Honda’s new patent asks one weird but very interesting question: what if motorcycles came equipped with a steering-assist system, which would help with crash avoidance – a feature most modern-day cars come with?
There’s a part of me that hears that and says why the heck not, and then there’s another part of me that says the idea is batshit crazy. Well, Honda is working on that very concept.
Honda’s latest motorcycle patent is for a system that would make the bike automatically dodge any vehicle that's bound on a collision course with it. This would be done through a camera-based monitoring system that's in charge of keeping track of the motorcycle’s blind spot.
How? Through an actuator, duh!
Well, in reality, the system is more complex than that. It apparently keeps tabs on braking, acceleration and steering, and it works in several stages. First, the blind spot monitoring system detects any vehicle approaching the motorcycle. It then warns the rider either through a visual or an audible cue.
But it’s what happens after this that’s seriously cool. This system swiftly kicks in to assist in rerouting the bike by stopping, steering, or altering the throttle. But that’s when it senses that you’re already responding to the alert. If you ignore the warning or fail to take any action, it increases the level of steering assistance.
I know I could have done with something like this when I crashed my Royal Enfield Himalayan in a remote part of India a few years back. But there are a few questions to be asked, certainly.
Won’t such a system destabilize the bike if the rider is unprepared for any sudden steering efforts? Apparently, the automated assist would kick in gradually for this very reason, per Honda
Now it all sounds good in theory. I’m more concerned with how it behaves in the real world. Motorcycles aren’t cars. Two wheels don't balance themselves like four, and don't even get me started on factors like countersteering and rider awareness.
Plus, you’re constantly dealing with variable situations on a motorcycle. You aren’t just riding on one certain kind of road, or in one kind of traffic, for that matter. It’s unclear how the system will behave and adjust to changing factors every microsecond.
And even if the system does solve all of that, if you were sitting on what would essentially be an ADAS-equipped motorcycle, what would even be the point of riding a bike? Don't get me wrong; I’m all for advances in tech. But developing something like an active collision avoidance system has its own challenges. Not to forget, it has to be invasive enough to work, but not so aggressive as to knock the rider off the bike.
I'm not sure motorcycle riders will be queuing up to sign up for it when the day does come. As for me, I’m happy with my much-analog Royal Enfield Himalayan that brakes like a shopping cart with ambition.
