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Buy Your Own Tron Lightcycle For $35,000
ElectricSteve writes "The lightcycle scene was probably the most memorable part of an absolutely jaw-dropping movie when Tron was released in 1982. One of the first films to use the kinds of computer-generated special effects that later become commonplace, it was a glimpse into a whole new world that left an indelible impression on most who saw it. Now, as Disney prepares to release Tron Legacy, a sequel some 28 years after the original, the lightcycles are back and looking meaner than ever. Built by the same guys who did the memorable Batpod replica, the new lightcycles feature massive dual hubless wheels, carbon fiber/fiberglass bodies, and all the lashings of neon that you'd expect. And there will be five running models built — all of which are now up for sale on eBay for a cool $35,000."
...can it be compressed down to just a handle, as seen in the (fucking amazing) Tron Legacy trailer?
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I want one.
Now.
..ooOO(Imagines taking this on the downtown connector area in Atlanta)
1331461 is only semiprime *sigh* Alas - I am just short of 1337.
Lets hope Tron will be better as the A-team remake...
I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
I want one, but I don't want the hospital bills from doing 90 degree turns at 200 mph.
Yeah, there are way too many movies which use CGI as a substitute for decent plot, but it sort of irks me when people (typically artsy snobs) generalize this to say that CGI alone is always insufficient to make a film. I won't pretend there aren't movies that I enjoy just for the eye candy, if it's good enough; film is a sensory experience, after all. Avatar had no plot to speak of, and was carried along just by the visuals, but I felt I got my money's worth. You're of course welcome to disagree, but try to understand that movies are entertainment, and can qualify as "entertainment" for different reasons, including looking really pretty. Tron Legacy might be like that.
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I am trying hard not to picture it being ridden by a fat middle aged geek wearing a skin tight spandex body suit.
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Your UID suggests you should get off my lawn. :D
Those of us who were kids when it came out loved it, and the sequel (not a remake) seems well timed, to me. The movie was not a plotless dud, it was a kinda-confusing people-didn't-get-it (and a couple of plot holes didn't help) dud in the box office. TRON was redeemed by cable TV, VHS, and DVD.
And the cycles kick ass. So, get off my lawn :D
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I think that Disney films tend to be less about plot and more about adventure in a new world. And Tron delivers on that in volumes.
That's their Batpod, I don''t think they've actually built the Tron bikes yet.
... lessons on how to ride it? This doesn't look like it would work quite the same as a typical street bike.
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I was a 16 year old geek when Tron came out. It bored me to tears and I forgot about it as soon as I walked out of the theater. The new Tron Legacy trailer looks every bit as dumb. What am I missing here?
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The "Honda Yamaha Kawasaki Suzuki Harley" part is so that this item is listed for anyone who searches those terms.
The summary was a unclear to me -- these weren't built for or affiliated with the movie in any way, these were simply built based on the specs of the models built for the movie.
Can we get some custom mowers that short when they're not mowing every second, and try to box each other into mowed lines on your lawn?
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I remember not being that impressed, too.
For one thing the personification of software irked me. I also found the jargon strange, especially their frequent reference to the "user". I found the term nauseating, awkward and stupid.
The irony that I use the term all the time now is a nagging reminder to tone down my judgmental tendencies.
In conclusion, Disney sucks at sci-fi.
Still, maybe someday I should watch Tron on a color tv.
Just got my class M license last weekend and CEO asked me what kind of bike I was getting; time to discuss a pay raise!
The only bike I want is Kaneda's bike.
The more important question is will they leave in the sex scene this time?
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Anybody remember a TV show called Automan. He had a car that did 90 degree turns "like pacman" but it was hard on the human occupant...
After getting one of these cycles, pick up a Tron suit and you'll be really hot with the babes, honest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automan
Seriously, with all the plot issues of Tron, it was still light years ahead of that...
