Seat belts on motorcycles? Apparently, CFMoto thinks this could be a good idea. The company recently filed a patent application for that exact thing. This is some new territory, though CFMoto isn’t the only company experimenting with new safety tech.
Do You Want Seat Belts on Motorcycles?
BMW tried it on the C1, but that was really more of a bike-car hybrid. In short, nobody has made the seat belt happen on a motorcycle, likely because you generally don’t want to get crushed under your bike should you get in an accident.
CFMoto, though, is at least sort of smart. The seat belt would only hold the rider on the bike in certain instances, allowing the motorcycle—not the rider—to absorb some of the impact damage.
The company’s seat belt would release the rider if the bike falls over or if there is a sideways collision, but head-on collisions would allow the seat belt to hold the rider in the saddle.
The patent doesn’t show a finished product, and there are several versions. The bike used in the patent drawings is the 1250TR-G touring machine, which is only sold in China.
While I don’t love the idea of a seatbelt on my motorcycle, I love seeing CFMoto try something new. Kudos to the folks there for thinking outside the box. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this.
Source: Cycle World
