Let's all gather around and laugh depressingly at what Kawasaki has just created for us. "Ninja 7"

[an-guy]

https://www.kawasaki.eu/en/Motorcycles/EV_HEV/Ninja_7_Hybrid.html

Yes, it's a hybrid. It's a similar setup to the Toyota Prius (which, other than the CVT, is fine). It can go about 30 mph without the gas engine. It's also an okay looking bike. Other than being 500LBs, I imagine not having a clutch and being fully automatic will be enticing to people who don't really know how to use a clutch and gearbox and just want to ride around in the city. Just like the BMW CE-04.

That's...all the nice things I really have to say about it.

It's like Kawasaki saw the CE-04 sit on dealer floors for 8-12 months, and thought to themselves, "We're about to make that look like a sales phenomenon".

- $12,499 before add ons (dealers are adding 1000$+ around me). The Ninja 650 is faster at $7,999.....
- Not a 700 like the "7" suggests, or one of my local dealers straight up told me to my face. It's a 453cc motor out of the $5400 Ninja 500.
- It makes 58hp. Kawasaki has the gall to call it "1000cc instant acceleration" but I don't personally know a single person bad enough at working a clutch to make that a realistic statement. Kawasaki doesn't list a single speed performance spec. No 0-60 or 1/4 or 1/8 mile. No publication has also listed one (come on, it's what we all want to know) so I am pretty sure they're not allowed to share those details.
- The fact that they took a 370lb Ninja 500, and added 130lbs to it. (It weighs a little over 500lbs. The same as my BMW GS!)
- No manual option. It's either automatic, or push button shift, like the old AE FJRs
- Kawasaki claims it gets 77 mpg, though real world testing resulted in 55-60 mpg. AKA, the same mpg as my first, least enjoyed Ninja 400, and barely better than my GS, my friends tracer 900, and so on... (50~ mpg)

I think this idea could have worked, if instead of taking the cheapest and so/so street bike Kawasaki makes, the Ninja 500, Kawasaki took the Concours or Ninja 1000 and gave it all of this same treatment, except for the nearly 3X price increase. They can keep that part out.

A Concours 1400 (or FJR) that replaces some metal with plastic with modern electronics (the fancy TFT everyone has to have, that does the exact same thing the previous bikes display did) adds about 100LBs, loses the clutch, I could get behind this as long as they didn't add 25%+ to the price. The added weight wouldn't really be that big of a deal especially if the bike had reverse. Not having a clutch, and the bike could turn the engine off and run the radiator fans to keep the f---ing thing cooled off while in traffic. I also imagine the bike would have a decent generator to run a lot of heated gear in the wintertime. It would be a touring and commuter bike that would be exceptionally easy to get along with.

Is this bike living rent free in my head? Yes. Because I want Kawasaki to take this f--king bike and shove it back where they got it, and give the industry what we actually need. Make riding more accessible (affordable), or keep pushing the envelope of performance, or make the Versys a more competitive bike, or reintroduce a FJR/Goldwing competitor of a bike. Hell, dive head first and try to make an electric sport touring bike. Or get into the electric dual sport market. That would be awesome. I don't understand how Kawasaki saw several different viable paths in front of them, and just chose to veer off a cliff.

Take this $12,499 Ninja 400/500 and gtfo...

 

[Bionicpork]

Keep in mind you're not really the target audience for the Hybrid Ninja. There are many towns in Europe and Asia that are prohibiting gasoline powered vehicles inside the town, and they are much stricter on noise limits too. Motorcycles especially are having hard time meeting the emissions requirements. This bike was basically purpose built for those towns to allow you to cut the gas, enter the town on electric only, and ride right into the city center.

Get outside of the town and let it rip again.

Same reason they are building the all electric Ninja that can't really do U.S. highway speeds or U.S. distances. Getting some experience with electrification and giving people in restrictive riding environments options to keep riding.

 

[an-guy]

Keep in mind you're not really the target audience for the Hybrid Ninja. There are many towns in Europe and Asia that are prohibiting gasoline powered vehicles inside the town, and they are much stricter on noise limits too. Motorcycles especially are having hard time meeting the emissions requirements. This bike was basically purpose built for those towns to allow you to cut the gas, enter the town on electric only, and ride right into the city center.

