Honda patent aerodynamic motorcycle tail unit

HONDA has filed a patent for an innovative type of tail unit that could help with handling and straight-line performance.

The new tail unit looks like it’ll help smooth out the airflow behind the rider, an area where bikes suffer aerodynamically over other powered vehicles. With the frontal faring working well at slicing through the air, the rear end of a bike and the rider cause a significant amount of wake, also called dirty air, that circulates behind the rider.

Cleaning up this air-flow is critical to hitting high-speeds on two wheels. With so much focus on front-end aero, with bikes like the V4 S and R Panigale, CBR1000RR-R and RSV4 Factory all wearing wings upfront, is this the first sign that a company is looking at a 360° aerodynamic solution?

The new tail features a hollow design, much like those seen on the latest generation Panigale V4s, only this tail unit has some different and quite interesting features. The tail unit features a removeable tail-pack, that can be stuffed into the tunnels within the tail to carry small items, phone and wallet would be about judging by the size. When not in use the bags can be clipped onto a waist belt and worn by the rider.

While many patents are used a red-herring or simply to keep tabs on a particular design idea, there are a few pointers that tell us this could be legit. First off is the type of bike the tail is mounted on. It’s safe to say that the naked machine in the pics – possibly a type of CB – isn’t likely to be the recipient of such a performance-oriented tail unit. It’s likely that the system will be better put to use on one of Honda’s more sporty offerings – a new CBR600RR perhaps?

Also, the patents show the rear light cluster, indicators, and number plate hanger, making it look like a pretty much finished design, with just the rest of the bike being the missing piece to the puzzle.