Yamaha's self steering bike revealed

These patent drawings discovered by MCN show Yamaha has put serious effort into a bike which steers itself.

The amazing concept uses a headstock and front end that rotates longitudinally about the main frame on a bearing.

A torsion spring holds the two parts in the conventional geometry arrangement under normal riding, but should you begin to stray out of your lane a clever system of electronics intervenes.

Fitted to bike would be a lean angle sensor and sensors on either side of the bike to determine the bike’s position on the road. Linking this with the bike’s speedometer would allow an advanced CPU to determine if the bike is in danger of veering off the road – and then taking action to stop it.

Hydraulic pumps operate on the frame’s pivoting point, moving the front and rear wheels out of line.

When the wheels move out of line, the front will try to stay upright – meaning the rear wheel moves out of line. To move the bike left, the rear of the bike will be pivoted to move the rear wheel to the left, and to steer right, the wheel will go to the right.

The movement won’t have the same effect as steering the bars – but as a safety net for when riders are making shoulder checks, concentrating on hazards around them, the gentle nudge could be very useful.

The idea is still in its infancy – the patent is very basic, outlining just the general idea. No detail of the sensors or electronic equipment is included in the patent, suggesting Yamaha are still determining the best way to operate the pivot safely.

The patent suggests the sensors will pick up on road markings to judge the bike’s road position – this obviously could create problems on the motorway, where there would be the potential for the bike to fight lane changes made by the rider.

Cars using a similar system disengage the system when the indicators are switched on – so when you want to change lanes, the system allows the bike to cross the line.

Read expert opinion on whether the system could work in this week’s MCN (on sale Wednesday, August 1).