarded depending on the duration that acceleration above 80g is measured.

While it doesn’t allow comparison with traditional armour or airbags certified to EN1621, a CRITT-certified airbag that scores the maximum 45 points in shock mitigation can only exceed 80 g in testing for less than 1 ms.

Neck and head support is limited on the IX-U05, and the shoulder and rib areas offer little apparent resistance to impact. While I haven’t tested them, I was surprised how little pressure there seemed to be in these zones.

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.

Is there a better way to test airbags?

All good motorcycle kit manufacturers are constantly striving to improve the protection offered, and I’ll be the first to agree that higher levels of performance are important to establish (it’s why we launched the Bennetts High Performance Awards).

Research will continue to better inform the kit we wear, and a study linked here using a 32kg cylindrical impactor striking a test dummy’s centre chest at 13mph indicated that larger coverage of the chest can provide better protection by reducing deflection than smaller areas with higher pressure. That makes sense.

Equally, this study indicated that an airbag in the test that would not meet the requirements of EN1621-4 could cause similar deflection to one that met Level 1 when struck with a 200mm diameter cylinder at 19mph.

But as the study suggests, the results show what might be considered some limitations to EN1621-4, and that further examination of the optimal pressures would be beneficial. It doesn’t suggest that the existing test methodology is irrelevant, stating: “values of transmitted force might not be considered as the only indicator of the potential thorax protection, and the introduction of a complementary test based on biomechanical measurements like chest deflection should be considered.”

High pressure doesn’t always equate to high protection, and a passive protector – when struck with a large, flat object, will transfer far more force to the wearer than if it’s hit with something narrow.

A test carried out by Motorrad magazine using the criteria suggested above showed that a passive Level 2 protector did effectively nothing to reduce the deflection of the chest in a wide impact like this.

It showed that the Held eVest (which uses the same In&Motion bladder as that in the Ixon IX-U04, not IX-U05 reviewed here) caused 4% less deflection than the Alpinestars Tech-Air 5, but 20% more than the Helite e-Turtle 2.

However, there are two important points to note here… This was a limited test that didn’t include any airbags that are certified to EN1621-4 at the chest (this Alpinestars model is, to the best of my knowledge, only certified at the back), so we can’t gather any useful comparison data from it. Plus, the technicians carrying out this test pointed out that the gas cartridge of the Helite – a hard component – is located on the chest and hence contributed to the result. They say this is not a bad thing in principle, but the obvious question remains of what would happen if the rider didn’t strike the surface at a perfectly flat angle and the left side of the chest hit before the right?

Some airbags can achieve high levels of protection against kerb-type AND flat impacts, so using only the CRITT protocol – which ignores impacts with objects such as handlebars, fences, kerb edges etc entirely – does not help riders make informed choices.

The airbag standard could definitely be improved, but I’ve yet to see evidence that the French CRITT standard is the answer. To fully understand the performance of different airbags and how the certification methods differ, check out this guide to the best motorcycle airbags.

This label shows that the airbag has been tested to the CRITT AMC-013 protocol, rather than EN1621-4

Comfort on and off the bike

With a body made of very soft, flexible material, the Ixon IX-U05 is very comfortable to wear, and doesn’t feel a burden when walking around off the bike as it only weighs 1.98kg.

While any airbag bladder will restrict airflow, the carcass has a predominantly mesh construction that, combined with the 3D mesh interior, allows air to pass through and around very effectively.

The IX-U05 is only intended to be worn under other riding kit, so it is of course vital to ensure the correct fit. There’s very little bulk to the Ixon all around it, only the back section – which incorporates the control unit and Level 1 passive back protector – adding any noticeable thickness, though not a great deal more than a standard back protector fitted in your jacket (which you can remove). Note that D3O makes a replacement Level 2 back protector for In&Motion airbag systems, which is standard in Furygan devices.

If you don’t have kit designed to be worn with an airbag, in order to find the correct size of jacket to go over the IX-U05 you should stretch it out flat and measure the maximum width across the chest to find measurement A. Then measure the circumference of your own chest while wearing anything you’ll have on under your main jacket except the Ixon vest to find B.

