– CRF250 Adventure Motorcycle Coming for 2017? Patent Documents say it might be in the near future… –
If you haven’t seen the CRF250 Rally concept motorcycle that Honda started showing off at all of the motorcycle shows back in 2015, Click Here to check it out. It’s gotten a lot of people excited at the idea of Honda’s CRF250L dual-sport motorcycle turned into more of an “adventure” bike. Honda has not only recently filed trademarks for the name “CRF250 Rally” but they have also as of last week published a few more patents on some of the features around the CRF250 Rally (CRF250LR).
Could all of this mean that the CRF250 Rally is edging even closer to production than ever before? Could we see this new 2017 motorcycle officially released and unveiled on October 4th during the Intermot show or EICMA? Only time will tell but my money is betting on that will be when Honda unveils this gem. Honda wouldn’t be going through the hassle of filing trademarks on its name and also filing all of these patents if they didn’t plan on doing something with it. Also, it’s an easy model to bring to production as the frame, engine, suspension are already there and tried-and-true so all they’ve got to do is add a few goodies on it and BAM we’ve got another new motorcycle to add tot he 2017 model lineup.
What do you guys think?
Here are all of the details regarding these patent documents that were just filed last week on September 15, 2016…
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a body cover structure for a straddle type vehicle and particularly, to the structure capable of ensuring an arrangement space of a relatively large electrical component.
2. Description of Related Art
There is disclosed a structure in which, in a two-wheeled motorcycle as an example of straddle type vehicle, a vehicle body cover located in front of driver’s legs swells in the lateral direction of a vehicle and an exhaust pipe is arranged in the vehicle body cover. Japanese patent No. 4,294,180 is considered to be a prior art reference.
By the way, in an off road vehicle having a cradle type vehicle body frame, a tank shroud is provided as a vehicle body cover, but there is not provided the body cover which covers an exhaust pipe. However, there may be cases where the off road vehicle is equipped with a fuel injection device, an ABS unit or the like. In this case, also in the off road vehicle, it is desired to have an electric component arranged in front of the driver’s legs. Accordingly, it is required that in such off road vehicle, the body cover is formed in an optimum shape which allows the electrical component to be arranged therein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve the above-noted issues, according to a first feature of the present invention, there is provided a body cover structure of a straddle type vehicle having a cradle type vehicle body frame that includes a head pipe, left and right main frames extending rearwardly from the head pipe, left and right pivot frames, which are connected to rear parts of the main frames and extend downwardly so as to be provided with a pivot shaft, a down frame extending downwardly from the head pipe, and left and right lower frames that are connected to a lower part of the down frame and extend rearwardly so as to be connected to lower parts of the pivot frames, an engine supported below the main frame and in front of the pivot frames, a fuel tank supported on the left and right main frames above the engine, a seat supported at a rear of the fuel tank, and a vehicle body cover for covering a lateral part of the vehicle body. The body cover includes left and right tank shroud sections that are arranged so as to extend forwardly from the fuel tank so as to take in traveling air to cool the engine, and a side cover section that is provided with a swelling portion swelling laterally from the tank shroud below the fuel tank so as to cover at least a part of the lower frames in a swelling fashion and has an apex of the swelling portion located in a cradle of the vehicle body frame in a side view. An exhaust pipe and an electrical component are arranged separately on the left and right sides of the vehicle body in an inside space of the swelling portion.
According to the first feature of the present invention, since the exhaust pipe and the electrical component are arranged separately on the left and right sides of the vehicle body in the inside space of the side cover section, the electrical component can be arranged so as not to be influenced by the heat of the exhaust pipe. Moreover, they are located within the side cover below the thank shroud, so that it is possible to lower a center of gravity of the vehicle. In addition, since the apex of the swelling portion is located in a cradle of the vehicle body frame, the electrical component can be supported on and protected by the vehicle body frame, or a stay or a protection member supported by the vehicle body frame.
According to a second feature of the present invention, a radiator is arranged at least on the same side of the electrical component within the left and right tank shroud sections, and the engine includes a cylinder section and a crankcase section extending outwardly in the left and right directions below the cylinder section. The apex is located on a lateral side of the cylinder section and at the rear of the radiator, and an air outlet port is formed in either one or both of the left and right tank shroud sections and the side cover section and located at the rear of the radiator on the upper side of the apex.
