Bimota showcased its 2013 lineup at the EICMA Motor Show which consists of 19 models. However, most of the bikes remained unchanged and are basically the same models presented in 2011.
Fortunately, the company has also come with a fresh model. To be honest it’s not 100% fresh as is technically a modified version of the 2011 Bimota DB10 B-Motorad.
The DBx is a rugged dual sport bike fitted with Öhlins TTX forks and four-way adjustable shock, Brembo monoblocs (2 x 300mm discs up front, 200mm in the back) and a lot of carbon fiber. Weighting only 385 lbs and powered by a 95 hp engine the new DBx is the lightest and most powerful bike in its class. With 19 inch front and 17 inch (18 inch optional ) rear wheels wrapped in Pirelli tires the Bimota DBx seems ready to conquer any terrain with poise.
Unfortunately, the new bike is only a concept developed to see test the public’s response. Judging by the way it looks and its sporty specs, the new bike could have a pretty bright future and we sincerely hope that Bimota will decide to launch it into production.
Husqvarna showed its new 2013 Baja concept at the 2012 EICMA Motor Show. The new concept combines the old school design of the 70’s bikes with modern technologies and offers ground breaking off road performance.
In its off road adventures, the 2013 Husqvarna Concept BAJA is helped by a strong steel frame with an upside down fork and a rear central spring strut on a lever system, hinged to the dual swingarm. The bike is perfectly suited for off road riding and comes with a high ground clearance and a pair of 19 inch front and 17 inch rear wheels.
The 2013 Husqvarna Concept BAJA is kept in check by a set of front and rear Brembo hydraulic brakes and is propelled by a liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine which sends power to the rear wheel by means of a 5-speed gearbox.
Hit the jump for more information on the 2013 Husqvarna Concept BAJA.
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After it was previously teased, the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype was finally revealed at the EICMA show.
The new model is the first functional concept ever developed by KTM and comes with a sharp design language and a strong 180 hp engine.
The bike is based on the KTM Super Duke and is powered by the same LC8 unit found at the KTM 1190 RC8 R. The two-cylinder engine is combined with a set of light steel pipes and a single-sided swing arm. As far as suspensions go, the prototype is fitted with upside-down forks with gas pressure reservoir, and a directly linked rear shock.
Perhaps it goes without saying that the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype also comes with racing wheels, racing brakes and racing tires. The bike’s backbone is a trellis frame made of chrome molybdenum steel combined with a single sided aluminium swing arm.
Hit the jump for more information on the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype.
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Vintage bikes are unrefined, simple, and rough around the edges, making them the perfect bases for custom bike building. Thunderbike has been busy working on a custom vintage bike itself, as it rebuilt, restored, and customized a 1951 Harley-Davidson EL Pan Head.
Thunderbike began by completely stripping the frame and body, and draping it in a matte black undercoat. Over this base coat are highlights of orange and white, also in a matte finish. The paint and striping was completed by Kruse Design. This gives the bike a modern look while retaining its vintage feel. The vintage, single-rider, custom seat was built by Maas Sitz Leder.
On the front and rear, this custom Harley EL features TB Vegas wheels wrapped in Firestone rubber. Next to each rim, you get a K-tech brake disc to help bring this vintage bike to a halt much faster than its factory drum brakes could.
Mounted to the frame is a 74-cubic-inch, twin cylinder Pan Head motor. This motor has been fully gutted and rebuilt to the original factory specifications and all of the brightwork has been recoated in nickel. This twin-cylinder powerplant features an S&S Super E fuel system, S&S manifold, TB Classic air filter, and a TB flying pan Spezial exhaust system that is coated in matte black.
Driving the power to the rear wheel is a belt-to-chain-drive system, mixing a little bit of the old and new. Thunderbike has yet to release a price on this custom bike, but we’re pretty confident that it’ll range somewhere between expensive and completely outrageous. What we do know is that this bike looks completely awesome and is currently available in Germany.
The BMW R7 is truly a one-of-a-kind motorcycle that was introduced as a concept in 1934, but never produced. It did, however, inspire the R17 and R5 models. It was built during the height of the Art Deco movement, which is apparent by its very precise design that adheres to the standard mathematical basis of the Art Deco style, and is truly a pleasing piece.
After its conception, the R7 slipped away and was thought to be lost until it was rediscovered in 2005 and fully restored. It bears all black body panels with white outlines. Its wire wheels are painted a deep black to match the rest of the body. The body was like no other bike at the time, boasting smooth lines and fenders that partially wrapped around the wheels. Covering the engine are pieces of formed sheet metal to aid its aerodynamic qualities. Even the exposed cylinder heads are formed into a more aerodynamic dome shape.
The R7 boasts an 800 cc boxer engine that Leonhard Ischinger designed for BMW. It boasts a forged, 1-piece crankshaft for extra strength, and 1-piece cylinders and cylinder heads. Since the camshaft was under the crankshaft, the cylinders were positioned higher, leading to more effective valve positioning and even more ground clearance than the typical bike of the era. Coming off of the engine are two chrome fish-fin exhaust pipes.
This bike boasts a 4-speed manual transmission. Instead of the traditional foot shifter, the 1934 R7 boasts a car-style gear shifter to the right of the fuel filler cap.
