Ducati CEO on Self-Driving Motorcycles, ‘Hope I Never See the Day’
Ducati North America recently sat down with Business Insider to discuss the Bologna-based company’s hundredth anniversary. When asked about “self-riding” motorcycles, his no-nonsense response has much of the motorcycle community saying, “Well, duh!”
Jason Chinnock has been with Ducati for 20 years. And he doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. But when asked about self-riding motorcycles, he said, “I hope I never see the day.”
His logic is simple. An autonomous bike would “take away the entire reason to ride a motorcycle.”
Ducati motorcycles are ‘something for joy and for fun’
He says he isn’t even lobbying to pursue the company. “We are not building mobility. We’re building motorcycles. We’re building something for joy and for fun.”
The VisorDown website for motorcyclist enthusiasts applauded: “As the car industry hurtles, some would say blindly, towards vehicle autonomy, the motorcycle world remains, thankfully, a little more stubborn.”
All that said, Ducati could have gone in a different direction. Founded in 1926, it has often pursued cutting-edge technology. For example, its 1956 Desmodromic valve technology allowed for some of the highest-revving engines of the day. And today, that philosophy has extended to driver aid software.
In 2021, Ducati introduced radar-based Adaptive Cruise Control. That’s right, a Ducati motorcycle will accelerate or brake automatically to maintain a set distance from the vehicle in front of it.
So would it even be possible to have a “self-riding” motorcycle? Basic lane-centering technology is feasible. But here’s the kicker, motorcycles tip from side to side as they turn. The rider’s weight placement is critical for cornering. So even a “self-steering” motorcycle would require a fair amount of rider involvement. Perhaps a riderless motorcycle could go park itself, but that might be the limit of self-driving.
