MotoAirBag V4 review | Provably high levels of protection

Date reviewed: August 2024 | Tested by: John Milbank | Price: €749 (around £639) with sleeves | www.motoairbag.com (also available in UK at SportsBikeShop WITHOUT the sleeves for £559)

With electronically-triggered motorcycle airbags getting ever more advanced, it might be fair to wonder what the market is for a new mechanical device like the MotoAirBag V4 on review here. But thanks to its versatile design and – most importantly – unique and effective trigger system, this has the potential to offer some truly class-leading protection. I’ve worn it for more than 2,500 miles in temperatures as high as 36°C to find out if it’s worth the money…

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

Quality YKK zips are used throughout, while the mesh construction, and 3D mesh inside, allow plenty of air to pass through and around the vest

Features

The MotoAirBag V4 on review here is basically the same as the V3, but with the addition of a fully removable armoured mesh liner. Take the mesh jacket out (it simply zips securely into place) and the V4 is a standalone airbag vest that can be worn over pretty much any other piece of motorcycle kit. The vest itself is made of a tough mesh too, so while the airbags inside obviously don’t let air through, a surprising amount can still get through the vest.

Concertina sections running from the armpits to the hem, and over the shoulders, give up to about 3cm of stretch at each side (though this is mainly to give the expansion room to remain comfortable and with a full range of movement if the system deploys), along with zips in front of these panels that can be undone to give an additional 10cm of expansion on either side, making for an incredibly versatile piece of kit. Plus, there are a pair of adjustment straps on either side with a range of up to 5cm adjustment, so getting the right fit whether over another jacket or not shouldn’t be a problem.

The MotoAirBag V4 features a single, good-sized pocket on the left of the waist, which is big enough for my passport, keys and an Insta360 X4. I’d like to have seen a second pocket on the left, though this might have interfered with the front inflator mechanism, especially on smaller sizes. Still, even a less capacious extra pocket here would be welcome.

The V4 is available in three sizes: S/M, L,XL (which I have) and 2XL/3XL. You can also choose from an all-black model, or the one I have with a grey body. Both have fluorescent yellow panels on the chest, arms and back of the neck.

The price of €749 (around £639) is all you’ll pay if ordering direct from the manufacturer as it’s made almost entirely in Italy, which – thanks to a post-Brexit trade agreement – means you’ll not pay any additional taxes or duty. However, stock will soon be held in the UK, and available in stores. Note that at the time of writing the MotoAirBag V4 is available at Sportsbike shop for £559, but that DOES NOT include the sleeves. At present, because the sleeves are removable it's not possible to certify the complete jacket under EN17092.

The MotoAirBag V4 can be carried on a plane, and certificates are available here if needed.

The single Fast Lock trigger fires both cannisters

Trigger method

Put simply, mechanical airbags like the MotoAirBag V4 trigger when you’re separated from the bike – a tether is attached to your machine, which pulls the ‘firing pin’ and inflates the airbag (or in this case, airbags). This means that in a low-side for instance, if you stay with the bike it’s unlikely to fire until you slide away, though if you’re still holding onto the motorcycle in a low-side crash, it’s likely to not be a particularly high speed incident. It’s also worth nothing that, on track, electronic airbags are generally setup not to fire in a low side.

In some systems, an elasticated strap is used to attach the airbag trigger to the bike, but it will only fire when it reaches its full extension, so when mounting those you need to strike a balance between giving yourself room to move, and not being too far out of the saddle before it fires.

But MotoAirBag is different; its unique ‘Fast Lock’ trigger system gives up to 54 cm of movement (more than enough to stand up while riding) yet deploying within just 3 cm during violent movement. Imagine a car seatbelt that locks when you pull it sharply.

This compact mechanism is attached to two straps that each fire one of the gas cylinders, inflating to 10 litres over the chest and 15 litres over the back, behind the head and down below the coccyx. That small movement of your body relative to the bike can be in any direction to fire the bag, as long as there’s at least 15kg of force behind it.

