bike Archives | AutoDepot

Video: Discover the meaning of bike control with this crazy rotary-mounted helmet cam

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Videos, Motorcycle

Motorcycle Fairy View - video screencap of gymkhana run using helmet-mounted camera

This is the unnamed winner of the third round of the 2013 Dunlop Autoby Cup Motorcycle Gymkhana, and the video of their run is mind-boggling for two different reasons. First, the motorcycle control on display here is extremely impressive, with excellent precision throughout.

Secondly, the videography is great. The rider attached a counterbalanced rotary video rig to the top of his helmet, allowing a free-spinning, constantly changing point of view, that the title of the video calls “Fairy View.” We call it “Trippy View.” Either way, it looks outstanding, and is a far cry from the dime-a-dozen GoPro videos that can be found all over the internet. Now, if we could just figure out how to adapt one of these for a car. Take a look at the full video below, and just try to keep your head on straight.

Continue reading Discover the meaning of bike control with this crazy rotary-mounted helmet cam

Discover the meaning of bike control with this crazy rotary-mounted helmet cam originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Aug 2013 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Video: Discover the meaning of bike control with this crazy rotary-mounted helmet cam”

Official: Motopeds occupy muddy middle ground between moped and mountain bike [w/video]

Filed under: Videos, Motorcycle, Specialty, Off-Road

Motorized bicycles have been around for a long time, but it isn’t often that they’re as cool as the off-road-oriented contraption called the Motoped. Looking more like a skinny dirtbike with pedals than a mountain bike or moped, Motopeds mount a 50-155cc Honda XR50/CRF50 engine and swingarm to a custom frame with downhill mountain bike suspension components and brakes.

Being able to ride quietly on the sidewalk, switch on the four-stroke Honda engine (or similar Chinese design, if you’d like to go the cheaper route), then pretend you’re Ricky Carmichael for the rest of the way home sounds like great fun to us, but take note of your state’s laws before you do so. In California, for example, the two main laws in the vehicle code require motorized bicycles to have automatic transmissions and less than two brake horsepower to be legal. Also take not that the Motoped is a build-it-yourself ordeal after buying the frame, though the company supplies a parts list with many options depending on price range. If you’re interested, visit the company’s Kickstarter for a discounted price on the frame (as long as the Kickstarter goal is met).

Whatever motor is featured in the video below is the one we want – we have a strong feeling it has more than two horsepower. Or wait for the electric motor version, which is under development, says Motopeds spokesman Joe Rajakaruna.

Continue reading Motopeds occupy muddy middle ground between moped and mountain bike [w/video]

Motopeds occupy muddy middle ground between moped and mountain bike [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Official: Motopeds occupy muddy middle ground between moped and mountain bike [w/video]”

Read This: Wired editor to live with EV bike for six months

Filed under: Motorcycle, Electric

2013 Zero DS ZF 11.4 electric motorcycle in yellow

Wired Autopia honcho and Autoblog alum Damon Lavrinc is finished with the internal combustion engine. And four wheels. And a closed cabin in which to commute. For the next six months, Lavrinc will be staring Range Anxiety right in its cold, dead (battery) eyes, while splitting lanes and commuting through San Francisco on a long-term-test 2013 Zero DS ZF 11.4 electric motorcycle.

In reality, the latest creation from Zero is probably about as good as it gets in terms of EV bikes to live with (not that riders are spoiled for choice in that segment). The electric motor kicks out 54 horsepower and 68 pound-feet of torque, so power won’t be an issue in the hilly Bay Area, and max range of 126 miles from the 11.4 kWh battery pack is more than reasonable.

Lavrinc isn’t so over-the-moon for Zero that he doesn’t see potential drawbacks to the arrangement: “Big ones,” he mentions, “Death, for example.” Which should all make for a very compelling series of real-world reviews. We suggest clicking through to Autopia to read Damon’s own explanation for beginning this adventure, listening to Autoblog Podcast #338 where he reveals his plans as a guest on our show, and following along with updates as the months unfold. We will be.

Wired editor to live with EV bike for six months originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 19 Jul 2013 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Read This: Wired editor to live with EV bike for six months”

Mini designs its own folding bike

Filed under: Etc., Mini

Mini Folding Bike

Mini Folding Bike – Click above for high-res image gallery

Old world cities like London and Paris suffer from brutal traffic congestion in their downtown cores. That’s where a car like a Mini or Smart truly shines. But even a small hatchback can have trouble getting around when things really get tied up. That’s where a folding bike comes in handy. Little wonder, then, that Mini has designed a collapsible bicycle of its own.

The Mini Folding Bike is built around a lightweight aluminum frame that easily folds in a matter of seconds to be placed inside a car’s trunk or carried onto public transport with a minimal fuss. The crossbar, handlebars and pedals fold up and the gel seat retracts to save space. All told, the bike weighs only 11 kilograms (24 pounds) and packs eight gears, 20-inch wheels with mud guards, an under-seat pouch, and a Teflon-coated chain that reduces both wear and the prospect of getting dirty while handling it.

Follow the jump for the press release and check out the images in the gallery below for a closer look.

