back to article OLPC designer styles goes-like-stink electric motorbike

The metaphorical dust cover was yanked off the latest 'leccy motorcycle at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference in Long Beach, California, yesterday - and an arresting looking bit of kit it is too. Mission One Mission Motors' Mission One: striking looks Called the Mission One, the bike has been designed …

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  1. Lonesome Twin
    Go

    A Sportsbike?

    Unless I'm missing something big here, this bike is run by batteries. Batteries are HEAVY. Weight is the absolute enemy of any fast bike worth the name. Surely something more in the Harley/Goldwing mould would be a more suitable er.. vehicle?

    Go coz if it lives up to the blurb it might still have a future.

  2. Mike

    Vrooooooooom

    >>At least desirable to those of us who fancy the idea of a twit-proof twist-and-go super bike

    twit-proof? I'm glad that this bike will also make sure you have correct balance, observation, braking distance estimation, appropriate speed use etc. etc.

    If my CBR1100 was automatic I'd no longer risk being a twit I guess? a superbike is a superbike, you're just as small and vulnerable regardless of the fuel used.

  3. Grant Mitchell
    Thumb Down

    Looks ugly!

    Doesn't look very nice (IMHO), I'd rather have something that looks like this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8utqgS7es7k

    Much cooler (though seems to be yet another electric vehicle that never makes it to the production line :( ).

    Just have to stick with my trusty Sinclair C5 for just now.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    This sounds suicidal

    A conventional MB can power off with either hand (accelerator right hand clutch left hand) This can be a life saver if you hit a bump in the road that shifts your weight in such a way that you need to put weight on your throttle hand. (I think I saved myself with the clutch when my bike fishtailed on ice yesterday).

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    FFS

    What is this? Constantly showcasing some half arsed 3D imaging talent?

    Been trawling design colleges for copy?

    Have they even got an assembly diagram for it or is it just a sketch?

  6. Michael
    Thumb Down

    It's a bit... sharp

    Too many hard angles for my taste.

  7. Andy Barber
    Thumb Down

    "that puts out 100lb-ft of torque"

    What's that in real money?

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Very cool

    Very cool and I'd love to have one.

    I do foresee a small problem. A lot of motorists (in cars) only notice motorcycles because of the racket they make. I'm sure this bike will be very nearly silent. A rider will have to take extra care to be seen by other drivers. And I hope that isn't the speedometer near the hand grip---very poor placement if it is.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    how will this

    improve third world computer skills?

  10. fifi

    a lot of investment

    Seems like a lot of time and money to produce something that's not a significant improvement on what these guys are doing.

    http://www.evmotorcycle.org/home/node/29

  11. Graham Marsden

    100lb-ft of torque via a single-speed transmission?

    I hope to buggery that it comes with some form of traction control, then, so if you grab too much throttle you don't end up getting spat off the back because you won't be able to slip the clutch to control the power!

    (And WTH is with the trellis-work on the sides???)

  12. Steen Hive
    Coat

    @Very cool

    " A lot of motorists (in cars) only notice motorcycles because of the racket they make"

    They can't hear my beemer either, but not wanting to receive a personal Darwin award, I don't drive it as if I can be heard or seen. Anyone who drives a motorcycle like that isn't likely to make it past the first set of traffic-lights.

  13. Ed
    Unhappy

    gsx1100e@gmail.com

    Looks cool, but with out the following

    1- Induction Roar

    2- Loud Pipes

    3- Gears

    Its just a slick looking scooter

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    FYI

    Caught a radio interview with the designer here in IoM and the prototype has been ridden by professional racers already, and it's OK.

    The big problem is battery technology is not good enough for the length of the TT course as yet.

  15. Chris C

    Ugly

    Wow. That is one hideous design. So it comes as no surprise to read that it was designed by the same guy that designed the XO laptop. And what's with the recharge times? 8 hours from a 120V outlet, but only 2.5 hours from a 240V outlet? Assuming a standard US 15A 120V outlet, that's 1800W/hr, so 8 hours will consume a maximum of 14.4KW. To do the same thing in 2.5 hours, you would need to supply 5760W/hr, which comes to 24A at 240V.

  16. kempsy
    Thumb Up

    Perfectly Possible

    From our local media reports (http://www.iomtoday.co.im/video/Our-man-takes-39Green-TT39.4942343.jp) it seems that even the early prototypes handle reasonably well. It really will be a question of how the batteries hold out it seems.

    I look forward to seeing them racing next year.

  17. stolennomenclature
    Happy

    why is it desireable?

    Sorry for being an old stick in the mud, but why is a motorcycle which can do 150 mph desireable? Dangerous, yes. Pointless, yes. But desireable? There is no where you can go where these kinds of speeds are either sensible, legal, or even possible (owing to traffic and road conditions). When are people going to grow up?

  18. Graham Marsden

    @Steen Hive

    > Anyone who drives a motorcycle like that isn't likely to make it past the first set of traffic-lights.

    Yep:

    Graham's three rules of defensive riding:

    1) Don't assume they've seen you

    2) Don't assume they'll respect your right of way

    3) Do assume they'll do something stupid which will kill you unless you get out of their way.

