Kawasaki has showcased its newest aerial vehicle, which happens to be powered by the 998cc supercharged inline-four engine you’d find in a Kawasaki H2R.
The H2R is quite a famous motorcycle, partly for it being supercharged, and partly for the numbers that it generates - 326bhp being the headliner.
That’s quite astounding power for a motorcycle, but what about a helicopter, or, more specifically, an unmanned helicopter?
Well, it’s enough to lift 200kg at sea level (or 100kg at 3,100m above sea level), as Kawasaki proves in its recent video showcasing the new vehicle, which does indeed look - at least to our non-expert eyes - rather helicopter-like. That means you could almost lift a… Kawasaki H2R, with an engine identical to its own. Or, you could take the H2R’s engine out, put it in the drone (named K-Racer-X2) and lift the remaining motorcycle with its own engine. Handy, if you come across a large hill with no roads, for example.
Using an inline-four motor certainly makes the K-Racer-X2 sound a bit different to the regular, everyday helicopter, although its constant running speed while in the drone does make it slightly less appealing. Perhaps the best place for a motorcycle engine is in a motorcycle, after all?
The K-Racer - which stands for Kawasaki Researching Autonomic Compound to Exceed Rotorcraft (which is obviously exceptionally catchy) - project was originally stated in 2021, with the basic idea of simplifying the logistics of bringing supplies to people in remote, mountainous regions, of which Japan has many. Range is an issue, currently, though - Kawasaki reckons the K-Racer-X2 has a sustained run time of about an hour.
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