From wired.com:"Japan's Axle Corporation has unveiled a prototype electric scooter powered by a hybrid magnetic motor, which is purportedly capable of 93 mph, with a range of 112 miles between charges. The EV-X7 uses a hybrid magnetic motor dubbed the SUMO (for Super Motor, of course), located within the rear wheel and good for 121 pound-feet of torque (not bad, really, considering the EV-X7's reasonable 420-pound weight). The company claims the bike is seven times more cost-efficient than a comparable gasoline-powered scooter. No word on production plans or projected price, but we think this one looks (and sounds) like a winner."
From Streetuse:"What an elegant design. A wonderfully sleek bicycle is given a motor and gas tank in Cuba to make a motor bike. A close up view with annotations shows a different home-made motor bike in Cuba, collected by Ernesto Oroza. The detail of the soda bottle gas tank is wonderful. This design uses the motor's rotor to directly power the tire"
"Tom Swift is the young protagonist in several series of juvenile adventure novels which began in the early twentieth century and continues to the present. Each such series stars a hero named Tom Swift who is a genius inventor and whose breakthroughs in technology (especially transport technology) drive the plots of the novels, placing them in a genre sometimes called "invention fiction" or "Edisonade". Some of the later heroes might be considered the same character after a rebooted continuity, but in at least one series, Tom Swift was identified as a relative of the original Tom Swift. The first books were outlined by Edward Stratemeyer and his Stratemeyer Syndicate, written by ghostwriters and all credited to the house name of Victor Appleton."
Wiki:Then Came Bronson is a short-lived adventure/drama television series that aired on NBC from 1969 to 1970, and was produced by MGM Television. The series, created by Denne Bart Petitclerc, began with a movie pilot on Monday, March 24, 1969. The series was greenlit for one year and began its first run on September 17, 1969. The pilot was also released in Europe as a feature film.
The series featured Michael Parks as the protagonist Jim Bronson, a newspaperman who becomes disillusioned after the suicide of his best friend Nick (Martin Sheen) and, after a heated argument with his editor, "working for the man."
In order to renew his soul Bronson becomes a nomadic vagabond searching for the meaning of life and experience what life has to offer (this information is revealed in the series pilot). During his travels he shares his values with the people he meets along the way and lends a helping hand when he can. Bronson rides a Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle and, as such, was viewed by some as a modern version of the solitary cowboy meandering the American west.
Curiously, though the opening promised a journey of self-discovery, the premise of each episode was that Bronson entered someone else's life at a crucial point and acted as a catalyst for change. When Bronson enters an Amish community, for example, a local boy becomes enraptured of the outside world and steals Bronson's bike to run off to Reno, Nevada. And in another episode located in Reno, Bronson meets his cousin Eve on her wedding day and lends her money for the wedding service, she runs off to the casinos and blows it.
Yet, Bronson was committed to pacifism and often deflected a competitor's anger into self-examination. Always, like a true catalyst, he rolled out of every episode unchanged.
The show sometimes faced the perception that it was a knock-off of the movie Easy Rider, but in actuality it preceded the release of that movie.
Scenes were mostly shot outdoors, which made for spectacular views, and Michael Parks employed the low-key "James Dean" method of acting. Some shows were funny, some sad, some serious.
Bronson's bike figured in the many episodes; Harley-Davidson Sportster 1968 XLH 883. In one episode he entered several bike races; in another, he made an emergency run to fetch a doctor. But in some stories the bike was only mere transportation."The all-seeing eye on Bronson's gas tank
The winner of the best name for a scooter contest-The C1 "Family Friend"From Motorcycle.com
"Initially, we thought BMW's C 1 future scooter was no more than an attention seeking prototype, the motorcycling equivalent of a fashion designer wrapping Claudia Schiffer in saran wrap and calling it a dress. Maybe an over the top gimmick calculated to blast through the hyped-up, crowded clutter of motorcycle shows. Although BMW presented the C 1 concept in 1992 at the IMFA in Cologne, few paid any attention as it was dismissed by some as yet other silly looking futuristic prototype never to see the light of day -- particularly in the U.S., where scooters are situated only a tiny link higher than golf carts on the transportation food chain.
The C 1 will be built in Italy by Bertone Carrozzeria, a specialty manufacturer, but BMW claims credit for the C 1 concept and design -- something the Italians probably don't mind. What the hell are you supposed to call this thing? BMW's press kits suggests calling it an "Urban Personal Commuter," a CityMobile or a MotoMobile. A German car magazine labeled it a "Car Scooter."
The C 1 is an attempt to combine the advantages of a two-wheeled motorized transportation with the strengths of the automobile. According to BMW design briefs, the C 1 will offer weather protection and safety comparable to that enjoyed by cars without foregoing the pleasure of riding a motorized two wheeler. The C 1 does look to be light and agile, measuring a little more than six feet in length and weighing 375 pounds dry. It will guzzle about a gallon of gas every 80 miles or so, and BMW promises it to be cheap in terms of retail price, tax, insurance and service. Also, because of its 125cc displacement and 15 bhp output, the C 1 will avoid the myriad of rules, regulations and restrictions thrown up by the European Union, and potential consumers will be able to qualify for the C 1 without taking any additional tests.
The C 1's most innovative design feature is its emphasis on safety. It will be the first two wheeler in the world to offer a high standard of passive safety. BMW claims its crash tests have showed that in a head on collision the C 1 offers a standard of accident protection comparable to modern small cars. The C 1's unique safety concept hinges on the vehicle's chassis set in an aluminum spaceframe configuration with bars welded to one another at specific connection points and, along with a double rollbar, protecting the rider in a surrounding safety cell. The frame and suspension configuration will help ensure a specific, staggered absorption of energy in the event of a head on collision, much like with today's modern cars. The C 1 will also offer a crosswise seat belt system consisting of one two-point and one three-point safety belt. BMW claims this combination of safety cell and seat belts will eliminate the need for helmets, and is currently pushing to exempt the C 1 from helmet laws. A feature planned, but not yet feasible, is an airbag.
Other C 1 features include a full size wind screen and windshield wiper. The rear subframe can double as a luggage rack or as a rumble seat for a passenger -- although the passenger, exposed to the wind, elements and concrete will have to wear a helmet and protective clothing. Optional equipment will include ABS, heated handlebars and seat, a radio and CD player, navigation system, mobile phone holder and an anti-theft warning unit. Unfortunately, BMW has forgotten the cup holder. BMW has a clear vision of the potential target purchasers for the C 1. And, go figure, Americans are not included.
BMW will market their new vehicle to riders of scooters and small motorcycles who place great importance on wind and weather protection and a high level of personal safety; riders who appreciate the practical benefits of two wheeled motorized transportation but who are afraid of the risks; and those who, for ecological and economic reasons, do not want to purchase another car. In fact, the centerpiece strategy in BMW's marketing plan is to push the environmental benefits of the C 1.
Since owning a car is as necessary to survival in the U.S. as electricity, and since most Americans consider motorcycles to be toys, some of the first casualties in the war on internal-combustion engines may be larger displacement motorcycles and their horsepower producing, emissions spewing aftermarket jet kits and pipes. With the C 1 it's clear that BMW plans to capitalize on next-century environmental consciousness. "
"Godman" Falcon's Fitts Planet Racing #23 Bike"PLANET RACERS: Book One: Life Cycle introduces readers to the world of Planet Racing. It's the year 2999. Trillions of race fans in thousands of star systems tune in to the weekly foldspace vidcasts of the United Systems Planet Racing Association's open-class championship race series. These huge two-wheeled monsters are operated by two-person teams (pilot and navigator) from all over the galaxy.
All eyes are on the two Koyoshada factory team riders -- points leader Tripper Nitro and close second "golden boy" Godman Falcon. These teammates are also fierce rivals... no love is lost between them.
But halfway through the season, a horrible racing accident on Darthon-7 results in Godman Falcon losing his factory ride. All seems bleak for the "golden boy"... until an encounter with Methania Fitts of the Fitts Racing team gives him a second chance. Together, Godman and Methania will contest the championship for the remainder of the season.
Page 1 of chapter 1"Planet Racers Creator Jim Lawson graduated with a BFA in Illustration from Paier College of Art in New Haven, CT. He has worked as a writer/artist on the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES comic books, and as a designer of several figures and vehicles for the TURTLES toy line. Co-creator Peter Laird has been a professional illustrator since 1976, a career he began shortly after graduating with a BFA in Printmaking from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA. In 1983 he co-created, with Kevin Eastman, the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. Since then, his life has been mostly TURTLES"
Biker Boys-creators Jim and Peter
Art print produced on a heavy 310 gsm, acid-free and watercolor textured paper. $36.98 from allposters.com. For a look at the complete series of these charming illustrations (and posted before allposters released this print..humm) go to meine kleine fabrik.
From Confederate's site:
"In many ways it is the machine we wanted in the beginning. At its heart beats 90 degree water cooler GM based engine architecture. The machine is an entirely fresh modern direction consistent with past brand experience and the structure of our enterprise as extrapolated from our vision and value system.
Conceived by the leader of our conceptual design team, Mr. Ed Jacobs, the motorcycle is at once primitive, bohemian, and yet highly technical. She is skeletal, i.e. she showcases human crafts work. The machine is minimal ; using the fewest pieces, moving parts and systems to accomplish her dynamic mission. She is uncompromised, light weight, possesses enormous torque, is capable of extreme performance, yet has maximum real world streetable active safety. She is graceful in motion, yet potentially brutal. She exudes inner beauty through absolute follow through of truth of concept. She has great proportions, holistic brand gestalt, is original, impactful, alluring and elegant. The Driving concept was the creation of a conceptually flexible foundation to allow a place for growth and further iteration; a utilitarian modular flexible foundation.
This Confederate team interpretation of American industrial and mechanical design rebirth is first and foremost supremely confident and, therefore, demure, sophisticated, eclectic and open."
"aachi & ssipak (Ssipak" is pronounced like the English words "she pock" run together) is a 2006 animated South Korean film, directed by Jo Beom-jin and featuring the voices of Ryoo Seung-beom, Im Chang-jeong, and Hyeon Yeong. It screened at the 2007 Seattle International Film Festival.