There is no price placed on this bike, as it is a one-of-a-kind example that has never been sold on the open market. We are sure it would fetch upwards of $1 million at auction. We’ll never know, as its original discoverers are still in ownership and show no desire to sell it.
Image Credit: BMW museum Munich and ElfeJoyeux via Wikipedia
Honda’s vast knowledge in producing custom concept bikes is rivaled only by its propensity to actually build them. One of their latest projects - the Honda Fury Furious Hardtail Chopper Concept - certainly brings to light their immense talent in building concepts from inspiration.
The Fury Furious Hardtail Chopper Concept was inspired by the 2010 Fury and blends both old and new school flavor into one intoxicatingly beautiful concoction. The brainchild of Honda Americas’ Nick Renner, the concept chopper carries a VT1300cc engine with a 45-degree rake and a converted hard tail to create a clean, pure, and unbridled performance bike. Everything about the bike is custom-fitted to tailor to its needs, including a custom oversize drag bars, a custom straight pipe exhaust, a custom paint finish, and a custom diamond-stitched leather seat and rear hugger.
The front wheel measures 23" while the rear tapes in at 20," providing the performance and aesthetic look that’s tried-and-true for a Honda concept chopper.
The Honda Sabre cruiser looks like a dastardly devious bike with plenty of bad intentions, just the type of bike that fits to the taste of street riders the whole world over.
So when you take the design of the Sabre and turn it into a concept with help from styling cues derived from Formula 1 and MotoGP, you get the motherload of all concept street bikes. That’s what you get with the Sabre Switchblade Pro Drag Concept. It comes with a full carbon fiber custom bodywork and spec seating, a VT1300cc engine, and a 3-way fully-adjustable sport suspension system with a single sided swing arm and a 535-chain conversion that optimizes the bike’s overall focus on design, speed, and sheer awesomeness.
In addition to the laundry list of fantastic features, the Sabre Switchblade Pro Drag Concept also gets racing spec calipers and rotors, carbon fiber wheels - 21" on the front and 18" on the rear - and an on-board GPS lap-timer with a data acquisition unit.
At some point, these concepts should make it past the production phase, right? We don’t know what the end-game is with the Switchblade Pro Drag Concept, but we sure wouldn’t mind seeing one of these bad boys on the Honda showroom floor.
Just like their four-wheeled counterparts, electric bikes are slowly entering the market, giving riders a far more ’efficient’ alternative than the gas-guzzling road mongers they’ve come to know over the years.
With the direction steering clearly towards an electric future, BRD is looking to get its foot in the door first with the new RedShift electric motocross prototype. Built using a two-piece monocoque chassis partly painted in a blue finish and contrasted by an orange battery pack, the pre-production RedShift is looking at becoming a trailblazer in its own right.
Looking at the bike, it’s obvious that there wasn’t a whole lot of bells and whistles that went in building the bike. It’s not bare and bones, but it’s not decked with trinkets either. The relative simplicity of the bike results in a weight of just 250 lbs, which already includes a 5.2-kWh battery that, according to BRD, should be enough to go for at least 50 miles on the road. The battery can produce 40 horsepower and when combined with its svelte frame, it’s more than capable of giving its traditional gas-powered counterparts a serious run for their money.
For their part, BRD is still in the process of undertaking further testing for the RedShift and all things considered, the company is hoping to release a more complete version of the electric bike at the 68th EICMA in Milan, Italy this November.
But the groundwork has been done so that’s the good thing. Let’s just hope that these guys can fine-tune everything before their day in the spotlight later this year.
Jeep isn’t exactly famous for building motorcycles. In fact, we don’t think we have ever heard of a Jeep motorcycle, but what if the rugged off-road SUV maker decided to go against the grain? Kyle Robie tried to answer this question with the Jeep Cross Bike - a motorcycle designed for both on and off-road use in 2025.
The Jeep Cross Bike features a hydroelectric powertrain, with the electric motor acting like a compressor for the accompanying hydraulic pump. This system will inject enough fluid to both the wheels, delivering the rider more of an adrenaline rush. The battery pack is easily accessible in the storage compartment under the seat and features 7 bars placed on the side: three on the side of the battery and four on the seat. Its location makes for a quick exchange when a new, fully charged battery is needed.
The headlights feature indicator lights on the front, while turn signals come embedded in the front mirrors. The swing arms were designed to bump out just a bit to maintain a good balance. The design of the motorcycle is a little unorthodox, but just adds to the splendor of the bike, making it a real head turner.
Developing an ATV that is suitable for all season off-road mobility might be pretty challenging. However, Alexei Mikhailov - an industrial designer from Humber College in Canada - has overcome this feat with the TrakRok Concept, a hybrid ATV that was a snowmobile initially, but ended up turning into a pretty impressive off roader.
The TrakRok ATV features two wheels in the front that are direct driven individually by electric motors,a s well as a direct driven independent track system used for all season applications that is also powered by high powered electric motors. The entire system is runs on sustainable renewable energy using hydrogen fuel cell technology. The fuel cells are situated in the center belly of the vehicle lowering the center of gravity and the fuel cell cluster is liquid cooled by two large radiator intakes in the front of the vehicle. Aside from menacing aesthetics, the intakes provide adequate cooling and in casing protection for the fuel cells from harsh environment.
The design mimics a shell-like rib cage which looks really cool. The only problem with this design is that it has about zero chance of ever making it to production. It’s too bad because we think this would actually have a lot of appeal.
