No flying motorbikes for us anytime soon, the Xturismo manufacturer has gone bankrupt

Japanese company ALI Technologies had already started selling extreme aircraft, but strict regulations and the astronomical price of the flying engine meant that business did not go as planned. However, bankruptcy is not the end of the story: a new and much cheaper version of the flying motorcycle is in the pipeline.

Years ago, Japan’s ALI Technologies saddled up from making drones to developing a flying transport device inspired by the vehicles seen in Star Wars, which is best described as a flying motorbike, but is in fact a completely new type of vehicle. The vehicle is powered by propellers in a similar way to drone technology, but is propelled by a hybrid system that includes both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor.

Here is an older video of the air bike

The vehicle, which can reach speeds of up to 100 km/h, can stay airborne for 30-40 minutes at a time and is balanced in flight by an automated system, so handling it is not actually complicated, according to the company.

Despite the fact that the flying motorcycle could offer a novel and entertaining option for short-distance travel for those who dare to ride it, sales of the aircraft have not been very good for several reasons: firstly, the price of the vehicle, which is close to USD 770 000, has clearly made the Xturismo a plaything of the very rich and, secondly, the lack of pervasive regulation of flying motorcycles has led the Japanese authorities to impose very strict conditions on its use, making it virtually impossible to use it freely. Indeed, the Xturismo cannot be flown over public roads, only on racetracks.

When the company started selling the vehicle in 2021, there was a chance that by 2023, legislation would allow more widespread use of specialised vehicles like the XtTurismo, but this did not happen and sales remained so low and losses so high that the company’s US parent company, Aerwins Technologies, planned to move the company from Japan to California and redesign the vehicle, creating a new, cheaper version.

ALI Technologies finally filed for bankruptcy in December, but plans to continue development are still alive: according to the report, Aerwins will also produce unmanned and human-piloted low-altitude aircraft at its US headquarters, so those who prefer an extreme version of transport will not be left without a flying motorbike in the future.