Honda has filed a new patent that sounds like a logical safety upgrade on paper, but feels far more complicated once you think about what it means for actual riders. The system uses cameras to monitor a motorcycle’s blind spots and, if another vehicle starts closing in, it can apply steering input through an actuator to help the bike avoid a collision.
In simple terms, the bike can turn the handlebars for you.
The idea borrows heavily from modern car safety systems. Think emergency steering assist or blind-spot avoidance, where a car gently nudges itself away from danger if the driver doesn’t react in time. Honda’s twist is adapting that logic to motorcycles, where steering input directly affects balance, lean, and rider confidence.
According to the patent, the system constantly checks rider input. If you’re already steering, accelerating, or braking, the bike assumes you’ve noticed the approaching vehicle and can apply stronger steering assistance immediately. If you do nothing, it assumes you missed the threat and gradually ramps in steering torque so the bars don’t suddenly move and freak you out.
From a technology and engineering perspective, it’s thoughtful. Honda clearly understands that a motorcycle can’t behave like a car. Sudden steering corrections on two wheels can be dangerous, so the system is designed to intervene gently and only when needed.
But this is also where the discomfort starts.
Motorcycling has always been about awareness and accountability. You ride assuming everything around you is a potential hazard. Even when something isn’t your fault, you ride like it is. That mindset isn’t optional. It’s how riders stay alive. For many of us, riding is also a way to disconnect. No screens. No alerts. No software stepping in to save the day. Just you, the bike, and the road. Most riders I know ride for that exact reason, and chances are you do too.
That’s why this patent feels like Honda giving in to the modern obsession with adding more tech to everything. Cruise control makes sense for long highway stints. It reduces fatigue and genuinely improves comfort. But beyond that, things get murkier. Blind-spot warnings already divide opinion. Actual steering intervention crosses a line for a lot of riders.
The concern isn’t that the system won’t work. Honda doesn’t build sloppy tech. The concern is what happens over time. Rely on the bike to catch blind-spot threats often enough, and reaction times slow. Situational awareness fades. The sharp edge that riding demands gets dulled. On a motorcycle, that edge is probably the most important thing out there.
There’s also the reality of complexity. Cameras get dirty. Sensors misread situations and can get confused by shadows. Software inevitably fails and becomes obsolete. Every new layer adds weight, cost, and more things that can go wrong far from a dealer with the right tools. Honda tries to mitigate this with gradual intervention and rider-intent checks, but complexity is still complexity.
To be fair, Honda isn’t alone. BMW, Ducati, and others are heading down the same road with radar-based safety systems and advanced rider aids. This patent simply shows how far that thinking can go. So whether this tech ever reaches production is another question. Many patents never do. If it does, expect it on a flagship touring or adventure model long before anything sporty. And chances are, plenty of riders will turn it off.
Still, the message is clear. Motorcycles are becoming smarter, more autonomous, and more software-driven. That might improve safety on paper. But it also risks changing the mindset that has kept riders alive for decades. When you ride, you take responsibility for everything around you. Replacing that responsibility with code, even well-intentioned code, might not be the smartest trade.
But hey. That’s just me.
Source: Honda via WIPO
