Jet Thrusters Used in Space Could be the Next Technology by Bosch Implemented into Your Bike

How does a spaceship maneuver in orbit?

By using high-pressure gas emitted from a nozzle to provide motive force.

(Image taken from CNET)

Now, this may sound utterly irrelevant to anything motorcycle related, but if the folks at Bosch do roll out with this technology, you may see the very same gas-emitting nozzle installed onto your bike.

Bosch is planning to use a similar technology to help prevent a lowside crash on a motorcycle. A lowside is a type of crash that typically happens on any two-wheeled modes of transportation, and usually occurs during a turn.

It is caused when either the front or rear wheel slides out as a result of either too much braking into a corner, too much acceleration through a corner, or too much speed carried through a corner for the available grip.

Other causes of a lowside crash can also be through unexpected material on the road surface - usually slippery or loose - such as soil, water, dirt or gravel.

So where do the ultra-cool sounding space thrusters come in?

Now imagine, you are riding peacefully along the road, leaning over to do a turn when you notice a patch of gravel spilled onto the path your bike is going. Without ample time to avoid it, you ride straight into the gravel while leaning onto one side.

You brace yourself for the impending lowside crash, but it never comes.

Instead, a loud hiss is heard and suddenly you find yourself astride your motorbike in an upright position again.

The loud hiss would have come from the pressurized gas emitted from the bike vents to counteract the slide, and this is known as the Bosch slide mitigation system.

According to CNET, the system “uses a device similar to the airbag inflator in your car to provide an external lateral force when your tires have no more grip to give.”

Through the use of sensors, gyroscopes and accelerometers, the bike will be able to detect the wheels sliding sideways, and that’s when the jet of pressurized gas will be blasted out through the said nozzle

Unfortunately, not much information is available for now. There is a video of the German technology firm testing this particular system, though, if you are interested. Or was once a victim of the lowside crash.

Of course, the system isn’t expected to come cheap either. Rumored to only be a one-time activation, you would have to bear the cost of reloading the system with more pressurized gas for subsequent uses.

The increased safety as well as the bonus of being able to brag about your bike being equipped with jet thrusters from space may just be worth it though.