Michah Toll of Eletrek reports that Yamaha has unveiled a new self-balancing electric motorcycle without handlebars. The MotorRoid uses AI and voice commands and has facial recognition. Toll writes:
When Yamaha first revealed the Motoroid electric motorcycle concept roughly six years ago, it looked like a contraption out of a science-fiction movie. Now that the company has unveiled a new, refined Yamaha Motoroid 2, the wild self-balancing electric motorcycle looks like it could be one small, weird step closer to reality.
The Yamaha Motoroid 2 takes significant liberties with its design, eschewing much of the mechanics of traditional motorcycles.
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. […]
Unlike Yamaha, which has been slow to embrace full-size electric motorcycles, fellow Japanese moto-maker Kawasaki is preparing to start deliveries of its first two commuter electric motorcycles, the Ninja e-1 and Z e-1. Both bikes are now launching in North American markets (US and Canada) as well as in the UK. In the US, the Ninja e-1 will be priced at US $7,599, while the 2024 Z e-1 starts at a slightly lower US $7,299.
The Motoroid 2 certainly won’t be hitting the streets any time soon, but Yamaha has developed and launched several lower-power electric scooters, taking a similar approach to Honda by focusing first on electric scooters.
Read more here.
