Bosch Skid Mitigation System to Help Bikers Recover from Danger

Experienced riders know that in most cases the best reaction to a bike’s skid or slide is no reaction. But knowing and acting are not the same thing and often, taken off guard, riders try to overcorrect and end up crashing.

But what if an automated system existed that would prevent the motorcycle from skidding in the first place?

Parts specialist Bosch is currently working on exactly this type of solution. Assuming that a repulsion force of equal power might be just the thing needed to help the bike recover, Bosch created something like a jet thruster. Or, as they officially call it, the skid mitigation system.

The equipment is exactly that: a thruster nozzle fitted on each side of the motorcycle, which activates when a wheel slip is detected. When that happens, compressed air from a small canister is pushed through the nozzles, and the bike gets back up again.

Bosch’s system is lightning fast, as it works on the same principle as airbags do in cars. That means the thrusters are engaged the instant the skid is detected.

Another thing the system takes from airbags is the fact that it can only be used once. It’s not clear how the system would tell the difference between a minor slip and a major, potentially life-threatening one, meaning that if it activates randomly, it could do more harm than good.

The size of the canister and other required hardware make it usable only on certain types of bikes, like the Ducati Multistrada or the KTM Super Duke.

The two models above are likely to get the skid mitigation system as soon as 2020, but there’s no information yet on how much it would add to both the weight of the motorcycles or to the price tag.