Just when you thought motorcycles couldn’t get any wilder, Yamaha has dropped the sci-fi-inspired Y/AI prototype. It’s built in partnership with Netflix for an anime called Tokyo Override, which is set in a dystopian Tokyo 100 years in the future.
With this concept, Yamaha gives us a glimpse of what the transportation of the future might look like in the 2120s. And who better to turn to to help realize this vision than Yamaha.
The show, which is available to stream now on Netflix, examines how artificial intelligence has permeated everyday life and how technology has changed the way people live in cities. It explores a faction of riders who continue to use old automobiles with internal combustion engines in an ultra-optimized age where everything is controlled by algorithms and self-driving mobility is the rule of the road.
The R1 and VMax, two well-known models from Yamaha's more recent past, are also included in the show. There's quite a detailed recreation of these bikes, with Yamaha providing 3D models, renderings, and even audio of the engine and exhaust sounds of these bikes.
In the show, these vehicles, which are untracked and self-driven, represent liberation from the widely-regulated society. It’s got six episodes and might make for an interesting watch if you’re into sci-fi and/or anime.
More about the weirdly-shaped bike – the Y/AI concept motorcycle appears as futuristic as you'd expect. Its spokeless, semi-transparent wheels emit an eerie blue light, while the motorcycle's engine is concealed in the attached bridge between the two wheels, giving it a sleek, minimalist look.
An arch that wraps across the front connects the handlebars, which you'll find on the side of the forks. Those forks, along with the dramatically lowered tail and the geometric, minimalistic body, further add to that sci-fi appeal. A metal "bridge" connects the two wheels, and a pointed "fork" at the back acts as the taillights. It sports a unique Y-shaped frame, one that I haven’t spotted on a concept before, but it sure looks cool.
But that’s as much as one can decipher from the prototype. The Y/AI debuted at the 2024 Bangkok Motor Expo, which ran from November 29 to December 10 in Bangkok. It gives you a peek into what the future of two-wheelers may look like.
And AI-infused superbikes like Y/AI may be closer than you think. AI is already entrenching itself in cars, so a wide-scale adoption in two-wheelers may be near as well.
The Y/AI definitely looks cool, but it isn’t anywhere close to what Yamaha is producing currently – take a look at the retro TW200, for instance. It still sports halogen lights in 2024. Heck, even electric motorbikes are having a hard time gaining widespread acceptance.
But concept bikes are meant to push the envelope, and what looks bizarre today could be commonplace tomorrow – or 100 years from now.
Source: Yamaha
