Ducati Aims To Bring Front and Rear Radar To The Market

TopSpeed

By Allyn Hinton

Published Apr 18, 2018

Which 2020 Model Is Going To Be The First?

Ducati is ticking off the boxes in a list of “first in safety” when it comes to technology. They're the first motorcycle manufacturer in the world to have a vehicle interact with the jacket-integrated D

air system, and they're the first to equip a classic model with the ground-breaking ABS Cornering system. So where do they go from here in their bid to introduce new safety systems and technologies? How about front and rear radar? How about front and rear radar that is already slated for 2020 release on one of its models?

Continue reading for more on Ducati's safety innovations.

Where They've Been

If you recall, back in 2014, Ducati introduced the D

air system on the Multistrada 1200 S D

air. A rider vest integrated into the bike's systems would inflate like a wearable air bag when sensors detected a collision. This isn't new to the planet; rodeo cowboys riding bucking broncos and bulls have been using a version of the same type of vest to save their bacon when their butts leave the saddle. Ducati brought it to the motorcycle world with the same intent: to prevent bodily injury when a rider's butt leaves the saddle in a sudden, unexpected way. That same technology is in the new 1260 Multistrada D

air, so we're hoping to see it in the North American market sooner than later.

Ducati's 2025 Safety Road Map is a strategy to bring technologically advanced safety systems and adapt them to motorcycles, and they're going to the best and the brightest in those fields to bring that technology to their products. Phase I has already started. The ABS Cornering System from Bosch is already in Ducati's new Scrambler 1100 and plans are in the works to implement the system on all of their products.

Where They're Going

As early as 2016, Ducati, in conjunction with the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of Politecnico di Milano University, started developing a radar system as an early warning system for motorcycle riders. The Advanced Rider Assistance Systems (ARAS) alerts riders to possible collisions with obstacles and other vehicles, and finds vehicles in the rider's blind spot. It would also be able to let the rider know if a vehicle is approaching from behind at a high rate of speed.

Last year, they started working on the front radar that will oversee adaptive cruise control and maintain following distance as set by the rider as well as alert him or her to collisions. All this put together is slated for release on a 2020 model, but so far, I don't know which one. My guess is it'll be in whatever the hot new Multistrada is released in two years. I'm also guessing it'll be revealed at EICMA before we see it anywhere else.