Easy airbag and blind-spot reflector patents preview next red-wing innovations
Honda has been pursuing the idea of fitting airbags to motorcycles since the 1990s but apart from the Gold Wing it’s still impossible to buy an airbag-equipped bike from the company – or any other brand . That might be on the verge of change as Honda’s latest patent applications show a set-up that vastly simplifies adding the tech to existing bikes.
While the Gold Wing proves that airbags can be fitted to bikes, it’s a very specific-use case.
Honda’s latest version of the idea creates an airbag with a standalone electronics system – something that’s already been well proven in airbag-equipped leathers – and a simple, bolt-on design that could be easily adapted to almost any bike.
The whole airbag unit is designed to attach to the ’bars above the upper triple clamp, requiring little more than a power connection to the bike, and it’s cleverly shaped to help ensure that when it inflates the protection is in the right position. An inflatable prop expands to brace the bag against the instrument panel.
Given how much effort Honda has put into airbag design over the years and its commitment to end fatalities on its motorcycles by 2050, it surely can’t be long before something like this appears as an option.
One of the major concerns about the proliferation of semi-autonomous cars and the prospect soon of fully self-driving vehicles is whether they will be equipped to ‘see’ motorcycles. Now Honda is joining a growing number of motorcycle manufacturers to proactively boost your chances of being spotted by these cars’ electronic eyes.
BMW, Suzuki and Piaggio have already applied for patents on forms of reflectors to increase the radar signature of bikes. The idea, like those old maritime radar reflectors that prevent collisions at sea, is to create a geometrical shape from highly reflective material that ensures incoming radar waves are bounced back at the source they’re coming from. Honda’s version sits behind the windscreen and features either two or three cup-shaped reflectors, each with three reflective faces, giving an increased radar signature to the front of the bike – particularly useful when it comes to triggering blind-spot warnings in cars.
The design could quickly be adopted into its model range.