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The Future Of Motorcycles

TexasTesla

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The future of motorcycles...

JANUARY 20, 2019



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BMW
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BMW motorcycle equipped with advanced safety features.


When people talk about self-driving or electric vehicles, they are usually talking about cars. But these trends are also happening in the motorcycle world as well. The world got a glimpse of a self-riding motorcycle last year in September when BMW released a video of an autonomous 1200 GS motorcycle. In the video, the motorcycle is seen starting itself up, riding down a curved road and then stopping. There were no spectacular stunts involved but it was impressive nonetheless because no human rider was involved.

At the recent 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a more fine-tuned version of the autonomous 1200 GS was showcased and one could ride around more expertly. The autonomous features however are not actually designed to give riders a self-riding experience; rather, it is to enhance their safety.

In that regard, the purpose of autonomous motorcycles is different from that of autonomous cars, which are meant to eventually give people a driverless experience. For motorcycles, these autonomous features are akin to those smart car features that keep a driver staying on the same lane or automatically brakes when there is an object in the way. They are safety features.

Of course this doesn’t mean that the company would never use the technology for autonomous riding. It could do or perhaps another motorcycle company might do it in the future. But for a lot of motorcycle fans, the whole purpose of riding a bike is to control it. Just sitting passively on the bike and letting it do the driving doesn’t seem like something motorcycle enthusiasts would like, especially those who like to spend a lot of money buying an expensive motorcycle.

Those who buy motorcycles just for utilitarian purposes – to get to work, to do chores, and so on – may like it if the bike could do all the driving for them, but such people are more likely to buy lower-end, cheaper bikes. Those are unlikely to have autonomous features anytime soon.

For now, the autonomous features will be on high-end bikes with the purpose of making them safer. You can expect BMW motorcycles – and eventually those from other high-end motorcycle brands as well – to have more advanced safety features to help riders avert collisions and avoid road hazards.

GOING ELECTRIC

The notion of an electric motorcycle is not nearly as awe-inducing as an autonomous one, and a concept of it has been around since 2014 when legendary motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson announced “Project LiveWire”, an electric bike that can go from zero to 60mph in four seconds. Designed to have a range of 60 miles (97 km) on a single charge, it was scheduled to come out in 2021.

Harley-Davidson has just announced this month that the LiveWire motorcycle will be available in August this year, so it is way ahead of schedule. It can go from zero to 60mph within 3.5 seconds and instead of a range of about 100 km, it can go for as far as 177 km on a single charge. So it’s actually even better than what was original conceptualised.

And because it’s electric, there will be no clutch or gears for shifting. That means no rumbling motorcycle noises. That might actually be a turnoff for Harley-Davidson fans who like the noises that those motorcycles make. Well, the engineers have factored that into their design. “The LiveWire model is designed to produce a new signature Harley-Davidson sound as it accelerates and gains speed,” the company said.

And just like how Tesla, the electric car is also a smart car, the LiveWire is a smart motorcycle. It comes with an advanced telematics system called H-D Connect, which feeds data about the bike’s operations, including battery charge and service reminders to the owner via a mobile app.

Like the BMW’s autonomous bike, Harley-Davidson’s electric bike will not come cheap. The list price is $29,799 (RM122,440). It is not clear how much BMW’s autonomous 1200 GS will cost but you can be sure it won’t be cheap.

By going autonomous and electric, BMW and Harley-Davidson, respectively, are finding new ways to excite the masses and capture a new market. It allows them to stay relevant and trendy, which is necessary to ensure their survival in this day and age.

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