Pioneer creates a cheaper, phone-first rethink of motorcycle dashboards
Pioneer’s Ride Connect system uses smartphone processing and global mapping to keep bike displays cheaper and easier to update - and it’s launching at CES 2026.
Pioneer will use CES 2026 to unveil Ride Connect, a new connected display system for motorcycles that talks a big game about “revolutionary UX”, but in reality is a far more grounded attempt to simplify how modern motorcycle dashboards work.
Rather than building ever more powerful, expensive instrument clusters, Ride Connect shifts most of the computing back onto the rider’s smartphone. The bike’s dash becomes little more than a display, with maps, navigation and live data processed on the phone and sent across using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). It’s less a breakthrough and more a sensible acknowledgement that phones already do this job better than most motorcycle hardware ever will.
And it’s a shift we have seen coming for some time, with numerous previously unheard of brands popping up and offering similar systems that sit alongside the now-traditional TFT display. They allow users to access software like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is something you can do on more high-end bikes, like the latest generation Honda Gold Wing. The systems basically mirror your phone’s display, streaming apps, mapping, call information and more to the screen in front of the rider.
Pioneer has developed the user interface and screen-projection tech, while mapping and navigation duties are handled by HERE Technologies via its existing SDK. That gives the system access to global maps, routing and traffic data across more than 120 countries, without manufacturers having to build or maintain that infrastructure themselves.
In practical terms, Ride Connect mirrors navigation and connected information from the phone onto the bike’s screen, but without the heavy processing demands of a full infotainment system, as is the case with some built-in solutions. Pioneer says this reduces costs for manufacturers, lowers power consumption and avoids clusters becoming outdated halfway through a model’s life. For the OEMs, that could be a real selling point.
Navigation is motorcycle-optimised, at least in theory, and the system can support offline maps for areas with poor mobile coverage. None of that is groundbreaking, but it is important if this is meant to work outside cities and demo booths.
Pioneer also talks up its “Voice Tap” interface, a voice-controlled system designed to reduce physical interaction while riding. As ever, the concept is solid, but its usefulness will depend entirely on how well it works with helmets, wind noise and during real-world riding conditions.
There’s also mention of “edge AI” sharing traffic, weather and hazard information. Strip away the buzzwords, and it sounds like locally processed alerts pulled from connected data sources, in the same way that Google Maps and Waze alert uses of problems down the road. Potentially, it’s very useful, but only if it’s accurate and restrained enough not to become a distraction.
The bigger picture is clear enough. Ride Connect isn’t aimed at riders directly, and it’s not trying to reinvent the riding experience. It’s an OEM-friendly framework designed to cut development costs, simplify global deployment and keep dashboards relevant through software updates rather than hardware redesigns.
Whether riders notice or care will depend on how clean the interface is and how reliably it works day-to-day. Pioneer will show Ride Connect at CES 2026 from January 6–9 in Las Vegas. The real judgement will come when it lands on production bikes and has to earn its keep.
Speaking about the new technology, Seiji Tanezawa, Executive Officer of Pioneer, said:
“Pioneer Ride Connect is a revolutionary platform that continuously provides software-based upgrades to motorcycles’ UX. By combining Pioneer’s industry-leading expertise in designing a compelling UX with HERE Technologies’ globally accessible Location Intelligence platform, Pioneer Ride Connect transforms the concept of smarter and safer connected two-wheelers into a tangible reality. I’m delighted to unveil our leading-edge technology and ambitious vision at the upcoming CES 2026.”
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!