Motorcycle Gear

Two companies – France's CX Air Dynamics and Sweden's Mo'Cycle – are now selling airbag jeans for motorcycle riders. They sit flat as you ride, but in a crash, they balloon up like Sam Smith at the Brit Awards, protecting your knees, hips and thighs.

Cardo's latest flagship Bluetooth motorcycle headset might not look like a revolutionary update from the Packtalk Black or Bold – but after a month enjoying the subtle upgrades at the heart of the new Packtalk Edge, we'd find it very hard to go back.

The road is a rich olfactory experience behind the handlebars of a motorcycle, as you'll know if you've found yourself next to a sheep truck. In polluted air, it can also be unhealthy – and this helmet addresses both with a fan-forced HEPA filter.

Aegis Rider, a spinoff from ETH Zurich, is developing an AI-enhanced augmented reality head-up display for motorcyclists. It identifies and highlights road hazards, and shows you the optimal line to take through corners based on mapping data.

I'm sorry, motorcyclists. I know you've already had a bad day. Valentino Rossi has announced his retirement, and now I'm about to tell you about a set of vegan motorcycle leathers. Insult upon injury. I promise I'll try to make it fun.

Motorcycle airbags have come a long way since Honda first put airbags on the Goldwing. We've spent a month riding in a lightweight vest that can detect crashes as they happen and fully inflate a protective airbag in just six hundredths of a second.

Cardo's top-of-the-line Packtalk Black motorcycle headset brings the thunder, just like the Packtalk Bold but with extra-large JBL speakers filling out the bass. If you're a fan of riding with music, this is the Bluetooth headset for you.

At least two companies are working on the task of stuffing self-deploying airbags into the trousers of motorcycle riders, giving bikers' legs the same level of safety afforded to their upper bodies by airbag-equipped jackets and vests.

Indian Motorcycles has just released an optional seat accessory that gives a rider and passenger three levels of butt heating and cooling, with individual controls. The graphene-packed ClimaCommand seat is the first device of its kind we've seen.

Dainese has stuffed its motorcycle airbag technology into a small, lightweight vest you can wear under or over any riding gear. The Smart Jacket is flexible and unintrusive for the 99.99 percent of the time you spend not crashing, but protects you better than a back protector when your number is up.

If waddling about in full leathers isn't your idea of impressing the locals, there are a growing number of alternatives for motorcyclists that put comfort, style and protection in the same package – and Saint Unbreakable denim leads the pack on several fronts.