Honda's Self-Balancing Motorcycle Is Perfect for Noobs

If you're a rider--especially if you're a novice or if your motorcycle is just a bit too tall or heavy for you--you've had those unnerving flashes of instability at low speed that can tip you over, bruising your body and your ego, not to mention your ride. Honda has a fix to keep you upright: a self-stabilizing motorcycle, which it unveiled Wednesday at CES in a spooky riderless demonstration. Unlike the Segway and BMW's Motorrad Vision concept motorcycle, Honda's "Riding Assist" tech doesn't rely on heavy gyroscopes to balance itself. It instead uses tech derived from the balancing systems in its Asimo robot and Uni-Cub electric mobility scooter, developed at its Silicon Valley R&D center. Honda uses an electronic steer-by-wire system that disengages the handlebars from the front forks at speeds below 3 mph, passing control of the front wheel to the computer.