In the future, all energy sources are depleted, except human excrement. To reward production, people receive addictive, popsicle-like "Juicybars". Aachi and Ssipak are street hoodlums who struggle to survive by trading black market Juicybars. Through a chain of events involving their porn-director acquaintance Jimmy the Freak, they meet wannabe-actress Beautiful, whose defecations are rewarded by exceptional quantities of Juicybars. For that reason, Beautiful is also wanted by the violent blue mutants known as the Diaper Gang (led by the Diaper King), the police (most notably the cyborg police officer Geko), and others"
What do kids know anyways?-quite a lot. Marco Facciola, a 16-year-old high school student, constructed this wooden bicycle to fulfill a class requirement."As a 16-year-old high school student in the International Baccalaureate program, I am required to complete a 'personal project' on a non-academic topic that is of interest to me. I have always enjoyed woodworking and design, so I decided to build a functional wooden bicycle. There was to be no metal used in its construction, only wood and glue. I wanted a project that would be a challenge.
This project came to mind as I was reflecting on the many stories my opa, Case Vandersluis, told me about his adventures in Holland during World War II. Opa was roughly the age I am now when he had to build wooden wheels for his bicycle, as rubber was scarce during the war.
I wasn't sure my wooden bicycle would actually work. I quickly realized the first pieces of the puzzle I needed to figure out were the chain and the sprockets (gears), since the design of all the other components depended on these.I was mostly concerned that the wooden chain would break. I researched the strength of different types of wood and built jigs to test the stresses that each of the chain's components would undergo during use. First, I used my weight (150 lbs) to see if the wood could endure this amount of force. Then, my father would stand on the jig. I calculated that my dad's weight would be twice the force each chain component would need to withstand. I made the specs high to ensure the chain and sprockets would work even if the wood had imperfections. During testing, I made adjustments to the chain's components, and once I had it figured out, I realized that completing the project was within my grasp."..read the rest here:
"1:6 scale modeling (aka Playscale Miniaturism) is a hobby focusing on the customization of commercially produced 1:6 scale action figures, accessories and, even, dollhouse furniture, frequently, for use in dioramas.
Playscale miniaturism originally represented the domestic, urban or civilian expressions of the scale, especially when coed, and not, usually, exterior genres, like military and adventure themes. As such, it came to represent cross-genre miniaturism, as well, which routinely includes elements from the former. Miniaturists who focus exclusively on exterior themes tend to prefer the protologism sixthscale. The terms playscale and sixthscale are better received by text-based search engines, like Google, Yahoo & MSN, than numbers and punctuation are, such as "1:6" or "1/6."
This scale is fairly new to the modeling world, having been standardized in the early 1960s through Barbie and G.I. Joe. Most of this style of miniaturism is constructed around posable figures made of plastic. The average 1:6 figure stands roughly 30 cm (12 in) tall, representing a 1.8 m (6 ft) tall human, but they can be as short as 20 cm (8 in) representing a scale 1.2 m (4 ft) tall adult. Figures can be outfitted in a wide variety of mass produced, limited production, and custom clothing and items. Some people undertake vehicle projects ranging from tanks, helicopters, jeeps-and of course motorcycles.
Talented "customizers", miniaturists specializing in construction of one-off and limited production items or the extensive modification of stock products, are limited only by their imagination.
A significant focus of these miniaturists is military subjects of many different eras, but some focus on science fiction, fantasy, pop culture, or civilian topics."like we see below...Isis from MGBB's action figures.
1907 Isle of man T.T. rider from by Greg3 from The U.K. 1/6 scale collectors club
Steve McQueen in 1/6 scale from Outlaws Movie Figure(The overall winner of the first T.T. was Charlie Collier riding a single cylinder Matchless and the twin cylinder class was won by Rem Fowler on a Norton -he also set the overall lap record despite having crashed twice and having to stop ten times to make various repairs- You can read Rem's own account of the race here)
"My first AstroBoy tintoy, circa early 1960s. A gift from my Grandma after returning from a trip to Japan." Via: Astroboy Blog
Under the baton: bikes are often perceived as a nuisance, but could they be harnessed to make sweet music?"The composer Karlheinz Stockhausen might have been regarded as radical for his love of discordant noise, but you don't have to be a paid-up member of the musical avant-garde to appreciate the characteristic sound of a Ducati or the meaty roar of a Harley-Davidson, so distinctive that the company actually tried to patent it. Motor manufacturers are very aware that our relationship with engines has always been both psychological and physical and far more complex than a simple appreciation of the motive power required to take us from A to B. They recognise the significance of sound in what is sometimes an illusory experience of speed, and a great deal of time, effort and money is spent in creating the right exhaust note. The technology might be available to make vehicles as silent as cats, but they would be dangerous for all road users, especially pedestrians. What's more, they would be no fun. Who wants a Ducati (or a Ferrari 430, a Jaguar XK or a Mazda MX-5 for that matter) that sounds like an electric milk float?
The sonic appeal of motorcycle engines was certainly not what the aristocrat Jens Henrik Jespersen had in mind in 1862 when he built Sølyst, a secluded lakeside hunting lodge in Jyderup, Denmark. But 145 years on it has become a centre for intercultural dialogue and the Sølyst International Art Residency (SAIR) programme, and as a participating artist with an interest in all things motoring, I was about to give Jespersen's ghost a loud wake-up call by instigating the Rush exhibition, aiming to celebrate the ritual territorialism of local youth as they mapped out their home town on their beloved scooters.
Beyond the picturesque Sølyst, which locals call "the castle", Jyderup is a small town consisting of neat rows of modest houses built on completely flat terrain around a series of interconnecting car parks and discount supermarkets, with a single-track railway slicing noisily through its quiet heart. In such an isolated place, where the cinema was turned into a washing-machine shop several years ago, my sympathies lay with the baggy-trousered teenagers who let their neighbours know that there was still some life in the town. Their two-wheeled displays were regarded as nothing more than noise pollution by many residents, but to the kids they were a song of liberation.
One element of the exhibition would be filmed in the grounds of Sølyst, where the scooter engines would be played at full throttle to explore their musical attributes. This would be contrasted with a presentation of the scooter boys and their bikes in almost static video portraits, conveying a stately dignity reminiscent of formal 19th-century photographs of Danish nobles and their hunting dogs.
As an outsider who spoke no Danish, creating such an event was a huge challenge. I not only had to win the disaffected youngsters' trust but gain access to the disused interior of the railway station where they usually congregated, obtain permission to hold the exhibition there, design posters and frame pictures, edit video footage, blag projectors and monitors, all on a zero budget. It would have been impossible without the support of SAIR's ever-enthusiastic Tina Bundgaard Qudenbaum, her industrious assistant Henrik Andersen and Mr Fixit, Svend-aage Larsen of the Art Workshop of West Zealand.
On the appointed day, my arrival at the railway station with journalists from Danish radio and the local paper, Folkebladet, in tow was pretty embarrassing. Despite their initial interest, none of the scooter boys had actually turned up. Frantic phone calls established that the promotional posters had been interpreted as a police trap for illegal machines and riders, as a recent local crackdown had already led to arrests and the confiscation of several mopeds.
Yet amid the chaos, against all the odds, the scooter boys were eventually persuaded to emerge and participate, scoring several firsts: the first art exhibition ever held in the town and the first opportunity to find positive potential in something that had been regarded as a social problem.
Nature has blessed other towns with more spectacular landscapes and better climates, but the true test of a place and its people is when you're up against it, have no money and can appeal only to the inhabitants' imagination, generosity of spirit, tolerance and co-operation. My sincere thanks therefore go to Hans Erik Baagland, who backed the concept from the start and gave access to the upper floors of the railway station for the exhibition, sealing the deal with minimal fuss and a firm handshake, to the Experts TV shop's Anders Baagland, who supplied all the audiovisual equipment, to Folkebladet's intrepid reporter Mikkel Schou, to Trina of Danish radio, who kindly covered the whole escapade, to the SAIR programme and, most of all, to the young scooterists of Jyderup.
And if they can do it, so can you. Do you have the throttle control to make your engine sing? Can you, your friends or club come together as an orchestra of internal combustion?
If so, The Telegraph wants to hear from you - literally. Record the national anthem (for copyright reasons we can't accept anything else) and send us your performance and we will publish the best of them online.
We're not expecting anything as impressive as the Renault Formula One engine programmed to play God Save the Queen (although it must be possible to improve on its hilarious rendition of La Marseillaise - you can hear both in the 8/7/06 recording here, but who knows what musical motorcycling talent might be out there? Give it a go.
These great Mad Max styled (Thunderdome?-we think so.) inspired Diesel kids collection ads come via a posting from the great Ectoplasmosis site. How far have we come?...perhaps far enough to see the end of the civilized world and the beginning of the glorious big dirt clot fight that will be the kid-centric post-apocalyptic future.
If the Star Wars villian had this bike perhaps he would have learned to get along with others better..
The tank paint detail of Boba Fett's emblem from his armor chest plate ...
...The matching paint on the helmet visor's visibility isn't great but it's doable."
Why is this man smiling?- Boba Fett."The Motorcycle Emergency Response Corps hopes to save lives by moving personnel and supplies around the city in the event of a disaster.
MERCury will be coordinating with the Office of Emergency Services and San Francisco Fire Department to provide trained citizen volunteers who can safely and efficiently move through the congested, and possibly damaged, streets of the City after a natural disaster such as an earthquake, or an act of terrorism. They will ferry supplies and rescuers, make damage assessments, and work with the Neighborhood Emergency Response Teams.
Members of MERCury will be trained in First Aid, light search and rescue, amateur radio, and advanced motorcycling skills. They also will participate in twice-yearly disaster drills in concert with the Fire Department, Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT), and the bicycle-based Courier Disaster Response Team. In addition, they will be trained in motorcycle-specific First Aid."
The world weeps that Audi has never considered building a bike, and that Obiboi has not been asked to design them-yet.
From slgames:"You can imagine my excitement when I discovered that not only can I get a free motorcycle in Second Life. Let me tell you, first, about my bike. Well, truth be told, it isn’t technically a bike at all. It is an Elemental, or more precisely a Meta Elemental Multiform Craft. The Elemental is the brainchild of Kage Seraph who has built a craft that can transform: not only into a motorcycle, but also into a sports coupe, a submarine, a jet, an airship, a helicopter, a speedboat, or a hoverpod. It has all sorts of features (including weapons that will get you banned from many sims), but the best part is that it is free (just go here)."
Its fast, it flies, it safe and its free...
Girl messenger arriving at the Foreign Office with an Admiralty despatch-pict from the Yorkshire Film Archive
Eric Zo's web page letter to the world...
