If you are planning a self-guided motorcycle tour in Europe – flying in, picking up a bike from a hub like Prague, Vienna or Barcelona – your gear matters as much as the motorcycle. The good news for 2025: touring gear has taken a big step forward in three areas:
- Helmets designed for long days and communication
- Airbag protection that is finally practical for everyday touring
- Smart gadgets that make navigation and safety smoother, not more complicated
This overview focuses on what is actually worth considering for a 7–10 day tour through Czechia, Austria and Spain, whether you rent motorcycle Praha, arrange motorcycle rental Vienna, or start your trip from Barcelona.
1. Helmets 2025: Touring-focused, modular and “smart-ready”
ECE 22.06 and modern touring helmets
If your helmet is more than a few years old, 2025 is a good moment to upgrade. Modern touring and modular helmets meeting the ECE 22.06 standard are tested for a wider range of impacts and often include:
- Better impact absorption
- Improved visor systems (Pinlock-ready, wider field of view)
- Integrated drop-down sun visors
- Bluetooth-ready shells with speaker cut-outs and wiring channels
For long days on a rental bike, this translates directly into comfort: less noise, clearer vision in changing light, and easier integration with your intercom.
Best fit for touring Europe:
- Quality modular / flip-front helmet (Schuberth E2, similar high-end models) – flip up at fuel stops, chat at border crossings, but still have full-face protection on motorways and Alpine passes.
If you mostly do asphalt touring in Czechia and Austria and occasional light gravel in Spain, a modern adventure-touring helmet (with peak and big visor) is also a strong option.
“Flip-over” modulars and smart helmets
A noticeable trend for 2025 is flip-over helmets, where the chin bar rotates all the way to the back of the shell, making them more aerodynamic than classic modulars when open – a real improvement if you spend hours at motorway speeds getting from Prague to the Alps.
In parallel, smart helmets are moving from prototype to early adoption:
- HUD (head-up displays) showing speed and navigation
- Built-in Bluetooth comms and speakers
- Fall detection and emergency alerts integrated into the shell
For now, smart helmets are still relatively expensive and niche. For a practical fly-and-ride tour where you rent motorcycle Praha or Barcelona, the sweet spot is usually:
A high-quality modular or adventure-touring helmet, ECE 22.06 approved, with excellent fit and ready for a separate Bluetooth intercom unit.
2. Airbag vests: from track technology to everyday touring
Airbag vests becoming mainstream
The clearest safety trend for 2025 is the mainstream arrival of motorcycle airbag vests and jackets for road touring. Market analyses show rapid growth, driven especially by touring and long-distance riders who want more upper body protection without switching to race leathers.
Modern systems fall into two categories:
- Electronic airbag vests – standalone, worn over or under your touring jacket, using sensors and algorithms; no connection to the bike needed.
- “Bag-on-bike” airbags – systems integrated into the motorcycle itself (more relevant for OEM / future rentals than for your personal gear).
For self-guided tours on rental motorcycles in Prague, Vienna or Barcelona, personal electronic vests are currently the most practical solution: you can wear the same vest on different bikes and trips.
Dainese Smart Air & similar “multi-deploy” systems
A good example of how far this tech has come is the Dainese Smart Air electronic vest, launched in the 2025 collection:
- Designed for street and light off-road use
- Chest and back Level 2 airbag protection
- Up to three deployments before the gas generator must be replaced, which the rider can do at home – no factory return needed
- Around 12 hours of battery life on a charge
Other brands (Alpinestars, Helite, etc.) are moving in the same direction: electronic airbags with multiple deployments and user-serviceable cartridges, rather than single-use systems that must be shipped back after one crash.
For a 7–10 day tour through Czechia, Austria and Spain, this type of vest makes sense:
- You bring it with your helmet and jacket in your flight luggage
- Wear it over or under your textile touring jacket
- Charge it overnight like your intercom
No modification of the rental motorcycle is required, which is ideal when you rent motorcycle Praha for one trip and motorcycle rental Barcelona for another.
3. Smart gadgets: useful upgrades vs pure gimmicks
Smart gadgets are everywhere now. For touring riders, a few categories are genuinely worth it, especially when you are riding unfamiliar roads on a self-guided tour.
a) Bluetooth intercoms & mesh communication
Modern intercom systems – often using Bluetooth mesh – are now central to the riding experience:
- Clear rider–passenger communication
- Group chats on guided or friend-group tours
- Turn-by-turn navigation prompts from your phone
- Music and call handling without taking your hands off the bars
When planning a tour starting with motorcycle rental in Prague or Vienna, it is worth checking that:
- Your helmet has proper speaker pockets
- Your intercom uses a universal mount that can be moved between helmets
This way you keep the same audio setup whether you are crossing the Bohemian Forest, climbing Grossglockner or riding a coastal road in Spain.