    It's not how it should be, but it's certainly how it is :-(

    (And anyone who says the answer is Loud Pipes is just an anti-social git)

  19. Solomon Grundy

    @stolennomenclature

    What do you think those "super bikes" are for? Going fast that's what. While not exactly safe you can easily cruise for very long distances here in the US as 150 MPH on the Interstate system.

    In fact, back when Montana had no speed limit (the "limit" was reasonable and prudent during daylight hours) and I crossed the entire state at more than 130 MPH. Granted it wasn't on an electric motorcycle cause the batteries would have been dead before I got across the state.

  20. Graham Marsden
    Thumb Down

    @stolennomenclature

    And, of course, you drive a car which is limited to 70mph, yes?

  21. Sam

    How much?

    This thing's got a battery and an electric motor.

    A "normal" bike has an engine with loads of moving parts and sensors, plumbing etc. and is way cheaper.

    WHY?

  22. Paul

    @stolennomenclature

    Not realy pointless? You ever been on the motorway on a bike with a top speed of less that 100MPH? It is not a nice thing to do. Unlike a car you have alot of noise and vibration due to the very nature of how high the engine revs (And an electric engine will probably be just as bad). You needs a minimum top speed of 120MPH to be ok crusing at 70, and having a little left if you need it in an emergency.

  23. Bad Beaver

    uh... lacking?

    Hm. I like the styling but I always thought the VROOOM was a big part of the appeal of a motorbike. The VROOOM also has a big part in the safety of the vehicle. Moving at that speed, you want to be heard.

  24. Magani
    Paris Hilton

    Dial-a-Note (tm)

    Finally, a bike with the potential to select what noise you're going to make today without spending a fortune on different pipes.

    Do I feel like a nice understated Beemer burble, or a full on Japanese yowl. Maybe a H-D 'potato-potato'? Nah, that'd be silly. Any Harley afficionado worth his tats wouldn't be seen dead on a nancy-bike powered by the Duracell Bunny.

    @Graham Marsden

    The speakers are obviously behind the trellis work on the sides.

    Now if we work on 100 watts RMS per channel to get the right accoustic signature (gotta be stereo, right?), what's that going to do to the range of the bike?

    Paris, because she knows what it's like to have a good steady throbbing beat between her legs.

  25. BoscoH
    Paris Hilton

    One part missing from OLPC Bike

    Where's the hand crank? Paris, because she'd know exactly what to do with it.

  26. Will
    Alien

    internet enabled?

    So you pull into a hotspot, launch the mission 1 ap from your handset and upload the last 15 min of vid from the built in web cam straight to youtube, via the "choose engine noise" wizard.

    Oh what fun the future holds...

    Will

  27. Richard Gomer
    Stop

    Back Brake?

    Why not put the regenerative brake on the front? That is, after all, where most of the braking is done. (The weight of the bikes presses the front wheel on to road and lifts the back one off of it while your brake, meaning that the back wheel locks up if you brake on it too hard)

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @BLoad

    >Being me I would have built the motor into the rear wheel.

    Then you need to read up on "unsprung mass".

    Also generally it's beneficial to put the heavy stuff in the middle rather than out at the back end, although you could put the rider lower down if there was a gap there...

    >This is a piss poor example of some idiots putting available 'old' tart technology with a bit

    >of crapton fibre and aluminium with holes in it to come up with something that is 'pretty' (shit).

    While I agree with the sentiment, they haven't done that at all, all they've done is drawn a sketch of how they'd like it to look.

    Here's mine:-

    O-Ó It's twice as fast as theirs and is made of recycled yack dung so it's even more environmentally friendly.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Mr "High and Mighty" Master Control

    Yes, but can it turn corners at 90 degrees, just like in Tron? Or Automan? Does it explode into half a dozen polygonal chunks when you crash it into a wall? Does it fold up into a small glowing stick? Where is this information in the article?

  30. Matt

    @Bload

    You can't add the motor directly to the week as you need the wheels to be as light as possible to reduce what's known as "unsprung weight" - suspension performance is critical for a performance bike as with any other vehicle where traction at high speed is required.

  31. Pete James

    It's nice, but.....

    As much as I would like to see a good, high performance leccy bike showing their backwards 4-wheel brethren how to do the job properly I feel this won't quite be the one. And that's a shame because I'd love to see this be successful. As the detailed spec doesn't seem to be available - well, I couldn't find it anyway - it's difficult to comment about the layout beyond that it appears to have a clutch; if it contains a small CVT in the drivetrain then it would really get me very interested.

    The relative silence of such a bike wouldn't be the major handicap you may think either. As any biker will tell you, you don't hope other people hear you, it's more whether the average car/HGV/bus driver is actually conscious that it uppermost in your mind.

    But the killer is the price. £47,178. That's more than a Ducati Desmosedici RR, and one of those would go very nicely indeed with my Monster 750 and old 750SS. Why namecheck a very nice Honda when you could instead plump for an outageously gorgeous Italian?

    Anyway, I think I'll go and wipe down my Termi's.........

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