The BMW Motorrad ConnectedRide Smartglasses Give Motorcycle Riders A HUD For £600

Head-up displays are a genuinely useful piece of modern car technology, and over the years, they’ve trickled down even to more affordable models. They do have genuine safety benefits, providing information to the driver that can be accessed without their eyes being taken off the road. The thing is, motorcycle riders might just benefit from this even more. Here, though, is one way they can.

BMW Motorrad has released its ‘ConnectedRide Smartglasses’, which can display your speed, current gear, the speed limit and navigation data via a Bluetooth connection to the BMW Motorrad Connected App on your smartphone. The rider can decide what information is shown (there are reduced and detailed nav options, for instance), and change the position of the HUD, either before setting off or on the move using the multifunction controller on the bike’s handlebars.

Fully juiced, the lithium-ion battery will last for 10 hours, so even if you have a long road trip planned, you should be fine. Two sets of lenses are included - one transparent, and one tinted.

The Smartglasses “can be adapted to fit numerous helmets and face shapes,” BMW says, and there’s also an adaptor for those who wear glasses. They can also operate in temperatures ranging from -10 to +50 degrees centigrade.

All of this sounds wonderful, but it does come at quite a price - €690.00, which is about a tenner under £600 going by current exchange rates. In Japan last year, the HUD-equipped Shoei Opticson debuted with an RRP that was the equivalent of just over £800, although at the time the company said it had no plans to sell it elsewhere.

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