Chrome's med sized messenger bag
"Fast, furious but vital....
That's Sao Paulo's "motoboys", the army of motorcycle messengers who deliver the documents that keep Brazil's financial capital ticking, even if it means terrorizing other road-users.
Reviled for kicking cars, breaking rear-view mirrors and beating up drivers who cross them, the motoboys are nonetheless essential for companies that need paperwork or other items transported quickly across traffic-clogged Sao Paulo.
Now they are up in arms against planned measures to regulate their trade.
Last Friday, a protest blocked streets in Sao Paulo and more actions are planned in coming days and weeks, threatening to bring commuter chaos to the world's third largest city.
"This is a historic moment for our profession. We want to stop being just a bunch of people and to be recognized," said Aldemir Martins de Freitas, president of the Sindimoto union.
In all, there are about 650,000 motoboys, mostly poorly educated lads from the slums surrounding Sao Paulo.
Their anger is centered on government plans for higher mandatory insurance and to ban them from the express lane of Sao Paulo's main urban highways, the notorious Marginal Pinheiros and Marginal Tiete. They will also make protective gear compulsory.
However, the new scheme would also create an exclusive lane for motoboys on another key artery, Avenida 23 de Maio.
Union leaders hope to meet with Mayor Gilberto Kassab this week. He has said the new measures are just an experiment and if they do not prove successful, they might not be implemented.
"The animosity between motoboys and other road-users is growing each day," Folha de S.Paulo newspaper said in an editorial on Monday headlined "The War of the Motoboys."
It is dangerous work. In 2006, about 380 motoboys were killed and 9,000 injured, according to the Brazilian Motorcylists Association. It's common to see a motoboy sprawled prone on the road after a smack with a car.
Despite the danger the motoboys face, other drivers are not sympathetic.
"I'm tired of having my car kicked as they change lanes. If you argue with one, five others come out of the blue to threaten you. We think of them as bandits," businessman Eurico Ferreira said.
Benjamin de Souza, 26, has worked as a motoboy since 2005 and rejects the bandit label. A father of two girls, he sees the resentment as part of Brazil's social divide.
"Society denies us support. They don't want to share space with bikers, who are poor. We are exposed and drivers have lots of iron around them."
"What is the problem we cause? Falling and dying? That's a bigger problem for us, believe me."
By James Brooke from the NYtimes:"In this village on the edge of a primordial forest, where the occasional oxcart creaks down the red earth main street, townspeople were debating one recent afternoon what to say in their first e-mail transmission.
''I think we should send a message to the governor, asking for land titles,'' said Kim Seng, 53, who owns a mud-floor restaurant, as his wife listened from a hammock. Conjuring up the power and prestige of a letter sent by computer, he added confidently, ''The governor will pay attention to our issues.''
Without wires for electricity or telephones, this village of about 800 people has nevertheless joined the online world, taking part in a development project set up by an American benefactor to connect 13 rural schools to the Internet.
Since the system went into place last September at the new elementary school here in Cambodia's remote northeast corner, solar panels have been powering three computers. Once a day, an Internet ''Motoman'' rides a cherry red Honda motorcycle slowly past the school. On the passenger seat is a gray metal box with a short fat antenna. The box holds a wireless Wi-Fi chip set that allows the exchange of e-mail between the box and computers. Briefly, this schoolyard of tree stumps and a hand-cranked water well becomes an Internet hot spot.
It is a digital pony express: five Motomen ride their routes five days a week, downloading and uploading e-mail. The system, developed by a Boston company, First Mile Solutions, uses a receiver box powered by the motorcycle's battery. The driver need only roll slowly past the school to download all the village's outgoing e-mail and deliver incoming e-mail. The school's computer system and antenna are powered by solar panels. Newly collected data is stored for the day in a computer strapped to the back of the motorcycle. At dusk, the motorcycles converge on the provincial capital, Ban Lung, where an advanced school is equipped with a satellite dish, allowing a bulk e-mail exchange with the outside world.
The Motoman program is sponsored by American Assistance for Cambodia, a group based in Phnom Penh and run by Bernard Krisher, the Far East representative of the Media Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Media Lab gives technical advice to the Motoman program, which offers third world schools a way to cut costs by sharing one dish and one uplink fee.
To some, the Motoman system is a cumbersome compromise, made necessary by a government that makes money through monopolies that inflate the prices of satellite dishes and uplink fees far beyond the means of villages like this one, where individual incomes average $1 a day.
''The 50 poorest countries in the world get more money from telephone access fees than anything else,'' said Nicholas Negroponte, a founding director of the Media Lab. An advocate of an Internet bridge to rural Asia, Mr. Negroponte spoke outside a computer-equipped, online school he and his wife, Elaine, pay for 120 miles west of here. Almost as he spoke -- in early January -- police were raiding Internet cafes in Phnom Penh, confiscating equipment for making Internet telephone calls. The cafes charged as little as 5 cents a minute to call the United States, far below the government-mandated minimum of 96 cents for phone calls using conventional technology.
In Phnom Penh, dozens of Internet cafes offer access for 50 cents an hour, and 20 stores sell used computers imported from Japan. About 1,000 Netizens a day log on to the Web site of King Norodom Sihanouk, www.norodomsihanouk.info. A used desktop computer can be bought for about $30 -- the monthly wage for a schoolteacher -- while used laptops can be had for as little as $50.
About 75 percent of Cambodia's 13 million people, though, live in rural areas, and smooth roads and utility lines usually stop at the edge of the provincial capital. The village of O Siengle, a collection of wooden houses on stilts, is emblematic of life for the millions of Asians who live on the unwired side of the digital divide.
From this village to Ban Lung, the capital of Ratanakiri Province, is only 18 miles. But even in the dry season, it is a jolting two-hour ride in a sturdy Russian-made jeep.
Users say the Motoman system is starting to change lives.
''It helps us with our diagnoses,'' Chanmarith Ly, deputy director of the provincial hospital in Ban Lung, said of the telemedicine project that allows him to send photographs of patients, X-rays, ultrasounds and electrocardiograms to specialists in Boston at Partners Telemedicine, a program of the Partners HealthCare System. Doctors from the staff of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School review the files and send diagnoses, all pro bono.
Joseph C. Kvedar, a Partners doctor who directs the Boston end of the telemedicine project, saw the value of the effort when he visited the eight doctors at the Ban Lung hospital in November.
''The Cambodian doctors know how to do malaria, tuberculosis, chronic tropical infection conditions like diarrhea, dengue fever,'' he said by telephone from Boston. ''But diabetes, hypertension, the diseases of the modern world, are just not in their lexicon. It is a perfect fit.''
Still, once-a-day e-mail service has its drawbacks. A few steps from Dr. Ly's hospital office, Kuy Sothy, a 21-year-old teacher, lay on a hospital bed, recovering from a severe bout of malaria.
''I sent the e-mail to the hospital,'' she said, resting on a woven rattan mat.
Bunthan Hun, the project's local technology director, interjected, ''We got the e-mail, but you got here first.'' Indeed, the same motorcycle that carried Miss Sothy to the hospital carried the Wi-Fi box with her e-mail message.
The Americans behind the project hope that e-mail will also bring economic benefits by connecting rural people and their products to wider markets.
In Rovieng, where Mr. Negroponte finances his school, women weavers sell their raw silk scarves and ties through www.villageleap.com, a Web site operated by Mr. Krisher's group. Once marginalized, these traditional weavers now have among the town's highest incomes. Here in Ratanakiri, a land-locked province bordering southern Laos and the central highlands of Vietnam, Mr. Krisher hopes to market local products eventually through an informational Web site he maintains, www.ratanakiri.com.
For the younger generation, the new school computers are like magnets. While the shelf of donated books gathered dust, the computers gathered knots of students, dressed in blue and white uniforms.
''I very much want to go to high school, but I don't know if I can because we are poor,'' said Chenda Prom, 15 years old. Studying the keyboard, she added, ''I want to learn computers for my future.''
Angel's resin-cast "lighthouse" style headlamp.
The harvest is ready to be sewn-ernte fashion.
No, they are not padded, safety checked, armoured, sold at participating Cycle Gear stores or even tested by the tedious wags at Motorcyclist magazine. Because motorcycles, fashion, art and life should just be kept a just little dangerous...
We live in the future. As a child baseball cards in the spokes were nothing short of incredible-and today this.This pict above (taken by Amanda Nanawa taken at the Anime Expo 2006) always yielded a lot of questions about the origin of this amazing bike.
Inventive cosplayer propmaker "Lionboogy" has recreated the character KOS-MOS's Hoverbike from the video game Xenosaga. (Developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco. Several side stories and spinoff projects have also been developed, as well an anime adaptation.)All great show-and sadly no go..but still grand nonetheless...
Lionboogy says "its the largest most difficult prop I've ever made and yes, it is a real bike, stripped down to just the rear wheel and frame and then heavily modified with new skeleton and external panels and whatever it took to make it ridable, able to quickly assemble and disassemble, and light enough to carry up on stage for the Masquerade." lionboogy has created other cosplay bikes, but we'll just leave those for another time.
Here's the original design from the game.
"This hydrogen fuel cell powered, gyroscopically balanced, one-wheeled recreational and commuting vehicle provides an extraordinary vision of the kind of personal transport we could be using 20 years from now.
The design brief for Bombadier EMBRIO Concept was to "create highly innovative, functional and exciting products to exceed people's recreational needs" and find the "next thing" in recreational vehicles. The result is a futuristic and minimalistic one-wheeler that is as about far away as you can get from the conventional image of a uni-cycle - a mode of transport normally associated with circuses and street parades.
The riding position will be similar to a motorcycle with a complex series of sensors and gyroscopes balancing passengers on the single wheel. The rider activates a trigger on the left handlebar to accelerate and turns are made by shifting body-weight rather than actually steering.
When the EMBRIO concept is at rest in "stand-by configuration", the front wheels deploy to the ground like landing gear on a plane to increase longitudinal stability. The landing gear retracts when the vehicle speed reaches 20 km/h but even without the landing gear, the EMBRIO would be stable when motionless because of the gyroscope.
The EMBRIO concept's main power source is a hydrogen fuel cell and additional advanced technologies including a high-performance braking system, active suspension, night vision, a digitally encoded key and robotic assistance would be incorporated into the design.