Gallery: Mini Folding Bike

[Source: Mini]

Continue reading Mini designs its own folding bike

Mini designs its own folding bike originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Mini designs its own folding bike”

Barrett-Jackson 2011: Big Toe Monster Bike *Update: w/video

Filed under: Auctions, Motorcycle, Specialty

Big Toe Monster Bike

Big Toe Monster Bike – Click above for high-res image gallery

Here we have another one of Speed’s Fantasy Bidding Game machines. Click here if you’d like to test your auction pricing mettle by guessing what this monster motorcycle will end up bringing at the auction block – you could end up winning a prize, like an Apple iPad.

Tom Wilberg, the Swedish creator of this machine, named it Big Toe, and it is indeed a chip off the old block… that is to say, Bigfoot, the most famous monster truck known to man. Clever, no?

We’re not going to argue with Wilberg or The Guinness Book of World Records when they claim that Big Toe is the World’s Tallest Rideable Motorcycle, but we do have to wonder if our definition of the word rideable differs with theirs.

In any case, this larger-than-life, tractor-tired, 5.3-liter V12-powered motorcycle is getting ready to roll across the auction block here at the 2011 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, and you can see its official auction page here. Check out our high-res image gallery of the machine below.

*Update: Check out the video of the Monster Bike being auctioned after the break.

Gallery: Big Toe Monster Bike at Barrett Jackson 2011

Big Toe Monster Bike at Barrett Jackson 2011

Continue reading Barrett-Jackson 2011: Big Toe Monster Bike *Update: w/video

Barrett-Jackson 2011: Big Toe Monster Bike *Update: w/video originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Jan 2011 21:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Barrett-Jackson 2011: Big Toe Monster Bike *Update: w/video”

Video: Shin Kinoshita’s mind-warping bike control

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Motorcycle

Shin Kinoshita

Shin Kinoshita doing what he does best – Click above to watch video after the jump

Whether it’s wrestling a 3,000 lb NASCAR bruiser around a tri-oval for hours on end, sliding a rear-wheel drive Scion tC up Mulholland Drive or coaxing a GT350 around Laguna Seca with a flock of similarly vintage iron, knowing the limits of a vehicle better than anyone else on the track will earn our deference in a hurry.

It’s in that spirit that we bow down before Shin Kinoshita.

As one of the stunt riders with the Icon-sponsored Empire team, Kinoshita’s several notches above the rest of his crew in terms of the blatant insanity required to bend a motorcycle to one’s will. While each of his individual stunts are supremely impressive, it’s the transitions between them that will send your jaw skittering off your desk. Lest you think we exaggerate, please hit the jump and check out the promo video. Your concept of physics may never be the same. Thanks for the tip, Matt!

[Source: Icon via YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Shin Kinoshita’s mind-warping bike control

Video: Shin Kinoshita’s mind-warping bike control originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 12 Sep 2010 15:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Video: Shin Kinoshita’s mind-warping bike control”

Fred Krugger’s Veon is a deserving Custom Bike winner at Sturgis

Filed under: Motorcycle, Design/Style

Click above for high-res image gallery of the top five bikes from the 2010 World Championship of Custom Bike Building

One particularly worthwhile criticism of the custom motorcycle scene in general is that builders often choose to make super expensive eye candy that’s nearly impossible to ride and is therefore completely devoid of any real usefulness. American Chopper aside, thankfully we’ve been seeing a gradual shift away from blinged-out two-wheeled jewelry over the last few years, and this year’s AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building offers some prime examples.

Most notable is winner Freddie ‘Krugger’ Bertrand, who is no stranger to the scene, having placed as high as third in the Championship in three separate years. His title-winning machine for 2010 is pretty spectacular – power from a liquid-cooled Harley-Davidson V-Rod engine means that it’s fast, but it’s the transforming frame that’s truly exceptional.

With the flick of a switch, the bike can be changed from a cruiser (23.8-inch seat height, 30-degree rake, 4.7 inches of trail and 6.7 inches of ground clearance) to a sportbike of sorts (30.5-inch seat height, 23-degree rake, 3.1 inches of trail and 9.3 inches of clearance). There are two sets of foot controls that the rider can use, depending on which mode the bike is in.

Second place went to Thunderstruck Custom Bike’s Sniper, which is a much more traditional-style long and low chopper powered by a highly customized Indian Power Plus engine. We’re more interested in the third place bike, The Machine by Yuri Shif Custom. It’s got an air-cooled four-cylinder boxer engine made up of parts from a BMW R71 and a Russian K-750. Oh yeah, and a supercharger sitting up top.

Fourth place went to Garage 65’s Kcosmodrive and fifth went to another bike we love called the Beezerker from Speed Shop Design. Check out all five machines in our high-res image gallery below and see the press release after the break.

Gallery: 2010 AMD Championship of Custom Bike Building Top 5

[Source: AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building]

Continue reading Fred Krugger’s Veon is a deserving Custom Bike winner at Sturgis

Fred Krugger’s Veon is a deserving Custom Bike winner at Sturgis originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Fred Krugger’s Veon is a deserving Custom Bike winner at Sturgis”