Sunday, February 11, 2007

ShapeShifting Bike


Many thanks to Mike Odom's Blog for the first clue on this machine
How about a bike that changes from a cruiser to an enduro configuration, then to a chopper, then to a standard, all on the fly?

Quoting from the R-Bike home page:

A complete re-think of motorcycle design.
New Robotic ShapeShifting Motorcycle.
.... any ride, anytime .... shapeshifts on-the-fly.

1. Regular, Hemi or Diesel (750cc and 1000cc)

2. No rusting materials anywhere .... inside or out.
3. Extremely over-engineered to last as long as possible.

4. Variable length intake.
5. Variable length exhaust.

6. Multi-link suspension ON BOTH ENDS !
7. No chain tensioner needed.

8. Center of mass retained by shifting the engine.
9. Mimics shapes of each bike style precisely.
Shapeshifts from Chopper, Cruiser, Tourer, Enduro, Deep Woods.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Time for a bit of an update ....
http://www.erikbrinkman.com/rbike

BTW- if you don't have QuickTime application in your computer,
you miss out on all the neat videos in the "Gallery".

The most important part of the bike is the drivetrain.
Merch is handling the 6 engines.
They are tops in making very very strong motors.

The drivetrain uses 3-inch helical-cut gears
(stainless steel with a near-diamond coating
.... 10 times slicker than Teflon)

It will be tested and ready to install by late 08.
The first bikes are for the Militaries and the Bike Shows,
We also promised 2 bikes for Warner Brothers and others in L.A.

Orange County Choppers show will be assembling one on TV.
(almost half the parts are Harley-World aftermarket parts,
so you will be able to service the bike at any Harley Dealer).


They will be built in New York and in Medicine Hat.

Public production will begin in 09.
Prices will begin just below $20k for a stripped budget bike
with a base $4k engine.
and up close to $120k for the highest possible quality and detail
and the $60k engine.


We are designing a "Build-a-Bike" section on the WebSite
where you can select almost every part on the bike
and adjust the price/feature balance to what you want.
You will have a choice of 6 engines and 3 transmissions.
There are 3 front wheel sizes and 2 rear wheel sizes.
There are 3 seat styles and 2 tank options. etc etc
until the bike is exactly what you want and can afford.

Then if you answer a marketing questionaire,
we will email you a poster sized hi-resolution picture
of the bike the way YOU designed it.

Soon we shall begin taking pre-orders
so you can save your place in line.
This is a couple of weeks away.
We have it functioning correctly.
Now it is a matter of the "look"
and then loading the hundreds of selections / options.

We promise that when updates occur,
they can be added any existing bike,
so that the purchase is a lifetime relationship.

Now, I know the idea of a ShapeShifter motorcycle
is a little out of the box .... just a little,
but the bike actually takes on the proportions
of the top bikes in each riding style category.
If any part of the frame were mounted or shaped 1/4 inch off,
the entire "puppet" would not work well.

There is much more to this than first meets the eye.
This is all about the frame, and not just about the bike as such.
We expect to license the frame to other makers in the future.
Adaptive-geometry makes for a safer bike,
and ultimately we want to see lots of them on the road,
whether ours our eventually someone elses version.

PS-
We shall also be activating the INVEST button
(hopefully by Monday Oct 22nd)
It will take you to an index where all the paperwork resides.

Anonymous said...

SPECS have finally been published.

Production starts in mid-2009

www.erikbrinkman.com/rbike/report.html