0x09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
From the Ebay listing it says these bikes are designed for everyday street use. If that's the case, how the hell is that bike supposed to turn? There appears to be no way for the front wheel to steer. Anyone have any idea how the hell this would work?
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You fuckers; why did you have to point that out and make me feel so old.
Nullius in verba
Automan. A terrible show, but I watched it. I was just getting into programming and found the representations to be laughable (esp. cursor). But the 90 degree full speed corners in his car were a lot of fun.
Actually on a real bike you dont "steer" that much, you turn by tilting your body.
Steering a bike like you would a car equals a bad crash.
Most racing bikes have a very limited steering angle.
From the Ebay listing it says these bikes are designed for everyday street use. If that's the case, how the hell is that bike supposed to turn? There appears to be no way for the front wheel to steer. Anyone have any idea how the hell this would work?
The Ebay listing is a testament to one part wishful thinking, one part overconfidence, and two parts willful fraud.
The photos is the listing are of the non-functional movie promo prop, not anything these guys are selling, or even OWN.
For the bikes to be street legal, then by definition can't look anything like the movie bikes because they need things like headlights, turn signals, etc.
The best part is the claim that the bikes will be ready in 6-8 weeks...RIGHT!!
I'll believe these guys aren't trying to outright steal from gullible people as soon as they can show a photo of something they didn't just scrape from Tron movie promotions.
LoTR was probably the first movie where I didn't consider the CGI to be so distracting that I couldn't concentrate on the plot. I personally don't hate CGI across the board, but I don't think it looks realistic. I prefer the old hand-painted miniatures approach, ala the original first few Star Trek movies. Their special effects have aged well, but other early CGI has not.
I think one of the reasons that the original Tron still looks so good is because most of the effects are not CGI.
I think that Disney films tend to be less about plot and more about adventure in a new world. And Tron delivers on that in volumes.
This.
Disney neither claimed to be high cinema, nor high drama with bullet-proof plots. It was *FUN* to watch.
Bearded Dragon
Close.
Motorcycles are counter steered at speed. You turn the bars opposite to the direction you wish to turn, then lean into the corner. Keith Code (Keith Code superbike school) had to take a bike and weld the steering head in place to prove this to people who kept insisting your statement was true.
You are correct in that racing bikes have a limited steering angle, but it's in the neighborhood of 35 degrees in either direction (depending on the bike, my Ducati 900ss was notorious for needing 3-point turns in parking lots, the 1098 I have now has more but the stops are adjustable).
Obligatory Cred to back up my statement:
WERA 2000 Lightweight Superbike regional champion
USGPRU and FUSA Pro racer 2000 - 2005
How the hell does this thing drive? Also,I can't imagine the astronomical tire replacement costs, but it looks like getting a new tire on there would be even worse.
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I'm not sure why it's such a bad thing to re-tell an existing story. Sure Avatar was Pocahontas in 3D and on another planet, but it still does't mean the story is bad because it has been done before. I can name many movies and games that have predicted the apocalypse, but I still enjoy seeing other peoples' interpretation of that apocalypse and how one lone soul can save the world. I've never seen the original Tron so I can't comment on whether it had a good story line or not, but if it did, I don't see the problem with telling that story again for a newer generation.
The appeal to me has been being behind the screen and the view from there. Having them in the real world takes the appeal of the bikes away. Besides there is no real way they can build them to let me turn on the walls when someone is tailgating me good. >_>
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
Ummm.....they probably turn like all motorcycles ... using the handlebars. I don't think they could turn very tightly when parking since your hands are next to the wheels, but at speeds above 25mph you don't really turn the handlebars anyway. Google 'motorcycle countersteer' for more information, or visit Wikipedia.
I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
Where's the -1 off-topic or -1 Troll when you need it.
The concept drawings make the "pilot" look like part of the frame. This would make the real pilot appear to be in the bitch seat, although the head would at least be higher than two feet off the ground.
