The Yamaha Niken Might Get Some Competition Soon. And It’ll Be Green In Colour
- by Zaran Mody
- Feb 28, 2020
- | Views: 8828
Patents have emerged for a three-wheeled Kawasaki motorcycle
- Drawings show two wheels at the front and one at the rear, just like the Niken.
- The patents show a quadrilateral linkage suspension system.
- No telescopic fork here, there’s a single shock absorber up front.
Yamaha kicked off the three-wheeler game with its Niken, and another Japanese manufacturer now wants a piece of the pie. Green giant Kawasaki has filed yet more patents for a three-wheeled motorcycle, and the drawings reveal some interesting details.
We see a quadrilateral linkage type design to suspend the front two wheels, which allows them to lean over while remaining parallel to each other. Another result of this is that a single shock absorber can be used. This wishbone and shock absorber style system is in contrast to the Yamaha Niken that uses a pair of telescopic forks to suspend its front wheels.
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Steering is done via a handlebar operated tie-rod system that acts on the knuckles of both wheels, not unlike the steering system of a car. What’s interesting is that this isn’t the first set of Kawasaki patents to show a three-wheeler. The brand filed similar applications last year as well, and the addition of yet more patents shows that the company is obviously quite serious about rolling out a three-wheeler.
We can’t wait to see what the finished product is going to be like!