Kawasaki Motors is currently actively developing three-wheeled motorcycles, which will compete head-on with Polaris Slingshot models in the future. However, a European patent application document revealed that Kawasaki Motors’ three-wheeled motorcycles The wheel motorcycle is also designed with two wheels in front and one wheel behind, but the main difference is that Kawasaki's mechanism design also tilts the frame when turning. This is the biggest difference from Slingshot.
Compared with other three-wheeled motorcycles such as Yamaha Niken, Yamaha Tricity, or Piaggio MP3, Kawasaki's patented design structure only produces friction between the frame and the rear wheel when cornering. Tilt, the two steering wheels in front maintain vertical contact between the tread and the ground when driving straight. According to the explanation of Kawasaki engineers in the document, tilting the car body and the rear wheel when cornering has nothing to do with the vehicle's cornering performance. Rather, it is used to offset the force of the knight's body being pushed away by the centrifugal force in the curve, so that the stability of the body's trunk can still be maintained in the curve.
The mechanism for tilting the frame relies on the connection with the front steering lower arm as the main fulcrum. When the frame tilts, gravity will act on the front shock absorber system on the tilted side, so adjust the front shock absorber. The preload of the shock absorber will change the tilt angle and characteristics of the frame when cornering.
The document also specifically states the specifications for the front wheel. Compared with other three-wheeled vehicles, which use motorcycle tires with rounder treads, Kawasaki's three-wheeled vehicles use the front wheel. Similar to a car tire, the aspect ratio is close to a square, because the steering system of this car will not have an excessively large steering inclination angle in corners, so a tire shape similar to a car tire is needed to provide appropriate grip. soil fertility.
The rear wheel is a driving wheel, and the power system uses a chain transmission. The rear shock absorber mechanism is not described in any detail in this document, and the same is true for the power system. It is not clear whether it uses a traditional internal combustion engine or a Regarding the electric motor system, the only thing that can be determined is that the engine unit position of the Kawasaki three-wheeled heavy vehicle is behind the driver and passenger seats.
This patent application was first submitted for review in Japan at the end of 2018. However, judging from the completeness and maturity of the entire drawing, I believe this is just the front steering and avoidance of three-wheeled motorcycles by Kawasaki Motorcycle. A patent that focuses on the design of the shock system is still a long way from actual prototype building or even formal mass production.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.