Sorry but over my dead frozen body.
Not sure Iād die in a ditch to avoid it myself, but it depends on how you look at the options.
Itās a very long time since a Moto-Guzzi was the cheapest, simplest, and most efficient way from A to B. If it indeed ever was. Those of us still riding, I imagine, do it for pleasure even if at times itās masochistic. I wouldnāt buy a machine to deprive me of an activity I enjoy, which is being in control of a bike I can hustle around a twisty road with some level of competence. Iām probably even more Jurassic than you about assistive technology. I have none. Not even satnav.
Iād probably leave it there if I werenāt so reminded of a friend who lost his eyesight during his 20s. (bear with me) He loved biking, and I took him pillion sometimes. His vision faded progressively over several years so we both got used to it on roads we knew well. I donāt diminish the human bonds of friendship and trust, or pretend that an AI would have been the same thing, but I was greatly impressed by his courage. When sighted, on his own bike, he was faster. As pillion, even completely blind he knew which corner we were on. The banter was of a different era, so I wonāt share the good humoured insults I endured, but for clarity, Iām a cis gendered heterosexual male, just a wee bit slow. Autopilots may scare the crap out of me in a great many ways, but I think my mate Simon would have been up for it if it kept him in the saddle.
I guess the point Iām slowly getting to is that as pillion, you are pretty helpless. I think the comparison is perhaps closer to a fairground thrill ride where you stake your life on the competence of designers, engineers, and riggers who donāt know you and arenāt ever going to be in the car with you.
First question: Do you like roller coasters? Some people donāt.
Second question: What if this were the only way to continue riding?
Any robot motorcycle is in the realm of science fiction (obviously) but given the way we steer motorcycles the mechanics of how it might work are intriguing. If I could pull on a bionic suit, connect to a state-of-the-art electric bike, and have the AI autopilot marionette me through a 130mph+ lap of the Mountain like I was some kind of John McGuinness possessed muppet. Would I do it?
Maybe? I donāt know. What I do know is that at the time of writing Iād much rather do an unassisted 50mph run through Glenshee, taking the decisions and the risks for myself one corner at a time.
Iām 59 now, give it another 30 years of AI development /personal decline, and maybe the compromise of blasting through the Glen with an AI pilot primed not to kill other road users becomes a no brainer if I can afford it. A cold, dead body is a given for all of us. The question becomes whether to meet the Reaper head-on with Blue Oyster Cult ringing in our ears, or wait for him meekly in a care home lounge, watching David Essexās Silver Dream Machine, unable to find the remote, move from the sofa, or remember what it felt like to be on a fast bike. My increasing deafness (40+ years of loud) will be a blessing if thatās how it ends.
Imagine instead a future of solar-charged bikes, AI health apps, Red Bull infused power suits with built-in defibrillators, and Highland roads full of zombie cyborg bikers that refuse to die. Pity anyone trying to negotiate that version of the A93 without autopilot.
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On driverless taxis (and by association the food courier services) I say canāt it come soon enough.
Where I live the app based drivers are not usually up to scratch and are a hazard. Yes, one sees the badge and knows to give them an extra wide berth as something unusual/illegal will happen, but also bear in mind the entire business model is basically asking a human worker to rush about while staring at their phone while abuse is high and incentives low.
Their phones are their planners, their sat navās, their billing device and a portal to a list of jobs thrown open to any driver within a certain radius so, if they need more money they must look at the jobs as they pop up or they miss out.
We know looking at a phone doesnāt stop distracting drivers the instant they look away - studies have shown the distraction continues. So I say itās not on to allow people to work this way on our roads, especially when there is an alternative that can ālookā 360 degrees around the vehicle, using Lidar and imaging cameras, many times per second.
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Appreciate many of the points you bring forth and loved your dedication to your friend. That speaks volumes of you and indeed him for sheer trust and guts. Awesome! Also highlights that seeing is only one of the input sources we enjoy,
Answer to our first question re rollercoasters. I have to say ānot reallyā. Been on a few but back in my teens and earlier. I think there is a point past which riding something simply to feel scared gets old pretty fast especially when you are in no way in control. Yeah, that control element is huge for me. On a bike I have the ability to āedgeā the fine line between exhilaration and fear. The responsibility or lack of it is in my hands alone.