From there, you do the following calculation: C1 = A + A – B. If C1 is less than 13cm, the jacket mustn’t be worn with the IX-U05. If C1 is more than 20cm it’s fine.

If C1 is between 13cm and 20cm, you also need to measure across the stretched waist of the jacket (D), and the circumference of your waist while wearing your other kit (E). Now, C2 = D + D – E. If it’s more than 18cm, then you’re still fine. Anything less, and the two aren’t compatible.

If your jacket and trousers zip together then the jacket must be designed for an airbag, or the pants need stretch in the crotch, or the connecting zip needs its own expansion section of at least 3cm in textile kit and 5cm in leather.

One-piece leather suits MUST be designed for an airbag to be worn under them.

Too confusing? Ask your dealer to help you check the sizing.

Convenience

Having an airbag that isn’t integrated into your jacket does add another step to getting your kit ready, but the IX-U05 is easy to pop on – just remember to arm it first by double-tapping the button.

A small pack is supplied with straps that allow you to keep the sleeves and body pulled down while getting your outer kit on; this might be necessary with some leathers, but I haven’t needed it for the kit I wear. Again, try it yourself to see how you get on.

Note that you can’t wear a heated vest with the IX-U05 (or any other airbag that’s worn under your riding kit).

The In&Motion control box’s 2,600mAh battery lasts around 30 hours of riding, and is charged in about three hours from flat via a USB-C port on the box that’s only accessible it’s removed from the vest. No specialist charger is required, and the upgrade from the previous micro-USB is a welcome one, as is the slightly easier to operate latch securing the box into the vest.

Firmware updates are extremely simple and over-the-air via the iOS and Android app, plus you can check the battery’s state of charge from there. The LEDs on the box also give you some indication, but over quite a wide range of uncertainty:

In&Motion claims that 30% battery can give up to 8 hours of riding, but I think it’s worth pointing out that a solid red LED could also be indicating just 6%.

When left turned on but not moving, the In&Box will go into standby mode, though any knocks or movement will wake it up and drain the battery, so it’s best to turn it off by double-tapping the button.

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Build quality

Overall build quality of the Ixon IX-U05 appears good, with a quality finish throughout. However, during my deployment testing, the front zip opened itself all the way to the base. I tested it again on a racer friend (Maximus Hardy) who’s slimmer than me, and it did the same for him, despite me double-checking that the YKK zip was properly flat so its auto-lock was engaged.

It appears that the force of the bag deploying flicks the puller up, releasing the zip and letting it open.

Of course, when worn under other gear, this shouldn’t be an issue and the zip toggle will likely have less chance of lifting, though I would like to see this addressed.

Washing

To wash the Ixon IX-U05, remove the control box, inflator and back-protector, zip the back panel back up, then Ixon recommends it’s cleaned with cold water from a shower head or garden hose at a minimum distance of 1m for no more than 10 minutes. It should then be dried for at least 12 hours while hanging up at room temperature.

Ixon IX-U05 costs

As the Ixon IX-U05 uses the In&Motion airbag technology, it does come with an additional cost, either monthly, annually or in one go.

You’ll initially choose to have your In&Motion box run in street, track, adventure, MX or adventure race mode. If you want to use any additional modes, they’ll cost an extra £25/year or £8/month.

Remember that if you have multiple garments that contain an In&Motion system, you only need to pay for one subscription or one-off control-box purchase.

If the airbag is deployed but undamaged (possible as it’s worn under your riding kit), a replacement inflator costs £94.99 and can be refitted easily by the owner. An adaptor is also supplied that allows you to inflate the bladder with a tyre-pump to check its integrity. Note that the inflator of the newer In&Motion airbags has a new connector, so be sure to order the IMI 7112 version intended for the Ixon IX-U04 and IX-U05 models, and the Furygan Evo and EVO+.

Alternatives to the Ixon IX-U05

Airbag technology has advanced massively over the years, and while many brands use the In&Motion system, the choice of different technology is slightly more limited.

