Will motorcycles soon become robots, in a similar manner that cars are becoming? At the current annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Honda has unveiled a self-balancing motorcycle. Honda is following the path of all vehicle manufacturers in developing autonomous driving by employing artificial intelligence, deep learning, and infrastructure communications (Internet of Things) for all it’s vehicles.
Where will motorcycles fit in this future of self-driving vehicles? If cars are essentially becoming robots, will motorcycles become robots also? Will the motorcycle not permit the rider to ride at 50 mph in a large radius sweeper turn that’s posted at 35 mph? “I’m sorry Dave, I can’t let you run at 50 mph through that turn.”
On a motorcycle if you ignore the laws of physics, bad consequences will follow. You are responsible for the quality of your ride. If the motorcycle makes all the decisions for you, will your riding experience be the same?
Cherish the old technology, before it disappears forever.
On the competitive level, no argument that the playing field should be even. So either everyone has a self-balancing motorcycle or not. The other scenarios – depends… If you have the skill to do the moves without the technology, then you get the satisfaction in exercising those skills. On the other hand, if you don’t have the skills, are less than confident, or get momentary distracted, than the technology allows you to experience the thrill of riding a high performance motorcycle while giving the rider a bit of extra safety. Don’t see anything wrong with that.
Beer and Wings anyone? 🙂
That sounds wonderful. Miss our conversations.
I’m thinking these new technologies could be divided into two realms; the first being aids that help the rider implement their decisions (i.e. ABS, slipper clutch, traction control) and those that take the decision-making away from the rider, say something that limits the motorcycle’s speed to the posted speed limit. I don’t feel the first category diminishes the riding experience, while the second changes recreational vehicles, like motorcycles and sports cars, to transportation modules. There’s a line somewhere between these two classes, but not sure where it is…
The self-balancing motorcycle prototype may be a case of Honda flexing its engineering muscle. Remember oval valves? Or, it could be an elegant way (compared to trikes and 3-wheel motorcycles) of keeping aging unbalanced baby boomers in the sport. Hope for the best, but horde “old” motorcycles. On the other hand, there’s the new Triumph Street Triples – they look to be combining the best of the old and new.
Motorcycle road riders and racers have used riding skills for decades that link them directly to the riding experience. For the most part the new technolgies would replace these skills. Slipper clutches, traction control, and riding modes are a riders choice to be in a situation to use them, unlike ABS that may be used in situations that are not completerly in the riders’ control. Even so, read the ABS disclaimer on Suzuki’s website that states ABS may not stop a rider as quickly as standard brakes. Automatic transmissions have been around for years, but how many of us buy a car with an automatic. I think these technologies will for the most part become crutches that diminish our skills and the riding experience. Better the direct experience, “use it or lose it”.
I think rider aids (ABS, traction control, slipper clutches) go hand in hand with the increasing horsepower and torque of modern sporting motorcycles. Don’t feel the aids are needed on most machines, but when riding something that approaches the 100 hp level then those items are nice to have on board. Also haven’t experienced a reduction in the joy of riding due to these technologies – machines with these aids are still fun.
I believe that just about all competitive road racing machines now have a suite of electronic and mechanical aids. These aids don’t mean that modern racers have a lesser amount of skill, the technology just allows them to concentrate on using the extra power and traction that contemporary racing machines possess. For us road riders, the technologies may help us better cope with increasing traffic densities and speeds.
If I competed in a trials event with a self balancing motorcycle and won, who really would have won the competition, the bike or me? If I bought a 100 hp motorcycle and twist the throttle wide open, who’s skill level would have kept the bike from flipping over backwards, mine or the cyborg’s? If I ride a 70 hp motorcycle with no cyborgs and twist the throttle wide open, go hot into a corner and use my skill blipping the throttle downshifting, and then I use my skill to lock the rear brake to square the corner at the last moment. Next I do the same thing with a 100 hp bike with a full technology suite and slipper clutch. Which ridng experience will have given me more joy?
The very things being handed over to technology are the essence of the riding experience. Thumbs down (should I say finger up) to Honda and all others that follow this path. We started this topic a few months back and I remain a Luddite to this high tech approach. Although things like ABS have tempted me, I hope to resist much and buy little of the AI approach to motorcycling.
I agree with you George. I shudder to think of an autonomous, self-driving Miata. I’m sorry to bring up such a depressing subject, but I couldn’t help myself when I saw the self-balancing Honda MC. I think as time goes by
it will be more and more difficult to find and purchase anything that is free of the cyborg technology.