The first hybrid bike will have to wait
In 2010 Honda patented in the United States a first concept of hybrid bike with base Goldwing that has caused a huge stir. Yamaha and KTM also tested and although the idea comes from far away, it seems that no manufacturer dares to bring to the series.
In that first hybrid Honda Goldwing, patentedby Kaoru Hanwa and Takashi Tsutsumizaki, had replaced the usual six-cylinder engine for a four-cylinder boxer plus an electric motor/generator that is fed through a battery located behind the combustion engine.
The basic concept that Honda marketed since 2009 in the car Insight it makes the most sense of the world on a motorcycle as the Goldwing. The torque of the electric motor helps to combustion engine in acceleration, so that you get a similar amount of power consumption with a substantially lower. Moreover, a size of the Goldwing motorcycle can digest without much trouble the weight (and space) of the battery which powers the electric motor, something that would not be a smaller bike.
But Honda project is not the only one. Yamaha also presented in the United States introduced two years earlier, a patent on a hybrid bike has been developed on a TMAX 1st generation, incorporating a new transmission system capable of distributing power from the electric motor/generator and combustion unit internal to the rear wheel.
The Japanese company had announced in 2005 its intention to develop its first hybrid car on the Gen-Ryu Concept presented at the Tokyo Motor Show. The Gen-Ryu rode on the engine of 600 cc of R6 with 130 HP together with an electric motor/generator of 50 HP to your level of performance was similar to that of a 1,000. In 2009, this project became the HV-X with a single-cylinder 250 cc and 15 hp together with an electric motor 15 hp also, according to Yamaha, could be produced in series immediately with the available technology.
KTM was a bit further away in a year before the patent for a hybrid off-road bike with two-wheel drive based on the Adventure of raids. In this case, the internal combustion engine is responsible for moving the rear wheel through a conventional transmission, while the electric motor power sent to the front wheel and storing energy during braking, another feature that cannot meet the bikes smaller as a result of its low weight.
While the small motorbikes and scooters seem intended to incorporate propulsion systems 100% electric, since in them the autonomy is not a major issue, the large motorcycles could be found in the hybrid systems a significant reduction in the consumption or an increase in autonomy. Although, for now, will have to wait.