In&Motion says that the IX-U05 is intended as a track and off-road system, so the lack of narrow impact protection is perhaps worth noting for off-road use. Here are some others to consider…

• Alpinestars Tech-Air 10, £1,024.99 | This is Alpinestars’ flagship product, and is certified to EN1621-4 Level 2 at the chest and back. Designed as a baselayer to wear under compatible gear, two inflators are fitted, allowing it to be deployed twice, and these are also user replaceable. We haven’t yet reviewed the Tech-Air 10.

• Alpinestars Tech-Air Off-Road, £949.99 | Designed specifically for off-road use, it features EN1621-4 Level 1 airbags at the chest and back that are BOTH covered by Level 2 passive protectors, making for what’s potentially an excellent off-road set-up. The inflator is user replaceable. We haven’t yet reviewed the Tech-Air Off-Road.

• Dainese Misano, £2,249.99 | A full one-piece leather race-suit, this is designed specifically for the track, and features the Racing Shield 3X airbag that covers the neck, collarbone and shoulder areas, which the company says are the most prone to impact in a fall on track. Dainese has certified the protective performance of the shoulder bladders when combined with the passive armour to the requirements of EN 1621-1, with an average peak transmitted force of ≤2.5 kN. The inflator is user replaceable. We haven’t yet reviewed the Dainese Misano.

• Alpinestars Tech-Air 3, £519.99 | A road-focussed product, but meeting the impact requirements of EN1621-4’s Airbag Level 2, the Tech-Air 3 is easy to store and comfortable to wear over or under your existing kit. Replacing the inflator can’t be done by the user, but it’s carried out in the UK in a matter of days. Read the full review of the Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 here.

• Dainese Smart Jacket, £599 | Dainese certifies the road-focussed Smart Jacket to the impact requirements of EN1621-4, achieving Airbag Level 2 on the back, and only just missing it on the front, hence being awarded Airbag Level 1 (the certification results are published). The inflators have to be replaced by a UK-based service agent, but Dainese has just announced a new model that can be recharged by the owner, which we’ll be reviewing very soon (it also achieves Airbag Level 2 front and rear). Read the full review of the Dainese Smart Jacket here.

• MotoAirBag V4, £639 | This is a road-focussed mechanically-fired device, but its genius tether is able to react to a crash very quickly. Under the EN1621-4 impact requirements, it’s also the most protective I’ve seen. MotoAirBag is worn over the top of your existing jacket (it has a tough, abrasion-resistant shell), or on its worn with the removable mesh sleeves that carry Level 2 passive armour. Read the full review of the MotoAirBag 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.

Ixon IX-U05 review – Verdict

It’s worth pointing out that the In&Motion ‘Performance Module’ used inside the Ixon IX-U05 is intended for track riding, rather than road use, but wherever you are, in the real world every crash is different, so it’s impossible to say what might and might not protect you most effectively if things go horribly wrong.

As all current In&Motion airbags (and some other brands) are tested and certified using the French CRITT requirements, comparison by the buyer with those using the EN1621-4 standard – which is accepted throughout the rest of the EU and UK – is very difficult.

Some manufacturers using the CRITT protocol consider them to be a ‘cushion’, saying that those certified to EN1621-4 are a ‘shield’. Based on the data and information I’ve gathered, airbags I’ve tested that are certified using the CRITT methodology appear to offer very little protection against hard-edged impact unless they also add a passive protector, but some studies do suggest they can still offer valuable protection against some forms of impact.

Other airbags, certified using the EN1621-4 standard, are potentially more likely to offer higher levels of safety if you’re struck by something like a handlebar, the top of some Armco, the edge of a road sign or kerb, but data and testing is showing that they can ALSO meet the requirements of CRITT as well, which favours flat impact testing.

It's disappointing to see that an airbag system partially designed for off-road use doesn't feature narrow impact protection at the chest, and I'd suggest that passive protectors here could be a very valuable addition. Personally, I feel more confident wearing an airbag that’s been certified using the requirements of EN1621-4, but the kit you wear should always be your choice and I’d urge you to read our guide to the best motorcycle airbags so you can make your own, informed choice.

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

Ixon IX-U05 promotional video

Ixon’s promo video for the new airbag