Honda has recently filed a patent for a dual sport type motorcycle design. The design has the best of both worlds; a supersport and a sport tourer. This technology is likely to be introduced soon. Looking at the design pictures, the bike appears to be a previous generation Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and it can be converted, hopefully with a touch of a button, to a easy riding position sport tourer motorcycle with raised handlebars and high windshield visor, which will aid in highway touring.
The rider can switch between the two positions as per need. The bike is likely to be equipped with a electric system for raising the windscreen along with the nose which will be moved forward and higher rather than just the windscreen moving upwards. The handlebars shown in the images appear to be clip-on type and are likely to be electronically raised and lowered as per riding mode.
Honda is likely to introduce this technology on the next generation CBR1000RR Fireblade making it more versatile and will be creating a new segment. A lot of riders have taken up long-distance highway touring and only do track days for a limited amount of time. Investing in two motorbikes, one especially for track days, if you live in a country where there are only a hand full of race tracks open for public, is not a reasonable option. But a motorcycle which you can ride to the track and then convert it into a supersport with the touch of a button is likely to attract buyers all over the world.
While the details on this technology are scarce, if Honda put it in application or production we are hopeful that at least a concept of this will be built by next year. If Honda does put this variable riding position technology in a production model will you buy such a dual-purpose motorcycle?
In related news, the Japanese manufacturer also filed a mirror winglet design which appears to be for the CBR1000RR Fireblade and could make it to the next update for the supersport bike. The Honda CBR1000RR is available in India priced at INR 16.84 lakh ex-showroom, Mumbai. While the CBR1000RR SP edition is priced at 19.69 ex-showroom, Mumbai.