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Computer renderings of concept bikes are two-a-penny these days, but this one deserves more attention than most. Metalback comes from a leading automotive designer called Jordan Meadows, and it’s an attempt to marry the ethos of the traditional café racer with contemporary green credentials. “The concept is powered by a v4 engine running on bio diesel,” says Meadows. “Its frame and skin are crafted from recycled aluminum. This has the advantage of saving weight to enhance performance, while reclaiming pre-used material. In the manufacturing process, the alloy is treated to patina and age naturally without expensive and harmful paint applications. The net effect is a raw natural surface which suits the classic cafe racer, and recalls the romance and power of vintage WW2 fighter planes.” It’s an interesting approach and Meadows has the history to back it up: until last year he was Design Manager at Mazda’s North American Design Center, and his CV includes stints Volkwagen, Chrysler/Jeep and Ford. The big question is whether a mainstream motorcycle manufacturer would be prepared to go down this road—and is the public prepared to buy into it? [Image © Jordan Meadows Design.]
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My folks live in England, and—like most people in Western Europe—they’ve spent the past few weeks buried under snow and ice in the most vicious winter for decades. Which led me to thinking about all the motorcycles locked up in garages and sheds, waiting for the roads to clear and tires to find grip. So when I happened across this extraordinary machine from TGS in Germany, I had to feature it. The bike was built by TGS’ owner Tobias Guckel for Sepp Schmidt, hence the name ‘Seppster’. And those huge Avon Cobra tires each have 120 spikes for maximum purchase on ice … Of course, it’s not an entirely practical bike, unlike the hugely popular ice speedway racers of Europe, but it’s a very interesting alternative to the usual ‘Hot Wheels’ style choppers. Power comes from a turbocharged S&S 93-ci motor, but virtually every other part of this machine was built in-house by TGS, from the radical single-sided front fork to the rigid frame and wheels. This bike came third at the 2008 World Championship of Bike Building; like Hot Dock’s StG Nautilus, it was overshadowed by Roger Goldammer’s paradigm-shifting ‘Goldmember’. In any other year, Ice Racer would have grabbed the spotlight, and rightly so.
Read More...Indian was the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world during the early part of the 20th century, and the "Indian" brand was America's oldest motorcycle company, until its demise in 2003.
The company built its first production motorcycle in 1904, the diamond framed "Indian Single." The engine for the Indian Single was built by Aurora in Illinois. The Indian Single's deep red color became a signature of the brand. The single-cylinder motor was modeled after the de Dion-Bouton vélocipède engine, which produced 1.75-horsepower. The Indian Single could reach a top speed of 25 miles per hour.
Indian built its first V-twin engine in 1907. In 1916, Indian added the so-called "Powerplus" 1000 cc engine, which was a side-valve, 42 degree v-twin that was capable of a 60 mph top speed.
Specification
length(mm) 735(835)
wide(mm) 1,025(1,495)
hright(mm) 1,200
displacement(cm3) 49
engine water cooled 4 stroke single cylinder
Honda Zoomer Wallpaper 
Honda Zoomer Picture
Special groove and the line itself does not irregular, but most are given the concept of minimalism with an additional flash as prinstrip indentation in the middle.
The best paint finishing election as any supporting Spieshecker final performance. Bright, cheerful and not monotonous. .: Punk / rob / neo
Brush spek
SOK DPN: Variations, discs DPN; Ninja Double disc, KALIPER / MASTER: RRSS / Standard, SOK BLK; Daytona, BLK discs: Ninja, MASTER / KALIPER: Nissin, a rim DPN / BLK; Bunbon 17, DPN BAN / BLK; Slick 50/90-17, filter: Koso, exhaust: CLD Racing. CAT / CLEAR: Spieshecker, BRUSHER: Wito Airbrush, modifier: CM57.
The images are the concept of the Moto-Terminator, which shows a Terminator bot riding a motorcycle, the Ducati Hypermotard.
eCycle, Inc. and Machineart have collaborated on the design of a new hybrid motorcycle
The Concept eCycle is a series hybrid featuring the eCycle SolidSlot? brushless motor/generator that can be used with variety of small displacement gas and diesel engines. The motorcycle operates much like a hybrid automobile in which both the engine and electric motor operate efficiently together. The electric motor is used for torque demands such as acceleration and passing and the gas or diesel motor for cruising and charging the batteries. It can be programmed for all electric operation for limited distances.
The purpose of the eCycle’s Concept program is to demonstrate eCycle’s
Concept Design Goals:
1. Showcase the eCycle PLATFORM. The platform is the product, designed to be rational, rideable, and beautiful in its naked state.
2. Excite potential customers by designing complete vehicle variations showing PLATFORM design possibilities.
3. Visually express “Hybrid Technology”.
Industrial Design:
Performance
Specifications
* The front suspension is a single-sided swing arm design matched perfectly to the aluminum monocoque frame.
* The chassis is asymmetrical
* eCycle’s hybrid powertrain ideally lends itself to a forkless, single-sided front suspension.
* A SolidSlot? brushless motor/generator provides electric power - 42VDC up to 400A
* A wide range of engines is possible
* The battery bank consists of three 12 volt cells
* The Wheels are 16 x 3, CNC precision machined from pressure cast aluminum blanks manufactured by All American Wheel.
* The front brake is an inside-out rotor with an opposed piston caliper with Performance Friction pads and is integrated with the front suspension upright.
