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Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
The Yamaha Motoroid 2 is a working concept motorcycle that has no handlebars and appears to be self-balancing as well. A video is provided, which demonstrates at the very least that this concept cycle is not aimed at the American biker bar demographic.
The rear swingarm provides suspension like most typical motorbikes, but also incorporates a pivot that allows the rear half of the bike to lean independently on the front.The rear houses a hub motor that gets powered by a rather small-looking underslung battery pack.
The front fork, which New Atlas describes as operating “mercifully normal” compared to the rest of the bike, provides steering in a non-traditional method. That’s because there are no handlebars like you’d find on a conventional motorcycle. Instead, the handlebars have been replaced by rigid hand grips – essentially just handles to hang on to.
In fact, it’s not even clear exactly how the front fork rotates or how the pivoting rear swingarm could potentially aid in steering.
(Via electrek.)
Bruce Sterling describes a smart bike in his 1998 novel Distraction:
Norman, as always, drove like a maniac. Norman was young. He had never ridden any motorized device that lacked onboard steering and balance systems. He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace, as if trying to do algebra with his legs....[they] buzzed up along the road shoulder, the smart bike and sidecar scrunching over the oyster shells with oozy cybernetic ease.
This is Yamaha's second attempt at this idea; see Yamaha MOTOROiD Living Motorcycle Experiment (2021) for their first effort.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/5/2023)
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