If you’re smart enough to appreciate the benefits of a Dainese Smart Jacket, maybe you’re also smart enough to appreciate this good news: Dainese is now offering this airbag vest in high-visibility yellow.
The Smart Jacket was originally unveiled back in 2019. It’s a very clever way of offering Dainese’s airbag protection to anyone who rides a motorcycle. Basically, it’s a vest that inflates in the same way as a MotoGP/WorldSBK rider’s suit, and it can be worn under most motorcycle jackets, or over them. It has CE 2-rated chest protection and CE 1-rated back protection without incorporating any hard-shell armour at all. Instead, like a roadracer’s suit, the onboard electronics sense a crash, and automatically inflate the suit.
The Smart Jacket has seven onboard sensors that run electronic checks 1,000 times per second, to detect a crash when it happens. That means you’ve got to charge the vest up before using it; a battery charge should last for 23 hours of riding.
After it’s inflated because of a crash, the rider can take it to a Dainese dealer and have the inflation system re-charged (at extra cost, of course).
Dainese’s latest update of the Smart Jacket sees it now available in high-visibility yellow with reflective stripes; if you wear it over your riding gear, you should be easily noticeable by cars. If the garish colouring offends your aesthetic sensibilities, you can still wear it under your jacket (or just opt for the basic black version).
Head over to Dainese’s website for more details. Pricing starts at $750 US there, with free shipping on orders over $100.
