We earlier reported that Parker Brothers Choppers, a bike shop in Florida, has built five units. But it seems they built more–a total of 10 Light Cycles–and now there are only four left for sale. The price seems to have increased from $35,000 to $55,000, though.

The custom-built and street-legal replicas of the Tron Light Cycle are built on steel frames, fiberglass bodies and a V-twin Suzuki TLR1000 engine. Braking power comes from a custom friction drum built into the hub-less design.

Each bike weighs 474 pounds, is about 100 inches long and 23 inches wide. What’s great is that the creators say the Light Cycle lookalike handles just like an actual sportsbike. Technically speaking, though, the bike is not a replica, per se, since the Tron bikes are in virtual reality. But the creators designed the Light Cycle with the movie pictures and visuals in mind.

If you’re ordering one for yourself, you can choose between actual gauges or virtual ones. If you have an iPad, you can order your bike with a built-in dock for the iPad, where you can view virtual gauges and other stats.

Hurry! There are only four units left.

What’s great with M55′s Beast is that it works as an electric-assist bike. This means it’s not for the wimpy kind who wants an all-electric propulsion. You will still have to pedal to propel the beast forward. But as you pedal harder, the electric motor also works to give the bike an added boost.

It’s sort of like having a robotic exoskeleton that senses your movements and amplifies your strength several times. You can achieve 40 mph at 120 cadence, which takes much effort from a regular mountain bike. The Beast comes with an aluminum construction, lithium-polymer batteries, a single-pivot suspension system, and disc brakes from Brembo.

The clincher: the top-of-the-line “Beast” model might retail for upwards of $35,000. That’s more than the electric Nissan LEAF. You would have to be a serious biker to contemplate buying this machine.

Saul Griffith has designed an electric tricycle called the Front End Ladder, with paired front-wheels that support a luggage compartment. The electric trike can run on speeds up to 20 MPH on electric power (the legal limit for such contraptions). The trike can also support up to 150 pounds of weight in its luggage compartment, apart from the rider’s own weight.

The tricycle’s steering mechanism is custom-designed, so that the bike doesn’t tip in tight turns. And what to do if you run out of battery? Simply use the pedals! It’s good for your health!

The Front End Ladder costs $2,500 for the non-electric model and $3,800 for the eletric-powered model. No production units are yet available, although the trike is in beta.

The Italian brand usually produces racing cars and tunes production cars and motorcycles to racing specs. This time around, they have designed a motorcycle from ground up using an aerodynamic design with ducts meant to drive in cool air to its battery and electric motor.

The hubless technology gets rid of the drive chain, which is usually a source of inefficiency. This also enables the NGR to use regenerative braking–the kinetic energy from slowing down is used to drive power back into the batteries.

And if you notice, there are no gauges on the concept bike. Abarth intends to project performance data directly onto a heads-up display on the helmet’s visor.

10. The Spyder III Hand Laser. George Lucas hates this thing. Actual scientists are terrified by it. It’s missing several key safety features and could blind a human being–permanently–from several feet away. But for the evil genius out there, nothing says “doom” quite like a Class IV laser for under three hundred dollars. Burn matches at both ends! Set trash on fire from across the room! It’s all possible now.

9. A copy of Electronic Gadgets for the Evil Genius. Currently available on ThinkGeek, this book gives you access to a whole host of projects that can help any evil genius in the making–a body heat detector, a lightning bolt generator, and plenty of others are available.

8. Craigslist. If you’re going to be an evil genius, you’re going to need minions. Fortunately for the evil geniuses out there, unemployment is at an all time high, thus the pool of folks available to carry out your schemes is higher than ever, if you’re willing to pay for it. Plus it’s also a great place to find old electronics you can scrap out to build your diabolical hardware. But for the cash-strapped (or non-people-person) out there, you might want to consider number 7 instead.

7. A copy of 123 PIC Microcontroller Experiments For the Evil Genius. See? Says so right in the title. But if you’re a little cash-poor, and you don’t want to kick off your evil genius career solo, you’ll need minions that need no sleep or food or pay hikes. You’ll need robots, and this book is a good place to start learning how to build and assemble your own, with a host of step-by-step instructions.

