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motorcycle

Home Tag motorcycle
production motorcycles turn into icons but what about custom bikes?

production motorcycles turn into icons but what about custom bikes?

Feb 15, 2019

above/below > white falcon / ian barry / 2013 / unique

how can one-off machines compare to production models beloved by the masses? can we draw any conclusions looking at a few very exceptional motorcycles ? and if you’re more comfortable comparing another category of objects go ahead, the rules apply to anything:

[ the production objects ]
production motorcycles can be judged somewhat objectively: by their performance, innovation, their pedigree, their impact on the larger motorcycle world.

above> vincent black shadow / built 1948 – 55 / hunter s. thompson once remarked that “if you rode the black shadow at top speed for any length of time, you would almost certainly die.” the 50-degree v-twin was completely baked in black enamel and produced enough grunt to carry riders to 125 mph in an era where the 100 mph benchmark was barely attainable. the vincent employed extensive amounts of aluminum throughout, and its motor hung from the cross-bar, acting as a stressed member. this kept weight down to 450 pounds, which meant the vincent black shadow would balance a see-saw with contemporary 500cc singles. innovative front forks, a four-speed transmission and finned brakes at both front and rear rounded out a package widely regarded as the world’s first superbike.

above > harley-davidson xr750 street tracker / built 1970 – 79 / essentially a parts-bin special slapped together to meet changing ama dirt-track rules, the xr750 is an example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. after years of domination, harley’s racing department were forced to completely rethink their efforts for the 1970 season. so in under a year they did — and in doing so created the winningest race bike in the history of the ama. thankfully, homologation rules stipulated that 200 race-ready road-goers be made available to the public; a legend was born. evel knievel began jumping the xr-750 at the height of his career between december 1970 and october 1976 (although a failed practice jump was made in january 1977 and captured on film). prior to the failed practice jump, knievel jumped either cars or trucks (or a combination of the two) on the xr-750.

above> ducati desmosedici rr / built 2007 – 08 / only 1,500 models of this street-legal version of ducati’s 2006 motogp entrant were produced. the all-new 200 hp, 90-degree “double-l twin” v-4 engine would scream through its vertical exits in the rear tail all the way to its 10,500 rpm redline and 194 mph top speed. componentry was top notch all around with ohlins, brembo and marchesini put to the task of keeping riders alive and justifying the $72,500 sticker price. the desmosedici rr is often regarded as the ultimate ducati experience, a mechanically and aesthetically faithful reproduction of a genuine motogp racer — it even came with sponsorship stickers, were you so inclined.

[ the custom objects ]
custom motorcycles, as they divert toward art, demand a more subjective judgment: the celebrity of the artist, a track record of recognized style and quality, and in the artworld’s subjective judgment, the black and white of the price of the art for confirmation.

above> white falcon / built in 2013 / acrylic, 7075 + 6061 aluminum, brass, cloth, chromally, copper, enamel, epoxy, glass, light-emitting diodes, leather, magnesium, nickel, pyrex, rubber, silver, springs, stainless mesh, stainless steel, steel, titanium, 1967 works ‘squish head’ velocette venom thruxton engine, gp carburetors, avon venom tires, 21″ wm1 avon, 19″ wm2 borrani, archimedes mount / 33 x 30 x 73 inches – sold for a rumored $750,000 at the kohn gallery in los angeles.

below> bsa 500 black / hazen motorworks

“every bike that I create is 1 of 1, made by my own 2 hands here in my workshop, each bike is unique and never replicated. i push myself to make something new with every project and build the most interesting designs that i can think of in the most elegant way possible.” ~ max hazen

below > captain america / built c 1967 – 68 / arguably the most famous iconic custom bike because of the 1969 movie, easy rider. called “captain america” and before it was customized it was a 1952 harley-davidson hydra-glide police bike built by two chopper builders, cliff vaughs and ben hardy. the bike kept its original h-d panhead engine. two captain america bikes were made but before the movie aired one was stolen and parted and the other bike was crashed in the last scene of the movie.
[ npr backstory ] [ captain america sells for $ 1.3 million ]

[ 51 most iconic motorcycles of all time ] [ art demystified: what determines an artwork’s value ? ] –

