Furion thinks the world needs a two-wheel drive MT-07 hybrid
French company Furion has revealed the F1 hybrid, an MT-07 adapted with two-wheel drive and a hybrid system.
A French engineering company is taking hybrid motorcycles seriously, with its latest bike, simply called the F1, also boasting a hub-centre driven front wheel - because, why not!
The driving-force behind the bike is Eversor hybrid technology, which is claimed to be able to recoup 27 per cent of the energy created during braking. That hub-mounted motor at the front wheel can generate a claimed 300 Nm (221 lb ft) under acceleration, and add around 20bhp to the bike's total power output. The real bonus of the system, though, is that when the rider slams on the brakes, that same motor becomes a generator, harnessing power and sending it to the battery.
And there is another bonus of this system, and it relates to the placement of the motor/generator. With most other bikes sending drive to the rear wheel and most of the braking power to the front, under hard braking, the weight on the rear is reduced. With that, the wheel’s ability to recover electricity, due to a reduction in grip, is also impeded. With this system, though, the grip at the generating end of the bike sees an increase in friction as the brake pressure rises.
This isn’t Furion’s first crack at a wild hybrid, as back in 2017, it announced the M1, a rotary-power naked with a hybrid drive system. That bike seemed to fizzle out before anything actually happened. Perhaps with the cost-effective MT-07 platform as its base, this new Furion F1 will have more luck!
Images: Furion / David Piolé
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!