August 28, 2008 Just when you figured that the incremental development of the Universal Japanese Motorcycle was all you’d ever see comes news that Kawasaki is about to release a bombshell on the motorcycling world with the release of a radically different engine. Spanish Motorcycle Magazine https://www2.solomoto30.com/" target="_blank">SoloMoto has details of the new motor revealed in an exclusive interview with a Kawasaki executive and plans to print the details in its September 16 issue. Most significantly, the preview interview, (here in Spanish), indicates that it will feature similar technologies to those employed in the KTM-owned Husaberg 450 we wrote about earlier this year. The radical Husaberg engine has been reconfigured to put the crankshaft near the motorcycle’s center-of-mass and results in a significant improvement in handling. Kawasaki’s patents predate the Husaberg design by several years and the technologies will be applied to motors with different numbers of cylinders and extending to KHI’s four-wheelers as well.
