Slashdot Mirror
Real 'Akira' Motorcycle
News for nerds writes "At Tokyo Motorcycle Show in Japan (2/3/4 Apr.), the official licensed model of the motorcycle in the anime movie Akira (poster) is displayed. This Kaneda bike is not a mere replica, but a full working model (more pics at ITmedia) with twin-steering system and 249-998cc water-cooled 4-cycle engine, and on its cockpit is DVD-navi-system + trackball & ten-key + custom computer-controlled LED meters - all licenced by the author and the publisher of Akira. Though at the show only miniature figures are sold and real price or release date is unclear, you can check out the manufacturer's website for later info."
Wow... I wonder what the price tag will be.
If only I could afford it!
This is THE Holy Grail, until someone builds an EVA .... God, how I am glad I am entering the job market this year! All that cash, burning a hole in my pocket! Where do I sign for one?
is it that bad seein a hot chick again? if i see a hot chick walkin down the hall i dont say "repost"
No shit. Three chains to transfer drive power housed inside the body. Chain just below your butt and two chains right behind your back, at an axle no less. That just screams 'unexpected surgery' to me.
Enclosed like that it's probably not too fun to maintain either.
Cool looking bike however, if a bit too red.
That's badass and all....but how does it handle? Does it take cornering well?...etc.
Or, is the bike merely for show with crappy performance and sluggish control?
Life is not for the lazy.
I've been watching American Chopper and just dreaming of the day I could have enough cash to order a custom light cycle.
It would be the PERFECT thing to go with my TRON costume: TRON Costume by BaumSquad
Until I can make that happen, I'll just have to save up for this thing! Kaaannaaaaeeeedddaaaaa!!!!
All of those 1980's wedged surfaces are fugly.
;P
Besides, the nerd factor of riding any sci-fi reproduction pretty much means you will never get laid again...Ever.
Already taken a wicked slashdotting... Anyone grab the pics? Also, anyone have a rough translation of the site that isn't down? This is really cool, kinda reminds me of that concept peugeot did that was a warthog from halo. But when can i get one of these?!!
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
It has been a looong time since I saw that movie, but I seem to remember the bike being an electric vehicle, and this is not one.
"Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative" - Miyamoto Musashi
I think that goes for OS's too
Well not if its going to be sold in Japan, there is a 500cc limit on motorcycles, hell it take many,many years to be even allowed to ride the 500cc big iron, you have to start at 5cc, liscences are issued accordingly, its funny they cant buy the big bikes they sell abroad new, BUT there is a lookhole that allows them to re-import used bike > than 500cc, I solg my 83 GPZ 1100 to a broker that specalizes in exactly doing that he made a million in the late 80's early 90's doing that.
Dodge's working concept seems to have some much cooler design cues:
Dodge Tomahawk
The *concept* of the Akira bike seems cool, but the implementation leaves a bit to be desired. They should buff up their implementation by stealing some designs from the Dodge - particularly the two-tire look back & front which looks amazingly great.
Well, the mechs may not be that far off... Take the article about the powered backpack that was on a few weeks back, and extrapolate the technology over a few years. First you get loading assistants like seen in the Alien movies. Then, as the military (or militant corporations like the RIAA) get into it, larger versions with heavy weaponry as standard features. Not too long later you will have people make some simple transforming ones, think new dominion tank police. The more advanced transforming onese come later, leading to space frames, like Nadesico, and land/air/space versions with mind control like in Macross Plus.
And yes I know that most of those are not the first to use any given concept, I just happen to remember the names on those ones... I've not watched much anime lately.
Anyway...
On Arrakis: early worm gets the bird. Magister mundi sum!
Of course, I could always pair up with the Chernobyl gal...
I always worry when they start to put too much technology into something that is inherently better the simpler it is. I can just see it now, the media coverage about how it is now illegal to watch DVDs while biking because some idiot gave it a try and killed himself.
That really is my homepage, no kidding.
You know what, now I almost want them to do it just to see how utterly WEIRD it would be.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
i commented below about the drivetrain specifics, but i
forgot to add these notes:
if anyone is doubting the stability of a "recumbent" design
such as this needs to look at Dan Gurney's Gator(see his
website:
http://www.allamericanracers.com
it's been tested by a couple of the mtorcycling mags with
generally favorable reviews.
"...that's as white as it gets; all the bits are on..."
How many articles will it take before slashdot implements a simple mirror?? It could be automated as part of the publishing process.. just do a simple static mirroring of the image or page linked from a story. If a server becomes unavailable or otherwise in error, add the mirrored links.
Sure, some sites might love all the hits of a "slashdotting". But obviously there are many others that die under the load, or get disabled by bandwidth limiters, or various other problems.
If the site owners want to know the stats of how many hits they got, you could include stats for mirror hits.
This is not rocket science.. This problem occurs every day. In the current story, the server for the main article is barely responding, and the link for the image is responding with a "don't steal bandwidth" message.
So, anyway... I was watching American Chopper a while back, and I got to thinking:
- "I wonder what would happen if I went to OCC with one of the turboshaft engines that MTT uses for their bike, a copy of Akira, and asked Paul Jr. to replicate the Kaneda bike..."
And then I remembered... they're artists. They're not really engineers. Making that bike work would require so many engineering challenges to be overcome that, well... they'd have to outsource a lot of it.But I'd sure love to watch them build one!
(Too bad I can't afford it... anybody else want to join in and start a pool? We could have the 'Slashdot Bike' built! (Anyone remember the 'Slashdot PT Cruiser'?) Too bad the .com boom is well and truly dead, or we'd be looking at a fleet of the things!)
The version in the article... it looks a bit fat and heavy. I don't know how much fun it'll be to ride. As much as I like the appearance, it's just pointless if all it does it look pretty.
"...America's great minds of today, teaching America's great minds of tomorrow. Poor bastards." -- A Beautiful Min
Try this out instead. Looks better, almost definitely lighter, and it seems to have better cornering clearance. Plus it stands a good chance of making it to mass production for under $10k.
when you could be riding one of these
Ronald said nothing. He flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse, and rode madly off in all directions.
I had a primary drive chain fail on a old Honda 400 Four under full throttle while banked over somewhat in a low-ish speed bend. It didn't break through the case, but the engine sure stopped fast. The 10ms before I pulled in the clutch, and almost getting high-sided afterwards were one of those slow-motion moments I won't forget in a hurry. Fortunately no injuries other than a few pulled muscles from putting my foot down at 40mph.
I'm sure it would have been very interesting at a higher speed.
however, a smaller version, like a Battletech Elemental would be great. Impervious to small arms. more mobile than standard infantry. nigh-impossible for armored vehicles to track in time.
hell. I'd field test it.
The World's Worst Webcomic!