Charging was the fi rst chal-
lenge. Once a micro USB cable is
plugged into the vest at the base,
it is supposed to start charging.
My unit simply failed to charge.
A return to Alpinestars revealed
that the charger was faulty. Once
it was replaced, the LEDs on the
suit’s left sleeve started to fl ash;
once the suit is fully charged,
which takes about six hours, all
three LEDs light up.
Flick the switch on the back
of the unit to turn it on, then it's
time to get into the suit. Getting
it on was easy; zipping the upper
and lower together is a bit more
challenging than with other two-
piece suits due to the heavy-duty,
full-circumference zipper. It really
is a two-piece suit designed for
track duty. The vest, incorporat-
ed back protector and hardware
all feel heavy, but once the suit
is on, most of that sensation goes
away. The only other thing the
rider needs to be aware of is the
activation fl ap, a magnetic-Velcro
attachment across the chest that
completes the circuitry and turns
the vest on. I moved the two parts
of the fl ap around until the LEDs
on the left arm lit up, and then
pressed the Velcro together.
The vest uses the color-cod-
ed LEDs to communicate the
status of the system. Once it is
turned on, the vest illuminates the
orange and green indicators. That
means the system is ready but
still disarmed. The vest arms itself
when the onboard GPS system
tells it that the rider is in motion—
having your suit discharge in the
pits or in the garage is not good.
Once in motion, the orange LED
goes off, leaving only the green
light on. A single red LED means
that the system will not deploy,
and a fl ashing green LED means
that one of the vests' two infl ation
charges has been used.
For the track day rider, re-
ally, all you want to do is make
sure that when you're on the bike
and in motion, the green LED is
illuminated. It's just like a traffi c
signal—red bad, green good. And
be sure to separate the activation
fl ap while walking around the pits.
Again, the Alpinestars air
vest has two charges, meaning the
device will fi re twice.This is handy
if the rider crashes and wants to
pick up the bike and continue in
a race (if allowed by the organiza-
tion’s rules) or crashes during a
race or session and wants to ride
again in later sessions or races
during the day or the event week-
end. And the unit is designed to
work with leathers made by other
manufacturers who want to incor-
porate the Alpinestars air vest into
their track suits.
The air vest requires more
care and maintenance than a tra-
ditional, passive set of armor. Al-
pinestars recommends that the
system be serviced by a compa-
ny technician at least every two
years, and more frequently if it is
used often. During servicing, the
company will remove, inspect and
re-install all components, wash
the vest, and make sure that the
software is up to date. Right now,
the only service center is at the
company's North American head-quarters in Torrance, California.
Turnaround is about 10 days, and
the cost is $299. It also takes a
little more effort to store the vest.
The rider has to make sure that
the vest is switched off and that
the activation fl ap is not connect-
ed when the vest is on a hanger.
The warnings in the product
manual might be worth the price
of the device for sheer entertain-
ment value. The company states
specifi cally that women with arti-
fi cial breast implants should not
use the device, nor should anyone
with piercings in any of the airbag
deployment areas. Piercings need
to be removed prior to using the
vest, the company says.So... why in the world would
anyone buy a suit that has to be
charged, monitored throughout
its use, sent back to the factory at
least biennially and requires re-
moving nipple piercings?
Safety. When it infl ates, the
bag protects the back, shoulders,
kidneys, chest and upper abdo-
men. And it provides more pro-
tection than any form of passive
armor that would allow you to ac-
tually ride a motorcycle.
And the Tech-Air Race vest
has one other very cool feature.
A fi rmware download can confi g-
ure the vest for street use, allow-
ing the rider to switch back and
forth between modes and use theOnce underway, the Tech-Air Race vest's GPS informs the system that the rider is in motion, and the orange
LED goes dark. Michael van der Mark's suit is fully functional, as the green LED on his left arm shows, in this
shot showing him on the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK YZF-R1 at the Lausitzring in 2017. Photo by Michael Gougis.The back of the Tech-Air Race vest,
showing the connection to the
Tech-Air compatible Missile two-
piece suit and the power switch,
located beneath the Tech-Air logo.The activation fl ap, which consists of a magnet and Velcro fastener, must
be closed to bring the suit to readiness, and must be opened when walk-
ing around the pits or when the suit is stored. Photo by Sandy Gougis.46—Roadracing World, Trackday Directory 2019