Among other motorcycle industry related initiatives at The Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas in January, Vancouver, British Columbia based Damon Motorcycles will unveil what it describes as "an entirely new kind of electric superbike - one that addresses age old problems in motorcycling that have long been ignored, namely rider safety and comfort."
Dom Kwong, Chief Technical Officer of Damon Motorcycles, says that their flagship motorcycle, the 4G connected Hypersport Pro with 'CoPilot', "expands the reach of your senses in 360 degrees, giving you that one extra second you need to react to keep you safe on the road."
'CoPilot' is said to employ "radical innovations in sensor fusion and AI, including radar, cameras and non-visual sensors to track the speed, direction and velocity of up to 64 moving objects around the motorcycle. To keep the rider’s attention forward where it is needed most, 'CoPilot’s' forward collision warnings are delivered with patent-pending haptic vibration in the grips.
"Blind spot alerts are delivered with amber LED lights at the left and right edge of the windscreen. Rear collision threats, which make up 11% of motorcycle accidents, are delivered to the rider with a bright white LED on the windscreen’s edge and are reinforced with high definition visuals on its 6″ LCD display - which doubles as the Hypersport’s instrument cluster."
Unlike collision warning systems found on modern cars, Damon’s CoPilot "intuitively monitors traffic in 360 degrees, forming a bird’s eye view of itself to anticipate the behavior of cars, bicycles and other objects to alert the rider before it’s too late."
To address the issue of comfort, Damon’s next generation motorcycle features 'Shift' - electronically adjustable ergonomics that lets riders adapt to road and traffic conditions while in motion. At the push of a button, Hypersport’s windscreen, seat, footpegs and handlebars move in unison to adjust the rider from a high-speed supersport position to a comfortable sport-touring position, to full upright commuter position for dense city traffic." The company says it’s akin to having two bikes in one.
To reinforce its position in the burgeoning high-performance electric motorcycle market, Damon has announced electric powertrain veteran Derek Dorresteyn to its team to head up operations and powertrain development as its new COO. "Derek had the technical vision and led the engineering and manufacturing teams at Alta Motors from 2008 – 2018. His vision was key to Alta’s podium finishes against ICE [Internal Combustion Engine] motorcycles."
Dorresteyn says that "for electric motorcycles to go mainstream, they have to outperform their ICE counterparts. By marrying all-electric high performance with rider aids like CoPilot and Shift, Damon will redefine the motorcycling experience. He is said to "bring the project extensive knowledge and experience in lithium ion battery design, high voltage systems and inverters, power dense motors and high performance chassis systems."
Alta Motors, Dorresteyn's 10-year electric motorcycle 'alma mater', was the business that Harley-Davidson invested in to finish development of the LiveWire - a project initially developed for Harley by Mission Motorcycles, another failed Bay Area electric motorcycle manufacturer.
The denouement of Alta and Harley's relationship is not thought to have been a happy one with a promising business going to the wall and the (coincidental?) establishment of Harley's Bay Area R&D Center not long after at the end of 2018.
www.damonmotorcycles.com