THE BRADLEY REPORT
THE BRADLEY REPORT
AMERICAN
REPORT
Yamaha pursues front wheel drive and steering assist By Ben Purvis
Sources : AMD , IDN , FT , Reuters , PSB , MPN , BDN , MCN , AP , Bloomberg , MSNW , Electrek , electricmotorcycles . news , RideApart . com , Motor1 . com , Cycle World , motorbikewriter . com
Damon Motors ( Vancouver , BC ), the " premier EV motorbike company ," says it is approaching $ 100m in orders and has formed a partnership with PT Indika Energy Tbk ., Indonesia ' s leading diversified energy company . Indika has also made an undisclosed investment in Damon and will serve as the distributor for Damon ' s line of motorcycles in the Indonesian market . Best known for its HyperSport and HyperFighter E-sports bike designs , the partnership with Indika will see Damon develop a new global motorcycle platform specifically for the needs of commuters in geographies such as Indonesia that are dominated by two-wheel mobility ; www . damon . com
Arrowhead Engineered Products ( AEP - the Blaine , Minnesota based owner of WPS , HardDrive , Bihr , Vertex and All Balls among others ) - has opened a new ' Mega Warehouse ' at Portland , near Nashville , TN . Said to feature " advanced logistics technology to enhance service and delivery capabilities ", the 540,000 sq ft aftermarket parts distribution facility will employ 400 people full-time when fully commissioned . AEP says this will take its North American fulfilment and distribution centre network number to 22 locations .
H-D is looking for a new CFO already . Gina Goetter joined H-D in 2020 , but has now left to " accept an opportunity outside the company ". David Viney will serve as Interim CFO and Treasurer until an executive search concludes .
BRP reported Q4 revenues of CAN $ 3,076.3m , an increase of CAN $ 728.8m or 31 % compared to the same period last year , a record performance for a single quarter in the company ' s history . Retail sales were 21 % up for powersports products , with North American SSV market share gains . FY2023 revenues were + 31 %, reaching an all-time record high of $ 10,033.4m , achieving market share gains of over + 5 % in North America . BRP continued to invest in " future market-shaping products " with the completion of three acquisitions , the creation of its LVHA Group and the start of construction of a Can-Am electric two-wheel motorcycle production facility in Querétaro , Mexico .
Both Yamaha and Honda have set selfimposed deadlines to end fatal crashes on their motorcycles by 2050 , and as that date starts to loom ever closer , there ' s a race to create technologies that will help achieve that goal . For Yamaha , the new AMSAS technical prototype is a huge step forward , incorporating many of the self-riding capabilities of the previous MotoBot R & D tool and the Motoroid concept bike , but wrapping them into a smaller package that can be retrofitted to existing bikes . In these images , the technology is attached to the chassis of a Yamaha R3 , albeit with its engine removed , but the important parts are at the front , in the custom-made front wheel and hidden around the steering head . The front wheel incorporates an electric motor , giving a front-wheel drive setup . Normally , this would be in addition to the conventional enginedriven rear wheel , but on the AMSAS prototype , it powers the bike on its own . At the headstock there ' s a steering servo that ' s related to a prototype steering-assist system already in use on Yamaha ' s works motocross bikes in Japan . Like the pedals of a power-assisted bicycle , it incorporates torque sensors to tell
Although BMW has been at the forefront of electric motorcycle development for over a decade - initially with the C Evolution scooter and now with the CE-04 - the company has yet to launch a batterypowered motorcycle . A new patent revealing designs for a small electric motorcycle using powertrain parts from the CE-04 could change that . Focus might have been on scooters so far , but BMW ' s electric plans also include ' real ' bikes . Not only has BMW shown several electric concept bikes over the years , but it also trademarked a whole run of model names for production versions , each starting with ' DC '. So while future electric BMW scooters will have ' CE- ' followed by a number , the electric motorcycles will use ' DC- ' and a number . The number appears to roughly approximate the capacity of equivalent combustion engine models , so the CE-04 has similar power to a 400 cc scooter . when you ' re moving the bars , adding assistance where needed . It can distinguish between intentional inputs and those coming from the road surface , and function as powerassistance , as a steering damper or as an automated steering system , depending on what is required at any moment . Yamaha is doing the work because it recognises that many bike crashes are down to rider error . Eliminating that will go a long way to achieving the zero-deaths goal . The company says 10 % of crashes are down to recognition errors , 17 % to decision errors and 5 % to operation errors . Project leader Akitoshi Suzuki said the AMSAS prototype ' s most distinctive feature is " its approach to use an arrangement highly applicable to existing vehicles since it does not
BMW working on small electric bike By Ben Purvis
If that ' s the case , the bike seen in the latest patent could well be the ' DC-04 ', because it appears to use the same battery and motor as the CE- 04 , but cleverly repositioned into a much more compact , motorcycle-shaped package . The motor itself is turned 90 degrees so its shaft runs longitudinally rather than across , reducing the vehicle ' s width , and the motor is then tilted to around a 45-degree angle in the chassis . It drives the front sprocket via a bevel gear that doubles as a reduction ratio , with a belt final drive and larger rear sprocket adding a second layer of reduction to bring the high-speed electric motor down to an appropriate range for the wheel . Like the motor , the battery pack looks to be the same unit used in the CE-04 , but again , it ' s mounted at an angle , parallel to the motor and fitting neatly
require any modifications to the frame ." " With the base technologies in place now , we ' re halfway to our goal of bringing AMSAS ' value to customers . From here on , we ' ll be working to downscale the sizes of the various components and so on , as we want to develop it into a platform not just for motorcycles , but one also adaptable to a wide range of other personal mobility applications , like bicycles ." Jun Sakamoto , handling safety strategy at Yamaha , said : " It ' s to create conditions where the rider can focus more on operating their bike , so that everyone can enjoy that sense of being one with your machine . By providing an assist when the bike is more unstable and requires skill to operate , we want to deliver fun rooted in peace of mind to a wide range of riders ." Video of the bike in action shows it can operate with or without a rider , using its steering and the drive from the front wheel to keep balanced . It can even remain stationary , rocking back and forth slightly to maintain balance . In future , a miniaturised version of this system could be added to bikes just as commonly as ABS and traction control are included today .
behind the front wheel and below the ' fuel tank ' - which is now an empty storage compartment that appears easily big enough to swallow a fullface helmet . The charging and electronic control circuits are split into two main units , one mounted below the transmission , the other sandwiched between the drive motor and the battery pack . Again , these parts look very similar to the equivalents used in the CE-04 , but have been moved to suit their new home .
26 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - JUNE / JULY 2023 www . idnmag . com