CES is again delivering a mountain of motorcycle and related tech to use, as the 2020 show brings us the two bikes from urban mobility specialists NIU.
You might not have heard of the company before, but NIU has been around since 2014, designing and building urban mobility solutions, mostly in the form of lightweight electrically powered scooters for the Asian market.
For 2020 though the firm has pulled the covers off two new bikes, both of which look like fairly decent, conventional machines!
NIU RQi-GT
The most interesting machine for us is the funky looking RQi-GT, an urban-styled naked motorcycle. Looking like a cross between a Husqvarna Svartpilen and a Zero DS, the bike is claimed to provide 100mph top speeds, peak power of 30kW (40bhp) and a range of around 80-miles on a charge. The bike also features removable batteries, meaning the ability to swap out the batteries once depleted for fresh ones a very inviting proposition indeed.
The RQi-GT is also cloud-connected, meaning the bike is constantly uploading data to the cloud, allowing the machine to ‘learn’ about the conditions it is being ridden in, optimising the bike for a given situation or scenario.
NIU TQi-GT
The second bike revealed is a slightly more leftfield option, in the form of a three-wheeled scooter that looks like a cross between a Piaggio MP3 and a BMW C1. The rider and passenger sit within the bike, cover by a roof with open sides. This too is electrically powered, with a range of 150-miles and a top speed of 50mph.
Interestingly, for a three-wheeler, the TQi-GT is self-balancing and can operate with certain levels of autonomy. While the latter isn’t really something, we feel is necessary on a bike yet, the self-balancing aspect should appeal to some riders who maybe have lower body mobility problems.