What this means is that if you hit something on the motorbike – or something hits you – the speed and momentum of your body will almost immediately trigger the system, rather than being delayed until the tether has reached its full extension. MotoAirBag’s designer and owner – Fabio Columbo, a mechanical engineer who’s dedicated his life to the development of motorcycle airbags – says that this results in a trigger time of just 5ms, and an inflation time of 80ms.

The MotoAirBag V4 is supplied with a strap that attaches around the bike’s seat, the idea being that it sits just behind the rider. Additional belts cost €15, or you can buy a Saddle Strap that can be fitted to the frame for €10.

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Can you accidentally trigger the MotoAirbag?

Any airbag system can suffer an accidental deployment, but I tried VERY hard to set this off unintentionally, and couldn’t.

Getting off the bike with it attached wouldn’t cause it to fire even if I wrapped my leg around it – it was easy to feel it was there before I was able to get enough momentum up.

I also rode some of the worst roads I could find, both standing up and sitting down, in order to try to get the ‘Fast Lock’ trigger to activate, but my movements (including jumping up in the saddle) – and those of the bike as I let it crash into dips and holes below me – just weren’t fast enough.

In a crash, the change of direction would be much faster and more violent, which is what the trigger is designed to work with. Of course, if you did somehow fall over slowly, then slide clear of the bike, once the tether reached its full extension (just 54cm) it would still fire, helping to keep you protected from something you might slide into.

Protection & Certification

Nothing can absolutely guarantee your safety, but an airbag goes a long way to providing far greater protection than armour alone. There are various trigger methods, and you need to decide which one is right for you, but just like armour, helmets, gloves, boots and garments, there is a certification standard for motorcycle airbags that manufacturers can test to and prove the protective performance of their kit.

Motorcycle airbags can be certified to EN 1621-4, which includes the following requirements:

You’ll notice reference to mechanical triggers, and that’s because this standard currently doesn’t apply to electronically-triggered airbags. A new version is being drafted, but the transmitted energy force tests could of course still be applied to those systems.

For reference, a standard passive Level 2 back-protector only needs to transmit a mean of 9 kN or less, with a maximum single strike of 12 kN, so an airbag can clearly offer a significant amount more protection. That’s not to say that armour is useless of course, as it can still make a big difference in a crash to both impact and abrasion injuries.

The MotoAirBag meets the requirements of EN 1621-4 Level 2 for a full back protector and dual chest (which requires a gap of no more than 4 cm between the two front airbags), and the company claims that in testing it transmitted as little as 1.4 kN to the back, and 0.8 kN to the chest (due to the higher pressure in the front bag).

MotoAirBag uses two separate 45 g CO2 inflators with two separate triggers – 15 litres for the back covering behind the head to prevent hyperextension of the neck, the back and the coccyx, and another 10 litres for the chest. The back and two main chest sections each have three channels built in to avoid them just inflating as a tube, and are made of a tough material with an abrasion-resistant outer construction that will protect them in a slide. The bags are also protected with what’s effectively a scrim layer to prevent them snagging on the outer construction.

It's certainly a clever design that sees the top and bottom of the rear airbag tucked neatly away, popping out only when deployed, and combined with the class-leading volume of the two separate bags, the MotoAirBag system really does offer outstanding coverage.

Shown in these two images is the two tough, separate bladders that are fitted in the MotoAirBag to offer exceptional levels of coverage

While the MotoAirBag doesn't inflate as high across the tops of the shoulders as the Helite, for instance, I spoke to Dan Read, an Air Ambulance Advanced Paramedic with MAGPAS who told me that one of the greatest risks to spinal injury is hyperextension of the neck (backwards movement of the head). MotoAirBag does an outstanding job of preventing this.

MotoAirBag doesn’t include a passive back protector because it doesn't need one – it way exceeds the requirements of the standard –  which means that it’s a little easier to roll up and tuck in luggage when you’re off the bike.

The removable mesh jacket contains Level 2 (the highest level), Type B (the larger size) armour at the shoulders and elbows, though mine is an early version and only includes Level 1. However, the jacket itself is not certified under EN17092 (the garment standard), because it’s not a complete garment when removed from the vest.