6. A Tron lightcycle. There are only five of these ever produced, but between the Tron Lightcycle (which we talked about earlier this week)’s mix of neon accents, two-wheeled high acceleration and sheer recognizability, nothing says “getaway vehicle” quite like the thing that looks like a streak of light in the night.

5. A giant LCD monitor. It both impresses anyone who sees it in your lair and allows you to see the fear in the eyes of the world leaders you contact on it. Sharp happens to offer a massive LCD monitor that weighs in at 108 inches, and that’s more than big enough to see the terror you inflict on anyone by dint of your mere existence.

4. A case of Ammo. No, not for your weapons! Ammo happens to rank number one in the world in terms of caffeine levels. By comparison, Red Bull boasts 33 milligrams of caffeine per 100 milliliters. Ammo, meanwhile, puts up 570, or nearly twenty times that. Imagine drinking twenty Red Bulls in rapid succession. Now imagine the havoc you can wreak. You’re welcome.

3. Blue Waters. It’s not a toilet cleaning solution, but rather, a highly advanced supercomputer that operates on a scale of billions of operations per second. And the best part? As of April, it was currently located in Iowa. You’ll need that kind of processing speed to automate your lair, keep track of your minions, and of course, get that amazing transmission speed for your ransom demands when you hold the world hostage to your newest device.

2. An iPhone. What, you didn’t think this was going to be just wild and esoteric devices, did you? No! Every good evil genius needs rapid communications with loads of applications, and the iPhone goes a long way toward being the electronic / communications “Swiss army knife” that every good evil genius needs! Plus, considering the way Apple’s been working lately, you’ll be able to learn a thing or two about evil as you tell people who just waited days on line for your product that they should just hold it differently and that’ll fix the problems.

1. A proper lair. Look, you can’t be an evil genius operating out of your mom’s basement or a two-bedroom split-level in the suburbs. It just doesn’t work. But for sheer panache, not to mention incredible security, take a gander at this little beauty–an old United States missile base. For instance, down in Pulaski, Indiana, there’s an old communications center that’s been specifically hardened against nuclear war. It comes on 5.5 acres of ground, with both above and below ground buildings, electric hoist, AND a diesel generator. Plus, it’s yours for just $275,000…unless you just take it over now, seeing that it’s up for sale.

And with these devices in mind, you too will be well on your way toward absolute evil genius dominance. Despicable Me, meanwhile, hits theaters July 9th.

all pics copyright their owners.

This personal transportation concept looks like a motorcycle only it isn’t. It does look as a motorcycle wheel but it’s not that either. We are looking at the Wheel Rider, a personal commuting device that could be manufactured by Yamaha, or some other similar company, at some point in the very, very distant future.

The Wheel Rider looks like a really dangerous machine to ride but it probably won’t be as life-threatening as we imagine it to be. The Wheel Rider is made out of three layers, the outer body which resembles a tiny motorcycle wheel, the wheel itself which is as high as a person standing up and then the inside where one would find the seating area and the controls.

We would really love to see one of these babies in action and we’ll be particularly interested in how the whole ensemble works. Riding a motorcycle can be pretty complicated if one doesn’t manage his or her balance during the actual trip. So how would one be able to ride a transportation vehicle that doesn’t really let you see the surroundings? How could one keep the Wheel Rider in a proper position at various speeds without knowing at all times what’s happening around him?

Maybe inside the cockpit we could find all sorts of interesting gadgets and devices meant to help us see in front and around us. Or maybe the Wheel Driver will be run automatically from the outside by the road itself with a computer controlling speeds, equilibrium, and other features of the whole trip.

It will be a while until the Wheel Driver will be available in stores so in the mean time we can focus on the technology immediately available, like the brand new handsets found in Barcelona, Spain at the MWC these days.

If you remember yesterday’s Mercedes-Benz stylish bicycle, today we managed to find another one. Just as great! Dubbed the Electric Cherry, this is another eco-friendly solution for your daily commuting . An innovative way of transportation that only weighs 40kg, the carbon-fibre plastic body machine takes vehicle efficiency to a whole new level. Apparently inspired from the cherry fruit itself, the three-wheeled electric bike makes for a light, comfortable ride.

