All-American cruiser showcases hubless rims at BOTH ends
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:
1.) The First Fully Functional Double Hubless Bike in the World.
2.) The First Bike Fully Engineered and built without the Tires being in Existence
3.) The First Custom Bike in the world to unveil a new tire on a completed Bike
4.) The First Custom Bike in the world to have the Largest Motorcycle Tire in the world, 360mm.
5.) The First Custom Bike in the world to have the new Industry Breaking 23” tire size.
6.) The First Custom Bike to incorporate Friction Drive Technology with Hubless Wheel Design for a Total Clean Look.
The last point is of some note - Brown decided to completely hide the drive system to maintain the eerily clean look of the rear wheel - so instead of a chain or belt drive, he went with a friction drive system derived from the technology behind carnival ferris wheels. It’s completely effective, aesthetically at least; it’s totally invisible.
The Amen bike is certainly the first double-hubless motorcycle in the world, with the first hubless front rim. Apparently there’s some barney going on between Amen and Miami custom builder/reality TV star Billy Lane over who had the first hubless rear wheel, but Lane’s (pictured below) has a fully exposed drive system, so Mike’s got that over him for sure.
Granted, hubless wheels are never going to be a practical addition to a motorcycle, but they’re fascinating from an engineering standpoint and absolutely impossible to ignore on the street. Nice one, lads!
January 16th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
The tech is cool but the bike, sorry, is butt ugly.
January 21st, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Seems to be a lot of his going on, envelope stretching, design studies that would be hard to ride more than 20 miles. Very beautiful, technology stretching, even wild by any standards. Ridable? I think not.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Where do you mount the luggage rack?
August 17th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Another hubless whell from Turkey:
http://www.kendinyap.gen.tr/anasayfa/85.html?task=view
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:04 pm
This BikeIS SOOOOOO COOOOOLLLLL!!!!
May 11th, 2010 at 11:47 am
The Amen bike is certainly the first double-hubless motorcycle in the world, with the first hubless front rim. Apparently there’s some barney going on between Amen and Miami custom builder/reality TV star Billy Lane over who had the first hubless rear wheel[.]
Neither of them. And Amen didn’t invent the hubless front wheel, either.
http://sbarro.perso.neuf.fr/technique/roue_orbitale/roue_orbitalegb.html