After sitting for a few minutes, I can only think of two vaguely-useful applications for a power steering setup on an ebike: 1) reducing terrain-induced steering effects, and 2) resisting inhuman steering inputs.
The first would be akin to the original reason for power steering in automobile, where terrain could wretch the steering wheel from the operator’s control. So perhaps Yamaha is proposing a system that allows a rider to feel, for example, the gap alongside a streetcar track, but always be able to steer out of it.
The second would be for preventing a wayward branch from catching on the handlebars, yawing both bike and rider off course. If the steering assembly could detect an input approximately as fast as the ebike’s forward speed, it could lock the steering so as to resist the branch and break clear. Perhaps then the rider would be none the wiser of the crash now avoided.
A quick Google Search also shows that Yamaha has been working on power steering for their motorbikes, so Occam’s Razor might suggest the Yamaha engineers are having a grand ol time across the full product line. Should we soon expect a power steering piano?
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