Mo’Cycle Kian Airbag jeans review | Hip and spine protection

Date reviewed: April 2025 | Tested by: John Milbank | Price: £599 (from Airvest.co.uk) | mocycle.com

The Mo’Cycle jeans on review here incorporate a mechanically-triggered airbag system made by Helite, with a mono-tube bladder that offers coverage across the front and sides of the thighs, the hips and the bum.

I’ve been wearing them on an R1250GS, and have tested their deployment to judge how valuable they could be in a crash…

Pros & Cons

Features

There are four variants of the Italian-made Mo’Cycle jeans available – the stonewashed denim Kian on review here, the black Mohsen, the indigo Patrick and the wax-look black Melvin (which is also said to be water-repellent).

Direct from Mo’Cycle in Sweden, all four variants cost the same price of £692, though with shipping that goes up to £719 and on top of that there’s VAT and duty as they’re imported (this needs to be clearer when purchasing), so expect to pay around £900 with fees.

Fortunately, Airvest.co.uk (the importer of Helite) will be distributing Mo’Cycle jeans in the UK, and lists a price of £599 for what appear to be the Patrick jeans, and £675 for the Melvins. It’s not yet clear if the other two models will be available in the UK yet.

The jeans I have look fairly normal, the obvious difference of course being the inflator mechanism and 60cc CO2 canister sitting on the right thigh. When off the bike, only a small plastic clip is visible, and this can be tucked inside if you prefer when walking around.

Both sides of the legs have Velcro and popper strips hidden in them, which are designed to open during inflation to allow space while still maintaining a layer of denim. This does add a little bulk to the sides of the legs as there’s a thicker seam and the additional denim folded underneath.

The airbag itself – which is effectively the same bladder and inflator as that fitted to Helite vests – is incorporated into a separate pair of shorts that zip into the jeans and also carry the knee armour.

Zipped vents with a lightweight mesh offer a 12.5cm opening on either side of the inner lower leg to provide an additional draft in hot weather. The effectiveness of these will depend on your bike’s fairing, and Boxer engines could limit the air to them too, but they’re a handy addition in hotter weather and the jeans certainly haven’t felt hot during my use.

Fit was as expected, being my usual 34” waist (tight, but I border on 36” at the moment) and 32” inside leg. Waist sizes are available in 24 to 43”, with leg lengths of 30 to 36”. With no real stretch evident in the denim, do check your size before buying, though with Airvest soon to be the UK importer, you should be able to try them on at shows and events easily.

Trigger method

An elasticated strap is secured to the bike’s frame, with a plastic clip attaching to the jeans when you’re riding. If you leave the bike in a crash, when the strap has reached its full extension it will pull the firing pin free of the mechanism, allowing the CO2 cartridge to be punctured and the airbag to inflate.

When on the bike, I did find that the Velcro cover tends to pull open – as you can see in the photo – but only around the trigger strap itself.

The strap needs to be carefully adjusted when first fitted to allow enough space for you to move around on the bike, but to pull out as quickly as possible in an accident. Where you attach it to the frame will have some impact on this, but I found the subframe just above the exhaust mount was the best position to allow me to still stand up on my GS.

Do be careful where the strap dangles when not in use – don’t allow it to drop onto a hot exhaust.

Can you accidentally trigger the Mo’Cycle airbag jeans?

Like other mechanically-triggered airbags, there needs to be a strong and fast pull on the trigger to fire the airbag. You won’t be able to set it off by simply walking away having forgotten.

Protection and certification

There are three different certifications used in the Mo’Cycle airbag jeans, so let’s break them down...

Passive armour: The airbag shorts that zip into the jeans also have Knox Micro-Lock passive knee protectors hanging from the bottom. There’s no height adjustment for them, which is a shame as I’d like them to sit a fraction higher on my legs.

The armour is rated to Level 1 (the lower of the two under the EN1621-1 limb-protector standard), and is Type A (the smaller of the two size templates). It’d be great to see larger, Level 2 armour fitted in future.

Something I also think could be of benefit is having the knee protector pockets fitted to the jeans, rather than attached to the airbag shorts as when inflated I found that the protectors moved to the side, which mean the knees could be exposed in a crash.

Abrasion resistance, seam strength and tear resistance: Mo’Cycle claims that the Kian, Mohsen and Patrick Jeans use ‘CE-certified AAA fabric’, while the Melvins use fabric said to be rated to AA. However, fabrics cannot be certified as protective on their own – the entire garment has to be tested in order to prove its abrasion resistance, and its ability to stay in one piece.

The Kian jeans are actually only certified to Level A under the EN17092 garment standard, though this could be a limitation of the fact that, without passive hip armour, they can’t be certified to Level AA or AAA.

There’s no additional abrasion resistant material beyond the denim, which is 60% cotton, 43% Polyethylene, 6% Elastomultiester (a stretch material) and 1% Elastane. Mo’Cycle says it uses Armalith, which claims to be the ‘world’s strongest denim’, but until we can see evidence of the performance we can only guarantee that the jeans meet Level A.

