Kawasaki's New Thing

Obviously just a concept, but pretty cool imo. Looks to be an expansion of their hydrogen powered research. 

https://www.khi.co.jp/expo2025/concept01/index_en.html

Idk but at first quick glance I thought it had a Monster logo on its chest 😂🤦‍♂️

Man... and I thought it was going to be a KX125 😂

They’ve been in the robotics field for a long time.

https://kawasakirobotics.com/

This is something that’s been a part of KHI since the late 60s.

It’s interesting that they’re already pitching the concept as a consumer product. 

Is this actually real?

If it is, it'll take us to places we can't easily get to today.  I'd buy one.  I'd prefer that it use pre-mix, but you know . Just kidding.

It may or may not be real today, but these types of things are coming.

The technology is within reach now.

wha hapen when dat muh fuka leg break inda middle a nowhere, huh

I’d love to show up on the equestrian trails on that thing!

After suffering a disabling tbi, and having a bad left leg that I can't hike more than a couple miles on. This would be incredible. 

Did that video drop on April 1?

That looks awesome! I’d get one.

Cheaper to feed than a horse and you don’t have to shovel poop out of the barn stall.  Win!

While it would never replace a horse for me like electric bikes and e-mtbs it would definitely have it's place for me. 

People forget how massive KHI really is.

An interesting concept, though with very distinct similarities to some of the Boston Dynamics projects workings. I've just gone down that wormhole - BD videos - again.

It  - the Kawi vid - all seems to be CGI, but, the Engine / Hydrogen combo looks to be a good alternative to the horrendous noise level of BDs 'Mule' type project. That, while being quite the 'thing', well, you'd not want it's level of noise with you on patrol..........

I'm unsure if this has much to do with the Kawasaki MC side of things. With the Motorcycle division being separated from the main KHI company a while back, it has given the MC side a far larger 'autonomy', thus we have seen things like them obtaining Bimota, and, whatever the '2 Stroke Project' turns out to be. 

I'm not a Horse Person, though my GF and my former GF are ( they get along famously), and the only Horse I get on is my old pal Chief, a huge Shire Horse that loves me - I  was on hand at his birth,  hand fed him for a long time, and he seems to think I'm his "Dad' - and I get sea sick and chafed to the max from the swaying / rocking in the saddle. Perhaps the gyros etc in a mechanical horse, could negate that. 

It - this Kawasaki - will be a pretty penny, if such a thing ever comes to the market, that's for sure. Interesting, nonetheless. 

It’s probably gonna be a while but Id love to see what happens when we get 20 of these things and drop the gate at like, Unadilla or something 😂

Dirt bike people need to realise that dirt bikes is a minor business for most manufacturers. Kawsaki was originally, and still is, a ship builder and also involved in numerous industries. I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped their motorcycle business one day, or spun it off. Honda are obviously an engine building company, with a large auto business. Of the Japanese makes, they are the true motorcycle builders. Suzuki is also a strong auto maker, and probably the most likely to be impacted by slow sales of motorcycles. And Yamaha is a very diverse company, specializing in music and motorcycles, and other engines too.

Would you trust that thing though? Riding a motorcycle, the beauty of it is that it reacts directly to your inputs, subtle controls, movements, and the main thing that it could be doing on its own relates to power maps and electronics aides like traction control (or ABS lol). And there are lots of riders who dislike electronic aides, removing too much control from them.

This would be on a whole other level, I guess you could control speed, acceleration, directions but that thing would be supposed to analyze terrain to not trip over itself, understand how high to jump, where to land and so on... and act on it. Much more complex movements than spinning a wheel. People are used to trust a horse's instinct, that he's not gonna go into a tree, crash into a wall, jump over a cliff, head full steam towards a bunch of kids... I can see such things performing simple tasks in the near future but free roaming in complex environments at speed is quite far away. Interesting but there's a reason why it's all CGI. Not mentioning the price!

Pretty sure that’s the monster claw.

Wow!!

2026 Model......?

The motorcycle/offroad sector of Kawasaki absolutely is not a “minor business” for Kawi or any of the other brands. While true its only a part of their company, but to say it’s a “minor” part is just plain wrong. 

I want one and I also want it to be able to follow me around and go get me stuff

So you're saying you'd buy one if it was a two stroke?  😂

 

As part of my life experiences I rode in an English Saddle for 3 years. Mostly 3 Day Eventing type of riding. No actual Competitions. Rode a Fox Hunt in Georgia on a rather larger Warm Blood Cross, that was an experience! Also enjoyed training for Dressage. Very cerebral!!  Rory had no interest at all. When I first started taking lessons the Coach said I was a natural – WTF!!  He explained that with all the years of dirt bikes, all my neuropaths were programed to receive and send data the main processor. Plus my arse was already sensitive to date collection thus I naturally had a good seat and balance. Topped of with the hands that managed handlebars for decades, the horse appreciated that my hands were soft to the bit and I was not yanking the horse about. Really and awesome experience!!  I ended it as dirt bikes are a lot less $$$$!!!

My wife has two Trakehners and does dressage daily. My riding is limited to riding into the mountains for elk hunting. Saying dirt bikes are cheaper is a major understatement!

Beagle : "People are used to trust a horse's instinct, that he's not gonna go into a tree, crash into a wall, jump over a cliff, head full steam towards a bunch of kids..."

Geeze Beag's, I've seen those scenarios, and , much, Much more, with relation to Horses!

As I've said , I'm Not a 'Horse(y) person. But, I've been around them for decades now, what with the 2 most significant in my life Females ( besides "Me Mum" : c/r Footrot Flats), being complete Horse Nutters.

So, I've seen So Much Carnage and Craziness with regards to them - the Horses and the Ladies. My early GF, and  now life long friend, is from a Horse Family - to the level of the Olympics and World Championship Competitions - and I virtually never Not see at least one of her Tribe in recovery from some sort of injury relating to their Equine buddies. People say Motorcyclists are crazy with their acceptance of bodily damage, but I reckon the Horse Fraternity is far more cavalier with their Carnage! 

Huge things that, generally, can take fright at some of the most benign things, that have ( tiny - that will upset some!) minds of their own, and Will do what they want, even with a World Level Rider / Trainer 'in control' of them, when They Want.  Motorcycles don't do that sort of thing.

I Love my buddy Chief, he's the only horse I trust. A while ago ( I've told the story in this site a while back) he protected me from a Dirty Great Big Brown Snake, that was in his bedding in his stall.  If it would have 'hit' me as many times as  it 'hit' him, I'd be dead as a door nail. Though, I did get thoroughly squished by the Big Old Goofball ,with his efforts to stay between me and the bloody snake. 

The dirt bike stuff is definitely small game compared to other aspects of their businesses. The quantity of stock they move is tiny, compared to other types of bikes. Honda is a good example with their Asian markets. Kawasaki HI's revenue is in the billions, however their dirt bike sales would be in the millions. It definitely is not a major component of their business, unlike say, KTM, who are very impacted by slow down in bike sales (and hence why they nearly went bankrupt).

Screw this thing. haha. A friend of mine said a CNC robot welder killed a guy at his shop a few years back. He was "zeroing" the tool head and was stupidly inside the safety cages. Long story short... he said it was insane. Like the guy wasnt even standing there. 

Hell I get nervous at Menards when those self driving floor cleaners get near me. haha. 

Just for fun:

I’m way more scared of the human driving the forklift in Menards than the robotic controlled floor cleaners.