More like (-1, Offtopic)if you insist on wasting points to mod down but if posted in the iPhone discussion, (5, Insightful)
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If you don't think you turn the handlebars, I encourage you to take Keith Code's superbike school and attempt to turn the motorcycle he created to disprove this notion (the steering head is welded in place).
You actually counter steer quite a bit, especially at full lean at high speed.
The bike looks cool. Their marketing blurb beneath the pic is a bunch of buzzword laden hooey.
Tron wasn't sci-fi, and wasn't trying to be. It was pure fantasy. It was based on the idea that there is a whole world inside of computers where programs interact like people and bits float around saying "yes" and "no". Worrying about things like how an accounting program can be made to compete in gladiatorial games without being modified, or how bits could be floating around individually when every program would have to be made of bits and there'd need to be more of them than existed in computers of the day is besides the point. It'd be like having a movie where you can go to a magical school for wizards after walking through the wall at the subway, then worrying about how they can make brooms fly.
The fantasy nature of the movie really struck me when I re-watched it for the first time in 20 years. Sure I remembered liking the movie as a kid but I had very little in the way of expectations. And I found that because of its fantasy nature it worked way better than just about any sci-fi movie that tried to show computers "realistically" and utterly failed*.
Once I accepted that it was a fantasy world, I found it fascinating. Especially the idea of the programs having a religion based on the "user" as their gods (little did they know what an unworthy god they worshiped), and even more fascinating an "atheist" movement which denied that the "user" and the world outside of the computer even existed. Also interesting was how outside of the digitizing machine, everything shown about computers in the real world was completely normal. The giant spinning vortex of the MCP inside the computer was just a simple text interface on the outside. It'd be kinda like Harry Potter if magic simply didn't exist outside of Hogwarts.
Anyway, I say give it a another shot, and go in realizing you're watching computer-based fantasy, not sci-fi.
* Major contemporaneous exception: Wargames!
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I thought the Battlestar Galactica movie (which I saw for the first time only a couple years ago) is actually pretty good.
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In my experience (not as credible as yours, but 20yrs on the street including a stint as a messenger in DC), the amount of counter-steer needed is minimal. Often just a whisper of pressure on the inside hand will induce a turn. I totally believe, though haven't tried, the welded headset trick works fine, but probably requires more pressure to actually force the lean..
From my observations, the counter steering is just to move the front wheel out from under the center of gravity thus inducing lean and subsequent turning where the CG moves back over the wheel. The inside pressure makes the front wheel move slightly in the opposite direction, unbalancing the system and allowing the lean.
very much my anecdotal observations... but it's fun to play with little tiny countersteer pressures and see the results.
man, I feel like mold.
I always thought that artsy snobs would actually at least tolerate films with no plot anyway (stuff like 2001: A Space Odyssey springs to mind).
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Yeah, I remember the show. My geeky teenage self liked it and was disappointed when it got quickly canceled.
De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum
...Is it me, or whenever Hollywood artists try to 'reinvent' some feature of a story or movie in a sequel, they overdo it and fail? This bike looks like ASS compared to the original tron bikes. What was so wrong with the original design that they had to re-do it?
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Wiki even has an article on it. I loved it, and was about 14 at the time.
The point of the welded steering head at his school is that you can't turn the motorcycle without turning the front wheel. The only way it turns is if you decrease speed enough that it's basically trying to fall over.
As you lean, the position of the front wheel in relation to the frame is not constant - you're still counter-steering, but in a less efficient manor.
The reason he created the exercise was to show people that focusing on putting input into the handlebars is the way to turn a motorcycle - everything else takes more of your time, energy, and attention which at high speed, is limited.
His books are really about the physics of riding a motorcycle, and quite interesting to read. I took all four levels of his school when I first started racing in the '90s.
Those images look shopped!
Seriously, are these images of actual hardware, or 3D models?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
I prefer the old hand-painted miniatures approach, ala the original first few Star Trek movies. Their special effects have aged well, but other early CGI has not. I think one of the reasons that the original Tron still looks so good is because most of the effects are not CGI.
