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Electric Tron Lightcycle Hits the Streets

Posted by samzenpus on from the master-control's-new-wheels dept.

cylonlover writes "Practicality tends to take a back seat when you combine sci-fi cult status with custom chopper building — and there's no room for a pillion passenger on the Lightcycle. We first spied Parker Brothers Choppers Lightcycle project last year when it surfaced in gas-powered form, now the company has released video of a fully-electric version of the neon-packing two-wheeler in action. The electric motor may be quieter, but this one's still guaranteed to turn heads."

13 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Ugh... by ak_hepcat · · Score: 2

    Looks horribly uncomfortable and dangerously unwieldy to ride.

    I think i'll pass.

    --
    Support FSF: Stop thinking with your wallet, and think with your imagination. (cc/non-commercial)
    1. Re:Ugh... by GameboyRMH · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yeah, looks awesome, but it's even more of a bling-toy than the average chopper.

      Horrific riding position, little to no suspension travel, and if it has a decent-performing electric powertrain, it'll cost a fortune.

      Here's how I would have done it:

      1. Make it more practical. Try to massage the seating position into a more regular sportbike style. Yes it won't be 100% accurate but who needs that. You can put surprisingly wide wheels on a sportbike before the handling starts to really suffer.

      2. Put a 600cc engine on it with a noisy-ass supercharger. Maybe make it gear-driven for more gear whine. It will sound sufficiently alien that people who hear it will think "WTF is that?" and it will have WAY more than enough power to haul around any extra weight.

      3. At the rear, have a vertical stack of powerful LEDs, and add a sprinkler system in the back that releases a heavy, vertical line-shaped mist. This way you can hit a button to lay down a "light trail" :D A laser projection system like those fancy bike safety things could be used to lay down a line on the ground behind the bike too.

      4. Get appropriately lit riding gear B-)

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    2. Re:Ugh... by rufty_tufty · · Score: 2

      WRT 3, Better still get it spraying a cloud of tritium so that the glowing effect stays there for a while after it has passed.

      What could possibly go wrong?

      --
      "The weirdest thing about a mind, is that every answer that you find, is the basis of a brand new cliche" -
    3. Re:Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Like your mom.

    4. Re:Ugh... by geekoid · · Score: 3, Informative

      it's 35K, so not really the expensive for a custom bike.
      it will go 100 miles, and travel at 100MPH.
      It recharges in 35 minute.

      Considering this is pretty much a 'ride around town' bike, all of that is a fine trade off.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  2. Why so slow? by Gotung · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why is he riding so slow in all the videos? I'll tell you why, because taking your foot position all the way back to that ridiculous angle has that guy riding squarely on his junk. The slightest bump probably feels like huge kick to the nut sack. Most custom bikes give up comfort for fashion, but that takes thing to a whole new level.

  3. Re:it looks cool on a photo but, by j00r0m4nc3r · · Score: 2

    Why would it need a combustion engine to go faster? Electric motorcycles are pretty much the fastest thing around.

  4. I'm all for energy efficiency, the environment,etc by ickleberry · · Score: 2

    But I'd still much prefer the Dodge Tomahawk over this. Neither are terribly practical or every day use vehicles so the amount of energy saved by having an electric version is negligible

  5. Re:Needs Stabilization by geekoid · · Score: 2

    remember them? I see them everyday. Security people riding them, tours, rentals, warehouse people. And that's just my walk through downtown.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  6. Re:Shiny by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    I'd like to test drive her before I make the deal.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  7. Not as cool as the Monotracer by jamrock · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Tron bike is pretty cool, but impractical. The Peraves Monotracer is a Swiss-built cabin motorcycle which is not only practical, it has to be one of the coolest vehicles ever produced (video in German). The electric version, the E-Tracer, which boasts a top speed of 200 mph, an average equivalent fuel consumption of 203 mpg, won the Progressive Automotive X Prize for electric vehicles. Now if only I could afford one...

  8. Re:Shiny by mcgrew · · Score: 2

    Dunno... it looks cool, but that's all it has going for it. It doesn't look so cool for the driver, who seems to be having trouble controlling it, or for his back (and balls!) because of how the footrests are positioned.

    If you're comfortable driving a chopper with monkey bars it would be ok maybe, but I prefer a more traditional bike -- say, a hog or a sportster with the fairings and saddlebags and other garbage stripped. And no chopping or monkey hangers!

    --
    Free Martian Whores!
  9. Re:I'm all for energy efficiency, the environment, by GameboyRMH · · Score: 2

    That thing always makes me think someone at Dodge was a Final Fantasy fan...

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel