CFMoto’s Camera-Based Active Suspension

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CFMoto is working on a new semi-active suspension system that utilizes a camera to add additional information to the computer for interpreting road conditions. (CFMoto/)

Electronically adjustable semi-active suspension is rapidly becoming a must-have feature for any motorcycle that’s targeting the higher end of the touring, adventure, and even sportbike  markets. Now CFMoto aspires to make an even more advanced version of the system that scans the road ahead and adjusts the suspension before you even get to a bump.

A newly published patent application, first filed back in 2022 but only made public now, explains how the company intends to use a front-facing camera to feed images of the road to a computer that can interpret them and adjust the suspension to suit, all in a fraction of a second. It’s an idea that’s already being used in cars. Mercedes first introduced a camera-based road-scanning system a decade ago with its “Magic Body Control” and “Road Surface Scan” features on high-end models, and as early as the 1980s Nissan offered a sonar-based adaptive suspension that used an ultrasonic sensor under a car’s nose to sense bumps or dips before the wheels reached them. On motorcycles, however, the semi-active suspension systems offered today tend to use stroke sensors in the suspension itself to monitor the distance and speed of suspension movements, feeding back to a computer that adjusts the damper settings to suit in real time.

CFMoto’s 1250 TR-G is a Chinese-market touring model powered by KTM-derived 1,279cc V-twin. (CFMoto/)

The new patent illustrates the active suspension setup on CFMoto’s range-topping, Chinese-market 1250 TR-G. Made in small numbers and mainly used by police, the 1250 TR-G is already something of a technological tour de force. Under its BMW-like styling lies a 1,279cc V-twin that CFMoto has developed as an evolution of the KTM LC8 engine. CFMoto and KTM are partners, with a joint venture in China to build KTM engines and complete bikes, with CFMoto borrowing the Austrian company’s engine designs for its 800 MT and 800 NK models as well as the 1250 TR-G. The existing version of the bike also has the biggest TFT instrument panel yet seen on a bike, coming in at 12.3 inches, with features including keyless start, tire-pressure monitoring, and built-in navigation. The bike already has a built-in radar system too.

The 1250 TR-G utilizes the largest TFT dash in production. (CFMoto/)

Although originally announced with WP semi-active suspension, as used on some KTMs, the current production TR-G uses non-active Marzocchi parts, having been mildly revised since it was first launched in 2020. But active suspension is clearly in the cards, as evidenced by the latest patent. The document explains that the planned system has “a shock absorber control system, which includes a camera” and goes on to say “the camera is used to capture the road surface information in front of the motorcycle and can transmit the information to the shock absorber controller.” Finally, it says: “The information controls the front and rear shock absorbers to adjust their respective shock damping.”

A view of the 1250 TR-G’s control pod. (CFMoto/)

Much of the patent application is dedicated to explaining the intricacies of the damping adjustment itself, including adjustable valves in the fork and an actuator in the rear shock that moves a piston inside the remote reservoir to change its volume and the pressure of the oil in the shock. However, it’s the use of a camera to “read” the road surface that really distinguishes the system from other systems. Since built-in cameras are already becoming increasingly widespread—particularly on bikes sold in the Chinese market—it’s a logical step to incorporate them into future adaptive-damping systems.

While the patent illustrates the system on the 1250 TR-G, there’s no reason that the same idea couldn’t be incorporated into other CFMoto models, including those that are offered in the USA, in the future.

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