May 11th, 2009
I don’t know anything about the bike in this clip, I don’t know if the makers have put dirtbike suspension on this thing, or just used wheel spacers and caliper brackets to stick dirtbike wheels on it. I don’t know if it’s a hillclimber, a desert racer or just purely for shits ‘n’ giggles. All I know is that it’s an R1 streetfighter with knobblies… And I LIKE IT!
January 15th, 2009
We’re a bit behind the times with this one (Mike Brown from Amen Motorcycles, Tennessee, built it back in 2004) but a motorcycle with completely hubless rims front and rear looks so deadly cool that we’ll run it anyway. The Hubless Monster is a remarkable engineering achievement, particularly given that the gargantuan 360-section rear tyre it used didn’t even exist during the build phase - Mike had to use plywood and steel mockups.
Mike proudly lists half a dozen world-firsts for this build: (more…)
December 10th, 2008
Motorcycle geometry, like suspension, is a classic compromise. Extending the rake of the forks delivers additional stability and improved balance under brakes, but it also slows down steering and generally reduces ground clearance. A steeper steering head angle makes for lightning-fast handling but you pay for it with tank-slappers and headshakes in fast bumpy corners, and under hard braking the rear wheel lifts off the ground and you’re forced to back off on the brakes or flip the bike forward.
The premise of Erik Brinkman’s R-Bike is basically to deliver a motorcycle that can change its geometry on the fly to fit what you’re doing with it. Designed around a hinged cross frame, the bike is able to open and close like a pair of scissors, changing the geometry from a comfy, stretched out cruiser format to a squashed-up, quick-steering off-road machine with a trials-bike wheelbase and extra ground clearance. (more…)
November 21st, 2008
Dave Akhurst is a braver man than you or I. I feel confident in saying this because he rides around the countryside on the Greenfly - a heavily modified XT500 Yamaha that runs on Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) - and thus, if he happens to fall off, there’s a pressurised gas tank right there between his legs waiting to blow his bollocks off if it gets punctured.
The benefits of running vehicles on LPG are reasonably cheap running costs due to lower government taxes on LPG than unleaded petrol in most places, it has a high octane rating (108RON) and burns quite cleanly. On the flipside, you tend to get significantly less mileage per litre on a tank full of LPG than you would on petrol - and there’s the whole pressurised bollock-exploding gas cylinder thing to worry about as well. (more…)
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…)
October 28th, 2008
When we head off to the Melbourne Motorcycle Expo this Thursday, we’re sure to see a lot of the latest and greatest from the big manufacturers - but one of the highlights we’re most excited about is the oldest machine on the floor.
Phil Mumenthaler has spent over 850 hours and somewhere close to AU$100,000 recreating the first motorcycle ever built - the Gottlieb Daimler, which was put together over 120 years ago in 1885. With no access to parts, Mumenthaler has had to build almost all the bike from scratch, from the engine to the wooden frame and saddle - a true labour of love that Mumenthaler was “just putting the finishing touches on” last night.
The result? A thundering one horsepower at a screaming 600 rpm, with a top speed about the same as a decent jog. Still, without Mr. Daimler’s inspired invention, would we have access to the magnificent beasts we take for granted today?
We’ll be taking a much closer look at this little beauty, hopefully shooting some video and going crazy with the cameras. See you there!
September 24th, 2008
Kerry McLean’s Buick-powered V8 monowheel contraption is an engineering marvel, supporting its rider in the centre of its rotating wheel. Completely road-legal in the USA, McLean’s had it up to a clocked 53mph on the public road.
It’s not the sprightliest handling machine in the world - steering seems to be a hit and miss, feet-down proposition, and because the interior has to rotate freely as the wheel is driven, you can’t really use all the power that V8 engine has in store if you don’t want to flip over.
But it’s the brakes the brought McLean undone on a recent road test of the machine, when despite having both feet planted on the ground he was unable to pull the contraption up before it developed a nasty wobble, which intensified before the machine smashed down on the road, dragging its inventor with it. (more…)
August 25th, 2008
Honda’s 1975 GL1000 Goldwing was the first of the great touring bikes and opened up a new market sector - indeed a new long-distance lifestyle - for many riders as it evolved into the 1800cc light-footed juggernaut that still rules the touring roost today.
But with its shaft drive and horizontally-opposed four cylinder engine, you’d hardly think of the original ‘Wing as much of a streetfighter or custom build base… That is, until you see what some of the blokes over at NakedGoldwings.com have been making out of them.
Walking the line between bobbed choppers and brutal bulldog musclebikes, here’s a selection of some of my favourites. There’s lots more over in the forum galleries. Goldwing streetfighters. Who woulda thunk it? (more…)
August 25th, 2008
Nick Dagostino is one of a new breed. For decades, insecure men with money to spare have been able to gain themselves attention at biker meets by spending inordinate sums on a shedload of performance and aesthetic mods, gaining them credibility as ‘bling kings’ whether or not their riding ability is up to the mark. But it seems that disposable dollars have become so plentiful in the U.S. that you can drop 10 grand on custom sparkly bits and extended swingarms, and *still* feel like your precious snowflake-mobile isn’t unique enough. (more…)
August 21st, 2008
The Suzuki V-Strom is, right off the factory floor, a hideously ugly motorcycle. Highly functional, I’ll agree, and I wouldn’t hesitate to own one as they’re a joy to ride, but a disproportionate, front-heavy monstrosity nonetheless.
It would have taken this chap some serious thinking to work out how to make the DL1000 look any worse, but I think it’s fair to say he’s achieved that goal in spades. Presumably this is in the name of safety through high visibility - but I’d be more worried about car drivers running me down on purpose to make the pain go away. (more…)