Automobiles have evolved exponentially under mankind’s supervision. Every now and then a new technology pops up in the industry making the vehicles smarter and powerful. The number of patents filed in the automobile sector is millions in number. Ultimately all the patented parts and designs have yielded better performance. The internal combustion engine has undergone many changes since its inception and the biggest changes include direct fuel injection, electronic injectors, turbochargers, valvetronics, etc.
Almost all the cars in today’s market are equipped with these. Turbocharger/supercharger is an important part of an engine which helps to boost the power by 15-30 % approximately. Now days hardly any vehicle uses superchargers as all of them follow turbocharging theory. The idea to use a turbocharger is to yield more power from the engine without increasing its size and also to meet emission norms.
We have seen bikes equipped with a car engine namely Dodge Tomahawk which produces 500 HP and a bike with turbo-shaft engine named as Y2K Turbine Superbike with 320 HP. Now these bikes aren’t street illegal hence can be used only on tracks or private land. Apart from this, enthusiasts fit turbochargers to superbikes like the Suzuki Hayabusa unleashing massive power but according to the rule books even these bikes are considered as illegal. Till date the two-wheeler market has waited for a motorcycle company to come up with a production version of a turbocharged/supercharged engine making it street legal and now we can say that the wait is over.
No wonder that Kawasaki has broken the shackles and has come up with the first version of a supercharged engine that can be used on a bike. Kawasaki Heavy Industries which deals with aerospace and industrial sector has admitted working on this for quite some time. Kawasaki already had a street legal turbocharged bike named as Kawasaki GPZ750 Turbo but that seized production in 1985. The company wanted to come out with something new and they ended up with a new supercharged engine. The forced induction of air is carried out by a supercharger which runs on the timing belt of the engine.
At the on-going 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, Kawasaki has unveiled a supercharged engine which is likely to be a 1000cc unit. This supercharged motor might power the next generation Ninja ZX-14R. The present ZX-14R has a 1352cc engine which produces 200 BHP of power and the forced-fed motor could output as much as 220 BHP. More than power, it’s the efficiency which the company is after. Details are still sketchy and the guys in green are expected to reveal more in the coming days. Let the supercharged times roll.
Meanwhile enjoy the pictures we snapped at the Kawasaki stall at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show.
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