Kawasaki has been working on advanced
rider assistance systems to incorporate in its future products for quite some
time now. The Japanese company confirmed in November last year that it has
partnered up with Bosch to develop a new motorcycle with radar-based safety and
convenience features.
Kawasaki has been tight-lipped about which
would be the first model to get the adaptive cruise control technology.
However, thanks to the latest leaked patent images, it seems that it will be
the Ninja H2 SX. But that’s not all. Along with the supercharged Ninja, the new
Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is likely to get the radar-based rider assistance system
as well. A leaked patent image hints at the same.
It can be seen in the patent image that
35b denotes the central air intake whereas 36 marks the single headlight. The
idea is to replace the headlight on the right side with the radar unit (60).
While the radar unit appears to be square in shape, it could be hidden behind a
transparent panel which would have the same shape as that of the single
headlight on the left side. This means that the front look of the motorcycle
will be symmetric.
Based on the information so far, it seems
that the new Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX and Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R will be the first
two motorcycles to get the company’s adaptive cruise control. However, Kawasaki
is likely to implement its new rider assistance feature in more future models.
Kawasaki’s radar-based adaptive cruise
control will allow motorcycles to maintain a constant distance from the vehicle
ahead without any rider inputs. For obvious reasons, however, the two-wheeler
will not be permitted to apply emergency braking, rather alert the rider with a
warning on the instrument cluster and gently engage the brakes. Similar will be
the case when it comes to acceleration. The motorbike will pick up pace gently
if the road ahead is clear.