Get outside of the town and let it rip again.

Same reason they are building the all electric Ninja that can't really do U.S. highway speeds or U.S. distances. Getting some experience with electrification and giving people in restrictive riding environments options to keep riding.

You're onto something, but Kawasaki is sending them to our dealers, and our dealers are genuinely regurgitating the same nearly false advertising. And not in a city, we're out here in the sticks, where gasoline vehicles can go anywhere. If it was just a Europe bike, I wouldn't really care and might not even know about it.

The two electric bikes they created weren't sold in the USA to my knowledge.

 

[RossKean]

I can't see a future for a purely electric motorcycle, especially for touring - at least until internal combustion engines are outlawed. (Might make an argument for an urban commuter.) The weight penalty (batteries) for useful range would be prohibitive for satisfactory performance. There is a possibility for a properly designed hybrid. Because of the exceptional power/torque for electric motors, performance in terms of acceleration can be impressive even with a gasoline engine that would normally be insufficient. This, of course, only applies to instantaneous performance - it might still suck if the intent is to do high-speed runs for significant distances. Not enough capacity in the batteries to augment the gas engine for extended periods at high output. We will see what the future brings in terms of battery technology, but I think it is unlikely that there will be enough improvement to make it work well. I'm not heading out on a 1000 km trip with the expectation of having to stop for a half hour or more every 200 km in order to charge the bike. Nor do I want to carry 200 kg of batteries to extend my range.

Reminds me of this joke:

A man walks into a bar carrying a heavy suitcase​

He sets the suitcase down and sits at the bar to catch his breath. He checks the time on his watch, then motions to the bartender and orders a water.
"Sure thing." says the bartender. As he's pouring the water, he notices the man's watch and says "Wow, that's a fancy watch you got there."
"Oh this?" the man replies, "It's packed with a bunch of cool technology. Not only can I search the web and make phone calls on it, but the coolest part is I can download movies on it. Plus it has a built-in 4K projector that will project the movie onto any flat surface, so you can watch any movie you want, wherever you want."
"Wow! That's amazing," the bartender says as he places the water in front of the man. "I bet it cost you a fortune."
The man takes a sip and replies, "It was $100."
"$100?!" the bartender exclaims, "You're joking. I would've guessed way more than that."
"No, in fact I'll sell it to you right now for $20 if you want."
"Done!" the bartender says excitedly, handing the man $20 without hesitation. The man gives the watch to the bartender who immediately puts it on and starts fiddling around with it on his wrist.
The man finishes the water, thanks the bartender, and turns to leave. As he's about to walk out the door, the bartender calls out, "Wait sir, you forgot your suitcase!"
The man replies, "Suitcase...? Oh! No, you'll need that. That's the battery."

 

[an-guy]

I can't see a future for a purely electric motorcycle, especially for touring - at least until internal combustion engines are outlawed. (Might make an argument for an urban commuter.) The weight penalty (batteries) for useful range would be prohibitive for satisfactory performance. There is a possibility for a properly designed hybrid. Because of the exceptional power/torque for electric motors, performance in terms of acceleration can be impressive even with a gasoline engine that would normally be insufficient. This, of course, only applies to instantaneous performance - it might still suck if the intent is to do high-speed runs for significant distances. Not enough capacity in the batteries to augment the gas engine for extended periods at high output. We will see what the future brings in terms of battery technology, but I think it is unlikely that there will be enough improvement to make it work well. I'm not heading out on a 1000 km trip with the expectation of having to stop for a half hour or more every 200 km in order to charge the bike. Nor do I want to carry 200 kg of batteries to extend my range.

Oh, as far as performance goes for the Ninja, you have to push a button every time you want to use the full power of the electric motor, and it only lasts for a couple seconds anyways. Electric only range is 7 miles. Bionicpork mentioned the bike being good to get into a city with electric only mode but I'm not sure you'd be able to do that on 7 miles.

Have you heard of the major US car manufacturers backpedaling on EVs? I believe the problem they're having right now is everyone who wants all of the pros and cons of an EV now has one. So, the sales went tumbling end over end. I honestly don't really think it's the future. I like the simplicity and lack of maintenance and cost to "refuel" (for now) but it's looking like by the time a car is 15 years old it will need a battery. Nobody is going to spend that, or if they are, those 15 year old cars will then cost what a 15 year old car would cost PLUS a 10-20,000$ service. I am quite concerned what that future will look like for the used vehicle market.

