Yamaha electric motorcycles hit the trail and track

Yamaha had an impressive presence at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, what with its Rossi-taunting autonomous Motobot and awesome Sports Ride coupe on display. Still, with production previously promised for 2016, the PES2 and PED2 electric motorcycles were the concepts that got our attention here at AutoblogGreen. More specifically, we wondered how retail-ready the bikes might be.

With an abundance of photos (see galleries below) now available that give away further design details, we still have to say it's the trail-riding PED2 that seems closest to fruition. Its PES2 road-going sibling, featuring more fanciful styling and features, still seems in need of more mainstreaming. For instance, pointing rearward, where one might expect to see a exhaust pipe blasting out hot, nasty gases, the two-wheel-drive motorcycle has a camera, which beams an image to the rider's smart helmet.

That brainy bucket features an augmented reality (AR) display that, besides showing what's happening on your six, can also provide navigation information and inform you of obstacles in your path – you know, in case you're concentrating on the in-helmet display rather than the road in front of you. As potentially cool as that sounds, it's not likely to make it to stores in the next twelve months. The same goes for the 2WD setup. Interesting idea, and probably great for getting a grip on rain-slick pavement, but expensive to implement on a bike that will already likely test the boundaries of buyer's budgets.

The PED2 also features fore and aft cameras, though in its case, the generated images are said to appear inside the glass of a set of riding goggles. As with the street bike, this is unlikely to be implemented any time soon, of course. What both bikes also share, and what may make it to reality, are the smartwatches the pair use for turning on the bike and providing navigation and other information. Most likely, we would see this tech arriving in app form, though. Yamaha makes a lot of different things, but smartwatches aren't one of them. Yet.

The tuning fork brand didn't reveal a lot of technical specification on either of the bikes beyond what we've already shared, so we have no battery-capacity or acceleration figures to report. One interesting tidbit that did get mentioned was the ability of the PED2 to switch modes between manual and automatic gear shifting and the existence of a clutch. By extension, this means that it, and probably the PES2, have a multi-speed gearbox incorporated into the drivetrain.

While both bikes looked great on the stand, we were also happy to learn that they are also functioning machines. While we wait for further details to arrive on Yamaha's electric motorcycle program, we have videos (above and below) of each, rolling under their own power in their separate intended environments: the street bike on a track and the dirt bike on a serene mountain trail. Enjoy.