Heather Anderson and the Whispering Lighting.

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."

Korean Marketplace CargoCycles.

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."

this looks like a job for...

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."

The mystery bike.

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.

So we await for the builder/owner of this amazing bike to stand up and take a bow....

Planet Pixel's jet bike.

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.

Yes, but is it Snell rated?

The industrial designs of Machineart.

"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"

This just in-company finally adds some danger to the concept of motorcycling.

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."

The art of Nemo Gould.

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.

The motorcycle in cinema-Electra Glide in Blue.

Wiki:

"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.

MIT's folding RoboScooter.

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."

Lets go shopping: The Mahoromatic Multi-Material Statue.

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."

The art of Graham Corcoran.

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.

Nitin Kosha's Dacoit concept.

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."

Murata Boy.

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.

The art of Karen Luk.

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

When is Motorcycle not a Motorcycle? The Ergo Trans Concept.

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."

High Concept: Hiro Nikaido.

Via: Coroflot

Hiro Nikaido is a current Motorcycle Styling Designer for the Suzuki Motor Corporation and a graduate of Art Center College of Design.

Beutler-lack Designs.

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.

Mahjqa leegonai's Lego Akira bike.

From mocpages.com

"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."

The Y2K jet bike.

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."