The Concept is constructed from lightweight materials including Polypropylene, Santoprene, nylon (injection moulding), aluminum (stamping, die casting and robotic assembly), magnesium (casting) and the use of fuel cell technology and recycling of aluminum and polyethylene is designed to make the Bombardier EMBRIO an eco-friendly design throughout its life cycle.
The Bombardier EMBRIO concept is one of several concepts proposed by Canadian based Bombardier Recreational Products and it received the Gold Award at the 2003 Annual Design Awards (Industrial Design Society of America & Business Week Magazine)."
"...The Model Shop was on such a tight schedule, they were designing, building, and painting the three motorcycles at the same time for the (mercifully) short-run televison show "Galactica 1980" Patterns for some parts were being carved in foam while other finished parts were being painted. The base motorcycle was a Yamaha MX 175.
We built two full functioning motorcycles and one dummy which was a working motorcycle, but without the moving wings and other added mechanicals. Unfortunately, we were not finished with the dummy when they needed a half motorcycle to hang on a helicopter, so they chopped a functional motorcycle in half -production waits for no one. .."In the future there will be silly helmets....
Rock Stars: no makeup and hair worries for them..These helmets were commissioned by the Techno Houseband band Daft Punk- these helmets are custom designed stage props and cost over $14,000. While the helmets are reasonably simple in design, the cost of labor and materials make it impractical to mass produce and market them. In addition, Daft Punk owns the copyright and concept rights to the helmets.
Designer/fabricator Tony Gardner- created the bands incredible headgear and sport complicated electronics capable of various LED effects enabling the artists to flash messages and images across their visors. Daft Punk stated that they donned their robot masks to easily merge the characteristics of humans and machines. However, one of the two artists that make up daft punk Chris Bangalter later admitted that the costumes were initially the result of shyness. "But then it became exciting from the audiences' point of view. It's the idea of being an average guy with some kind of superpower." When asked on whether the duo expressed themselves differently within the robotic suits, Bangalter stated "No, we don't need to.
After a few albums and concerts the musical duo's outfits became slightly less complicated, consisting of simplified versions of the Discovery head gear and dark leather motorcycle styled jumpsuits designed by fashion designer Hedi Slimane.
In a brief nutshell how the lads had their helmets made:
1. A model shop cast the face of the musician. This was used to create a bust which was
used as a template for the design.
2. The next step was to modify a motorcycle helmet. The body was cut away to allow for
cables and electronics. Two pin holes were provided so the wearer could see out.
3. Clay models were created for all the unique parts. This included a back pack and an arm
band controller.
4. Electronic displays were designed using prototype PC board materials.
5. The LED display panels were assembled by placing each LED one-by-one into a plastic
sheet and glued into place. Each LED required three feet of wiring to connect it to power
and control circuitry. The finished panel was bolted to the helmet frame.
6. The LED cabling was routed around the “ears” of the helmet and out the back. The
helmet cables led down to the backpack where the main controller board was located.
7. The system was originally powered by batteries, but this was later switched over to a
power cord system.
8. The control keypad on the armband was a custom manufactured PC board.
9. Exterior plastic molding and finishing materials were custom manufactured by a special
effects studio to complete the helmet. Once these pieces were added, the helmet details
were touched up with paint.
Being very well crafted the units are still in use for performances even today.
From "Fred the motorcycle courier","The adventures of Fred Gassit (written by Simon O'Leary) have been printed in ustralian Motorcycle News (AMCN) every fortnight for the last 15-20 years. Recently he has been syndicated in the UK's Superbike magazine.
Fred is the ultimate multiple personality; everchanging, everdifferent, he is ALL motorcyclists and yet, curiously, no specific one. In him we see aspects of every known category of biker, even some you didn't know, and most of them none too favourable. He has appeared as everything from 'Fred -Russian Ice Racing Star' to 'Fred - Customs Officer', the list is, so far, endless. He is the perfect biking antithero; he is as non-bikers see us and how some of us see ourselves. Have you ever seen those ghastly, hideous, 'centerfolds' from Easyriders Magazine; where all the handsome, muscley, righteous Bro's roar across the Desert with their massive-breasted Ol' Ladies strapped to the back, like some vision of latter day cowboys (sounds of Bon Jovi swelling up in the background) ? Well, thats the Disease..............and Fred is the cure"
....to "Fred the bastard"
"During the London Blitz, Grandma was a motorcycle courier working for the Ministry of Information" Via:jrjenks blog.
The Marvel comics directory claims "Captain America rides a Harley-Davidson custom special motorcycle, custom built for him by young motorcycle mechanic Jonathan Coulson of Queens, New York. Coulson modified the bike for the Captain in repayment for the Avenger's help in reconciling the youth with his father. Captain America then took it to S.H.I.E.L.D., where it was further modified. While living in Brooklyn Heights, Captain America stored the motorcycle in a service garage operated by Richard Dumbrowski. Captain America now keeps his motorcycle in his van and takes it wherever he travels."
From core77:
"Design for APFCT of two proposed Fuel Cell Scooters. APFCT is an American company that develops fuel-cell systems. For this I was project leader, responsible for design, frame engineering, model building and assembly, This was all done in Holland These scooters are designed build from ground-up to two working and usable prototypes."
..and from APFCT's site:
The APFCT 3rd generation scooter ZES III was begun in December 2001 and completed in July 2002. ZES III is a totally new integrated fuel cell/chassis scooter designed from grounds-up. Its modern European styling compliments its advanced fuel cell engine technology. Performance of ZES III was tested at 58 kph speed and 120 km driving range using 4 MH hydrogen storage canisters"
From Streetuse:"Designed to move people, bicycles and motorbikes are actually used to move almost anything that can be moved. In my travels in Asia I've seen bikes piled impossibly high with all manner of cargo, from livestock to cardboard. It's really astounding what a bike can balance and transport. Dutch photographer Hans Kemp has focused his lens on the motorbike cargo culture of Vietnam. He's gathered his collection of 148 examples of the unintended cargo of motorbikes into a very finely printed photobook, called naturally enough, Bikes of Burden. Here are a few examples from his book, which is also available on Amazon."
"The music video for "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" was shot in London, UK and directed by Paul Boyd. It was filmed on August 22 and 23, 2002 and debuted on CMT on October 4, 2002. The video is set in a futuristic setting, with Twain riding a motorcycle trying to escape a flying robot, at the end of the video Twain finds a clone of herself performing behind glass, which she breaks. The video was a success, peaking at number one on VH1's weekly countdown. The video won the Best Video of the Year Award at the 2003 Canadian Country Music Awards. The films animation was by Blur studios"
Be afraid-The Canjamoto ScorpionVia: motorcycling blog
"The Scorpion is a BMW R1200S chassis covered in striking body work by CANJAMOTO - (Canadian Jamaican Motorsports), a Canadian company based in Toronto did a little bodywork and came up with what they call the Scorpion.
It has no gauges, all information is to be provided via a heads up display, though different windscreens will be available depending on intended use. Street and Racing models will be available in 2008, the turbo version is said to produce 160 horsepower at the rear wheel. Weight is 410 pounds.
The goal of CANJAMOTO designer Richard Minott is to create motorcycles that have the presence and feel of exotic cars. Hence the smooth surface over the top of the bike which is intended to reflect the sensation of an exotic cars hood."
The future we somehow missed..The Dalnik"The term "dalnik" is unknown to most people, but they are a fascinating group of cabin motorcycles that have been constructed for the past 75 years, mostly in eastern Europe.(see the full Czech "Bohemiamobil" page here) Their design brief is a sensible one: a hybrid of motorcycle and automobile, with the virtues of both (at least in theory). The "golden age" of dalniks was during the 1950s and '60s, and the former Czechoslovakia was its center. These vehicles almost always seated two in tandem, with a motorcycle engine mounted behind the passenger, and a streamlined body around them. Some had openable flaps for the feet of the driver, when at rest, others used outrigger wheels to prevent falling over when stopped. A very few experimented with gyroscopic stabilizers.
The man one might consider to be the father of dalniks was Jan Anderle, a brilliant engineer with the Czech aircraft factory Aero. He built his first cabin motorcycle in the late 1930s, and over the years he created many more. His idea of building your own inexpensive two-wheeled car proved to be very popular with other Eastern European handymen after WW2, and many more experimental models were made. Anderle and his wife escaped to the West after the partitioning of Eastern Europe, but his wife persuaded him to return. Unfortunately, after they got back, he was arrested for treason and forced to work in the state uranium mines for the next 15 years. He spent much of the rest of his life in poverty and died in obscurity in 1982. Still, his influence over the vehicle type whose name he coined was immesurable.
The "Bat Dalnik" (above) This amazing vehicle from 1959 is sculpted in such a way that it looks more like a jet-powered auto than a motorcycle with a body. It had a 4-cylinder, 1200cc engine and took 5,000 hours of its creator's time; he had hoped to put it into production. The series of photos shows its development from wire forms to finished product.
This remarkable dalnik (above) was made by Czech mechanical genius Karel Horak, in 1966. It presents a very tidy and well thought out appearance. The outrigger stabilizer wheels retract into the body when underway. Horak used to commute to work in his dalnik and carry his wife and daughter in the back seat on weekends. He also designed and built his own desmodromic motorcycle engines, and worked on the development of an ingenious contra-rotating, meshed-rotor helicopter in the 1950s.Peraves new Monotrace
Dalniks are still being made today! The Swiss company Peraves makes something called the Ecomobile (below). Powered by a 4-cylinder BMW motorcycle engine, this is probably the most sophisticated 2-wheeled vehicle ever sold to the public. They seat two in good comfort, contain a full roll-cage and are incredibly fast and manouverable. They cost about $60,000 and require a training course to operate properly. According to owners, they are the closest thing to flying that can be achieved on land. Jan Anderle was rediscovered by the Ecomobile company a year or two before his death, and he acted as a design consultant to them. He must've gained some satisfaction from seeing his work carried on into the 21st century."
The Ecomobile
The Mopah: It all looks so simple: and that's the beauty of it...The Mopah was created in response to a visiting professional who scrutinized the amount of "blue sky" design amongst students. As David Sedaris pointed out in "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim," the danger in viewing romance movies is that we can all relate to falling in love. The experience is universal and the viewer is lead to a number of unhealthy comparisons, ultimately raising the question "Why can't our lives be like that?" The Mopah is an attempt to design an experience "like that." A reminder that industrial design can be about more than a tangible product, It can be about infusing our lives with something entirely personal: my journey, my music, my moment at the end of the movie when I drive away into the sunset with the perfect song playing in the background. Of course, in order to really prove this point, I needed to create a working prototype. The photos online display the functioning prototype and human reaction.
The typical scooter is designed for efficient transportation. The Mopah is about taking the scenic route. I wanted to alter the interaction of travel, with a soundtrack life isn't so mundane. I chose the Apple Ipod as the soul of Mopah, because of what the device stands for. Apple is turning product interactions upside down, making small improvements on existing devices that create massive change. The Ipod has become a cultural artifact... an expression of personality and ease of use, the flagship for interaction design as product innovator.An interesting discussion I had with a fellow designer, prior to the Mopah project, was on how to prove that an interaction is a successful one. When building a sketch model or just creating a beautiful rendering the aesthetic feel is conveyed but not the interaction. I believe that until a design is created in vivid detail, the way we think a user will react to its use is purely speculation. The only way to experience Mopah is to hop onboard and take her for a spin. For this reason I decided to make a fully working prototype. My senior thesis was right around the corner so I made plans to go from ideation to final prototype in just 10 weeks (the length of the course). I knew I had to focus on specific parts if I were to get finished so I decided to push the aesthetics off to the side and make the interaction as real as possible.Mopah isn't about creating a beauty queen, it's more of a personal exploration in what it takes to make an idea real. That's not to say that I feel the aesthetics are lacking. I went with a much more personal simplistic style. I was influenced heavily by the furniture designers at my school, I always admired their use of detail as a source of style, the placement of a screw can make all the world's difference. Material selection was very important to me, which is why I went with bamboo and aluminum, two materials that may be considered luxurious in the grand scheme of mass production. The built in speakers and the boxy back pay homage to the beautiful wood speaker boxes of the 90's.
The essence of the scooter is that it's not just a motorized bike with speakers, instead its a mobile boom-box. It's an outlet to freedom beyond mere transportation, a way of unlocking the limitless possibilities we have in life. And in conclusion it's a scooter powered by an Ipod, a detail which enhances the playfulness of the design.
Mopah doesn't like being taken seriously.
Via: Cyberpunk Review"Akira Club is an art book featuring cover art, sketches and outtakes from the paperback Akira collections. It’s a little pricey at thirty bucks when most the artwork is in black and white, and another set back is the format, which doesn’t match the Akira books. Though mostly presented in black and white, Otomo Katsuhiro’s artwork will blow your socks off. The artwork in Akira Club is incredibly detailed and the author’s commentaries and sketches really show you how much work has been put into the product. While penned many years ago, it doesn’t look a bit outdated. Akira is an epic piece of work at over 2000 pages and has won awards and prestige around the world. The animated movie based on the manga re-introduced the west to Japanese animation in the nineties. The quality of animation mirrors that of the manga and although large parts of the manga were cut from the movie, it still gets the story through to the viewer pretty well.
Background: The world of Akira is set after world war three and the destruction and rebuilding of Tokyo. Themes include transhumanism, corruption, low life and high tech and Akira comes across as incredibly cyberpunk, mostly focusing on the life of those on the ground in a super industrialized and militaristic Neo Tokyo. The artwork in Akira Club pretty much represents these themes in great detail. There’s a contrast between the giant, symmetrical skyscrapers which dominate the Neo Tokyo skyline and the life on the ground where there are a lot of organic and seemingly random shapes. There’s also a recurring theme of order put in chaos, like the front cover image; smooth motorcycle parts are jumbled together in a giant mess creating disarray where there once was a finely tuned machine, everything put together neatly.
A lot of the magazine covers show a destroyed Neo Tokyo behind mostly young people. The city being destroyed by a secret weapon created by the government, this gives a pretty strong image of the world being handed over to future generations ruined by our predecessors’ lust for more power through technological advances.
Section One: The first section collects several full colour paintings of magazine and book covers, T shirt designs and promotional posters, supplemented with preliminary sketches and short comments from the author; Otomo Katsuhiro.
Section Two: The second section is the biggest and focuses on the covers used for each chapter when Akira was serialized in Young Magazine. These weren’t included in the paperback collections because they’d break up the natural flow of the story, so having them collected here is kinda nice as the artwork is generally stunning. These do not include comments on the artwork but little musings on life by the author, which I personally found incredibly uninteresting.Section Three: The third section collects all sorts of odd artwork used in advertising and merchandise, there’s a lot of great art, but all in all it’s not as interesting as the last section of the book. Also included here are notes on the translation of Akira.It's all about the bike...
Section Four: The fourth section is probably the coolest out of the whole book, although I wish it were longer. Titled, “Unpublished Works,” it shows panels and scenes that were never included in the finalized Akira comic books, some pages include parts that were included in the serialized version of the comic, but were cut from the paperback collections.
The Bottom Line: Having “read” through the book, I feel a little let down; it’s like there’s something missing. The artwork, though awe-inspiring, is as noted mostly in black and white, and I feel there could have been more colour illustrations put in to compensate for the large number of cover illustrations from Young Magazine. The last part of the book could also have been a little longer. At two thousand pages, I’m sure there is more unpublished material than on display here. I’d like to see the parts excluded from the paperback collections in better detail, preferably in entirety, as I’m sure others are as well. I’ve only had access to the translated collections and would like to know what I’ve been missing out on."
A blurry pict of the future"Martin Buehler has created a prototype jockey-ridden hopping robot that controlled forward speed, hopping height, and pitch balance, the jockey did sideways balance and steering.". It looks like lots of fun, if slightly dangerous. It's a shame they don't seem to have made two, so we could see them race."
Via: Urbanartcentral"Here's an excellent papercraft we unearthed from the internet on the Contra video game series. Originally released in 1987 as a side scrolling shoot-em-up, Contra has released numerous installments that has captivated action gamers since."
"23 year old Industrial Design student Daryl Tearne chose to design a Concept Motorcycle as his third year thesis at Humber College - an amazing adventure that took him to Amsterdam to work with the designer of the Yamaha MT-03 concept bike."
Wiki:"The Venus Wars (ヴイナス戦記 Vinasu Senki?) is a 1989 science fiction anime film. It is directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, co-written by Yuichi Sasamoto and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, and stars Gorô Naya and Anna Alba. Loosely based on the manga by Yasuhiko (translated into English by Dark Horse Comics in the early 90s), The Venus Wars gained recognition in the United States when it aired in heavy rotation on the Sci-Fi Channel "Saturday Anime" movie block in the late 1990s. Makoto Kobayashi provided the mechanical design of the films "Monobikes"
Everybody loves a monobikeStory:
In the year 2003, a collision with the giant comet has transformed the surface of the planet Venus. In the year 2089, Venus has been colonized and divided into two continents, Ishtar and Aphrodia. Susan Sommers, a bubbly reporter from Earth, travels to Venus hoping to get a scoop on the military tensions that have arisen between the two nations. She arrives in the Aphrodian capital of Io shortly before the city is invaded by the forces of Ishtar, led by General Donner.
Meanwhile, a brutal, Rollerball-esque racing game is being held in a local stadium. One team, the Killer Commandos, is led by hotshot Hiro Seno. The game is disrupted by the invasion and the team quickly evacuates. Hiro's teammate Will picks up Sue on the way and takes her to the garage where the rest of the team is lying low. The invasion of Io is completed in one day, and the politicians, police, and press submit to Ishtar's authority. The city is put under martial law and a curfew imposed. Many of Io's citizens, including Hiro's girlfriend Maggy, try to pretend that nothing has changed since the invasion, but Donner's iron grip on the city is too tight to ignore.
Hiro visits his teammate Jack, who's staying in his uncle's high rise apartment. However, the police see them as trespassers and lead an unprovoked assault against Hiro. He makes a daring escape from their custody, but not unscathed; his leg is pierced by a bullet and he barely makes it to Maggy's home before he collapses. She tends to his wounds, and Hiro shares a few secrets about his past. A photograph of Maggy's father's spurs memories of the farm where he was raised; Hiro reveals that many of the terra-forming farms funded by the Aphrodian government were frauds simply meant to secure land away from Ishtar. That their crops continually kept failing since the plants couldn't endure the constantly changing weather conditions of the planet (despite convincing claims from so-called government sources)! He bitterly notes on how only the politicians made any money out of this situation, that all governments are corrupt, and expresses his frustration and anger at the state of the world. His words trouble Maggy; so much so, that she bursts into tears and collapses into his arms in a crying fit! Hiro comforts her, leading to both sharing an embrace and a passionate kiss. The moment is ruined when her father returns from work; Hiro is ushered into a back room and overhears the ensuing conversation. Maggy's father is a bureaucrat, and he's pulling strings to have the two of them evacuated out of Io as he did with her brother and mother. Maggy is horrified at the thought of abandoning her friends and defiantly stands up for them against her livid father (who views them as just self-centred adrenaline junkies), before he furiously shouts her into silence as Hiro secretly storms out.
Meanwhile, Miranda of the Killer Commandos discovers that their manager, Gary, has been secretly smuggling arms into the city. Raiding his cache, she reveals her plan to demolish the Ishtar tanks that are parked in the old stadium. Gary says that the Commandos would be fools to try such a suicidal mission, but Hiro likes the idea and inspires his teammates. The Killer Commandos lead an assault against the tanks, but underestimate the strength of Ishtar's military. Jack and Gary are killed in the melee, and Hiro nearly shares their fate. At the last minute, however, the team is saved by the Aphrodian Freedom Force, which had also been planning to attack the stadium that night.
Sue and the Killer Commandos are forcibly recruited by Lt. Kurtz, who thinks that their skills as monobikers would be useful in his Bloodhound Squadron. Tensions run high among the Killer Commandos and the team is divided; Will and Sue think that it's important to fight for Aphrodia's freedom, but Hiro and Miranda want nothing to do with war. Will is called out on a mission and Sue begs him to take her along. He instead convinces her to wire her camera to his monobike so he can film their attack. But to Sue's horror, Will disappears in battle. Sue steals a buggy to search for him on the battlefield, only to stumble upon the terrible truth of his death.
Upset over Will's fate, Hiro and the Commandos demand to be freed from the Freedom Force's custody. Lt. Kurtz and Hiro quickly strike up an animosity, and Kurtz challenges Hiro to a race across a ravine in their monobikes. Despite having a ten second head start, Hiro is taken out by Kurtz. Nevertheless, Kurtz is impressed by Hiro's raw talent, and makes him a deal: he will release the Killer Commandos on the condition that Hiro joins the Bloodhound Squadron. Hiro grudgingly accepts his offer, and says goodbye to Miranda and his friends.
