Photo Source: http://world.honda.com/news/2017/c170109eng.html
Just when I thought I was done writing about new motorcycle technology for a while, this article comes across my newsfeed! Honda has developed a motorcycle that can balance itself at speeds under 3 mph. Is this technology that I think will benefit me currently? No. However, I can definitely see some real world benefits that it may have.
My first thoughts after learning about Honda's concept were about my father-in-law. Last year he sold his Harley Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic because his surgically repaired knee was no longer stable enough to support the weight of the motorcycle. Large touring motorcycles are the ones that I can see gaining the most benefit from this technology.
The first comments that I read below the articles were a bunch of whiners who believed that this technology would only attract unwanted people to motorcycling. The comments read something like this, "A bike that can't fall over? Now everyone will be able to ride. This is bullshit!" Of course these people have the wrong outlook on this. I think of older riders having an alternative to a trike when they aren't strong enough to support a motorcycle.
Another concern that was voiced was the worry of people trusting this technology too much. What if this system fails while you are expecting it to keep the motorcycle upright? Being a guy who has some experience in engineering, I can guarantee that there will be multiple failsafes to eliminate any reasonable probability of this type of failure causing an injury. This would definitely be a non-issue by the time this concept reached production.
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." - Peter Drucker
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