b) CarPlay / Android Auto screens with TPMS
A major trend for 2025 is CarPlay / Android Auto units designed specifically for motorcycles, such as the Carpuride W702 Pro + TPMS:
- 7″ waterproof touchscreen
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- Dual Bluetooth for phone & headset
- Optional built-in tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) with two wheel sensors, streaming real-time pressure and temperature to the screen
For touring, this combination is extremely practical:
- Navigation on a bright, glove-friendly screen
- Music & calls routed through your intercom
- TPMS alerts if you pick up a puncture in a remote part of Austria or inland Spain
If you plan regular European trips and often rent motorcycles in different cities, investing in one portable CarPlay/TPMS unit that you can clamp to any bike’s handlebar starts to make sense.
c) Smart TPMS and safety-focused gadgets
Even without a full CarPlay screen, standalone Bluetooth TPMS systems (valve-cap sensors talking to your phone or GPS) are widely recommended as one of the best value safety gadgets for 2025. They warn you about slow leaks or under-inflation before it becomes a serious problem at speed.
Other genuinely useful gadgets for touring:
- Heated gear controllers for extending your season in Czechia and the Alps
- Compact dash cameras for recording rides and potential evidence in case of incidents
- Small GPS trackers for luggage or bike (some integrate with phone apps)
Less essential for a 7-day tour:
- Complex HUD add-ons if your helmet is not designed for it
- Too many overlapping devices that all want to show speed and navigation at once
4. Clothing trends: modular textiles for real-world weather
Rider clothing is also evolving, but the direction is clear: modular textile systems that handle a wide range of temperatures and conditions with fewer pieces.
Key trends for 2025:
- Lighter, yet more abrasion-resistant textile fabrics, often with aramid or similar fibres woven in
- Modular jackets with removable thermal and waterproof layers you can strip out when riding in hot Spanish afternoons and reinstall for cold Alpine mornings
- Better ventilation layouts, especially in touring suits, to make long summer days more tolerable
For a multi-country tour – say, start in Prague in May, ride through Austria and finish in northern Italy or Spain – a high-quality textile touring suit with:
- CE armour
- Ventilation zips
- Removable liners
is much more practical than packing separate winter and summer jackets.
Combine this with a standalone airbag vest, and you have a portable safety/comfort system that works on any rental bike.
5. How to prioritise upgrades for your next European tour
If you do not want to replace everything at once, a simple prioritisation helps.
Priority 1 – Helmet & visibility
- Modern E-marked (ECE 22.06) touring or modular helmet with Pinlock and sun visor
- Clear, fog-free vision at night and in rain
- Hi-viz elements on jacket or vest, especially for rainy Czech or Alpine days
Priority 2 – Airbag vest
If your budget allows just one big safety upgrade for 2025, an electronic airbag vest is a strong candidate:
- Works above any normal touring jacket
- Comes with you when you rent motorcycle Praha, ride a friend’s bike at home, or join a guided tour later
- Rapidly improving ecosystem from major brands, with multi-deploy and user-replaceable cartridges
Priority 3 – Intercom + TPMS / CarPlay unit
- One good Bluetooth mesh intercom
- Either a portable CarPlay/Android Auto screen with TPMS or a basic standalone TPMS kit
These directly improve comfort, navigation and safety on self-guided tours, where you manage everything yourself.
6. Putting it all together for Prague, Vienna and Barcelona
Let’s connect this to real travel scenarios.
When you rent a motorcycle in Prague
You fly in with:
- Your touring/modular helmet with intercom
- Textile suit + airbag vest
- Optional portable CarPlay/TPMS unit
You rent motorcycle Praha – a touring or adventure bike with side cases – load your gear and follow a self-guided route:
- Bohemian Forest and South Bohemia
- South Moravia and then Austria
Your gadgets:
- Show navigation and TPMS on the screen
- Give audio directions in your headset
- Keep you visible and better protected if something goes wrong
When you ride an Alpine loop from Vienna
You repeat the same formula with motorcycle rental Vienna:
- Short transfer from the airport to the rental base
- Same helmet, airbag vest, screens and intercom you used in Czechia
- A 5–7 day Austrian Alps motorcycle tour on familiar gear, even if the bike is different
When you chase the sun in Spain
Months later, you fly to Barcelona:
- Pack the same core gear and gadgets in your luggage
- Rent motorcycle Barcelona for a Pyrenees + Mediterranean loop
- You already know how your electronic airbag behaves, how your intercom sounds, and how your CarPlay screen mounts to the bars
You are not starting over – you are just changing scenery.
Summary: 2025 is the year to modernise your touring kit
For riders who love fly-and-ride European tours from hubs like Prague, Vienna and Barcelona, 2025 is a very good year to update gear:
- Helmets – modern touring / modular lids with ECE 22.06, ready for comms and long days
- Airbags – electronic vests with multiple deployments and user-replaceable cartridges that truly work for everyday touring
- Smart gadgets – intercoms, CarPlay/Android Auto screens and TPMS systems that make self-guided travel safer and easier, not more complicated
You do not need to chase every new gadget, but choosing a few smart upgrades will make each self-guided motorcycle tour in Czechia, Austria and Spain noticeably safer, calmer and more enjoyable – no matter which bike you rent, or which road you decide to turn onto next.