Back in Io, General Donner is visited by Sue, who requests an interview with him for the Independent Press on Earth. Once alone with him, Sue pulls a gun and threatens to kill him in order to avenge Will and all the other innocent people who have died in the war. She fails to release the safety however, and is quickly disarmed and arrested. Displaying his sadism Gerhard accosts Sue, snatches away her firearm, then discharges her pistol inches from the side of her head, before putting it to her skull and pulling the trigger, cruelly revealing he's used up all the bullets.
Kurtz leads the Bloodhound Squadron in a surprise and intense strike on Io. Kurtz is disabled, but Hiro manages, through sheer luck and skill, to corner Donner's tank and destroy it by getting Gerhard to fire on him (raging that he shall not be beaten by children), with his shots missing Hiro and striking a runway that collapses ontop of (a screeching with frustration) Gerhard in his tank. With their leader dead, the Ishtar forces are quickly disbanded and Aphrodia is freed from their control. Kurtz and Hiro end their animosity and Kurtz gives Hiro his monobike as a sign of goodwill. While driving through the streets, Hiro encounters the recently released Sue, who's being evacuated to Earth. She thanks him for all of his help, and he tells her to come back and visit Venus again.
Following Sue's tip, Hiro makes the long trek to a refugee camp; there, he and Maggy are happily reunited (thanks to her siamese cat Andrew). Back on Earth, Sue has given a world exclusive on the Venus Wars. She plans to spend her vacation on Venus so she can rejoin her friends."
These Incredible Honda-Hawk based customs come from Japan's Kaname Suzuki's BROS shop. But (once again) we are unable to get any more details or specs even with hours of obsessive googling. These picts and imfo came from Steve Beatty's Hawk GT page.
A few weeks (months?) ago we did a post on the PS2 game hero Cloud's bike the Fenir from the Final Fantasy series and movie. Now we have more detailed pictures of the incredible Keita Amemiya designed bike created by computer artist Wen-JR and featured on moto.caradisiac. Enjoy!
Here's a rendering showing the bikes open "doors"-allowing access to our hero's rather large swords.
By Carol Vogel from the NYtimes:"As giant billows of smoke began filling the cavernous drill hall of the Seventh Regiment Armory one recent evening, there was no panic. Rather, there were shouts of exultation, along with what sounded like a chorus of foghorns.
“Look, it’s going in the right direction,” said Doreen Remen, a founder of the Art Production Fund, a nonprofit organization that presents unusual public art projects. With her co-founder, Yvonne Force Villareal, and the artist Aaron Young she gazed upward with relief as the smoke began filtering out the open windows along the rafters.
Four smoke machines had been brought in to simulate the conditions that could develop as 10 motorcycles ride around the 55,000-square-foot drill hall simultaneously. For Thursday evening’s test run the belching, thunderous machines had some competition: Wink 1100, a professional stunt rider who performed the trick sequences in the 2003 movie “Biker Boyz.” Wearing Tom Ford sunglasses, baggy blue jeans and a red-and-blue sweatshirt, he was enveloped in his own haze of smoke as he spun the wheels of his Honda CBR 954 on a designated patch of painted plywood.
It was the prelude to a turning point in the Seventh Regiment Armory’s 128-year history: the first performance art piece ever presented there, masterminded by Mr. Young. Tonight 10 motorcycle stunt riders wearing sunglasses will ride for seven minutes on 288 panels of painted plywood covering the drill hall floor as 500 invited guests, including members of Hells Angels, watch from the bleachers above.Picts from supertouchblog
With neon lights attached to the undersides of their bikes, the riders will follow synchronized movements choreographed by Mr. Young. The burnouts from their tires will yield colorful swirls, zigzags and snake patterns on the plywood panels, which have been coated in seven layers of fluorescent reds, pinks, oranges and yellows and then sealed with two coats of black acrylic.
Titled “Greeting Card,” after a 1944 Jackson Pollock painting that has its own tangle of spirals, the work is described as both a performance piece and an action painting. When the riders have finished, they will have created a giant fluorescent multicolored floor piece that will remain on public view through Sunday. A film of the performance will be shown on a plasma screen in the hall.
It is the first in a series of art exhibitions and performances planned for the building by a new nonprofit group, the Seventh Regiment Armory Conservancy, which in December took over management of the crenellated red-brick behemoth on Park Avenue between 66th and 67th Streets from New York State. The group still plans to hold the art and antiques fairs that have attracted throngs for decades, but Rebecca Robertson, the conservancy’s president and chief executive, suggested that the armory could become even more of a cultural destination.
“The armory is neither a white-box gallery nor a proscenium stage,” she said. “Here you make it up. Luckily this space allows work that can’t be seen anywhere else in the city.”
For now, she said, the conservancy is in the research and development phase. Still, workers have been cleaning the neglected building, and air-conditioning has been installed in the drill hall for the first time, eliminating the need for the special trucks that once piped in cool air during art and antiques fairs. The $150,000 budget for “Greeting Card” is being covered by a group of sponsors that include Tom Ford, the fashion designer, and Sotheby’s.
Mr. Young, 35, a conceptual artist and sculptor, first began talking with the Art Production Fund about the piece last December at the Art Basel Miami Beach fair. “We didn’t think we could do this in New York,” Ms. Villareal said. “It required a large space with the audience watching the performance from above.”
But as soon as she and Ms. Remen heard that the armory was seeking art projects, they met with Ms. Robertson. “Her reaction was, ‘Bring it on,’ ” Ms. Villareal said.
Working at minimum wage, gallery assistants and students from Barnard and Columbia spent three days last week painting the panels. “It was like camp,” Ms. Remen said.
Thursday evening’s smoke experiment was one of many trials and rehearsals. To ensure that the smoke from the motorcycles will not endanger the audience, the glass has been removed from the 28 windows high in the rafters of the drill hall. Still, guests are warned in small letters on the bottom of the performance invitation: “A ventilation system has been installed to reduce the smoke and exhaust. Earplugs will be provided for the noise. If you are sensitive to either, please request a protected viewing space.” In addition to a glassed-in room for warier viewers, the Art Production Fund will furnish the audience with face masks.
Mr. Young said that given the challenges of the synchronization and the safety concerns, nothing had been left to chance. A month ago he did tests in an empty parking lot in the Bronx near Yankee Stadium.
To inspire the riders involved in “Greeting Card,” he gave each a photocopy of the Pollock painting. “The spiral motion is the template,” he said. The 10 bikers — five stunt riders from Team G Unit along with five friends — will each have a designated 23- by 43-foot area on which to perform zigzags, power slides and circles. The neon lights on the bottom of each bike will allow the audience to follow the movements through the smoky haze. “I want it lit like a boxing rink, very hard-edged,” Mr. Young said.
“Hopefully this will appeal to people who know nothing about motorcycles or about art,” he said as he examined shreds of tire rubber embedded in some of the wood panels, a byproduct of Wink’s brief motorcycle whirl.
Although Mr. Young does not ride himself, it is not his first artistic encounter with motorcycles. In 2000, as a student at the San Francisco Art Institute, he created a piece called “High Performance,” enlisting a group of cyclists he met at a local motorcycle bar called the Zeitgeist. “I got them drunk until they said yes,” he recalled. The riders performed burnouts in a studio that was once used by Diego Rivera. The result was a 3 1/2-minute video that was eventually acquired by the Museum of Modern Art.
When it is time for the 288 panels to leave the armory, Mr. Young plans to select about 20 of them to sell through the Art Production Fund. He and the fund will split the proceeds. Before the panels are sold, he plans to seal each one with a coat of clear resin.
“That way it will keep the hot melted rubber fixed,” he said. Even though the ride itself will last only seven minutes, he explained, the panels will be “archival.”
A soldier from the meiji period meets the rubber with the road."Wars are fought by armies of men, but equipment has always been critical to their ability to perform in battle. Now, imagine a time machine which could outfit Genghis Khan with rocket launchers; or Napoleon with a division of Panzer tanks -- that would change human history, wouldn't it? Tokyo artist Akira Yamaguchi explores the idea from a Japanese perspective with the hallucinogenic history lesson that is his new exhibition, "Japan/China and Japan/Russia Fantasy War Drawings."
Yamaguchi, 33, has long been working with the juxtaposition of different historical eras in his expertly-crafted and finely-detailed ink on paper drawings and acrylic and oil on canvas paintings. There is a real sophistication to his process -- the artist does not simply drop a salaryman into a Tokugawa pastoral scene, rather he seamlessly integrates different and disparate period moods, clues, and symbols, and does this so cleverly that it is often not apparent until one closely inspects the pictures. For example, a man in a yukata, sitting on zabuton in an old izakaya, with the mama-san hovering over him holding a tray of not sake, but milk. Other examples, such as the Russian cavalry man riding a half-horse, half-motorcycle, juxtapose in a way that is not as subtle but no less well-integrated.
Yamaguchi also fuses different artistic styles in his drawings -- we see the lack of perspective characteristic of early Yamato-e paintings; and we also see treatments in the style of contemporary media such as manga, and the virtual imagery found in anime and video games.
Yamaguchi says his work is meant to be humorous, but also aims to criticize the wholesale embracing of Western ideas that took place during the Meiji Era, to the detriment of traditional Japanese culture. He smiles and shakes his head when I ask him if he is a "u-yoku" (right wing ultranationalist) who spends his days driving around in a big black bus spewing ear-splitting anti-foreigner rhetoric out of a battery of loudspeakers. Indeed, Yamaguchi, like fellow Mizuma Gallery artist Makoto Aida (who has painted pictures of Japanese Zero fighter planes, flying in a figure eight formation over a fire-engulfed New York City), seems less attracted to the Japanese nationalist program than to the jarring aesthetic possibilities it provides.
Indeed, artists like Aida and Yamaguchi may well be the next big Japanese contemporary culture export, as their multi-leveled work makes the mostly saccharine stylings of this country's current art stars seem feeble, feckless. This year Yamaguchi did the cover art for acid jazz musical group United Future Organization's latest CD, "V." With an artistic approach well-suited to scrutiny and interpretation, it is a safe bet that we'll be seeing a lot more from this talented artist in the near future."
From comic fiction.."Werner is a fictional character, appearing in a number of German comic books and animated films. He was created by Brösel (Rötger Feldmann). Werner is the most successful German comic character of all time with over 10 million books sold and over 13 million film admissions.
