Daily motorbike news, views & reviews
Kawasaki has plans to develop a range-extender hybrid with a supercharged two-stroke, four-cylinder engine charging a battery that powers an electric motor driving the rear wheel. It seems like a clever idea. They call it a range-extender hybrid because the fossil-fuel engine doesn’t directly drive the vehicle. It’s not an original idea, though. The cheap …
Kawasaki is seeking sensory overload with load, blinker, and position sensors complementing ABS and traction control to sense for “upcoming scenarios”, according to a filing with the Japanese Patent Office. The company is not the only motorcycle manufacturer adding more and more electronic riders aids in an effort to make riding safer. And it’s not …
A fire risk has forced Kawasaki Australia to recalled 54 Ninja ZX-10R, RR and R SE models over an engine management issue. The official notice issued through the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says: The Engine Control Unit (ECU) programming may cause the engine to after fire when the Kawasaki Quick Shifter (KQS) function is used …
Rumours are circulating that Kawasaki is planning to shoehorn its supercharged 998cc inline four into their Vulcan cruisers. It was sparked by the above artist’s render in Japanese Young Machine magazine who make a habit of using artist drawings to push their speculation stories. Surprisingly, they are often quite accurate! We would imagine if this supercharged rumour …
Kawasaki displayed its electric project electric bike at the EICMA motorcycle show and now has released a teaser video showing it has manual four-speed transmission. While electric motorcycles can be twist-and-go, Kawasaki believes manual transmission “not only allows a greater speed range, it also allows the rider to have greater input when operating the bike”. Manual …
By Jim Bevin* 2020 is set to be a strange time for those who live outdoors and on the open road. That definitely applies to biking fans. Social distancing measures mean many of us will be stuck inside looking for things to do. Fortunately, the advent of the internet means there is actually plenty to keep …
Kawasaki used to supply engines for esoteric Italian motorcycle manufacturer Bimota and now they are collaborating to share engineering ideas such as hub-centre steering. The first result of their collaboration is the upcoming Tesi H2 powered by a Kawasaki H2 supercharged 998cc inline four. Not only is it propelled by the stonking supercharged H2 engine, but …
Kawasaki seems to be following Yamaha and Honda in developing a leaning three-wheeler with its latest patent application in the US. Yamaha already has the Tricity leaning three-wheeler scooter and Niken motorcycle as well as patent plans for more leaning trikes with two front wheels including a VMax! Honda has also applied for patents for …
A second trailer for the Top Gun 2 movie confirms that Tom Cruise takes his old Kawasaki GPZ900R for a ride as well as a new supercharged H2R Carbon. The first official trailer for Top Gun: Maverick showed Tom’s character Maverick pulling an old tarp off a dusty old GPZ900R. However, when he reprises the famous …
Kawasaki will beat Ducati and KTM to the punch by introducing Bosch’s full suite of Advanced Rider Assistance Systems in 2021. The systems include adaptive cruise control (ACC) which adapts speed to the vehicle in front, plus forward collision warning and blind-spot detection. Ducati and KTM have announced that only some of these three systems …