Total motorcycle coverage: Are external airbags the next frontier in moto safety?

My role at RevZilla means I get to test a lot of fun new gear, which allows me to stay up to date with the cutting edge of motorcycle technology. And while wearable airbags have been all the rage over the last few years, they have their limitations.

Wearable airbags have revolutionized safety for street riders and are even mandatory in many racing series around the world. But while you’re safely enclosed in your bubble suit, your beloved motorcycle is still unprotected from all the dangers and damage of a crash. Until now.

Billy Bob’s Big Bike Bags are aftermarket airbags for your motorcycle! Made from a combination of Kevlar and leather, Billy Bob’s bags work to not only absorb the impact of a crash but also to provide abrasion resistance in the event of a high-speed slide.

While we have not yet had the opportunity to test this product here at RevZilla, Billy Bob claims his Big Bike Bags have been operating with great success for the past seven months in his home state of Kansas, where cows outnumber humans two to one. In fact, it was the bovine population of our nation’s 34th state which spurred the inspiration for Mr. Bob’s new product.

“You see, the state motto here in Kansas is ‘Ad Astra per Aspera’,” Billy Bob explained during a recent phone call to offer details on his Big Bike Bags. “Now, that’s Latin for ‘To the stars through difficulties,’ which reflects our state's history of overcoming struggles to achieve statehood and prosperity. And the biggest difficulty I’ve been havin’ is not totaling my motorcycle when a cow suddenly jumps out in the road.”

Airbags_For_Your_Motorcycle — The air bags inflate in 50 milliseconds to protect your bike's bodywork from the impact of a crash. Then the Kevlar and leather blend provides abrasion resistance for your motorcycle, just as your gear does for your body. Billy Bob’s Big Bike Bags photo (we suspect AI has been used to create these photos).

I have to admit, at first I thought ol’ Billy Bob might be “spinning me a yarn,” but he was quick to provide a link to a Facebook post from the official Kansas Department of Transportation traffic safety page. Apparently Kansas has over 8,700 motor vehicle crashes annually caused by wild and domestic animals and the majority of those are deer and cattle.

In an effort to better protect his beloved 2008 Honda Gold Wing, BB set out to modify his factory airbag set up (the Gold Wing was the first motorcycle to introduce a rider airbag in 2006) with additional capacity to inflate additional bags. After multiple iterations, and lots of testing on local livestock, Billy was ready to bring his product to market.

“I currently only have fitment for large touring motorcycles because I need the extra luggage space to hold the two 20-pound CO2 tanks needed to operate the system,” Billy Bob explained. “I adapted modern adaptive cruise control and traction control dual-axis sensors to be able to detect an impact and inflate all 10 bags in about 50 milliseconds.”

You’ll have to do some extensive rewiring of your bike's electrical system to adapt Billy Bob’s Big Bike Bag set up to your own late-model touring bike, which could void the warranty. When I reached out to my colleague and experienced custom bike builder Patrick Garvin for help installing the system on our 2025 Harley-Davidson Street Glide, he took one look at the wiring diagram included with the instructions, laughed, and suggested I was out of my (insert expletive here) mind. Billy Bob himself did admit that it does help if you have “a bit of an electrical engineering background” before attempting to install this system on your own.

To that end, motorcyclists can opt to have BB’s team install the system for you, if you can get your bike to his shop in Ulysses, Kansas. “Just 80 miles west of Dodge City,” Billy Bob noted, implying Ulysses to be a rather convenient stop for the average touring motorcyclist exploring the Great Plains this summer.

Pricing will vary, and because of that, Billy Bob says that the most accurate way to get a quote is to call his customer service line at 1-800-BAG-OAIR and speak to the team directly. He feels that in this day and age of technological sophistication, he still prefers to keep certain parts of his business “a little more personal.” Odd, considering that the images he provided of his system in use look to be heavily modified using sophisticated AI technology.

Here at Common Tread, we believe in highlighting innovative new products that improve your motorcycling experience. Past examples include the Spurg Sponge™ and the Lance Oiler™ and the E-Z Rider child seat. However, because of the difficulty of installation, and the lack of a clear pricing structure, we won’t be carrying Billy Bob’s Big Bike Bags at RevZilla, Cycle Gear, or J&P Cycles. But if you’d like to find the most interesting route to Ulysses, Kansas this spring, you can use the REVER app to map out your route to Billy Bob’s shop.

Just watch out for cows.