Honda began its research on motorcycle rider protection in the 1960's and since then has been active, along with other researchers in this field. One type of protection system - a motorcycle mounted airbag system - has been researched in various countries since the 1970's. Recently, Honda has focused its motorcycle airbag research on one particular concept aimed at: reducing rider ejection speed; minimizing sensitivity to motorcycle impact angle, and motorcycle or opposing vehicle shapes; application to motorcycles which have a mass much larger than the rider mass; realizing a practicable airbag size and location; and consideration of both the running and impact motions of motorcycles. Prototype devices intended to meet these objectives were refined by testing, and a prototype airbag sysem for a GL 1500 motorcycle was designed including special bag shape, inflator, cover and sensor system. The prototype system was evaluated using full scale impact tests and computer simulation procedures based on ISO 13232, across a range of car impact configuration, with a 50th percentile male MATD dummy. Results indicate some prototype airbag potential benefits and adverse effects. Factors not yet considered include: other sizes and positions of riders; small, medium and step-through motorcycles; other objects and opposing vehicles types; reliability and environmental exposure on motorcycles; and other factors. (A)
Abstract