* The rear brake consists of a single-piston caliper with a floating rotor and Performance Friction brake pads
* The tires are Pirelli MT75; the front is 100/80-16 and the rear 120/80-16
* The 2 speed transmission designed by eCycle
* The final drive is Gates Polychain 30/71
* The fuel tank capacity is .90 gallons
* Front suspension is torsion complemented by a coil-over adjustable Penske Racing Shock
* The rear suspension is a coil-over adjustable Penske Racing Shock
* The wheelbase is 50 inches
* Fully programmable vehicle management system
* Weight is 220lbs (100kg)
What if technology had taken a different path? What if the steam powered technology of the Victorian era had continued on to the present day, offering up the same devices we use but with the metal, gears and wheels prevalent in those early machines? That's the idea behind steampunk, current day tech with a steam era look.
Because of the current high interest in steampunk, quite a few artists and craftsmen have built or modified everything from computers to wristwatches with a vintage sci-fi appearance. They're pretty neat, too, but I haven't seen many motorcycles that would fit the steampunk category, some come close, maybe, but more by chance than purpose.
The Bobster trike shown above has strong hints of it, something I didn't think about until I saw a few others comment and I would have to agree. Brass and copper are a strong design cue. Some point to the Confederate Wraith and when you step back for a second, yep, it has it too.
The Hubbard Steamcycle goes without saying, if you actually use steam power, you have ten points to begin with, add a little copper and brass and you're in.
The interesting machine on the right started as a drawing in a biker comic and the artist's brother thought it was so neat he decided to bring it to life. It doesn't actually run on steam but it looks like it should.
The single engine cylinder is from a tractor and it displaces 1440cc, think about what that sounds like! Tires and wheels are from a Ford Model A. The wooden fork is made of ash with forged iron strapping plus there's a shovel for a seat. Practical? Are you kidding? Cool? Of course.
There are other examples floating around out there, I only tossed out a few, but I think any design that focuses on the mechanical with a few added gears and wheels plus some brass and copper is pretty neat. Steampunk is all about the design and very little concerned with added (or lost) function but some of it would be neat if it worked half as well as you wish it would.
What are some of your favorites?
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Remember "The Machine" from Fusion Motorcycles? Well, Will Thibeault has been hard at work on something a lot of you may find interesting, he's designed a conversion kit that will transform your donor Buell into a custom with killer looks.
Will's kit uses a billet T6 aluminum bolt together frame with a built in oil tank, a 60 inch wheelbase and 33 degrees of rake. The Buell Thunderstorm motor, Buell forks, Buell six piston caliper and Buell rear caliper, all come from the donor bike.
The bike shown in these photos is for a customer with a lot of custom touches, a hard carbon fiber seat (customer request, Will prefers padded), Piaa head lights..same as he used on The Machine, Will's own stainless pipes and Fusion Motorcycles billet 18" wheels, 240 on the rear and 130 up front. Rear turn signals are LED.
According to Will:
The future bikes will have front and rear carbon fenders, and will be totally road legal. The Frame kits will include: frame, seat, rear shock, swing arm, oil tank, and gas tank for $4,500. For less than $10,000 a person can build their own w/ the purchase of a donor Buell. We will build the complete bike "road legal" for $19,500 and there are always the options of whatever you could think of i.e. carbon wheel, S&S motors, front ends and Ti frames
There are quite a few guys building choppers and all sorts of bikes from Buell parts and pieces but, in my opinion, this kit has just the right look. There seems to be a Confederate Hellcat influence, which is a good thing since I like the Hellcat, but overall, for the money, I don't see how you could go wrong here. Anyone with a Buell who is thinking about getting another bike, might want to consider this kit first, you get a completely different look and you already own half of the necessary parts. I like this, a lot. I have to think a lot of guys are going to start looking for a good used Buell and making a bit of work room in their garage. Nice work, Will!
UPDATE: Will Thibeault has added a few comments below about his kit
UPDATE 2: Will just let me know that the kit will not be ready until sometime in 2009. He is redesigning some parts and he is going to thoroughly test everything before offering the kits for sale.
More photos and link below:
One of the comments on yesterday's post about the V4 custom mentioned the Twindian, a twin engine 1916 Indian. One look at this and I agree, it's far better looking and shows the kind of cool work they were doing a long time ago.
According to the story on the site, the Twindian was built sometime in the 1920s by Bill Arnold who joined two 61 cubic inch 1916 PowerPlus engines together to make the V4. He also widened the gas and oil tank to provide for the extra engine. Evidently, the bike ran fine and he used it for quite a while before finally parking it. Bill passed away in 1985 and his widow had to find a place for his many mechanical treasures and it was entrusted to Doug King who had it restored to its present condition. The "before" photos on the site show how much work they had to do and it looks like they did a great job.
Even with all of the interest in old motorcycles you have to wonder how many treasures like this are sitting in old barns somewhere, waiting to be discovered.
Thanks for the pointer, Willie!
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One year after Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Confederate Motorcycle Company, Confederate has re-emerged with a new website to display their newly reborn company and their lineup of unique machines, the Hellcat F131, the Wraith B120 and the brand new Renovatio Project.
If there was any doubt Confederate was alive and moving forward with innovative design, the Renovatio should put those doubts to rest. Based around a 90 degree 101 cubic inch water cooled V-Twin, either 150hp normally aspirated or 190hp with optional supercharger, the Renovatio Project is constructed of carbon fiber and aluminum and points the way to a future design as striking as the Wraith was just a few short years ago.
My personal favorite, the Hellcat, though still in production will not remain so indefinitely, in fact, only 48 more will be produced for sale before the run ends forever in October 2007, after which Confederate will be fully transitioned to their new platforms. But the Wraith, too, will not be produced forever, Confederate is not a mass maker of motorcycles but a company producing machines of the highest quality and innovative engineering. Beautiful bikes, V-Twin power, welcome back!
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Check out the attention to detail on this custom bike by Blue Flame Alley. Via Street Anatomy.
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