Transforming motorcycle?
Erik Brinkman believes he has the perfect answer to your motorcycling needs for any type of biker event. Whether it be on the road or off-road. He has an all in one motorcycle that actually will shape shift to the rider and conditions.
Quoted from his website here.
A complete re-think of motorcycle design.
New Robotic ShapeShifting Motorcycle.
…. any ride, anytime …. shapeshifts on-the-fly.
1. Regular, Hemi or Diesel (750cc and 1000cc)
2. No rusting materials anywhere …. inside or out.
3. Extremely over-engineered to last as long as possible.
4. Variable length intake.
5. Variable length exhaust.
6. Multi-link suspension ON BOTH ENDS !
7. No chain tensioner needed.
8. Center of mass retained by shifting the engine.
9. Mimics shapes of each bike style precisely.
Shapeshifts from Chopper, Cruiser, Tourer, Enduro, Deep Woods.
Theme
Mobility, freedom …. themes that have endured
since the cowboy and his mustang on the open range.
ShapeShifting
It is able to go almost anywhere you need or want to go. …. two lane twisties, horse trails or the beach. Go to the corner store, or ride 4 days in the saddle on the open road.
Whatever the ride or rider calls for it delivers; an Enduro bike one minute and a Cruiser the next. The R-Bike does not make trade-offs between the needs of hi-ways and horse-trails. It very accurately adjusts its center of gravity and overall geometry to differing riding conditions.
Upgrading/Changing
The R-Bike is a modular, simple and reliable always upgradable approach in a stable long-term rust-free over-engineered platform so you can develop a relationship that will evolve and endure.
Form -vs- Function
It began with the relationship between the rider and the road, the bike and the road, and the rider and the bike. It was this triangle that defined the function. As functional parameters emerged, form took care of itself.
Personality
The form is modern, sleek and clean, showcasing the best of old-school mechanics and using classic materials such as brass and wood. A motorcycle needs to be a machine. No hidden parts …. It shows off its gismos, little parts, nuts, bolts and linkages. It looks like there is a lot going on, yet its a clean uncomplicated look.
Comment by Erik Brinkman on 4 February 2007:
After 9 years of careful engineering, the bike is now well past the “design concept” phase and is ready for prime-time. It was ready when I could no longer make it any simpler.
Soon we will start taking pre-orders.
This is a totally new direction for the motorcycle industry.
Please take the time to read the REPORT and you will see the degree of detail. For example …. The ShapeShifting is via a 4.5 inch screw and 2 servo-motors.
Comment by Erik Brinkman on 8 February 2007:
We just posted an updated of the REPORT, FRAME booklet. In its RIDE section it describes ShapeShifting on-the-fly especially off-road.
Comment by Erik Brinkman on 15 February 2007:
The most common question I am being asked is “Why shapeshift?”
so in response ….
1. DOWN a Steep Hill
As you start a steep slow descend, you stretch your bike out a bit
with feet stretched on pointing downhill
and the seat much lower and you tuck your body rearward.
2. UP a Steep Hill
As you ascend the hill,
you start fairly stretchy and slowly scrunch as you go up
to let the ShapeShift pull-it up
and you need more tight control as you do those last few feet of climb.
3. Tight Squeeze
When the trail goes tight between trees you need squeeze it in a bit,
then stretch it back on the other side.
4. Sharp Curves
You approach a sharp curve and need a little more belly clearance
and you need a shorter more nimble wheelbase,
so you scrunch into the curve and stretch back out of the curve
pulling itself out of the curve..
5. Creek Crossing
You approach the creek and so you scrunch high
to keep the nostrils tucked high and dry behind the side-pods
that also keep splashes of water deflected from the intake and the rider,
and the tailpipe tilts down to keep water from backing up into it.
Then you stretch to let the ShapeShifting help pull up onto the other bank.
6. High Speed Cruising
You are riding in your most comfortable position
and you want or need to go smoother faster.