The Werner books are known for their anarchic humour, often based on Northern German dialect and puns.Seems like a pretty clever fella-Werner
The character of Werner is based on Brösel's own experiences. Werner is an unemployed biker who likes to modify his motorcycle — which constantly gets him into trouble with the police and the TÃœV. Werner also likes to consume large amounts of beer (known as Bölkstoff in the comics). In his younger years, Werner was apprentice to plumber Meister Röhrich - the situations and characters in these stories are based on Brösel's brother Andi's apprenticeship years."
The softheaded little twit is so popular he even has his own music video...
"The bike was drawn in a biker comic (see above), but the artists brother was so enamoured with it - that he brought it in to existance!
The cylinder came out of an old tractor, as did the wheels, the tires were once made for a Ford Model A and had spent several decades in storage somewhere, the seat is an actual shovel and the fork is made from forged iron and ash (wood). Although it runs on petrol, this looks more steam-ish than most steam motorcycles- it goes ka-tchunk, ka-tchunk like real machinery schould.."
(The bike has a) "Custom made engine block, internals, cylinder head. DOHCs operating four valves via rocker arms. Generator from a Japanese compact car. Silencers (yes, they are there) came from dirttrack bikes, one in each pipe.
1440 cc displacement, the original aim had been for 1000. Actual Vintage Ford Model A tires, found virginly wrapped in paper in a Danish tire store. Modified Harley brakes and a Harley transmission. Fork made from well-aged ash, and forged iron. Due to a lack of space, the petrol tank is part of the handle-bar arrangement. The old look of most of the parts was achieved by means of heat and applying fiendish concoctions of various brown-ish metals.
The engine is, obviously, a stressed member, and due to a lack of foresight by the designers, the four bolts holding the cylinder and head assembly to the block are the only thing that keeps the bike together (note how the steering is bolted right to the cylinder head, as are the frame tubes). it delivers about 60 something hp or thereabouts, makes a noise like a steam-engine breathing angry spanners and is, of course, utterly and totally illegal in any conceivable way."
Via: 1up.com:
"No More Heroes: The lead character of the Wii based game, Travis Touchdown, is going to stir up some trouble rather than fill the typical hero role. Travis, a hardcore geek, wins an Internet auction for a powerful beam katana, which he uses to boost his career as a hit man. After killing resident cool guy Helter Skelter, he is ranked number 11 by the UAA, the governing body of assassins. Providing him with rank matches is Sylvia Christel, a French-born agent of the UAA.Travis Touchdown's bike-The "Schpeltiger"
The action takes place in Santa Destroy, a town on the west coast of America. Travis can explore the area freely, either by foot, or on his monster machine called a "Schpeltiger" -- a huge motorcycle resembling something from The Transformers. The town is full of villains who have become distanced from society, and through searching for weapons -- and making money -- Travis tries to protect his own existence in any way possible."
Once more we have a great computer illustration, this time from keblitis Media ( a team of U.S. located graphic designers with backgrounds in architecture, engineering, and artistic design.) No description of the bike is given..but it still looks like fun nonetheless.
From Electrifying Times:
"Heather Anderson was born and raised in a small town just north of Toronto, Ontario. The rural setting allowed her access to many different forms of motorized sports during her youth. She has ridden everything from dirt bikes to snowmobiles, her family’s Odyssey being her favorite, that is until this year.
In her spare time from job as a credit processor, Heather enjoys sports, camping, fiddling with her artistic side, and a good horror novel. She also has plans of returning to university.
Watching her brother perform many stunts and trick riding on his motorcycle encouraged the extreme gene in Heather, pushing her craving for the “Need for Speed”. After helping in the pits for 4 years with her boyfriends mid 10’s 1984 Capri RS all motor ICE car, she was wanting a ride of her own.
Then in August of 2003 she was introduced to Raymond Knight of S.V.A. Power Products at the DaSilva Racing Shootout. Raymond had been testing and tuning his 24vt electric ‘87 Ninja, named Whispering Lightning. After laying down some consistent times, he was looking to lighten the bike. Since Raymond weighs in at 260lbs, the easiest answer was to change riders.
The bike’s hard launches scared off the other male riders at the event. Heather happily accepted the offer on the basis that she could test it a few times first. After a month of uncooperative weather, Heather finally made back to the track.
At the age of 22 Heather made her drag racing debut on Oct 11th, 2003 at St. Thomas Drag Way in Ontario, Canada. Her very first run was an impressive 14.095 at 41.74mph. She then backed that up with a 14.099 at 41.86mph. This made her unofficially the fastest 24vt motorcycle in the world.
Later on the Oct. 21st she would run an even faster 13.524 in the 1/8 mile. However the bike was operating with sealed free acid batteries. The batteries did confirm that the low voltage problem on the negative side was definitely battery related. For fun a full run was then done, Heather ran 13.561 in the 1/8, and 23.091 at 48.38mph in the ¼ mile.
With her need for speed not yet fulfilled, Heather dreads the long cold Canada winter, as it stands between her and the 48vt upgraded Whispering Lightning. Her goal is to reach the 100mph barrier by the end of next season. Whether that will be enough to satisfy this brown haired, blue-eyed beauty, only time will tell."
From Michael Carnassus via Streetuse:"These motor bikes are used to transport stuff around Dong Dae Mun Market in Seoul. I love the way that the people in the market have this fiercely independent spirit of free enterprise but also have these complicated symbiotic relationships with one other. These bikes are the grease that make the market smooth, you see them ferrying ridiculously big loads for 500 metres or so to where the products are needed.
Note the carefully street modded/welded carrying beds with 90 degree load supports. I've seen fridges, washing machines and dish washers carried on these things without trouble, even the bicycles. Note the extended rear swing arms with twin suspension coils/springs."
Our hero Tetsuya Tsurugi -his giant robot Mazinger lurks in the background-but its the jet-bike we are here for.Wiki. Book and anime television series by manga artist Go Nagai, made as a direct continuation of the successful Mazinger Z series. It was aired on Japan in 1974, immediately following the end of the first Mazinger series. It lasted for 56 episodes."
You have to love the interweb, I saw this amazing special Dustbin Fairing special just a few miles from my home and was sadly unable to chase the rider down. Only a few days later during my evening of blog content searching I found these pictures of the same bike on the Pashnit "weird bike" forum thread. It was seen on a local Doc Wong instructional ride, but sadly the rider was not found.
These great computer illustrations come from the Dutch firm planetpixel.nl. sadly their extensive site gives no credit or backround on the company-either way, some stunning images.
"The eCycle Hybrid concept is a gas electric bike series with an innovative assymetrical chassis and swingarm front suspension. Machineart's three designs demonstrate the beauty of the core platform and its flexibility for building multiple variations. Concept ec3 is a commuter that adds wind protection and an integrated tail rack and side cases to the core platform. The upper assembly is cantilevered off of the monocoque structure containing the electronics and motors"
"The MK9 sport GT concept is built to showcase how design can transform a standard model into one that is exciting, desirable, and brand distinguishing. Winner of an IDEA Gold Award from the Industrial Designers Society of America, it combines style and performance with comforts like a roomy seat and a relaxed riding position. The MK9 is a running prototype built in-house."
"The Machineart mF3 body is designed to transform the appearance of a 1994~96 Honda CBR600 F3 at less than half the cost of stock replacement body parts. The belly pan and rear fender connect visually and a space revealing more of the engine separates it from the upper half of the body. Manufactured by Airtech in fiberglass, the design gives new life to these older models. The body bolts on utilizing the stock seat, tank, windshield, mirrors, and lights."
"Ducati has been placing its high per- formance motorcycles in films for years - nothing sounds or looks better in a high speed chase. For the premier of Blade II, starring Wesley Snipes, Machineart painted black and applied a wind streaked blood paint"
From speedupworld:
"Imagine straddling a rocket, soaring through the skies on the ride of your life. Whether you are into speed, excitement, or simply the stunning view from above, SpeedUp™ has what you are yearning for.
The personal rocketcraft is an entirely new concept in motorsports. A one-person rocket, which will allow YOU to take the controls, while a computer autopilot continually stabilizes the rocket.
The personal rocketcraft is on the way. Will you be ready for it?
How will it work?
SpeedUp™ personal rockecraft will be based on innovative design and sound engineering. Hydrogen peroxide rockets will provide thrust to lift the vehicle into the air and fly without wings. Meanwhile, a computerized attitude control system (ACS) will use a state space controller to maintain balance and stability of the vehicle's orientation in space (its attitude in the parlance of aerospace engineering.)
The ACS will use sensors such as gyroscopes and GPS so that it constantly knows the position and attitude of the vehicle. The ACS will also filter the control inputs to the vehicle to prevent dangerous situations such as diving too fast, or the vehicle venturing outside its operating area. The ACS will even be able to fly the vehicle on autopilot to designated coordinates.
The rider of a personal rocketcraft will not merely be a passenger. He will actually control the vehicle with the ACS looking over his shoulder. When the vehicle is low on propellant, or when any dangerous condition develops the ACS will be able to automatically take over and fly the vehicle on autopilot to a safe landing.
Safety will be provided in depth with primary and backup systems designed through extensive failure mode analysis. A robust control system will monitor the vehicle's health and bring the vehicle in for a landing if any anomaly starts to develop. All safety critical parts will have redundant backups. In addition, the vehicle will have emergency safety systems such as a parachute and a roll cage. All safety systems will be designed to minimize the probability of a failure, and to minimize the severity of a failure should one occur."
Via: nemomatic via IO9"Ever since I was a kid I have always loved old scooters. However I have never really wanted the responsibility of maintaining a "vintage" machine. I always thought to myself, "why can't we have the convenience and reliability of modern engineering like a Honda with the class and styling of an old Lambretta?"
Recently it occurred to me that as an adult, I actually have the skills and facilities to address this important issue that has nagged me all these years. This project began with a very tired looking 1980’s Honda Elite 125 scooter and my usual arsenal of aluminum scrap objects. In this case street lamp, and vacuum cleaner parts make up the majority of it.
For those curious about the process, I have posted a step-by-step essay of this piece over at Instructables. You can also dig around the archives in my blog for additional images.
The dash board panel actually still has a little way to go yet. In weeks to come I hope to have a working nixie tube speedometer
The little cars are supposed to represent my “kills” like an old bomber plane.