With reduced maintenance cost (made of few and simple parts), zero emissions and no pollution due to the plug-in batteries and electric motor, the new Electric Cherry is not just a compact bicycle but also a great space saver.

Just a concept for now, this new-age machine would look great in my garage.

[via Walyou]

Passionate about bad-ass motorcycles because they give you a head start with the chicks? Well that’s not about to happen if you’re riding on a Terminator Salvation Motorcycle Robot. A dangerous “weapon” that stars in the new Terminator Salvation movie, the robot concept bike impresses with a remarkable autonomous motion that allows it to right itself under extreme situations. Of course that’s not going to make the girls go “wow” but rather “awww”.

Definitely crafted for those wicked folks that would love riding on a steely, muscular two wheeler, the bike has a futuristic design that proves nothing short of breathtaking. We’d be scared to ride it as this thing proves alive, with a lethal mission on its agenda. Plus, Grandma’s heart may not be strong enough to see one in the garage …

Anyone who reads my posts will know my fascination with conceptual designs and here is another that has blown my mind away. The “Rotation” bike designed by Yirong Yang is a revolutionary design we hope makes it to reality.

The “Rotation” was designed for the International Bicycle Design Challenge and Yirong Yang’s entry was definitely worth the research.

This concept “rotation” bike is a city bike that rotates and folds as it was designed to do. Due to its collapsibility and unique folding design, you can ensure the bike is the shape you want it to be in when you choose to ride. Folding it along its axis will allow you to change it from unicycle to bicycle; depending on your adrenalin requirements for the day that is. I don’t think I’d necessarily be ‘unicycling’ around the block anytime soon!

I think what I admire the most about this concept design is the fact that you can simply fold this bike up and carry it around (I’m thinking driving downhill and carrying it uphill. Not that I’m lazy but sitting in front of a pc has left me somewhat unfit).

All in all, this entry into the International Bicycle Design Challenge cleverly combines 2 designs into one, while still making it user friendly as well as functionally straightforward to fit into our busy lives. I’ll be carrying my bike to my office rather than chaining it against a pole in future!

[source]

What fickle things we are as, having raved about the Can-am Spyder and the V-Rex Tron inspired motorbike many moons ago, there’s now a new kid on the block in terms of high performance three wheeled motorbikes (or, if you prefer, trikes) are concerned by the name of the F3 Adrenaline and, certainly as far as we are concerned, its very much a case of love at first sight – the F3 Adrenaline is a beauty.

Fusing F1 inspired design and stylistic elements in a three wheeled motorbike, the F3 Adrenaline is built around a 120 cubic inch, air cooled, V-twin counter balanced twin cam engine offering a cool 120 horsepower – and though exact specifications concerning factors such as torque and top speed are unavailable at the time of writing, we don’t doubt that the F3 Adrenaline is by no means a slouch off the blocks.

What is known at this stage, however, is that the tandem seat F3 Adrenaline boasts aerospace grade carbon fibre body panels, fully adjustable racing shock absorbers (with exposed suspension), a 6 speed transmission, 4 piston billet aluminium brake callipers, and wide track, soft compound low profile tires.

Needless to say that numerous auto themed sites and magazine are aching to test out Tripod Motorcycle’s claims that their F3 Adrenaline offers ‘unparalleled performance’ and you can rest assured that we’ll be reporting back the moment further information (including pricing details) becomes available.

In the meantime, however, we could not resist posting some imagery of Tripod Motorcycle’s startlingly beautiful F3 Adrenaline for you to salivate over.

Whilst not quite as cool as the previously featured V-Rex Motorbike, this Intel themed motorbike created by Intel to celebrate 30 years of embedded computing is far from your average motorbike.

The 250 horsepower bike, created by Orange County Choppers, not only looks the business but it comes complete with ultra-mobile based fingerprint recognition as well as a fully digitised dashboard complete with a range of digital gauges, integrated audio and video systems, wireless connectivity, GPS and rear view cameras in place of the more traditional wing mirrors. However, whether you get the annoying Intel jingle everything you start her up is yet to be confirmed.

