According to Motorcycle.com, Honda is working on a leaning three-wheeled vehicle.
The website made the claim after three patent applications were published by the Japanese patent office that showed Big Red has plans for a three-wheeler (one in back, two in front) that can lean into curves, same as Yamaha’s Tricity and Peugeot’s MP3.
Looking at the drawings, it appears Honda is planning to base their vehicle on a motorcycle platform, not a scooter (apparently an NC700-series chassis). This would make them the first manufacturer to do this to a motorcycle; other companies make three-wheelers, but they don’t have leaning technology, and most of these machines are just motorcycles with an extra wheel added in back – with varying degrees of sophistication and handling.
If Honda does pull this off successfully, we’d expect to see a 500 cc version as well.
The leaning trike may never make it to Honda showrooms, but given that the company seems unperturbed by the idea of producing motorized oddities (like the Vultus, or the DN01), it certainly wouldn’t shock us to see this happening sooner rather than later.
GALLERY
Check out all the pics that go with this story! Click on the main sized pic to transition to the next or just press play to show in a slideshow.
These guys are out of Washington state and hold the Bonneville land speed record for trikes for a converted Hayabusa. It’s a bolt on kit and turns your bike into a leaning three-wheeler:
http://www.tiltingmotorworks.com/