Honda bags patent for its combined brake system for two-wheelers

Introduced in 2009, Honda Activa was the first product launched with the combi brake system in India

Japanese auto major Honda Motor Company has bagged a patent for its invention related to its combined brake system for a motorcycle, which helps riders have better control over two-wheelers. The company has been offering the combi brake system (CBS), which is a method of applying the front and rear wheel brakes simultaneously through a single lever in two-wheelers. The method has been operational in Honda motorcycles in India for almost eight years now.

In the existing technology of interlocking brake device, the number of parts around a pedal is high, which makes the brake system complicated. On the other hand, the structure can be simplified by adopting a disc brake system that involves the hydraulic operation of the front wheel and rear wheel brakes. This particular method, however, pushes up the cost of production.

Honda's invention, thus, aims at providing a combined brake system for a motorcycle that can simplify the structure around a pedal, while adopting a hydraulic front wheel brake system and a mechanical rear wheel brake method.

The Patent Office had initially raised an objection stating that a person skilled in motorcycle-making is likely to arrive at the proposed invention for two-wheelers by taking inspiration from existing systems. The firm, however, argued against this saying that the existing hydraulically-actuated disc brakes are meant for both front and rear wheels. Whereas, the one proposed by Honda involves the use of a front disc brake along with a rear drum brake. 

Moreover, the objective of the invention is to provide a combined brake system for a motorcycle and simplify the structure around the pedal, it argued.

Taking such arguments into consideration, the Patent Office granted the patent to Honda, while observing that the objections raised in the hearing letter were met by the applying firm.

Honda2Wheelers India, on its website, states that the most efficient brake mechanism for motorcycles involves the simultaneous application of the front and rear brakes but the practice is not mastered by many two-wheeler riders. Whereas Honda's CBS offers its users a much simpler mechanism that allows riders to use both brakes using a single lever, thereby improving the stability of the motorbike, while applying brakes.

In India, Honda Activa was the first product launched with CBS in 2009 and, at present, more than 10 million customers are riding Honda CBS products, states the company.