Harley-Davidson files patent for self-balancing tech inside a top-case

Harley-Davidson has been seeing a pretty big decline in sales in recent times. The company has been looking to steer away from the world of big burly choppers and cruisers, seeing how most of those buyers come from a steadily declining demographic.

With bikes like the Pan America and the Bronx, the company is looking to attract the younger crowd and with the launch of the Livewire, HD has one eye on the future. Now, that future seems to be getting closer as Harley has filed a patent for tech that allows their bikes to stay upright at extremely low speeds.

The new tech is essentially a gyroscopic unit that steadies the bike at speeds lower than 3 mph (4.8 km/h) and even standstill. The tech mainly comprises a flywheel, an electric motor, a gimbal and a computer.

If you’ve missed science class, gyroscopic forces are exerted by a spinning object, much like the wheels on your bike. But while the wheels turn when the bike moves, the metal flywheel is made to spin at speeds of 10,000-20,000 rpm and is tilted from side to side to counteract the bike’s lean when the bike is moving really slowly or is standing still. The tech is also made to disengage when the bike goes over 3 mph.

But what is interesting here is that the entire unit is built to fit into the company’s Tour-Pak top case. So essentially, the balancing tech can be made to fit onto any of Harley Davidson’s bikes. Even better, it can be taken off when you don’t feel the need to use it anymore.

At the moment, these are just patents that have been filed and, in no way does it mean that it will make its way into production, at least not just yet.

Honda had showcased similar tech back at CES 2017. This went just a step further, however. Calling the Honda Riding Assist, the bike was also capable of some autonomous functions like follow. Maybe this could be a future we are heading towards.