Autonomy, self-driving, hybrid, electric… these words have come to mean so much in the car industry. As motorcyclists, however, we’re still firmly behind the suck-squeeze-bang-blow internal combustion motor - the only autonomous feature we have is our partner riding pillion and gesturing to us with a swift dig in the ribs as to current speed.
And electric usually relates to Joe Lucas, Prince of Darkness.
That’s the stereotypes put to bed, but there’s a serious question in there: what are the innovations in the motorcycle industry?
Engine power
Perhaps the one area that motorcycles lead the way is in engine power. In a bid to satisfy CAFE legislation (Corporate Average Fuel Economy), car manufacturers are turning to smaller engines, forced induction and multi-speed (perhaps as many as ten) gearboxes. And yet even with forced induction, they struggle to match the power outputs of bikes (per litre).
Motorcycle engines have been leading the way with design for decades – think back to the Honda RC149 from 1966; 5 cylinders, 125 cc and a redline of 23,000 RPM.
Today, there’s a plethora of bikes that are nudging or even breaking the 200+ bhp figure. When looking at the larger capacity ZZR1400 though, you’re still looking at over 140 bhp/litre. Compare that to something like the Bugatti Chiron – 184.4 bhp/litre with four turbos, and let’s be honest – the big K isn’t unreliable.
The future of motorcycles
But what does the future hold for bikes? There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of technical innovation beyond big horsepower. We’ve seen two-wheel drive come and go (from as far back as the 60’s) with some prototypes and production models – KTM, BMW R1200GS Hybrid prototypes, but Yamaha actually made a full-production WR450F 2-Trac, but it sold in very limited numbers.
Electric bikes are becoming a reality, but just as with electric cars, battery life means that range is pretty short, so they’re still some way off from being a viable (or cheap) alternative.
Perhaps the biggest innovation on the way is to do with the humble tyre.
New motorcycle tyres
The motorcycle tyre is a dichotomy between innovation and stability; one the one hand, manufacturers are constantly striving for better performance, be that ultimate grip, wet weather, braking or longevity, and the other side of that is ensuring that nothing is too … radical.
Looking at tyres from yesteryear, it’s surprising to see just how square shouldered they were, with minimal lean angles, single compounds that wore the centre strip with barely a scuff on the edge, and tread blocks that looked equally at home on the road or playing in the dirt – it was almost a ‘one size, fits all’ situation.
Today, we have a variety in tyres: multi-compound technology, summer or winter tyres, the choice of nitrogen inflation and speed ratings in excess of 200 mph. The same but different.
But what else can we expect to see?
Currently, Goodyear are working on technology that can generate electricity; the theory being that it could be used for electric vehicles, as a way to extend the range just that little further. Of course, it’s designed for cars, but could the technology be transferred over to motorbikes?
The problems are twofold: Firstly, depending on how the tyre generates electricity – it’s possible that the use of piezoelectricity could be implemented, through the action of tyre deformation, or the alternative is a mix of compounds that would use thermoelectricity to generate power. If the latter was used, how would that affect grip levels/handling?
And for piezo – would the weight of the system be a problem? Making the bike want to steer straight on rather than lean in to bends? Assuming that the technology came to market, it would mean that a manufacturer would have to design a model specifically for it – changing suspension and geometry would be a minimum.
Innovations in motorcycling
It’s very difficult to introduce innovations with bikes – the world was aghast when the Bimota Tesi landed, and although we’ve since seen other bikes with hub centre steering, they are few and far between, most manufacturers dropping them after poor sales.
Generally speaking, the key to motorcycle innovation is evolution, not revolution, but with technology advancing at such a rate, surely it won’t be too long before we see the next radical innovation?