According to the second feature of the present invention, since the apex is located on the lateral side of the cylinder section, a space in the vehicle width direction can be increased. Moreover, since the apex is arranged rearwardly of the radiator, a space located at the rear of the radiator can be increased to thereby make it easy to introduce the fresh air into or around the radiator, so that cooling efficiency can be improved.
According to a third feature of the present invention, the side cover section is arranged at the rear of the tank shroud section so as to cover the main frames and the cylinder section from lateral sides and is provided with the apex, and an under cover section is connected to a front part of the side cover section and a lower part of the tank shroud section. The tank shroud section, the side cover section and the under cover section are formed as separate components from each other.
According to the third feature of the present invention, since the tank shroud section, the side cover section and the under cover section are formed as separate components from each other, each of these components can be replaced separately. Therefore, when the side cover section having the swelling portion, which is relatively subject to damage, is damaged, only the side cover section has to be replaced, whereby the cost of replacement parts can be reduced.
According to a fourth feature of the present invention, the electrical component is a fuel pump arranged on an outside of the fuel tank, and fuel piping is arranged between the fuel pump and the fuel tank. The under cover section is configured to cover a front part of the lower frame and at least a portion of a lateral part of the fuel tank in a side view.
According to the fourth feature of the present invention, since the fuel pump to be attached externally is arranged within the side cover section and the fuel piping is covered with the side cover section so as to be made invisible from outside, the external appearance can be improved while protecting the fuel piping.
According to a fifth feature of the present invention, the fuel pump is a cylindrical member having an upper end surface connected to the fuel piping for feeding fuel. The fuel pump is arranged so as to be inclined such that an upper end portion is located on an inward side of the vehicle body and a lower end portion is located on an outward side of the vehicle body.
According to the fifth feature of the present invention, since the fuel pump is formed in a cylindrical shape having the upper end surface connected to the fuel piping for feeding the fuel, and the upper end portion is configured to be inclined toward an inside of the vehicle body, the fuel piping can be directed to a center of the vehicle body so as to be connected to the fuel tank located in the center of the vehicle body, whereby the fuel piping can be shortened.
According to a sixth feature of the present invention, the fuel pump is a cylindrical member having an upper end surface connected to fuel discharge piping for discharging the fuel to a fuel injection device. The fuel pump is arranged such that on the lateral side of the cylinder section, the upper end portion is located toward the rear of the vehicle body and the lower end portion is located toward the front of the vehicle body, and the fuel injection device is arranged at the rear of the cylinder section so as to inject the fuel into an intake port, which is provided on a back side of the cylinder section.
According to the sixth feature of the present invention, the fuel pump is the cylindrical member that has the upper end surface connected to the fuel discharge piping for discharging the fuel to the fuel injection device. The fuel pump is arranged such that on the lateral side of the cylinder section, the upper end portion is located toward the rear of the vehicle body and the lower end portion is located toward the front of the vehicle body. Therefore, the fuel discharge piping can be connected at a short distance to the fuel injection device arranged at the rear of the cylinder section. As a result, the fuel discharge piping can be shortened. In addition, since the fuel pump is not installed in an interior of the fuel tank but arranged in an exterior thereof, a capacity of the fuel tank can be increased accordingly so as to be made larger in size without exerting an influence on an external appearance of the fuel tank.
According to a seventh feature of the present invention, the electrical component is an ABS unit that controls a brake for a front wheel and a rear wheel.
According to the seventh feature of the present invention, since the ABS unit having heavy weight is arranged between the front wheel and the rear wheel on the lateral side of the engine, the mass can be concentrated while shortening oil pressure piping.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and further features of the invention will be apparent with reference to the description and drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a left side view of an off road vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a front view of the above vehicle;
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a front part of the above vehicle;
FIG. 4 is a right side view of a front body cover part of the above vehicle;
FIG. 5 is an exploded view of each component part of the front body cover;
FIG. 6 is across sectional view taken on line 6–6 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on line 7–7 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view taken on line 8–8 of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 9 is a left side view of the front body cover.
Just my personal opinion but if the shrouds extend past the fork tubes then the headlight should be non-pivoting.