ADVANCED steering assistance seems to be on the agenda for some brands, as new patents reveal a Honda Gold Wing that can counter-steer on its own to help avoid a crash.
The idea of having a bike that can help maintain its own stability out on the road is nothing new, with Harley-Davidson patenting the thinking behind a balance-assist motorcycle in 2020, and Honda itself is already deep into the self-balancing concept with its Riding Assist-E system.
While both those systems focus on keeping the bike upright while at a standstill and on the move, this new system from Honda is detailed to work in a very different way. Instead of using gyroscopes, flywheels, and levels to keep it upright, the new design uses electric motors to exert a force on the bars to counter-steer the bike if its IMU detects that a slide is taking place.
As is the way with modern bikes, the computer know-how required to calculate the force needed is extremely complex. The mechanical system that exerts the pressure on the other hand, is very simple.
A small electronic actuator is mounted on the bike near the steering head. It is connected to the top yoke of the bike by a lever and a rod. When the onboard system detects that the front or rear wheels are stepping out of alignment, the actuator dials in a predetermined amount of opposite lock to counteract the instability.
While the system as it is described is talking about slide assistance and help in the event of a potential crash. It’s not hard to assume that the same hardware, with some new zeroes and ones included, could be used to help keep the bike within its lane on a motorway, or even offer riders the ability to live like a Tesla owner and go hands-free.
And that is a scary thought.
