The bike in the drawing may look conventional, but that obviously won't be the case. The fuel tank hides the batteries that will power the motor, which sits at the bottom of the bike
While most companies offer some kind of clue to their electric offerings, one manufacturer remained suspiciously missing, Kawasaki. However, there is hope as new leaks of patent drawings have reportedly emerged online.
Motorcycle website Visor Down posted two images of the bike. One looks to be a conventional bike with a fuel tank and the other is an image of the electric motor that will sit in place of the internal combustion engine.
The bike in the drawing may look conventional, but that obviously won't be the case. The fuel tank hides the batteries that will power the motor, which sits at the bottom of the bike. Now most of this we know. But what appears different is the ram air intake at the front of the bike just like Kawasaki's petrol powered offerings.
Batteries on electric bikes can heat up significantly along with electric motors. The intake at the front could stream cool air around the batteries or motor, or maybe even both. However, the engine does get a front-mounted oil-cooler too. This seems to work like a standard cooler and pumps cool oil from the bottom of the motor into the casing to where the central shaft is located.
There is one more interesting thing about the drawings and that is the inclusion of a clutch. This may indicate the inclusion of gears too. Most electric bikes usually just send power directly to the rear wheel via the central shaft, but a clutch could mean a higher speed with the motor not being required to work too hard. This could also be better for range as most high powered electric bikes offer don't usually run too far.
All of this is speculation and Kawasaki is known to play around with designs with most not reaching the prototyping stage. For now, we will just have to wait for more information, but if this does make it to production, it will be interesting to see what Kawasaki comes up with.
