A video game creature turned into a real motorcycle would not have to get too much attention. But when that creature moves alone on an official track, something changes. That was what happened on August 3 during the ceremony before 8 hours in Suzuka, one of the most important events of Japanese motorcycling. Honda took the circuit a motorcycle designed as the Koraidon Pokémon and made it travel the output line without driver, at low speed and for about ten minutes, in a showrun programmed between 11:00 and 11:10.
The motorcycle that Honda presented in Suzuka is not just a model based on the character that appears in the ‘scarlet’ delivery of the video game. To make it work, the company combined technologies that had developed years ago with its Asimo robot and with the Honda Riding Assist system, aimed at maintaining balance without human intervention and simulate organic movements. According to Nikkei Asia, the unit integrates sensors, cameras and communications to recognize the environment and adjust its movement.
An experiment with more ambition than it appears. Honda did not design this motorcycle just to get attention during an event. The company presents it as an opportunity to improve equilibrium technologies and autonomous navigation, with an eye on the future of transport on two wheels. A Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association survey indicates that 26% of motorcycle buyers in Japan are under 40 years old. For Honda, advancing in autonomy and security can help reconnect with a generation that has moved away from motorcycles.
The idea of converting a Pokémon into a real vehicle is not new, but until now it had stayed in static models or promotional elements. Toyota, for example, showed an almost real -size recreation of Miraidon, Koraidon’s futuristic equivalent in video games. Honda was a step further.
What Honda is played with a motorcycle that moves alone. The future of the motorcycle is to convince a new generation that does not end up. A safer and more assisted driving is one of the keys that manufacturers handle. Although this version of Koraidon is a punctual experiment, the technologies involved could move to commercial models, as happened with equilibrium assistance systems developed in the past.
For now there is no clear road map to a product, but a declared intention: continue accumulating experience to apply autonomy to the two wheels. Although the show lasted only ten minutes, its message goes much further.
Images | Suzuka Circuit (1, 2, 3) | Sling
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