In December 2020, kawasaki For the first time teased its upcoming hybrid powertrain. There are some patent images that were leaked or released. And now, we take a look at the production bike previewed at the Suzuka 8-Hour race in early August. The special thing about the bike is that it does not have a clutch lever or a gear shifter. It gets a straight parallel twin engine ninja 400 and Z400, but with an electric motor that looks big enough to offer a huge performance boost. Think of it as 400 which will deliver 650cc performance.
No specifications have been made available about the hybrid model that will use a six-speed transmission system that manages the contribution of the electric motor and petrol engine. There will probably be options to use electric-only or petrol-only or both.
This is why Kawasaki has used a semi-automatic push-button gearshift instead of the traditional hand-operated clutch and foot-operated gearshift. The onboard computer will automatically synchronize the electric and piston power. And an electronically controlled clutch and shifter should make for smooth gear shifts, no matter what combination is activated.
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Top Gun’s five iconic bikes and cars: Maverick now streaming in India
Previous patents have featured a ‘boost’ button on the right side of the bar, allowing the rider to use both petrol and electric power for maximum performance. The rest of the scenario is expected to be automated. The Kawasaki prototype seen earlier also had another button on the left side of the bar for manual gearshift.
The final version is expected to be revealed EICMA show this year. It remains to be seen how Kawasaki manages to automatically use a manual transmission on a motorcycle that also has torque from the electric motor to consider during gearshifts.
The motorcycle maker is also working on an all-electric motorcycle which we saw in a short video in 2019. Kawasaki Ninja 300.
No specifications have been made available about the hybrid model that will use a six-speed transmission system that manages the contribution of the electric motor and petrol engine. There will probably be options to use electric-only or petrol-only or both.
This is why Kawasaki has used a semi-automatic push-button gearshift instead of the traditional hand-operated clutch and foot-operated gearshift. The onboard computer will automatically synchronize the electric and piston power. And an electronically controlled clutch and shifter should make for smooth gear shifts, no matter what combination is activated.
Read also:
Top Gun’s five iconic bikes and cars: Maverick now streaming in India
Previous patents have featured a ‘boost’ button on the right side of the bar, allowing the rider to use both petrol and electric power for maximum performance. The rest of the scenario is expected to be automated. The Kawasaki prototype seen earlier also had another button on the left side of the bar for manual gearshift.
The final version is expected to be revealed EICMA show this year. It remains to be seen how Kawasaki manages to automatically use a manual transmission on a motorcycle that also has torque from the electric motor to consider during gearshifts.
The motorcycle maker is also working on an all-electric motorcycle which we saw in a short video in 2019. Kawasaki Ninja 300.