Then there is the need for speed. I cannot imagine a world reduced to self driving vehicles of any kind all trolling along at 25mph. (Iāve come close in the States coming across a phalanx of Harleys all doing their bullshit ride closed up together thing at one speed. Like trying to pass two or three artics in one go.) Yeah I can get to go 125mph in an intercity train but itās still a train!
I suspect it will come in some form or another. I just donāt want to be around when it does. I can be and am impressed by all manner of tech wizardry on many fronts. We are talking about motorcycling specifically though and each little advance separates us a little more from the visceral heart of the beast we ride. I am pretty sure I do not even want an electric either.
Still a bike, super torque and thrust but mechanically sterile to me. I am long over chasing the absolute top speeds I can do. Been there, done that. I want the sound and the feel of a living breathing thing to carry me as well as the skill to pilot it. (Consider the many, many steam enthusiasts we have? They lived and breathed!)
I have now more than 55 years of two wheels behind me and will continue to do it as long as I am able but, just like the rollercoaster, there is a threshold where there is only so much you can subtract or substitue from or try to replicate the total experience before it becomes meaningless. Canāt take away all the best of it I have had.
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For me it is simply dumbing down. Forget having skills at all and if it breaks down could you revert to manual mode? That would not help those who have never had to rely on or learn observation and situational awareness. I am already sharing the roads with the mentally challenged.
Iām not saying I want or need a self driving vehicle, Iām saying the people who canāt handle current vehicles - and some of these people maybe already think their vehicle looks after them (the dumbing down you speak of) probably should be replaced by an actual self-driving vehicle. Taxi driving is one area I see a lot of poor drivers and so autonomous taxis make sense.
My local authority will not license Uber taxis due to safety concerns yet we are still flooded with them as neighbouring authorities do license them. I doubt they ever head out this way to audit those licenses.
Iām also aware of taxiās being confiscated due to the driver having no licence or insurance! A self driving taxi cannot circumvent these rules.
I recall as a youngster riding my single speed hand-me-down push bike 22 miles each way down the A16 past Louth to go fishing.
I also recall Iād ārushedā home afterwards to watch the 1974 World Cup Final.
My point..
A. With the change in traffic over the years, that trip would be at best terrifying, and quite possibly fatal now.
B. Though that feels like yesterday to me, 1974 was over 50 years ago.!
Time passes faster than you believe, travel will evolve, and I bet, looking at the current rate of change, in half that time any āpersonal vehiclesā left will likely be driverless.
(Of course thatās only relevant in the unlikely event the planet survives that long, and if divvies like the Orange One aināt brought about the demise of mankind before then.. 
).
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Thinking onā¦Phil mentioned being happy to accept medical robots earlier in this thread..
I visited a medi-tech place in California not too long ago, they had a robot for helping surgeons do knee replacements. Basically, after scanning the patient, ālimitsā were set, the patientās leg was then fixed in place before a surgeon operated the drills and other bits. Because they were robotic, though the surgeon retained ācontrolā, they could only work within the limits set, so they got a more consistently accurate job.
I wonder, if the same were applied to vehicles, whether thatād retain a bit of the enjoyment? Itād still allow drivers to ādriveā, but prevent them from turning right across the motorsickle rider. I think Iād take that.
All those years where Iād flick open the visor to prevent misting at each stop, meant the action became Pavlovian. Then someone invented Pinlocks and I had to āun-learnā that habit.
Iād quite like to have the confidence to āun-learnā the habit of automatically placing my fingers over the front brake lever at every junction 
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All good points, particularly your conclusion which is as well reasoned as it is wise. Iām far less certain of what Iāll do if a time comes when I have to choose. Iād like to believe Iāll pray for Serenity and act my age, but accepting āthings I cannot changeā has not been my greatest strength to date. Whatever my head tells me I ought to do, I fear Dylan Thomasā āRageā may have me draining the last dregs with all my lusting heart. 
