Recently we brought you the surprising news that Segway, the personal mobility provider for postal workers and mall cops, has partnered with Chinese manufacturer Ninebot to design several models of electric motorcycles. These include a moped, scooter, and surprisingly a sportbike dubbed the Apex. Since then, Segway has released a short video demonstrating that the Apex is a real live motorcycle, not just a CAD drawing or non-functional prototype.

Unfortunately, the video provides absolutely no additional information about the bike, only that it exists and moves around a race track. It is interesting, and ironic, to note how far away from the apex (small "a") of the turns the Apex (capital "A") actually is. Despite the dramatic music and sounds of a high-revving electric motor, the bike isn't really going that fast, relatively speaking. We can excuse some of this as a test rider not wanting to push a prototype too hard before it's been thoroughly tested. Even in my own limited track riding, though, I've always been taught to follow the racing line and hit my apexes no matter how fast or slow I'm going. We don't know why the rider isn't doing this, but we do know that nearly all of the comments on the video so far are pointing this out. Still, from what we see here, it's safe to say that no shoplifter would be able to outrun a mall cop on this Segway.

2020 Yamaha YZF-R6

One commenter, NickTheGreek0001, writes "Yamaha R6 I see base!" Despite slightly different bodywork, there is quite a bit of resemblance between the two bikes. Indeed, it would make sense to use an already proven platform such as the R6 for an effort like this. It seems unlikely, however, that Yamaha would partner with Segway or Ninebot to create a bike like the Apex. Chinese manufacturers have been known to "liberally borrow" designs from larger mainstream companies. The Hawk 250, for instance, is a thinly veiled copy of an older Honda CRF230F. Similarly, Ninebot might have emulated the Yamaha R6 platform for the Apex—admittedly, a great platform for a motorcycle of this type.

For now, though, all we can do is speculate about the Apex's performance and specs. We'll have to wait until it, as well as the other bikes in the range, are unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on January 7, 2020.

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