Apparently the new trend in Japan is customized scooters that have been lowered, chromed, painted and tuned.
Since Japan brought us the rice rocket, could this be the next trend in vehicle modification?
Archive for the 'Motorcycles' Category
The Uno is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.
By using gyroscope technology similar to the Segway, it balances on two wheels that sit right next to each other. The Uno goes forward when you push your body weight forward, and backwards when you push your body weight backward. The further you lean, the more the Uno tilts, and the faster it accelerates.
Apparently it’s so simple to operate that there are no controls except for an on-off switch. The gyro tells the ECU how much to accelerate automatically, and the proper amount of power is delivered to the wheels through electric motors, one for each wheel.
The body and frame are both custom designed, with a Yamaha R1 serving as the starting point. After prepping the frame, the molding took just six weeks to complete.
And if that’s not enough for you, then keep in mind that the entire thing was designed by Ben J. Poss Gulak, an 18-year-old who taught himself CAD on a home computer using Google’s free SketchUp tool to create the initial idea.
Could this be the future of motorcycle design?
[The Uno]
[Via: Motorcycle Mojo Magazine]
Clemens F. Leonhardt is working on a wild project. By taking two cylinders form an old radial airplane engine, fusing them to a custom crank and then adding them to a custom frame, he has created a 410 cubic inch V-Twin monster that makes 350 horsepower and is called the GUNBUS.
It’s hard to tell from the pic, but everything on this bike is twice the normal size to compensate for the extremely large engine pieces and parts, so I can only imagine what it’s like to ride.
Bigger is better though, right?
[Via: Autoblog]
Note to companies looking to advertise by building a custom chopper: There are other bike builders besides Orange County Choppers. They might not be on TV, but I’ll bet they can still crank out a bitchin’ bike without the cameras rolling.
That being said, this Iowa Farm Bureau Renewable Energy Chopper is one bad bike. It runs off of E85 fuel (85 percent ethanol-blended gas) for a more environmentally friendly exhaust output, and with farming details littered throughout, it’s the perfect ride for the bio biker.
Like what you see?
Then pick up a raffle ticket for just $10, and you might be the lucky winner of this corn mobile.
Kinda makes you rething the whole bio stereotype, doesn’t it?
[Via: Trend Hunter]
Jim Garlitz loves motorcycles.
He loves them so much, in fact, that he built one that can ride on water.
By combining a 1985 Yamaha Virago motorcycle frame with a 1990 9.9-horsepower Nissan outboard motor and his own homebuilt hydrofoils made out of “readily available materials”, his ‘Water Chopper’ can cruise around at 37 mph, riding on top of the water with a noiseless, smooth ride.
He says it’s great for fly fishing, and that “it’s stable. It doesn’t tilt, tip or anything”.
Grand total for this engineered toy?
Two months of work and $1,000.
Kinda makes you wish you had one of these instead of those last 200 Big Macs now, doesn’t it?
[Washington Post - Water Chopper]
[Via: Book Of Joe]
This wild hog is actually a mobile motorcycle barbecue pit, built by Orange County Choppers of American Chopper fame for RUB BBQ, and features a wood-burning oven riding sidecar to the custom bike.
This baby’s not just for show though. They’ve cooked ribs, brisket, and pork butt on it, and then ridden off into the sunset on their sweet set of wheels.
It might not be good for speed, but for a nice piece of steak, this can’t be beat.
[Via: NY Mag]
[Via: Book Of Joe]
Thunder Struck Customs makes some sleek and sexy bikes, but the one that really caught my eye was this one, called the Hammer. Featuring a 147 cubic inch motor, six speed transmission, and style that borrows from Ferraris, AC Cobras, concept cars and drag bikes, it definitely put Thuder Struck’s Medford, Oregon shop on the map.
[Street Chopper - Thunder Struck]
[Via: Luxist]
The Dodge Tomahawk is one angry looking machine, and one that I would gladly sacrifice a left arm to own (as long as I can still use my right arm to steer this thing, I think I’ll be ok). Formed by fusing the 500-horsepower, 505 cubic inch (8.3 liter) aluminum Viper V-10 engine with a motorcycle type body, this monster tops out at a potential of nearly 400 miles per hour, though no one has been brave enough to even coming close to testing that figure out. It needs four wheels to put the power to the ground, and each wheel has it’s own suspension, moving independently from the other three. You basically sit on top of one of the largest production engines on the market today and hold on while it blasts you to 60 MPH in just 2.5 seconds. If anyone asks “Why?”, no better answer has been crafter than “Why not?”. Apparently, if Dodge goes insane and puts this into production, a select few adrenaline junkies will be $250,000 poorer but 400 MPH richer. Sounds like a deal to me, now where do I go to sell my soul?
[Via: BornRich]
[Via: High T3ch Magazine]
