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Self-balancing concept bike isn’t expected to reach production, but its styling has been patent-protected

Honda Riding Assist styling patented. But why?

Written by Ben Purvis , Date 2:24 PM
Honda Riding Assist patent

Patents can offer a valuable insight into a company’s future plans or even an early glimpse of a new model but this is harder to categorise. It shows the Honda Riding Assist concept bike that appeared at CES in Las Vegas in January.

While the patenting of a concept bike’s design isn’t unusual, one has to question the reasoning behind it in this case. If the bike has a particular new style, then it makes sense to try to patent its key styling elements and prevent copycat designs. Even with no plans to make a direct production version of the bike, the patent protects the work of the stylists and means rivals can’t lift the design.

 

Honda Riding Assist patentBut in the case of the Honda Riding Assist concept, a self-balancing bike that displayed Honda’s robotics technology more than anything else, the patent seems odd. There’s no doubting that the Riding Assist is a clever concept. It’s an intriguing extrapolation of where stability control systems could eventually lead. But in terms of styling it’s nothing to write home about. At first glance the rear end looks near-identical to the existing NC750S that donates its running gear. The bulbous front is purely there to hide the mechanicals parts of the self-balancing, robotic steering system.

Look past the lumpen nose and it’s clear that while the rest of the styling is close to that of the NC750S, the panels are actually all slightly changed. The tail unit is fractionally neater. The tank is more modern looking. Could it be that if we look past the headline-grabbing robotics of the concept bike and its ugly nose, underneath lies an updated NC750S? The patent is no guarantee of that, but it is possible.

Honda Riding Assist

Honda Riding Assist -the real one

The patent isn’t quite identical to the actual Honda Riding Assist concept, either. Notably it lacks the concept’s variable wheelbase mechanism that alters the angle of the forks. The steering mechanism, which allows computers to steer the bike independently of the position of the bars, is retained. It’s clear that with the variable-geometry element removed, the computerised steering unit is small and relatively simple. Attached to the front of the tank, it sits between the bars and the top yoke. While steering inputs through it are usually transmitted straight to the forks, it also gives the stability control system the opportunity to override rider inputs or to make automatic corrections. Honda has filed technical patents for such systems, too. Could this element be headed for production? Don’t rule it out.

Overall, the new Riding Assist concept patent sparks as many questions as its answers. To suggest it’s pointing directly at a future production bike would be a simplistic view. But its very existence suggests we shouldn’t dismiss the idea that elements of it will reach showrooms at some stage.

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