Fabio says he hopes to find a way to gain certification that gives proof of the abrasion resistance, seam strength and tear resistance, and is confident it would achieve level AA. Without any certification though, all I can say is that it appears to be a well-made jacket, with tough, dense mesh panels and triple stitching.

It is worth pointing out that, as a standalone jacket with airbag, it is relatively short in the body and arms, with no option to secure it to your trousers. I’ve worn this predominantly with a pair of riding jeans, and while it does sit well at my waist, in a slide it could theoretically lift and leave you a little exposed. Having said that, it’d likely have inflated, which would make contact much less likely, and the construction means it’s less flexible than a standard textile jacket, so any movement is minimal.

With short cuff gloves, about a centimetre of my wrists were at times exposed, but gauntlet gloves will cover the ends of the sleeves. It’s worth noting though for long rides in bright sunlight – I made sure I had suntan lotion on my wrists.

Comfort on and off the bike

Weighing 3.96 kg with the mesh jacket fitted (2.76 kg for the airbag vest alone), the MotoAirBag is surprisingly comfortable to wear.

On an August 2024 ride of 2,100 miles from Saint Malo through France and Spain, right down to Benalmádena on the south coast and back up to Santander, I was genuinely stunned at how comfortable the V4 was.

I rode in temperatures as high as 36°C, and for up to ten hours a day (the average across long days would have been in the early thirties) and honestly found the MotoAirBag to be incredibly cool and comfortable. Granted, I had very few delays on the journey, so was rarely stuck in traffic, but even when stopping to take pictures I was in no rush to take it off.

Thanks to the mesh sleeves and the 3D mesh inside the vest, air is able to flow around your body incredibly well. In fact, at some points in the morning when riding in the shade, I was actually shivering.

On the ride down to Portsmouth it was raining, so I wore an over-suit under the MotoAirBag V4, which kept me dry but I was pretty cold by the end of it. The V4 shrugged off the water with no issues at all – there’s nothing here that can be damaged by the wet – but if you’re riding in variable weather, it’ll be worth packing a windproof soft shell or similar, just in case.

Note that my review sample of the mesh jacket liner had Level 1 armour, so I can’t comment on the comfort of the Level 2 armour that now comes with the MotoAirBag V4, as I haven’t tried it.

Of course, in cooler weather or winter, just take the mesh jacket out and wear the V4 airbag vest over something else. If you already have mesh riding kit, or you simply don’t want it, the MotoAirBag V4 is available as the vest alone for €659.00 (about £560). You can buy the vest separately for €139.00 (about £118).

Thanks to the expansion zips, adjustment straps and concertina sections, I found that I could wear the MotoAirBag V4 vest over the top of any of my jackets – even the RST Commander textiles with back and chest armour fitted (overkill of course, but I wanted to know how much space there was). In fact, it even went over a leather jacket that has an airbag already built in, so there really is no problem with fit over your other gear.

Of course, as with all externally-worn airbags, the pockets on the front and back of your existing jacket are covered up, but the MotoAirBag vest’s built-in pocket proved more than enough for my passport, keys and Insta360 camera.

Convenience

The MotoAirBag V4 is designed to have the trigger cable attach to a D-ring just behind the rider – either on a strap that wraps around the seat, or a length of webbing that can be fitted under a fixing point on the bike. On the Zontes, I have it on the seat, but on my R1250GS, it’s attached to a bolt on the side (I did have to open the hole on the strap up a little by heating a nail and melting it a little wider).

The design of the ‘Fast Lock’ trigger means that, if you’re thrown forwards in a head-on collision, the chest airbag will fire fractionally before the back. It makes sense to have the tether there, but it might be awkward for your pillion (depending where you put it), and it’s a little more fiddly to clip the carabiner onto it when getting on the bike, and to release when getting off. An optional quick-release fastener is available for €35.00, which I’d be interested in trying as it looks easier to handle with gloves on.

You do get used to clipping in, but it is possible – and safe – to fit the D-ring in front of you, for instance between your legs, or just to the side of the back of the fuel tank.