I'm more following Toyota and Honda's approach of hybrids and hydrogen vehicles. I think it's far more promising long term. My friend had a 230,000 mile Prius with the original battery. It was fine. It actually needed work, the freaking head gasket needed replaced. If that track record could be continued I wouldn't have much to complain about.

If in the future we somehow have such a huge revolution in battery technology that we can have a 500-600lb electric bike that does 300-400 miles on a charge, I wouldn't hate that. I think an electric dirtbike would still be very cool as well. Until that revolution happens...electric bikes really don't make sense for me. For one the current best electric bike able to tour at least a little is the Zero DSRX. It has a highway range of about 80 miles. Insufficient for my work trip... Other than that, and the 23k$ price tag, it looks pretty cool and would be fun to do some offroading with.

Before I sold it, I was thinking about converting my FJR to run on hydrogen somehow, then putting up some solar panels and a hydrogen generator. Talk about an excellent commuter bike then.

 

[Whooshka]

It's an attempt to get the tree huggers to like motorcycles. Manufacturers like to get their fingers into all the demographics even if all don't want it.

Why do you think Harley made the V-Rod? So sport/performance guys would buy one so they could say they ride a Harley too.

 

[SkooterG]

Have you heard of the major US car manufacturers backpedaling on EVs? I believe the problem they're having right now is everyone who wants all of the pros and cons of an EV now has one. So, the sales went tumbling end over end. I honestly don't really think it's the future.

That is not particularly accurate. You have to get past the limited BS the mainstream media gives you. EV sales are exploding. Relatively. Every quarter the year over year sales growth is expanding rapidly. EV sales are just not exploding like the government and manufacturers would have had you believe several years ago. Duh. Idiots. The trend is predicted to continue.....

Hydrogen is a non-starter. The fundamental problem (among other issues) with hydrogen that is not easy to overcome is the cost it takes to make hydrogen. It takes a lot of energy and $$$$ to create hydrogen from water. That is physics and no way around it. So hydrogen will not be economically viable for the masses vs. pure electric or fossil fuels anytime soon.

Hybrids are not bad. (have owned one since 2015) But they are not a complete solution. I like the idea of a Plug In Hybrid like the Prius Prime or RAV4 Prime but they are prohibitively expensive and relatively unobtanium. Even after being available for many years. For the price of a RAV4 Prime Plug In I would get a Tesla Model Y for about the same price.

Since I have owned a Prius for so long I understand the benefit of a hybird and how to drive one efficiently. I started using some of those techniques while riding my FJRs and BMW 1200GSA - Hyper miling my motos! Stupid is as Stupid does! That means primarily shutting down engine at lights, and also while coasting down hills and whatnot. It really makes a difference and feeds into my ADHD. I have gotten 52-58 mpg over a tank on the FJR in city riding compared to 42-47 normally. On the BMW I have got 65 mpg!!!! That over the entire tank - almost 8 gallons of fuel. Probably not very good on the starter and battery.........

In theory a hybrid moto is a cool idea. Hard to properly implement. Hybrid tech adds weight, volume, and complexity ($$$).

 

[RossKean]

Hydrogen is a non-starter. The fundamental problem (among other issues) with hydrogen that is not easy to overcome is the cost it takes to make hydrogen. It takes a lot of energy and $$$$ to create hydrogen from water. That is physics and no way around it. So hydrogen will not be economically viable for the masses vs. pure electric or fossil fuels anytime soon.

Other big hydrogen problem is storage. Very high pressure to get any amount of hydrogen on board and that means HEAVY steel tanks. Range still extremely limited - even if it didn't require more energy to produce.

 

[Onebohemian]

I think it is great when any of our classic motorcycle brands innovate in any way, taking chances to stay relevant to the upcoming generation of riders. Technology improvements--whether making sense or not to us old guys now--mean better things to come for a hobby which has brought me pleasure for the past forty-five years.

 

[Old Michael]

That is not particularly accurate....

Hahaha.
Incredible charity there, Skooter.