Kawasaki Is Copying Bimota’s Homework
Kawasaki and Bimota are in bed together. This is good news. I just recently reported on the Bimota Tesi H2 and how it’s coming to fruition. Now it seems that Kawasaki is experimenting with a front-end suspension set-up a lot like the one seen on the Tesi H2. In a recent patent application spotted by RideApart, the company has a fancy new suspension set-up that uses a swingarm instead of a front fork.
The design would attache the swingarm to the frame via a couple of swivel brackets. This isn’t a completely new design Bimota has been doing this for a while now, and Kawasaki notes this is a cost-effective solution as well. According to RideApart, the patent says, “It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a front arm-equipped straddle vehicle that allows easy reduction in manufacturing cost.”
The rest of the bike that this new suspension design will go on is not described in the patent. I would love to see this used on a smaller displacement lower-powered sportbike. I’ve heard that this type of front suspension makes the bike better in the corners and it would be awesome to see a smaller displacement super-agile sportbike from Kawasaki. I’ll keep an eye out for any updates on this story.