[Source | FarEastGizmos]

Admittedly, whilst not quite as eye-catching as the Tron inspired V-Rex DreamBike, there can be no doubting that Bimota’s Tessi 2D motorbike is a bike that will turn heads with its distinct, ‘deconstructionist’ type styling that no doubt takes its inspiration from an ongoing trend in modern architecture of making the otherwise hidden structures and internal workings a stylistic element of the overall design (takes breath here).

From what I’ve read on couple of message boards, the Tessi 2D’s bold styling is obviously not to everyone’s tastes by we absolutely love it. In fact, it almost looks as though it is some transformer type device that could suddenly rear up at any moment, thrown various parts of itself around and become pretty much whatever it wanted (except for a car, of course – as who would ever what to make a car from a bike as beautiful as this?).

Further details concerning this outstanding piece of engineering can be obtained from the Bimota Website.

Let’s be honest here, I am surprised that my keyboard is still functional as I have been drooling over these images for sometime and have come to the (not difficult) conclusion that this is the coolest motorbike I’ve ever seen. Period. And I’m overjoyed to report that, far from being a concept, it’s real – it exists. And this is cause for celebration.

The Dream Bike, or as it’s now known, the V-Rex, is the brainchild of Tim Cameron design, a chap whose website is crammed full of some of the most jaw dropping motorbike designs I’ve ever come across, and it’s set to make its first public debut as the up and coming Daytona Bike week this March. Unsurprisingly, the first five bikes to make it off the Travertson production live are already pre-sold.

Powered by a 1250cc liquid cooled engine delivering 120hp and 74.0ft.lbs at 7000rpm the Tron-likeV-Rex boasts a wheelbase of 79.2in/2010mm and a dry weight of 670lbs/304kg and has a listed price of $39,990.

You can keep up with the latest developments concerning the manufacturing of the V-rex via the Taverston website or you can hop over to the Tim Cameron Design site to look through his portfolio of designs (highly recommended – he’s a design genius).

Following on from our recent post concerning the VentureOne Hybrid Fighter Car, as well as today’s post about the KTM X-bow, at the expense of beginning to look like autos site we could not hold back from posting about the Bombardier Can-Am Roadster which, like the VentureOne is a 3 wheel device that serves to blur the boundaries between car and motorbike (though this sits rather more on the motorbike side of the fence than the VentureOne).

Manufactured by Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products who are known for their all terrain vehicles and snow mobiles, the belt-drive Can-Am is powered by a 106hp Rotax 999cc V-Twin liquid cooled engine and features Y-architecture chassis with sports car type suspension as well as four separate Electronic Control Units (ECUs) that detect everything from wheel slippage to engine performance so as to guarantee the optimal torque and grip.

The Can-Am is expected to be available from suppliers around April at a price tag around the $15K mark.

More pictures after the jump.

More details concerning the Can-Am can be obtained buy linking to the official Can-Am Wesite.

Showcasing the hybrid technologies relating to the SolidSlot brushless engine and the distinctive eCycle chassis design, the eC3 is one of three designs presently being displayed on Machineart’s website and we think, certainly from an aesthetic perspective, they look the business – though perhaps not quite as eye catching as this.

You can see further, larger imagery of the eCycle below or, alternatively, you can link to this site for a wealth on information concerning this hybrid design concept.

[Source | TrendsNow]

Designed by Tilmann Schlootz, a 26 year old designer from Frankfurt am Main, Germany for the 2006 Michelin Design Challenge, the Hyanide is only a concept at present and realistically it appears that it will unfortunately never enter production, but one can live in hope.

Steered by both the rider’s hands and feet, using steering pins on the front and back axles, the Hyanide is based on a 500cc liquid cooled single-cylinder engine which is housed in a chassis that flexes to facilitate cornering and rough terrain. With a top speed of 80KPH it’s not by any means as fast as comparably powered bikes but, for aesthetics alone, why would something as piffling as its top speed be of concern?

Is this the shape of all terrain bikes of the future? I hope so.

Either ways, this is undoubtably a dream machine and I desperately want one – and I suspect that I’m not alone in that respect.

For further information and imagery of futuristic designs, the Michelin Design Challenge page, which is already running the 2007 Design competition, can be access via this link.