It ' s been more than 25 years since the Toyota Prius introduced hybrid technology to car buyers , but despite sporadic attempts to replicate the idea on two wheels , we ' re still waiting for a hybrid motorcycle to achieve the same success . Kawasaki ' s hybrid motorcycle , due in production in 2024 , could be the first to do so , but it ' s a relatively simple design , as was Piaggio ' s attempt at a hybrid scooter , launched back in 2008 . Honda likes to do things differently , though , and has recently filed several patents related to a hugely complex hybrid with two electric motors , a combustion engine and two gearboxes . Where Kawasaki uses a normal twincylinder engine and a single electric motor , with clutches that connect or disconnect them from the transmission to operate in all-electric , all-ICE or combined form , the Honda design has no clutches at all and instead uses a planetary gearbox to balance the three sources of power . The planetary transmission has three main parts . In the middle there ' s a central cog called the sun gear , which Honda has connected to both the transmission ' s output and one of the electric motors - so when the rear wheel |
is turning , so is that motor , acting either as a drive unit or as a generator to recharge the batteries . The sun gear is surrounded by smaller
" Two electric motors and a combustion engine "
cogs , called planetary gears , which are held on a planetary gear carrier . The internal combustion engine is permanently geared to the planetary
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gear carrier - there ' s no clutch . Finally , on the outside of the gearset , there ' s a large ring gear that meshes with planetary gears . Honda has attached a second electric motor / generator to the ring gear . That ' s essentially the same setup that was used on the original Toyota Prius , and it ' s extremely flexible . The planetary gearset means the engine can run , spinning the planetary gear carrier , while the sun gear and the output shaft stay still . In that mode it ' s idling , with the bike stationary , and the movement is transmitted to the second electric motor , which works as a generator to |
recharge the batteries . By altering the load and power output of the two electric motor / generators along with the revs and torque of the combustion engine , the planetary gearset works as a CVT transmission - you can change speed independently of engine revs , or even travel in pure electric mode with the engine switched off . To add an extra layer of complexity , Honda has added a relatively conventional four-speed transmission between the ring gear and the electric motor connected to it . That will allow the rider to shift gears in a way that feels relatively normal - albeit with fewer ratios - to give yet another mode that the bike can be ridden in . As a result , you have a single bike that can be operated as a pure electric machine , as a CVT hybrid , as a combustion engine bike with a CVT , or as a geared motorcycle in either pure combustion or hybrid form . The patent illustrates the system in a bike with the outline of the X-ADV 750 cc ' adventure scooter ', but Honda shows several different layouts for the two motors , suggesting it ' s an idea that ' s still in its relatively early stages of development . |
The big news at BMW for 2024 is undoubtably the launch of the all-new R1300GS . It is likely to be a best-seller across the world , but the company hasn ' t ignored its smaller GS range - launching a trio of heavily revised machines to replace the old F850GS and F750GS . For 2024 they become the F900GS , F900GS Adventure and F800GS . Those names alone reveal a key difference , because the old 853 cc engine has been replaced by the 895 cc version that was previously reserved for the F900R and F900XR . Even the F800GS has the 895 cc engine , just as the old F750GS was actually 853 cc , but with artificial restrictions to keep its power down . The bigger engine has a 2 mm larger bore than the old version at 86 mm , with the same 77 mm stroke , with forged instead of cast alloy pistons and a raised compression ratio of 13.1:1 instead of 12.7:1 . In the F900 models , that means a peak power of 77 kW ( 105 hp ), which is enough to leapfrog some larger models - including Honda ' s 1084 cc Africa Twin - and matches the output of the KTM 890 |
Adventure . The F800GS peaks at 64 kW ( 87 hp ), but it ' s very clearly another artificial restriction - the power curve mimics the F900 ' s up to the 6750 rpm torque peak , but then plateaus while the F900s continue to rise towards their peaks nearly 2000 rpm higher . Of the three new models , the F900GS gets by far the most significant changes . The welded sheet steel frame remains the same as the old version , but there ' s new bodywork , new lights , a new plastic fuel tank and a completely different tail and subframe that help slice an impressive 14 kg |
from its weight , which is down to 219 kg including fuel . It also gets new 43 mm , fully-adjustable Showa forks that offer the same 230 mm travel as the Adventure version , as well as a matching monoshock , giving 215 mm of movement for the rear wheel . Both the GS and GS Adventure have 21-inch front , 17-inch rear tyres on wire wheels . The optional ' Enduro Pro ' package gives even bigger 45 mm forks with titanium nitride coating and a more widely adjustable rear shock to the bike . The F900GS Adventure looks more like last year ' s bike , but also gets the same |
new forks as the F900GS and some new side panels to mark it out from its predecessor . It ' s 2 kg heavier than last year ' s version at 246 kg wet . Both the Adventure and the less powerful F800GS can be optioned with BMW ' s ESA electronically adjustable suspension . The 6.5-inch TFT dash is carried over from last year ' s F850 models , but now goes to the F800GS as well to replace the analogue and LCD combination of the old F750GS . On all models there ' s phone connectivity and turn-by-turn navigation with the help of BMW ' s own app . |