If your pillion has a MotoAirBag and you have the D-ring behind you, they can also attach to that, or have their own tether elsewhere, perhaps just behind them.

The V4 can be worn with a rucksack, but it shouldn’t be one that fastens across the chest, like Kriega, or the new Oxford Atlas that I wore to Spain. The simple answer of course is to not clip the front of the pack up, and I had no difficulty riding like this.

The MotoAirBag can be folded up surprisingly compact and tucked into your bike's luggage.

The top and bottom of the back airbag pop open when deployed

Build quality

Using specialist automotive manufacturers in Italy for the MotoAirBag’s unique firing system means this is extremely solid, reliable kit.

It’s also entirely assembled in Fabio’s own factory by a dedicated team, and overall is a brilliant design and an outstanding product.

However, the first V4 I received had been mis-sewn on the mesh jacket, which caused a bicep adjustment strap to pull free, and the left shoulder armour to be incorrectly positioned.

This was replaced – as it would be in the unlikely event that any customer had a problem – and the new jacket fits perfectly.

The airbag vest itself is very solid, but the mesh jacket I have still has some small imperfections in the construction, like the trim on one of the sleeves pulling away a little. This doesn’t affect the safety, and I’m happy that the company would sort it out quickly if it got worse. It’s early days in the product cycle, so I expect small glitches like this will be ironed out rapidly, if they haven’t already.

Costs

Besides the initial cost of the MotoAirBag V4, the company recommends a service every four years, where the vest is entirely stripped down, tested and reassembled at a cost of €120 (around £102). This doesn’t including shipping to and from the factory in Italy, though remember that you won’t get stung for any additional tax or duty.

If the airbag were to be accidentally deployed, you can fit new inflators easily yourself (though the instructions for reassembly could be a little clearer):

If the jacket was damaged in a crash, it can be sent back to the factory for repair. Depending on the damage this could cost anywhere between around £100 and £300, but remember that all the parts are individually replaceable, so costs should be kept to a minimum.

Whenever the MotoAirBag V4 needs to be sent back to the company in Italy, a fast turnaround of up to just 48 hours is promised (plus shipping).

MotoAirBag V4 can be worn on its own with the removable mesh jacket, or as the vest over other kit

Three alternatives to the MotoAirBag V4

Thanks to its ability to work either as a vest over the top of other kit, or as a standalone mesh jacket, the MotoAirbag V4 is unique – as is its trigger system – but here are some other recommended options to consider.

• MotoAirBag M1, £438 | The MAB M1 has exactly the same tether and front and back bladder as the MAB V4, but it's not got the option of mesh sleeves. It's also made of a stretch material, which means it's a little more compliant over other gear. And it's cheaper. Honestly, this is the one I'd go for, unless the sleeves are really important to you. Read the full review of the MotoAirBag M1 here.

• Alpinestars Tech Air 5, £649 | Offering exception coverage, the electronically-triggered Tech Air 5 is designed to be worn under your other kit. Read the full review of the Alpinestars Tech Air 5 here. The Alpinestars Tech Air 5 needs to be repaired by a service centre in the event of an accidental deployment.

• Dainese D-Air Smart Jacket, £719.95 | Coverage is a little more limited on the Smart Jacket than its alternatives, though it does pack down quite small. We’ll have a full review of the Dainese D-Air Smart Jacket soon. The Dainese D-Air Smart Jacket needs to be repaired by a service centre in the event of an accidental deployment.

• 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 five 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.

MotoAirBag V4 review - Verdict

There can be no argument that wearing a proper motorcycle airbag offers far greater protection than not, but they all come with compromises. However, MotoAirBag’s unique trigger providess what is an exceptional mechanical system, and the removable mesh vest makes it a comfortable set-up even in 2024’s heatwave. And of course, if you want to wear just the vest – which itself is a surprisingly breathable mesh construction – over any other jacket, you can easily.

MotoAirBag’s huge coverage and brilliant trigger provide proven protection across your chest, back, neck and coccyx, and as such should be high on the list of anyone looking to increase their safety on the bike. Definitely recommended.

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

3,387km, in a heatwave, in the MotoAirbag V4

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