Vectrix vx-1 li e-scooter re-energized

Aug 24, 2012

click > enlarge

[ designapplause updated post ] It came to our attention that an 2009 electric concept vehicle thought to have been literally unplugged in 2010 has won “European e-Scooter of the Year” Award for the VX-1 Li/Li+ at Belgium’s Circuit Zolder’s “CleanWeek 2020” Event this past May 2012. [ CleanWeek 2020 ] Current images of the scooter above and below:




USA distributor [ details ] [ pierspeed ]

[ The content below from a DesignApplause 16 July 2009 post ]

vestra1
The Tesla of the electric scooter world is on life support. Almost everyone laid off.
above photo: flickr
vestra2
above photo: flickr

The company has not made any money but they have invested heavily in the product. It would be nice to see this product plugged back in.

via treehugger

Flying motorcycle.

Mar 5, 2009

flyingcycle-1Idea #5098.
Found on whynot.net

mission one. electric motorcycle.

mission one. electric motorcycle.

Feb 5, 2009

misson-1
Mission Motors builds the world’s fastest electric production motorcycle, Mission One.
misson-2
Top speed is 150 MPH and an estimated range of 150 miles.
mission-3
mission-5
Designed for Mission Motors, the bike was unveiled at the TED 2009 conference at Long Beach, California, today.

The announcement formally debuts Mission Motors, a San Francisco-based company geared to redefine the world of performance motorcycles. The company was founded in 2007 by entrepreneurs Forrest North (CEO), Edward West (President), and Mason Cabot (VP of Engineering).

Building on their backgrounds in engineering, a desire to develop clean vehicles, and a passion for motorcycles, the Mission Motors founders developed a proprietary high energy lithium ion battery pack that could provide both the range and acceleration needed for a high performance sportbike. The company (named Hum Cycles at the time) placed second in the transportation category of the 2007 California Cleantech Open, the largest cleantech business plan competition on the West Coast.

Designer: Yves Behar of fuseproject
Producer: Mission Motors

Ferrari superbike. V4.

Oct 16, 2008



Ferrari V-4 super bike concept based on Enzo. Israeli industrial designer Amir Glinik has come up with an incredible Ferrari motorcycle concept using a modified engine from the Ferrari Enzo supercar.




Using drive-by-wire technology, the V4 superbike features hand controls adapted from an F-16 fighter jet and buttons based on those found on the steering wheel of Ferrari’s Formula 1 racecars. Other controls for the sound system and trip computer are located on an all weather touchscreen.

“Vintage and modern Ferrari projects influence my design,” Glinik notes. “It’s a mix of what I find to be the best Ferrari lines with the latest technology I could think of in terms of engine, gear and driving management.” He has also made a version in bright yellow. As far as how fast it goes and how much the bike would cost, we can only speculate about very big numbers in both cases. We have no idea if Glinik’s V4, which he’s been working on for the past few years, will ever reach the production stage, but we think he’s got a real winner here.

Ferrari, as we all know, have very Italian designs for their supercars, so a motorcycle should be similar. Aerodynamic, stylish and totally like nothing else on the market. To this, Glinik has succeeded without any doubts.

Using a modified “V4” based on the engine of a Ferrari Enzo car, Glinik dreamed up this incredibly beautiful and sleek motorcycle:

Wouldn’t this be a great addition to the super motorcycles already in existence. Obviously its cost will be sky high, but if you have to ask, you can’t afford it anyway. Only the likes of Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt could…

This is a very pretty rendition of a Ferrari motorcycle… bravo!

And as a rebellion to the Ferrari-red purists, he has even designed a yellow version

Designer: Amir Glinik

via luxist motorbiker.org

Ecomobile.

Mar 30, 2008

urbo-eco2.jpg
urbo-eco.jpg
The bad news: $77,000 USD and Peraves will only make 100 units a year. The good news: This unusual vehicle is manufactured by the Swiss company Peraves. The Ecomobile is essentially an enclosed motorcycle. The power for the Ecomobile originates from a rear mounted liquid cooled 4 cylinder BMW K series motorcycle engine.

When in turbocharged form it has a claimed, and rather disturbing, top speed of 202 miles per hour. Inside are two leather covered car style seats, and all the equipment expected in a luxury car. (more…)

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