Late last year, I covered an apparent leaked patent filed by CFMoto for a seatbelt setup holding riders on motorcycles. It raised quite a few keen eyebrows in the motorcycle community, and for good reason. Now, it looks like the first-ever motorcycle with a seatbelt might be just around the corner.
CFMoto recently revealed images of its new sportbike, the 750SR-R model. The inline-four-powered motorcycle will sit between the Chinese company's new 1000cc V4 motorcycle and the 650SR-R.
But what of it? Well, the render showed what looks like a seatbelt strap on the motorcycle. It may well be a strap for the pillion to hold onto, but upon closer examination, it also looks to fit in nicely with the patent that CFMoto filed last year!
The patent, which can be found here, highlights the design concept from CFMoto, clearly suggesting that it is some kind of a restraint system. What it doesn’t look like is a sort of a grab handle for the pillion as otherwise suggested. Plus, I don’t understand why a sportbike would come with a grab handle strap… for the passenger.
Compare this to the photo and you'll see a similar-looking strap comfortably resting on the back of the rider's seat, just in front of the elevated pillion seat. Sure, it's not the highest resolution render we've seen, but it still provides enough information to decipher some reasonable details.
If it is indeed a seatbelt, what I don't get is how it will fit the waist of an average American rider. But then maybe it is partially concealed behind the seat. If that's the case wouldn't that negate the whole act of fastening a seatbelt? Oh, by the way, there doesn't appear to be a buckle either... at least not one that is visible.
Although it wasn't specified on which type of motorcycle CFMoto is planning on installing the belt thingy, a sportbike would probably make the least sense of all. Primarily because one would tend to move around a lot on a sportbike, especially during cornering.
As for the sportbike, test mules of the 750SS have been spotted in China for a long while in near-final states, with the production model likely to be released in the coming months. It is based on a new inline-four engine that looks to be built on the 675cc triple in the 675SS. The bike weighs a rumored 470 lb (213 kg) – with gas – and delivers around 110 horsepower, enabling it to reach a top speed of 143 mph (230 km/h).
Although the idea of a seatbelt on a motorcycle is an intriguing concept and one that you might defend in terms of enhancing safety, there are other reasons why it makes perfect sense not to be tethered to your bike in the event of a serious collision.
I don't know if you've ever been in a bike crash. But I have, and I was thankful I didn't have 400 pounds attached to my waste as I slid down the tarmac.
If it is indeed what it seems like, a possible simple release system in situations where it would be safer to be thrown off the motorcycle would likely follow. Or maybe, as Ben Purvis from CycleWorld suggests, it might only be intended to work in the case of a direct frontal hit to prevent the rider from being thrown forward.
If that's the case, it might well turn out to be similar to the airbag design found on Honda's Gold Wing, which functions in head-on collisions and is shaped to try to keep the rider in the proper position in those circumstances rather than to limit their movement or prevent them from leaving the bike in other kinds of collisions.
Source: CFMoto via CycleWorld