Why Two-Wheeler Connectivity Matters for Riders & OEMs?
This blog highlights the growing connectivity gap in the two‑wheeler market, where most motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds remain offline compared to passenger vehicles. The lack of missing features like embedded connectivity, OTA updates, emergency services, and remote diagnostics - limits rider safety and convenience while restricting OEMs’ ability to reduce costs, strengthen brand loyalty, and unlock new revenue opportunities. As connected experiences become standard in four‑wheelers, closing this gap is increasingly critical for competitiveness in the two‑wheeler industry.

The Scale of the Disconnect, Large Installed Base, Tiny Connectivity

​To understand why this is a problem, consider the numbers (Ref:Berg Insight — The Motor-Powered Two-Wheeler Telematics Market).

  • There are roughly 888.1 million motor-powered two-wheelers in service globally; in 2024 about 69.8 million new two-wheelers were registered. 
  • Yet only ~33.9 million two-wheelers had active telematics systems in 2024 about - 3.8% of the global installed base. In short, over 96% of two-wheelers remain offline. 
This mismatch, a massive installed base with single-digit connectivity, drives the challenges below. ​

Offline Two‑Wheelers: What Riders Miss

  1. ​​Slower or no emergency response (safety risk) 
    • Automatic crash detection, eCall and precise GNSS location are routine for modern cars and dramatically improve outcomes after accidents. Although two-wheelers are in greater risk of fatal incidents, most two-wheelers today lack reliable crash detection and automatic emergency alerts, increasing time to help and risk of worse outcomes. 
  2. Advanced Rider Assistance Systems (ARAS) 
    • Advanced Rider Assistance Systems (ARAS) helps two-wheelers by using onboard sensing to detect hazards and assist the rider, e.g., forward collision warning and blindspot detection. 2-wheeler connectivity complements ARAS features by combining it with eCall for end-to-end safety and OTA updates for safety feature installs and updates. Connectivity can also enable beyond-line-of-sight awareness for 2-wheelers through V2X enabled hazard alerts.  
  3. High theft and slow recovery 
    • Without persistent tracking, geofencing, and remote immobilization, two-wheelers are easier to steal and harder to recover.​ For many riders, especially in high-theft markets, the lack of effective tracking means replacement cost, insurance headaches and lower resale values. 
  4. No remote diagnostics or software updates 
    • Riders can’t get proactive fault alerts, sometimes only finding out about critical issues at a breakdown. Firmware and ECU updates must be handled in dealerships, slow, inconvenient and costly for the owner. 
  5. Poor in-ride experience 
    • ​Features that riders have come to expect in cars, seamless smartphone integration, navigation that syncs with vehicle data, helmet audio and voice assistants optimized for noisy environments, listen to their favorite music through their favorite app are often unavailable or reduced on two-wheelers because vehicles lack the connectivity and the right form-factor tech. 

OEM Pain: How Being Offline Hurts the Manufacturer

​

  1. Higher Warranty and Recall Costs 
    • Without remote diagnostics and FOTA, OEMs cannot triage issues remotely or deploy fixes over the air. ​That increases dealership visits, warranty claims and expensive recalls. 
  2. Lost recurring revenue & weaker customer relationships 
    • Connected cars generate subscription revenues (safety, navigation, telematics) and offer OEMs ongoing customer touchpoints. Two-wheelers that are sold as “dumb” products force OEMs into one-time hardware sales and weak post-sale engagement. 
  3. Weaker brand differentiation and customer retention 
    • Today's consumers associate connectivity with modern, premium products. OEMs that can’t offer safety services, smartphone ecosystems or regular feature updates are at a disadvantage in competitive segments. 
  4. Regulatory and future-proofing risks 
    • As cities and regulators push for eCall, V2X and safety features, OEMs that delay connectivity investments risk being out of compliance or unable to support new mandates.

The Gap vs. Four-Wheelers

​Many connected features are now mainstream in passenger cars, embedded telematics with eCall, robust OTA/FOTA, full remote diagnostics, sophisticated infotainment, and increasing ADAS/V2X integration. Two-wheelers, by contrast, are still plagued by limited connectivity as described below. However, these gaps cannot be addressed simply by treating the 2-wheeler as a mini car. Purpose-built solutions are necessary.

  • Lack embedded OEM telematics at scale. Cars commonly ship with embedded modems and manufacturer cloud integrations; two-wheelers largely do not. That prevents crash-to-care automation, OEM diagnostics and subscription services from reaching riders. 
  • Have fragile or absent OTA capability. OTA in cars has become routine for safety and convenience; in two-wheelers OTA is nascent, raising both safety and economic downsides (slower fixes, higher recall risk). 
  • Suffer from a poor in-vehicle UX. Car cockpits support large displays, active voice systems and integrated infotainment. Two-wheelers need helmet-centric audio, glove-friendly controls and highly rugged, small TCUs none of which are solved by simply shrinking car hardware.  ​

Why This Problem is Fixable and Why It Should Be a Priority

The technical barriers are real (form factor, weather protection, power and cost constraints), but they’re solvable with purpose-built platforms that combine rugged, low-cost TCUs with cloud telematics, secure FOTA and rider-centric UX. The business case is strong: even modest penetration lifts create recurring revenue streams, lower warranty costs, better fleet relationships and improves rider safety. 

HARMAN has explicitly recognized the offline two-wheeler problem and built a focused two-wheeler strategy to address it — enabling OEMs to deploy scalable connectivity with engineering grade reliability.

Bottom Line

​The offline two-wheeler is not just an engineering gap, it’s a systemic problem that reduces rider safety, increases ownership costs and erodes OEM revenue and brand value. Fixing it requires two-wheeler-specific platforms and a strategic shift from one-time hardware sales to ongoing connected services. For OEMs and suppliers, acting now is both a competitive necessity and a clear business opportunity. ​


HARMAN has recognized the offline two-wheeler problem and built a focused platform strategy to tackle the issue.  If you’re exploring connected two-wheeler programs or want to follow future product updates from HARMAN, sign up on this page to stay informed​. 




Author

HARMAN Automotive 

Thought Leadership

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