Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Keiji Kasa

Akio Handa

Eiji Hosoya

Akito Enokimoto

Makoto Ishiwatari

Kousei Mizumoto

Takerou Shibukawa

An off-road vehicle comprises a frame assembly constructed of a plurality of pipes including at least one lateral pipe extending horizontally and transversely of the vehicle, two front wheel suspensions having respective knuckle arms, two front wheels rotatably supported respectively on the front wheel suspensions, two rear wheels rotatably supported on lateral sides of a rear portion of the frame assembly, an engine mounted on the rear portion of the frame assembly for driving the rear wheels, and a steering mechanism having a steering column supporting a central steering arm on a lower end thereof and a central steering handle on an upper end thereof, and tie rods having first ends coupled to the central steering arm and second ends coupled to the knuckle arms, respectively. Also, the central steering arm is located upwardly of the lateral pipe of the frame assembly.

Off-road vehicle

An off-road vehicle has a hydraulic brake operating assembly mounted on a steering handle. The steering handle has a base, a rectangular handle portion integral with the base, and a cover covering the base. The brake operating assembly has a brake oil reservoir, two brake levers pivotally supported on lateral sides of the handle portion for braking front and rear wheels, respectively, and two brake master cylinders communicating with the brake oil reservoir through hoses and responsive to operation of the brake levers for generating hydraulic pressure. The brake oil reservoir is centrally fixedly mounted on the rectangular handle portion. The brake master cylinders are fixedly mounted respectively on the lateral sides of the handle portion.

An off-road vehicle comprises a vehicle frame, a pair of front wheels rotatably supported on a front portion of the vehicle frame, a pair of rear wheels rotatably supported on a rear portion of the vehicle frame, and a framework on each of lateral sides of the vehicle frame and including upper and lower pipes inclined upwardly in a forward direction and substantially parallel to each other. Each of the front wheels is rotatably mounted on the framework by means of a front wheel suspension mechanism comprising knuckle arm supporting the front wheel, a V-shaped upper arm having a base pivotally mounted on an upper portion of the knuckle arm and front and rear ends pivotally attached to the upper pipe at front and rear positions thereon, and a V-shaped lower arm having a base pivotally mounted on a lower portion of the knuckle arm and front and rear ends pivotally attached to the lower pipe at front and rear positons thereon. When the off-road vehicle thus constructed is viewed in side elevation, the distances from a vertical line passing through the center of the axle of the front wheel to the pivoted front ends of the V-shaped upper and lower arms are smaller than the distances from the vertical line to the pivoted rear ends of the V-shaped upper and lower arms.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Keiji Kasa