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Comment by xeromal | Hacker News Reader

Wow! I never really imagined a market where a motorcycle needed a hybrid considering their gas mileage (Extra bad emissions though), but this bike seems like a wonderful idea. I bet the instantaneous torque would be something to behold too. Love the 3 mode concept too

I want to ride one.

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The gas mileage isn't actually higher than a regular motorcycle (*well some yeah but not by much). It seems mostly useful as a demonstration of the tech.

To be fair, this is Kawasaki we're talking about. Only company I know that's nuts enough to put out a 250cc inline 4 screamer in the ZX25R. Then also produce the H2 which has a supercharger with holes cut into it so that you can hear the chirping of the impeller blade tips exceeding the speed of sound and generating a small sonic boom.

Don't know of another large motorcycle company that's willing to try wonderfully silly things like this.

Yamaha Niken. Ducati also does some really cool stuff with their bike tech, but doesn't market it as much as the other brands, preferring their exotic brand image.

Wow that is cool to see!

When I was a learner the hot bike to have in Aus was a 90s MC22 CBR250RR, all the newer 250 "sports" bikes were sad single or parallel twins

I guess loud noises sell more bikes because the riders tend to be obnoxiously noisy assholes.

I'm only speaking from my own experience but my Suzuki VStrom has about a 5.5 Gallon tank and the Kawasaki hubrid has a 3.7 gallon tank and they both get about the same mileage so I think it still gets a better MPG.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_GT750

750cc liquid cooled two stroke.

The emissions are not really bad for modern motorcycles. It's not hard to get a Euro 5 certified one.

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