"Electra Glide in Blue is a 1973 film starring Robert Blake as a motorcycle cop in Arizona and Billy Green Bush as his partner. The movie was filmed in Monument Valley, and was produced and directed by James William Guercio (who is best known as the producer of Chicago's first eleven albums). The film was loathed by critics when first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, but garnered a great deal of critical acclaim upon its nationwide release. Overall, it saw only limited commercial success.
Blake plays a motorcycle cop named John Wintergreen who patrols the rural Arizona highways with his partner, nicknamed "Zipper" (Billy Green Bush). Wintergreen is a rookie cop who resents being in traffic enforcement and wants to be transferred to homicide investigation. Wintergreen is laid-back but upright about enforcing the law, while Zipper is alternately lazy (preferring to read comic books in the shade) and hard-assed about busting hippies, even going so far as to plant evidence on a young man whose van they were searching.
At first his supervisors ignore his request for a transfer; however, he is informed of an apparent suicide by Crazy Willie (Elisha Cook, Jr.). Wintergreen believes the case is not a suicide, but is instead a murder; after a shouting match with the local coroner (Royal Dano), he meets Detective Harve Poole (Mitchell Ryan), who admires Wintergreen's savvy, and arranges for Wintergreen to be transferred to homicide to help with the case.
Wintergreen's initial joy at being promoted is short-lived, as his relationship with his fellow officers deteriorates. Wintergreen begins increasingly to identify with the hippies whom the other officers are endlessly harassing; in one scene he watches as Harve brutally interrogates the same hippies who had cheerfully lied to Wintergreen about not knowing a suspect by the name of Bob Zemko (Peter Cetera).
Workplace politics also cause him to be quickly demoted back to traffic enforcement; the final straw comes when Harve discovers that Wintergreen has been sleeping with Jolene (Jeannine Riley), Harve's girlfriend and waitress at the local bar. Harve is emasculated by Jolene in front of Wintergreen, his subordinate, when Jolene mocks Harve's sexual prowess (implying that Harve is impotent) and brags that Wintergreen can "go three times in one morning".
Wintergreen eventually realizes that Crazy Willie committed the murder; the victim was an old friend of his who had taken to selling amphetamines and hanging around with a younger crowd. Jealous, Willie murdered his friend and arranged it so it appeared to be a suicide. Wintergreen then informs Harve that he is "full of horseshit", as Harve was convinced Zemko had committed the murder and stolen money from the victim.
Wintergreen then discovers another terrible fact: Zipper's dream was to own his own motorcycle, and had stolen the dead man's drug money (initially blamed on Zemko) to pay for it. Zipper is intoxicated and begins firing his gun at Wintergreen, and actually hits a random passer-by. Horrified, Wintergreen shoots Zipper in self-defense, and Zipper dies in his arms.
Shortly afterwards, Wintergreen loses his own life in an ending reminiscent of the end of Easy Rider. On the road again, he encounters the van of the hippie that he and Zipper had interrogated earlier in the film; the hippie is now accompanied in the van by a friend. Wintergreen pulls the van over when he notices that it is without a front bumper, but when he recognizes the driver and remembers the trouble he and Zipper caused him, Wintergreen pardons the hippies and sends them on their way. Almost immediately after the van drives off, Wintergreen discovers that he is still holding the driver's license, and rides after them in an attempt to return it. However, the hippies interpret it as an arrest attempt (they are apparently carrying drugs in the van), and before Wintergreen is able to return the driver's license, the accompanying hippie leans out the van's back window and shoots Wintergreen with a shotgun. The hippies make their escape, and Wintergreen dies on the desert road, his motorcycle lying some meters ahead of him.
Via: ohgizmo"Even with all the hype and hoopla behind the Segway, it’s yet to really revolutionize the way people get around. And while I’m a big fan of the Segway, I believe something like the RoboScooter from MIT’s Media Lab has a much better chance at replacing the automobile, particular for people who commute or who live in crowded urban settings.
Made from just 150 parts, the RoboScooter should theoretically be easy to mass produce, and the simple design including lack of a complex drivetrain (each wheel has its own electric motor and suspension) would probably make it more reliable and easy to maintain. The RoboScooter would also make the streets considerably less crowded, and would reduce the need for large parking lots or garages since it’s able to fold up when not in use.
It was jointly developed by Sanyang Motors, Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute and the Smart Cities group at the MIT Media Lab. And while the final prototype of the RoboScooter was actually shown at the Milan Motor Show in November, there’s been no word on when it might eventually be available to the public."
From discountanimedvd.com:"Otaku and motorheads take notice - the combination of bishoujo beauty and motorcycle brilliance is here Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden! This is an amazingly detailed "multi material" statue, consisting of a pvc figure of the cute android Mahoro (clad in her maid outfit with pistol in hand), along with an abs/pvc motorcycle with die-cast metal/chogokin cowling - over 60% of the bike is metal! The astounding detail of the bike is evident with its rotating rubber tires and movable steering & handlebars. With the die-cast metal cowling removed, you can see the full frame of the cycle, its engine, gears, and more! This item is collaboration between bishoujo figure sculptor Tsukuru Shirahige and motorcycle expert sculptor Yasuhiro Nemoto. The bike is over 7" long (1/12 scale), prepainted, and requires you to snap the removable cowling on the bike, and place Mahoro-san in her seat. It is packaged in a collectible, deluxe fifth-panel window box."
Ah, blogger comes through again, this time a a nice piece of art from Graham Corcoran-a freelance illustrator, be sure to check out the rest of his drawings at modern whimsy.
From topspeed.com"Nitin Kosha is a thirty-one year old independent designer who was born in India, studied in Great Britain, and currently lives in Switzerland. Its sympathy for motorcycles inspired him to create the sketches of a futuristic concept more than five years ago, but the drawing has never reached its high expectations so the project gathered some dust until inspiration struck.
Freshly designed and featuring all the required finishing touches, the Dacoit Concept is alive only in its designer’s computer, but waiting for that great opportunity coming from a big motorcycle maker with great plans for the future."
From Swik.net
"MURATA BOY is a self balancing robot that is packed with electronics to allow it to have extraordinary balancing capabilities. The specs are impressive especially considering the small size of the unit however watch the videos, they are something else!
The little guy does not fall down, even when he comes to a complete stop. And, it’s not training wheels keeping him up, but a gyro sensor located underneath his seat that detects tiny movements to calculate the slanting angle of the body. Once the angle is figured out, a large rotating disc in the robot’s chest generates force to correct the slant"
Perhaps in a few years this little robot will lead us the way to production motorcycles with built in gyro's -allowing for safer and (more importantly) faster machines.
We found these really rather charming scooter pen and water colour sketches while searching for some new content. Karen Luk drew these near the U.C. Berkeley campus during a local Sketchcrawl on St. Patrick's Day. She is a freelance illustrator and is currently developing web comics for Girlamatic
Via: Consultaglobal"This concept vehicle was conceived by Albert Vicien and myself. A small model was first displayed by Derbi at Barcelona’s automotive show in 1991.
Originally, our intent was to explore the potential of a next-generation urban vehicle thinking of Barcelona’s transportation needs and trends. We were also interested in studying the benefits of designing a bike with a low center of gravity and a dynamic equilibrium system (e.g. maneuvering, stability, comfort, energy consumption) . This had to do with the biker’s laid-back posture as well as with the rebalancing the vehicle when taking turns, instead of turning the wheels only, coupled with what we called “computer aided safety and navigation.
This single-seater was an electrical vehicle. The concept also called for light but robust and recyclable plastic materials. It’s small volume was meant to help improve commuting in Mediterranean cities such as Barcelona."
Via: Coroflot
Hiro Nikaido is a current Motorcycle Styling Designer for the Suzuki Motor Corporation and a graduate of Art Center College of Design.
Since my German is a little rusty there is very little I can tell you about Beutler-lack Designs. Well known in his country this custom bike builder/painter has created this staggering BMW based custom.
"As styling and technique goes it's inspired by Kaneda's bike from the movie "Akira", however, it has some definite differences and improvements. I've included a version that's styled to look like Kaneda's bike, but not a 100% replica.
More than a toy: Mahjqa put a lot of serious thought into the chassis design.
The steering is actuated with the joystick in the middle, which steers the front wheel. The two 8-tooth gears are there to make sure that when you steer to the right, you actually go to the right. It was quite hard to come up with a way to make the steering work with the suspension, but this works like a charm. it uses a flex axle which slides through the hole of the #1 angle connector as the front suspension is bumped.
The Akira bike is outfitted with those nifty glow-in-the-dark disks, which happen to look exactly like the dsks on Kaneda's bike. The rear lights and the background are photoshopped, but the disks aren't."
Wiki:
MTT Turbine SUPERBIKE, also known as Y2K Turbine SUPERBIKE, is the world's second wheel driven motorcycle powered by a turbine engine, created by Ted McIntyre of Marine Turbine Technologies Inc. Reports of the MTT Turbine SUPERBIKE appeared as early as 1999 in a May issue of Cafe Racer magazine, but the production model was introduced in 2000.
Powered by a Rolls Royce Allison 250 series turboshaft engine, producing 238kW (320hp), this motorcycle has a recorded top speed of 227 mph (365 km/h), with a price tag of US$150,000 (US$185,000 in 2004). It is recognized by Guinness World Records as the "Most powerful production motorcycle" and the "Most expensive production motorcycle". Unlike some earlier jet-powered motorcycles, where a massive jet engine provided thrust to push the motorcycle, the turboshaft engine on this model drives the rear wheel via a two-speed gearbox. Riding the motorcycle is said to be somewhat tricky due to the inherent throttle lag in the engine, acceleration when letting off the throttle, and extreme length.
The engines used in the motorcycles are second-hand, having reached the FAA running time limit, after which they have to be rebuilt, regardless of condition. MTT can buy these engines for a much lower price than new engines and use them on surface vehicles without requiring FAA approval. One of the engine's more usual applications is powering Bell 206 JetRanger helicopters, a 1.5 ton aircraft. To get around the problem of procuring the kerosene usually used in turbine engines, the engine of the bike has been modified to use diesel fuel.
In addition to the engine, there are other innovations incorporated into this bike, such as radar detector with laser scrambler, rear mounted camera with LCD display, and an optional passenger seat. Unlike other contemporary motorcycles (such as the Hayabusa), the 2001 and later models of the MTT Turbine SUPERBIKE do not have the 300 km/h speed limiting governors self-imposed by Japanese manufacturers."
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