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Rage hardā¦
(Itās all we can do )
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Yeo KO and GC! I fear we are facing a sad inevitability? Our times are almost over. Thatās just reality and above all else, despite how Neanderthal my rantings may seem, I am nothing if not a realist. (BTW recent anthropological research suggests the Neanderthals were not quite as dumb as we thought?)
I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have enjoyed the advantages I have been privileged enough to immerse myself in the relative hedonism of my life and times. Being a 60ās teenager, relatively uncongested travel on our roads, big nasty V8 trucks, good music , actual conversation and respect for others and maybe questionable mental health. The list goes on but for fear of backlash I will āca cannyā and stop there.
As Popeye once said āIyam what Iyamā or something like that? I am aware there are quite possibly a few of our younger readers who might say āWho the hell is Popeye?ā Personally my spinach still resides in my tankbag.. for now! Geddit? 
World is going to Hell in a handbasket anyway it appears and at 74 I will attempt to squeeze every last bit of juice out of what I have left without the assistance of unnecessary supervision by the unseen hand of āintelligent oversightā. No offense to anyone who welcomes that stuff but how many of you could light a fire with two sticks? Some day we might be once more reduced to that task. Happily I doubt I will be around to be roasted, or not actually, for failing at that!
I remain your developing fossil and contrarian unapologetically ācos thatās what sucked me into this two wheeled glorious madness in the first place. 
Peace!
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You mean constructed with Chinese components like the V100 already is? (Check out the radiator capā¦.)
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I am, as I said, a realist. Sadly I am old enough to remember revered Brit bikes that had duff electrics, leaky engine blocks and more through blindness and lack of investment to keep up. The Chinese, like it or not, are moving at the speed of light by comparison. If that allows me to put up with a less than Imperially approved radiator cap for a short time for the benefit of an affordable beautiful Guzzi Iāll take it. How about who made an Enfield that works? Just sayinā 
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HI again.
Donāt get me wrong - I have a keen appreciation of exactly what the Chinese manufacturers are capable of. Despite the view held in some quarters that if itās Chinese it must be rubbish, I know that this is furthest from the truth.
Where the Chinese excel is manufacturing to specification - if you specify cheap junk to make a fast buck, thatās what you will get. Conversely, if you want things made to a high specification, they can also supply them - no problem.
My comment about the V100 stock radiator cap was made with regard to a component that unfortunately falls into the first group - loads of people (including me!) have had problems with these things sticking open or closed, and replacing it with a slightly-higher quality item (probably also made in China) cures the issue.
I am aware that many of the big Western and Japanese automotive vehicle manufacturers use many Chinese manufactured components with absolouely no issues. Benelli, KTM and BMW esxpecially prove the point. I have no doubt that companies such as Lexmoto, Lifan, CF Moto etc. are rapidly gaining global market share by offering high-spec, reliable, feature-rich, competitively priced and often technologically advanced bikes, particularly in the commuter, scooter, and adventure segments.
Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the Chinese EV manufacturers are now moving so far ahead that the West has been left chewing dust. The next few years will be very, very interesting.
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Very fair points! Accepted entirely and appreciate you expanding on your view.
If people would just think back to the early days of the Japanese auto industry and recall the denigration heaped on them back then maybe they would cut the Chinese some slack. Still need to be a savvy buyer I agree. Cheap crap regardless of origin is super aggravating.
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We ride bikes for FUN. The noise they make and the challenges they bring. I test drove an electric car. Boring as hell.
The world has gone nuts for self driving this and that and todayās cars resemble space ships with surveys suggesting that drivers only use about 20% of the onboard gizmos
For me a car or bike needs to have a soul and with me piloting itā¦..not the other way around, otherwise Iād just get the bus.
I am lucky enough to own a 600BHP analogue Porsche which tests me every time I drive it. Nothing nowadays can compare to its rawness and sound track.
Increasingly I am seeing young people collecting and driving classic cars like Golf GTIās Pugās, fast Fords and Jap exotica 
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