Mo’Cycle airbag jeans deployment test

Note how the left leg doesn’t appear to expand as much

Airbag: The Mo’Cycle jeans are certified using the PAC-002 protocol, developed by Mo’Cycle with CRITT in France, which tests using a flat striker and flat anvil. This makes protection comparisons with airbags certified to the European EN1621-4 protocol (like Alpinestars, Dainese and MotoAirBag) difficult as those are tested for narrow-object impacts with a kerbstone-shaped striker and hemispherical anvil. You can find out more in our guide to the best motorcycle airbags here. Without knowing the criteria of PAC-002, it’s also difficult to compare with French airbags that are certified using the CRITT AMC-012 protocol, though given it’s the same tech as in Helite airbags, and it uses the same striker and anvil, we can perhaps assume it’s similar.

While narrow-object impact protection is arguably important in the event of hitting the edge of a car, sign-post or fence for instance, the cushioning effect of these jeans could significantly reduce the chances of spinal injury caused by impact to the hips as lateral forces can be catastrophic.

In my deployment test above the left leg failed to open up, which seemed to restrict the expansion of the bladder on this side and create a thinner ‘cushion’, the pressure instead expanding the right side more. How this could affect their performance is unclear.

The Mo'Cycle jeans do not provide protection against damage to the pelvis caused by impact with the fuel tank.

From April 21 2018, all new motorcycle clothing is deemed to be Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). To meet this legislation, it must be tested to a recognised standard. For more information on the new laws, click here.

Mo’Cycle airbag shorts deployment

This video shows the bladder itself inflating

Comfort on and off the bike

Despite the inflator on the side, the Mo’Cycle Kian jeans are comfortable to wear both on and off the bike. I have them on as I write this and they feel cool against the skin with the soft armour being barely noticeable at all. In fact, the only difference I can just slightly feel feel is a seam on each bum cheek, which appears to be from the pockets rather than the bladder.

The ripstop material lining of the airbag shorts feels comfortable in 20°C, but I’ve yet to try them in higher temperature riding, so I’ll update this review if there’s anything to add.

Convenience

Attaching the Mo’Cycle airbag jeans to the bike only takes a quick connection of the trigger cord, and as it’s not electronic you don’t need to worry about keeping any battery charged.

Build quality

Overall build quality of the Mo’Cycle jeans seems good, with stitching that appears solid at the seams.

Washing

Thanks to the removable airbag, washing the Mo’Cycle jeans is easy, though keep machine temperatures down to 30°C and don’t tumble-dry them.

The airbag shorts can only be gently wiped with a wet cloth, and must not be soaked.

Costs

Mo’Cycle doesn’t suggest the need for any servicing, so the cost over five yours is what you pay for them.

Assuming the airbag is undamaged after inflation, replacing the £22 canister can be carried out with just a 5mm hex / Allen key.

If the airbag is intact, but the outer jeans are damaged, MoCycle does sell them alone for £446.40 inc VAT plus any additional duty and fees. It’s not yet clear if they’ll be stocked by Airvest.co.uk.

Helite does recommend its vests (which use effectively the same technology) are serviced every two years at a cost of £65 in the UK.

Here we see the airbag shorts inflated while removed from the jeans

Two alternatives to the Mo’Cycle airbag jeans

There’s not much else on the market when it comes to airbag leg and hip protection, but here are some others to consider…

• CX Air Dynamics Easyrider trousers, €569 | Said to have been released before the Mo’Cycle jeans, we don’t know a great deal about them, but these Cordura trousers have airbag bladders at the sides of the upper legs AND on the lower legs. They use a similar-looking firing mechanism to Helite. At this stage, we don’t know how or to what level they’re certified. Find out more about the CX Dynamics airbag trousers here.

• Alpinestars Tech-Air 10, £1,024.99 | While we haven’t reviewed it, the Alpinestars Tech-Air 10 offers some of the largest coverage on the market, being a full-body system that also covers the hips. Find out more about the Tech-Air 10 here.

You can find all the airbags we’ve tested here, and be sure to check out our complete guide to motorcycle airbags here.

Mo’Cycle Kian airbag jeans review: Verdict

Besides offering a level of protection to the hips, thigh bones and coccyx, a significant benefit of the Mo’Cycle jeans’ cushioning could also be to reduce the chances of a lateral impact leading to serious spinal injury.

While videos show low-side demonstrations, if you don’t leave the bike during the fall there’s a good chance the trousers won’t fire, meaning a low side crash might not see them trigger until after hitting the ground (especially if you crash onto the right side). I’m wary of the hard inflator that you’d land on in this case, especially as it doesn’t have any padding behind it, though the impact force would be spread across its 185x70mm area. Of course, low-sides have less potential for harm than being launched into the air by a high-side or hitting a car, in which case the protection could be far more useful.

There’s no denying that the Mo’Cycle jeans don’t look as ‘natural’ as non-airbag riding jeans, but they do have the potential to significantly reduce serious injury. For some, having them and a vest tethered to the bike will be too much, though worn with an electronically-triggered vest it’s not such an issue (and you don’t have to wear a vest of course).

Ultimately it boils down to personal choice – airbag vests are starting to become more ‘accepted’, but there are still plenty who consider them to be overkill, so airbag trousers could be dismissed altogether by them.

What you wear is personal choice, and airbag systems can certainly offer additional protection, so deciding whether the Mo’Cycle jeans are right for you will likely come down to the cost and aesthetics.

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