It is a known fact that motorcycles, once taken off the side stand, have difficulty staying upright without assistance from the rider. Honda seeks to address that issue with the Riding Assist-e electric motorcycle that stands straight up at low speeds without any input from the rider.
Some might ask what the point of such a bike might, given that the skill of staying upright at walking speeds is something good riders practice and display on a daily basis. However, for a certain segment of the riding population, older folks, ladies or riders with physical disabilities, the Assist-e allows for control of the bike, without requiring a great degree of rider strength.
This trick is probably done with self-correcting gyroscopes, something seen previously in the Honda Riding Assist equipped motorcycle, shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, US, in 2016. From the press photos, the Riding Assist-e e-bike appears to have an electric motor stowed below the seat, with a shaft providing drive to the single-sided swingarm mounted rear wheel.
The beam and tube frame wraps around the motor, and what appears to be a battery pack is stowed where the engine would go on a normal motorcycle. It is not known what tech might be hiding under the white “fuel tank”, but we would hazard a guess at this is where the gyroscopes and electronic wizardry might live.
Inside the cockpit a single LCD monitor shows speed, and temperature – whether this is a reading for lean angle, ambient temperature or the heat emanating from the battery pack is anyone’s guess. A “Mode 4” display might indicate the degree of intervention the Riding Assist feature provides, and the mysterious “W.H.O.” in the top right corner could mean anything, except the World Health Organisation.
What do you think? Is this the future of motorcycling, where basic skills are being removed from the rider’s control, as has been done in the world of cars where driving aids like rear view cameras and lane keeping sensors serve to dumb down driving skill? Leave a comment with your thoughts and opinions, below.
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A Segway bike
It’d be cool if they could come up with some thing like Mospeada….
Oh yeah, I remember that one. But maybe they can 1st come out with “easier” VF-1 Valkyrie, B4 moving to Ridearmor. Gud days, gud days back then.
ASIMO’s tech.
Quick solution: 3 wheeler
Shut up and take my money
I think the ‘deg’ isn’t the temperature, but rather the degree of tilt of the bike.
Thanks for pointing it out. The article has been amended to reflect that.
interesting technology… will it ever come to any bike in Malaysia ?… please bring one.
If a rider can’t even keep his balance on the bike, how would he control the bike to evade an obstacle? For example, a pothole in the middle of the road. If you can’t ride a bike, take some other form of transport.
Quoted below for your reference :)
“Some might ask what the point of such a bike might, given that the skill of staying upright at walking speeds is something good riders practice and display on a daily basis. However, for a certain segment of the riding population, older folks, ladies or riders with physical disabilities, the Assist-e allows for control of the bike, without requiring a great degree of rider strength.”
if this bike for sale in reality, i would definitely buy since i dont know how to ride bicycle ^^
Someone, who needs that bike, will not be able to have fun in riding a bike or he/she will have serious trouble in sitting down normally on the bike. I think, Honda does not want to ride like on a woman-saddle on a horse, with both legs on one side.Not everything which is technically possible, makes sense.