Kawasaki’s electric Ninja plans
Electric sports bikes revealed in patent drawings
KAWASAKI has filed patents for a number of electric sports bike designs, revealing the direction of plans for future Ninja models.
The firm has filed at least 10 electric motorcycle patents in the last three months, showing machines with a trellis frame and sports bike geometry.
The sketches show different possible positions within the chassis for a huge battery pack. One design features a detachable section of frame tubes, allowing easy removal of the battery.
Kawasaki electric motorcycle patents were revealed as long ago as 2012 but the rate of recent new designs suggests the firm has stepped up its work in the area.
It could point to purpose of recently revealed new Ninja trademarks, including ‘Ninja E2’ and ‘Ninja E2R’.
The most recent patent refers to a design incorporating a clutch and gears, with the transmission fed by an oil pump which automatically activates before a gear is selected.
The patent says: ‘The operation of the electric oil pump may be initiated in response to a specified operation performed by a rider to start the electric vehicle, for example, a clutch operation or a gear change (gear shift) operation.’
Honda is known to be working on an electric motor design which replicates a gear change, using an electro-magnet which moves to alter the power-delivery characteristics.
