Concept Bikes

Tier Motorsports shows R1 concept with single-sided FRONT swingarm

December 1st, 2008

Regular BikerGene readers will know I’m a huge fan of funny front-end suspension ideas that look beyond the traditional telescopic fork in search of progressive setups that deal more effectively with the separate issues of bumps, braking, steering and cornering forces - and this one looks fantastic.

Tier Motorsports have come up with a design concept - here pictured as part of a potential R1 prototype - that uses a single-sided front swingarm and four-bar steering system to create a perfectly vertical steering axis, as opposed to the tilted steering axes found on telescopic forks due to their necessary rake. (more…)

BMW’s bruising 1200cc Lo-Rider concept: shocking and sensational

November 4th, 2008

BMW’s radical Lo Rider concept was unveiled at Milan overnight, and it’s an absolute beauty. Something of a mix between a cruiser, a musclebike and a streetfigher, the Lo Rider features the familiar 1200cc BMW Boxer twin engine in a tube frame, with a tank reminiscent of the R1200C cruiser, traditional USD forks and a paralever-equipped shaft drive with single sided swinger at the rear. Both wheels are spoked.

The seat on the prototype is a super-short single, and the headlights are a set of deeply nasty-looking  stacked projectors. Exhausts ride high over the engine, scrambler-style, and exit well behind the seat unit above the rear wheel. The overall look is highly reminiscent of the certified bad-ass Confederate Hellcat (shown below). (more…)

Honda’s V4 Concept Model: C’mon guys, really?

October 8th, 2008

Ah, concept bikes. Those magnificent design studies where conventional ideas can be stretched, design sketches can be brought to life, and potential future directions can be presented to the public for discussion and feedback.

Well, if Honda wants feedback from this latest effort, unveiled yesterday at Intermot Cologne, here goes: lay off the wacky tobaccy, fellas, and have at least one engineer look over the plans before you cough up to get another space-bike like this one built.

The typical visitor to a motorcycle exhibition is likely to notice the omission of important parts like axles, tyres, brakes, front suspension and some sort of final drive. They will muse over why you’ve chosen to include both side and underseat exhausts, and take one look at those shiny red wheels and wonder whether Honda is deliberately insulting their intelligence or if the CEO’s stepson has just graduated from design school.

Lots more pictures after the jump. (more…)

Streetfightering the streetfighter: MV Bestiale to go into production

February 14th, 2008

The stock MV Agusta Brutale 910 is a very pretty thing indeed, every detail has been designed with love and care to be as attractive as it is functional. But there’s something a little prissy about it; it demands to be polished and adored more than ridden, which is possibly why French designer Yacouba Galle decided to reinvent the 910 as a balls-out streetfighter with serious head-kicking attitude to match the bike’s ferocious performance.

His creation, the Bestiale, is dripping with aggressive styling cues from the streetfighter scene; a wickedly angled R6-inspired tailpiece, super-stubby exhaust and a snub-nosed diode headlight unit. The tank bodywork jags down, matching the angle of the cylinders and the tailpiece, and the sides meet underneath in a bellypan/radiator shroud.

If it looks a bit like a Superduke, that’s not surprising. Jacouba spent a lot of time with KTM’s groundbreaking brawler while he was shooting the promo video I’ve been going on about lately. (more…)

A quick look at Voxan’s French V-twin range and the Starck Super Naked concept

February 13th, 2008

French manufacturer Voxan has a stable full of nice 1000cc V-twins that we don’t get to see a lot of in other parts of the world. The Voxan rage was looking very delectable at the Paris bike show, so we thought we’d run a quick overview of the current range and a couple of upcoming and custom bikes like the Starck Super Naked above to show you what you’re missing out on if Voxan’s not sold in your area.

At the heart of most of the range is Voxan’s own 998cc, 72-degree liquid-cooled V-twin, fed by Magnetti Marelli injection. France imposes a frankly disgraceful 100-horsepower limit on all roadbikes, so that’s what the French retail versions of all Voxan bikes put out. Certainly the engine is capable of plenty more, and I’d imagine there’s a thriving derestriction industry ready to juice them up fresh from the showroom.

First up, there’s the Black Classic about, with lines not dissimilar to Ducati’s 1000 Sport: (more…)

200 horsepower expected from 2008/9 V-MAX MkII

February 11th, 2008

Can you believe it’s been 23 years since the Yamaha V-MAX first exploded onto the scene? And can you believe that apart from a fairly minor upgrade in 1993, they’re still selling in pretty much the same trim as they did when Wham’s ‘Careless Whisper’ was topping the charts? The famous V-4 muscle cruiser punched its way into a very special corner of our hearts with its obscene power, heart-stopping “V-boost” and widowmaking reputation; 110 horsepower was all well and good for striking fear into the hearts of dragstrip opponents, but the suspension and brakes are still notorious for punishing the unwary.

Such a bike deserves a fine successor, and Yamaha has been steadily toiling away to put together a modern-day V-MAX worthy of the name. If 110 rear wheel horsepower was enough to mortify the mainstream back in the eighties, it just won’t cut it in this day and age. So we understand that Yamaha is going for an eye-watering 200 rear-wheel horsepower from the V-MAX we expect to see on sale late this year or early in 2009. (more…)

Aprilia’s FV2 concept shows off new v-twin engine, technology and style direction

February 4th, 2008

Aprilia’s FV2 concept bike, which has been making the expo rounds, is here to showcase three things: first and foremost, the company’s home-cooked 1200cc, 90-degree v-twin engine, which we’ll probably be seeing in the RSV and Tuono in the next couple of years. With a bore and stroke of 106 x 67.8mm, it’s almost as oversquare as Moto Morini’s CorsaCorta motor, so it’s going to be a nice, quick-revving, racy powerplant. The company is claiming 134.5 metric horses and over 10.5 kgm of torque, which is in the ballpark for sporty streetbikes and nakeds these days. (more…)