Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Kozo Yamada

Tomohisa Abe

Akio Handa

Yutaka Murata

Yosuke Hoi

Yuji Maki

Tatsuo Masuda

Hitoshi Furuhashi

Hideo Yanai

Yasuhiro Ohba

Hiroyuki Kido

Azusa Noda

Yoshikazu Washizawa

Toru Iiizumi

Yoji Matsuyama

Hisahiro Komori

Seiichi Matsui

Shoji Okumura

To provide a swing arm structure capable of suppressing the required rigidity of a cross member to a low level to reduce the weight of the cross member. In a swing arm structure, a swing arm includes a pair of left and right arm bodies with a cross member spanning therebetween. Ends of the swing arm suspend rear wheels. A rear wheel-driving rear drive shaft, connected to a rear final reduction gear unit, is placed above the cross member. As viewed laterally, the cross member is contained within the profile of each arm body and is formed to be trapezoidal in section such that its bottom portion is broader than its upper portion.

Swing arm part structure

A snowmobile provided with skis and being steerable by a steering shaft, and being provided with a silencer on the front side of an engine. The steering shaft passes between the engine and the silencer and overlaps the silencer in side view. Flat step floors for a rider's feet are provided on lateral sides of a lower portion of a seat. Step bars for enabling positioning of the rider's feet are provided at front portions of the step floors. The step bars are each provided on the rear side relative to the step floor tip end and within 350 mm from a track belt drive shaft which is provided on the rear side of the engine. The resulting configuration of the snowmobile makes it possible to lay out the silencer close to the engine, affords excellent turning performance, and provides step floors for good foot holding properties.

Snowmobile

A snowmobile includes a seat for the rider behind an engine and an air cleaner, and an elongate fuel tank below the seat. The height of the ceiling of the fuel tank at a location corresponding to the rider seating position is lower than the height of the ceiling of the fuel tank at other portions thereof. A raised ceiling portion is provided in the fuel tank by raising upwards the front side of the fuel tank. A fuel pump is provided in the raised ceiling portion of the fuel tank. The fuel pump is attached to the ceiling of the fuel tank, and a fuel supply pipe for supplying fuel from the fuel tank resides between the fuel pump and the front side of the fuel tank. The snowmobile having such fuel tank stabilizes vehicle body during operation, enhances the seating comfort, and easily incorporates a fuel pump therein.

Snowmobile with improved fuel tank structure

A snowmobile comprises a left-right pair of skis, an engine and a track belt provided on a vehicle body. The track belt is driven by the engine, and the skis are steered by an operation on a steering handlebar. The vehicle body frame is formed by connecting intermediate frame sections, which are U-shaped in side view, to a front portion of a rear frame section, the rear frame section having a roughly U-shaped section and connecting a front frame section to front portions of the intermediate frame sections. In the vehicle body frame, detachable side frame sections are used to connect the portions between the upper ends of front suspension members for supporting the skis and a front portion of a rear cushion for supporting the track belt. The reinforcing side frame sections include portions which are protuberant to the upper side and curved downwards, respectively. The resulting snowmobile frame structure is rigid enough to accommodate an engine of increased weight.

Snowmobile with reinforced frame structure for improved engine support

An improved snowmobile component layout structure includes an engine provided at front portion of the vehicle body, a cylinder head of the engine is inclined by an angle &#x3b8; rearwards from a vertical axis, a steering shaft extends forwardly of the engine, and an air intake system, including an air cleaner, is provided at the rear side of the engine. In addition, a rider seat is provided on the rear side of the engine, and an elongated fuel tank is provided below the seat. The air cleaner has an improved disposition between the fuel tank and the engine. The inventive configuration narrows the spacing between an engine and a rider and concentrates mass to enhance turning performance.

Snowmobile with improved air intake structure

An improved component layout in a snowmobile includes a muffler is disposed on the front side of an engine, and a lower portion of a steering shaft extends between the muffler and the engine. The engine is disposed rearwardly of the lower portion of the steering shaft. In other words, the steering shaft lower portion is disposed on the front side of the engine, whereby the engine is easily relocated rearwards with respect to the vehicle body so as to concentrate the center of mass at a central location of the vehicle body.

Snowmobile with improved component layout

In a four-wheeled buggy which has a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels and a seat arranged around the middle of the vehicle to enable the rider to operate the vehicle in a sitting posture thereon, a pair of right and left main frames are two-dimensionally bent upwardly at the forward sections thereof and adapted to support at the front ends thereof a front wheel axle so as to prevent a front wheel driving device from hitting ground. The rearward sections of the main frames extend horizontally rearwardly to define a lowermost height from ground and are adapted to support a power unit behind the seat close to the rear wheels so as to obtain mass concentration.

Four-wheeled buggy

A four-wheel all-terrain vehicle including an engine cooling system for cooling an engine mounted centrally on a frame. The engine cooling system is mounted to the frame and has a cooling fan positioned contiguously and forwardly of the engine and an oil cooler positioned contiguously and forwardly of the lower half section of the cooling fan. The frame has a head pipe inclined rearwardly, and an axis about which the cooling fan is rotated extends at right angles to the axis of the head pipe. The upper half section of the cooling fan is located to face a cylinder head of the engine to cool the same.

Engine cooling system for four-wheel all-terrain vehicle

A headlight assembly mounting a headlight to a vehicle by means of resilient blocks such that the headlight and associated headlight frame may be detached. An electrical cord is associated with the headlight such that the headlight may be moved some distance from the vehicle. The cord has a preset coil and extends to a container which easily receives the cord with the light in position on the vehicle. An electrical case provides for electrical connection of the hedlight cord and other associated electrical components. The container may be fixed adjacent to the electrical case with both being fixed to the vehicle.

Headlight device for a vehicle

Driving wheel supporting system

An air intake passage formed inside a main pipe which constitutes a portion of a body frame of a vehicle. An air chamber which provides communication between the air intake passage and an air cleaner is formed by utilizing the inside of a gusset which is provided to reinforce the connection between the main pipe and a pair of center pipes extending rearwardly from the main pipe on the right and left sides, respectively.

Air intake apparatus for vehicle

A three-wheeled motor vehicle has a container for clothes and other things that is supported between a pair of channel-shaped bars extending rearwardly from the vehicle frame between a pair of rear wheels. The container has a pair of front resilient rollers disposed laterally thereof and fitted in a pair of respective channels fixed to and disposed in the channel-shaped bars, and a pair of rear resilient rollers fitted in the channel-shaped bars. The front resilient rollers are retained against forward movement by front vertical portions of the channels. The rear resilient rollers are retained against rearward movement by stop plates on a U-shaped guard fastened to the channel-shaped bars. The container is stably supported on the bars by the resilient rollers against vibrations and impacts.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Kozo Yamada