Kawasaki’s morphing electric trike

CONCEPT bikes. Don’t you just love them? Usually they fall into one of two groups. First are the thinly-veiled production bikes – machines that aren’t quite ready to reveal in their finished form. And then there’s the second group: wildly unrealistic things designed to garner attention but that stand absolutely zero chance of ever being seen again once their initial show duties are over.

See if you can guess which group this Kawasaki falls into.

Yep, according to the forward-thinkers in the green camp, this is the bike of the future. Or rather the trike of the future, what with it having two front wheels. Or should that be quad, since there are two rear tyres on a single rear wheel rim. Perhaps it’s a motortriquadcycle?

Whatever. The number of wheels is nothing compared to the rest of this concept’s tricks. First up, it’s electric (of course, it’s 2013 after all), and then it’s designed so all the bits and pieces move around, changing the wheelbase and riding position. And the fact that each front wheel has its own handlebar, so presumably riding it is nothing like a conventional bike. Around corners the bar connected to the outside wheel drops and the one on the inside wheel rises. Come to think of it, there doesn’t appear to be anything in the way of suspension to isolate the bars from the front wheels, so bumpy roads could be an interesting proposition.

Perhaps it’s the future. Then again…

Meanwhile, tucked away at the back of Kawasaki’s stand at the Tokyo show where this creation has been unveiled, there’s a supercharged four-cylinder motorcycle engine sitting in a glass box. More on that as we hear it…