Tag Archives: supercharged

Will Kawasaki supercharge Vulcan cruisers?

Rumours are circulating that Kawasaki is planning to shoehorn its supercharged 998cc inline four into their Vulcan cruisers.

It was sparked by the above artist’s render in Japanese Young Machine magazine who make a habit of using artist drawings to push their speculation stories.

Surprisingly, they are often quite accurate!

We would imagine if this supercharged rumour is true, the engine would be down tuned for use in Vulcan cruisers. It certainly won’t be used in their learner-approved Vulcan S!

Kawasaki Vulcan S seats variable riding positionKawasaki Vulcan S

The supercharged Kawasaki engine produces a massive 240kW of power in Kawasaki’s track-only H2R, and 170kW in the roads-going H2 and SX SE sports tourer.

Their motor is also being used in the upcoming Bimota Tesi H2 with a comparatively modest 147kW of power which might be more likely in a cruiser.

Not that there is anything wrong with giving a cruiser plenty of power.

Just look at the 147.2kW Yamaha V-Max 117kW and Ducati Diavel power cruisers!

And many Harley-Davidson owners have been known to turbocharge and supercharge their machines.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Suzuki still serious about turbocharging

We have been reporting on Suzuki’s turbocharging plans ever since they unveiled their Recursion concept in 2013.

Suzuki Recursion - Katana turbo blown turbocharging
Suzuki Recursion

Over the years there have been rumours about mid-capacity turbo sports bikes of 500-700cc capacity and even a turbo version of their Hayabusa or new Katana.

Each year they have hinted at turbocharging and we fly expected to see one at this year’s EICMA motorcycle show in Milan were they had said they would release several new mnkdles.

Instead, we got an updated DR Big V-Strom!

Suzuki V-Strom 1050 Dr Big
Updated DR Big Strom!

Serious about turbocharging

But Suzuki is still serious about turbocharging tech.

British insurance broker website Bennetts says it will be a a GSX 700 Turbo and have released new patent drawings that seem to support that theory.

It shows the turbo located closer to the cylinder heads which makes the engine more compact and reduces turbo “lag”.

The drawings show a tubular frame, compact low exhaust and twin radiators.

Will it be revealed in 2020? Who knows! We’ve almost given up predicting the launch of their forced-induction model.

Meanwhile, Kawasaki is forging ahead with their supercharged models. They now have four models – H2, H2R, H2 SX and the Z H2.

Kawasaki Z H2 - Bimota
Kawasaki Z H2

They’ve also bought Bimota and are powering their new Tesi with a H2 supercharged engine.

turbocharging
Bimota Tesi H2

Even BMW is considering forced induction for their M bikes.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com