Same thing with Star Wars. Ever notice how the "Special Souped-up versions" (Jabba in A New Hope) now look dated compared to the originals? Pretty soon, episodes 1,2,3 will look old too.
Remake with shakey cam? No thanks.
1,2 and 3 look old now. Where the studio floor ends and the green-screen begins is quite easily identified if you pay attention to the background.
GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
$350k would be more believable (as a reference, West Coast Choppers charges well over $100,000 for one of their bikes and they've got a production line going for most of the parts).
Either they're doing it at a massive loss just to get famous or the thing you end up with will look nothing like the pics (more likely).
No sig today...
In the US you have this rd/st system with roads crisscrossing at right angles.
In Europe, most cities grew as defensive fortresses, with new layers of city walls, and later beltways added as more rings around the center, with roads to/from the old city market and in circle around it.
So unless someone's gonna upgrade the light cycle firmware to run on polar coordinates vs cartesian, they won't do much good in Europe.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
Brian, have you ever raced at Road America? If so I've probably seen you race.
From the looks of the wheels, they don't appear to have a very good turn radius. There isn't much clearance between the bottom of the wheel and the outer shell. There will be no taking to the twisties on these guys....
It sure can! In fact, it does four of them at once!
It was science fiction. Science fiction is merely fantasy enabled by a fantastic scientific invention. Think about it. Even the most technologically mundane of the science fiction genre is a nerds' fantasy of what might happen given a specific fantastic advance in technology.
Entire human-replica societies inside computers and other dimensions is nothing new to science fiction.
Always going forward, 'cause we can't find reverse.
Tron was a Disney film, which somehow still went out on a bit of a political limb and made a statement about whether 'religious' experiences (in the cyberworld), might have a rational underlying explanation, and how many generations of time (at cyberworld speeds) might imbue mundane physical and pragmatic events with a religious symbolic venier. Still Disney left it as a rather complex and multi-leveled theme rather than dumb it down to Rah-Rah "Flynn is Jesus" total oblivion. They too the time to introduce a few sympathetic characters and get the audience to identify them as good guys, then bring up spirituality in a way that didn't autoconfirm they were the good side, but instead made you wonder if they were a little skewed or misinterpreting what Tron was trying to do. John Warner's character isn't just nasty, he's specifically Miltonic. The question of whether his pride is his greatest flaw isn't just raised, but it's addressed by both visual and verbal references to Paradise Lost and Dante's Inferno. Yeah, those points whizzed right over my head at that age too.
And I would only want one of the five production light cycles if they steer better than they look to do, and with the electric engine option if it actually gets good range, so I suspect the actual experience would be disappointing.
Who is John Cabal?
Yeah, it's $35k for a nice Harley, so if they can actually get these on the road for that I'd be more than impressed.
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And young man goes on journey, sees many exotic things, meets new people who think differently than his native tribe, and experiences some maturing specifically because of travel is a whole type of story in itself, one that traditionally stops about when the young man puts down roots back home and doesn't traditionally try to answer the questions of how he will use his newfound knowledge after he resolves the conflict that drove him to travel in the first place.
There's probably plenty of valid criticisms of Tron, but expecting some things of it is like criticising Huckleberry Finn for not describing what Huck does as an adult after the raft ride ends.
Who is John Cabal?
Absolutely spot-on. The ending, with a time-lapse view of the streets from the Encom building as night falls and you see the cars flowing through these circuits, really affected me as a kid. Sometimes, complexity is all about perspective.
In retrospect, it's even more funny that the big cash-cow and policy maker, at a company with a functioning matter digitizer/teleporter, is a vector-art video game. :)
Sneakers was pretty good too apart from the encryption hand-waving that was necessary for the story (but even there they at least got the basic words right, and made mostly accurate reference to the real concepts).
"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
Only once, about 10 years ago ... I think it was a combined CCS and FUSA event.
