Bosch’s Ambitions in Motorcycle Technology

The leading supplier of motorcycle technology, the Bosch Two-Wheeler and Powersports unit founded a year ago, has been growing exponentially with the continued demand for cost-efficient safety features on motorcycles. Although production volumes for motorised two-wheelers have grown less than five per cent in the last year, the sale of motorcycle technology has risen by more than 20 per cent in the same period —Bosch have manufactured and sold more than two million motorcycle ABS units so far.

With more and more countries insisting on making safety features such as ABS compulsory on new motorcycles, Bosch’s new ABS 10 system is designed to meet these growing requirements in emerging markets. The new system weighs only 450 grams and can be integrated into entry-level bikes at minimal cost. With this increasing demand, the company envisions sales of motorcycle technology to hit one billion euros in 2020, more than half of which is expected to come from emerging markets in Asia.

Bosch’s motorcycle stability control (MSC), which was developed in 2013, monitors several motorcycle parameters such as lean angle, pitch, available grip and riding style to adjust braking and acceleration interventions to not seem intrusive while still providing a safety net against brash rider inputs. This system is already in place on some high-end motorcycles like the KTM 1190 Adventure and Ducati Multistrada, while the next step is Side View Assist, a system that senses and alerts the rider to obstacles in blind spots when changing lanes.