You are only a 10-inch wide frame, so if you stretch it out,
you have a longer faster more stable arrow in the wind.
7. High Speed Braking
You are stretched out and cruising the open road
and suddenly a deer pops up onto the road and just stands there.
So you clamp the binders full-on
and the bike frame slowly shortens as the bike slows,
because a shorter wheelbase stops quicker with better control.
Stopping benefits from a wheelbase best suited
for hard braking at that momenary speed,
8. Lock-n-Stretch over a Log
You kiss up to a log and plant the rear brake and then stretch
and in so doing “crawl” the bike.
The bike comes with a 21 inch front wheel to help in this option.
9. Pulling out of a Hole
There you are stuck in the mudhole. Seen it a thousand times.
Now you don’t worry about pulling the bike out.
You can stretch to both spread out the weight
and use the stretch-crawl method of “inch-worming” your way out
using the frame’s ShapeShifting.
10. In a SideSlide
The bike might want to scrunch a bit more
to help make the SideSlide easier to control.
11. If the Road gets Rough
The bike might want to raise up a bit
and shorten its wheelbase for better control.
12. When life Leaves you Short
The bike allows anyone to easily mount with the seat in the lowest position
and yet still have the flexibility to ride a high seat off-road.
Comment by ErikBrinkman on 19 October 2007:
Time for a bit of an update ….
http://www.erikbrinkman.com/rbike
BTW- if you don’t have QuickTime application in your computer,
you miss out on all the neat videos in the “Gallery”.
The most important part of the bike is the drivetrain.
Merch is handling the 6 engines.
They are tops in making very very strong motors.
The drivetrain uses 3-inch helical-cut gears
(stainless steel with a near-diamond coating
…. 10 times slicker than Teflon)
It will be tested and ready to install by late 08.
The first bikes are for the Militaries and the Bike Shows,
We also promised 2 bikes for Warner Brothers and others in L.A.
Orange County Choppers show will be assembling one on TV.
(almost half the parts are Harley-World aftermarket parts,
so you will be able to service the bike at any Harley Dealer).
They will be built in New York and in Medicine Hat.
Public production will begin in 09.
Prices will begin just below $20k for a stripped budget bike
with a base $4k engine.
and up close to $120k for the highest possible quality and detail
and the $60k engine.
We are designing a “Build-a-Bike” section on the WebSite
where you can select almost every part on the bike
and adjust the price/feature balance to what you want.
You will have a choice of 6 engines and 3 transmissions.
There are 3 front wheel sizes and 2 rear wheel sizes.
There are 3 seat styles and 2 tank options. etc etc
until the bike is exactly what you want and can afford.
Then if you answer a marketing questionaire,
we will email you a poster sized hi-resolution picture
of the bike the way YOU designed it.
Soon we shall begin taking pre-orders
so you can save your place in line.
This is a couple of weeks away.
We have it functioning correctly.
Now it is a matter of the “look”
and then loading the hundreds of selections / options.
We promise that when updates occur,
they can be added any existing bike,
so that the purchase is a lifetime relationship.
Now, I know the idea of a ShapeShifter motorcycle
is a little out of the box …. just a little,
but the bike actually takes on the proportions
of the top bikes in each riding style category.
If any part of the frame were mounted or shaped 1/4 inch off,
the entire “puppet” would not work well.
There is much more to this than first meets the eye.
This is all about the frame, and not just about the bike as such.
We expect to license the frame to other makers in the future.
Adaptive-geometry makes for a safer bike,
and ultimately we want to see lots of them on the road,
whether ours our eventually someone elses version.
PS-
We shall also be activating the INVEST button
(hopefully by Monday Oct 22nd)
It will take you to an index where all the paperwork resides.
Comment by ErikBrinkman on 15 August 2008:
The Specifications have finally been made public.
http://www.erikbrinkman.com/rbike/report.html
Production will begin in mid 2009