Are you familiar with Komine? It’s a Japanese company that’s been around since 1947, when it started out making bicycle parts. In 1952, it moved into selling the new auxiliary bicycle engine kits that Honda had begun producing before moving into manufacturing its own motorcycles, as well as supplying engines to other manufacturers of the time.
The industry was booming, and similar to other countries where motorcycles took off as a means of transportation, there were seemingly tons of moto manufacturers for a short time. By 1957, though, the number of Japanese motorcycle manufacturers was quickly contracting. Some merged, some disappeared, and others transformed—like Komine.
Here in 2023 at the time of writing, Komine is still a vital part of the Japanese motorcycle industry—but it’s specialized in riding gear and accessories since the late ‘50s. That context is important to know before we show you Komine’s latest creation, which is called the KK-901 Turbo Fan Cooling Tank Bag. Summer 2023 has been a particularly hot one across a number of regions around the world, and Japan is no exception.
Gallery: Komine Turbo Cooling Fan Tank Bag
Thanks to the time difference, I’m writing this piece on August 3, 2023, but it’s currently 2 a.m. on Friday, August 4, 2023, in Tokyo. There’s an excessive heat warning for the area, as the day’s high temperature is expected to reach 37 degrees Celsius, or about 99 degrees Fahrenheit—and that’s not taking other factors like humidity into account.
Thus, the Komine turbo cooling fan-equipped tank bag. It’s not the type of tank bag that you can put a lot of items inside. Instead, it’s a small bag that holds the turbo fan, and also has a small pocket where you can tuck the optional battery pack that you can use to power it off the bike. It mounts on the tank of your motorcycle, and there’s an expandable-length accordion-type hose going from the bag to whatever item of clothing you want to stick it into.
By using an analog toggle switch, you can easily switch the fan on or off at will. The fan can be connected to your bike’s 12-volt battery using the same wiring harness that Komine also uses for its heated gear. So, if you already have some Komine heated gear that you like to use in the winter, there’s no need to purchase a separate wiring harness.
If you watch the video (in Japanese, but it’s subtitled in English), one of Komine’s developers explains how the company created it to help with traffic jams. When you’re riding your bike and the air is flowing over your body, it’s nice and refreshing—but when you’re stuck in traffic, the heat can be uncomfortable at best and dangerous at worst.
Using a fan system like this can cool you off by blowing air into your sweaty jacket, using evaporative cooling to lower your body temperature as your speed slows to a crawl during rush hour. Komine says that this product is patent pending and isn’t even in its 2023 product catalog because it’s so new. However, thanks to the oppressive heat this season, the company wanted to get it out and test it with real riders as soon as possible so it can gather comments and make improvements for future versions.
On the Komine website, the price is listed at ¥ 7,900, or about $55. With tax, it’s ¥ 8,690, or about $61. Add in the optional battery if you want to clip the turbo fan pack to your belt and walk around, and it’s another ¥ 3,850 including tax, or about $27.
Komine sells its goods in multiple regions including Australia, Chile, Turkey, and several countries across Asia. The pack is also listed for sale on Amazon Japan, although stock there is currently unavailable at the time of writing.
What do you think? One review on Amazon notes that it’s kind of loud when operating, which is kind of what I expected just looking at the thing. If you watch the video, you get to hear it run briefly toward the end, and it’s loud enough to drown out the voice of the guy making the video (although that could be due to microphone placement).