We were based out of DE, so that was a long haul for us. I've raced just about everywhere else East of the Mississippi.
There's a big difference between a virtual world implemented as software and possibly populated by software AIs (Neuromancer, Snow Crash, Matrix), and postulating that non-AI software and even bits themselves are sentient entities that roam about in a world that isn't simulated on a computer, but is the computer.
It's no more fantasy than Hellraiser is because of the mechanical puzzle box, or Her Majesty's Wizard is sci-fi because the protagonist creates a monofilament blade with poetry. The mere presence of technology in some form doesn't make it sci-fi.
Unless we just want to erase all distinction, in which case, fine, it's sci-fi, but which should be approached in a materially different way than most.
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Tron did indeed showcase "the kinds of computer-generated special effects that later become commonplace," but in a sense the light cycles did not. As sequence designer Ken Perlin, now of NYU, has remarked, after Tron polygon-based 3d graphics became the new hotness, with the light cycle sequence as its acme. The trouble was, they didn't use polygons. The light cycles were actually constructed out of volumetric primitives using boolean operations (AND, OR, NOT). True curves like NURBs and Hash patches wouldn't have really been practical on the systems they were working with. (Nor had they -- you know -- been invented yet.) Most of what you seen on movie screens to this day are approximated hollow polygon shells that immitate curved solids. CAD makes common use of boolean primitives, but the light cycle sequence was less the ancestor of modern film CGI than an all but extinct evolutionary branch. Tron was the Burgess Shale of computer animation.
"Tron wasn't sci-fi, and wasn't trying to be. It was pure fantasy."
When I was a kid, those fuzzy, black-light posters were real popular. I had several in my bedroom, all of them some sort of D&Dish, Boris Vallejo-type, fantasy scene.
I actually had a few dreams that were visually very close to the posters, dreams in a world of solid blacks and heavily contrasting colors, almost neon in their purity.
I was totally flabbergasted when I saw Tron for the first time. It looked very much like my dreams.
I know reading the article and doing a couple google searches is challenging, but these are the same guys who built a working facsimile of the Dark Knight 'Bat Pod'.
This isn't their first rodeo. They also build custom "normal" motorcycles.
As for your assessment on what makes it road legal, laws vary by State and custom manufacture has different rules than mass-produced. For example, all states I've lived in have required a headlight and taillight on motorcycles, but not turn signals. VA has a bizarre law that says signals are not required, but if present they much be functional.
But yes, feel free to believe what you want.
No. Nothing with mass can do that, since F=ma and "instantaneous" means infinite acceleration, which requires infinite force. Yes, I know...whooosh.
...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
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You have a very novel definition for "proven".
Why anyone would remake the movie is beyond me.
They're not remaking it, they're making a sequel.
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
No, the presence of present or future technology in some form makes it a mixed genre when added to magical or deity driven powers.
Perhaps it's the absence of religious, deistic, or otherwise magical, non technological elements that would satisfy your definition? Tron had none of these. The cult of the user didn't qualify, because there were no actual powers or effects given to the "clerics." It was more of a legend than a religion.
Hellraiser's box was no invention of man, but a magical demonic construct. Maybe there's a better example.
Why don't you give me a counter-example of what you consider sci-fi.
Always going forward, 'cause we can't find reverse.
I know reading the article and doing a couple google searches is challenging
agreed, but I suggest you try it anyway. Find a state where a motorcycle fitted as the movie lightcycles would be "street legal", I will hold my breath while you do so.
This isn't their first rodeo. They also build custom "normal" motorcycles.
If you knew anything about the custom motorcycle business, you'd know that it's almost synonymous with mismanagement, fraud, overconfidence, overpromising and underdelivering. And by all accounts, this IS their "first time at the rodeo" building anything remotely like this.
Tell you what, I'll come back to this thread in 8 weeks, the amount of time they claim to be shipping 5 of these bikes in. If anything that will even ROLL exists, I will take it all back. Otherwise, we'll just consider you a bit gullible.