A motorcycle that can alert the rider potholes is the claim of Finnish manufacturer Verge, whose TS Ultra is a state of the art electric bike. There’s nothing new about using radar technology on bikes – Yamaha, BMW and Ducati, amongst others, already fit radar systems to warn the rider of nearby traffic which could be out of view.

Verge’s ‘Starmatter Vision’ tech claims to be a major advance on all of these, with a promised 360-degree view around the bike. Front and rear radars plus six cameras feed data to a central computer on the bike, which is combined with data from sensors, processed and then fed to the rider as visual information on the TFT screen, or as an audible warning. As well as warning of potholes or other surface changes, Starmatter Vision should keep the rider informed on the movements of nearby cars, animals or pedestrians.

Verge Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Marko Lehtimaki, told MCN how the audible warnings worked. “Our bikes have the latest Bluetooth, so you can connect to them. What we are providing is basically an alert signal together with the visual signal, so if you’re not looking at the screen you can still hear the chime. We are actually using spatial audio for that…if you’re changing lane and the car is at an 86-degree angle to you from the back, then we will play the sound exactly from that direction.” A headset is needed to take advantage of the audio facility.

BMF Chair Jim Freeman supported the use of this latest on-road technology as a safety aid. “We all have moments when we’re distracted, with sensory overload, which is when an ‘electronic lifesaver’ device could save a life. Proactive safety aides are much more relevant to two-wheelers than passive safety aides. This seems to be a ‘tail warning radar’ for riders. We need all the help we can get!”

Written by Peter Henshaw

All images courtesy of Verge Motorcycles