If you’re a real American, you buy American. Nothing beats a true Harley Davidson for touring the country, getting laid and fucking people up in bar fights. The new 2009 V-Rod Muscle motorcycle continues that tradition while also raising the bar for badass bikes everywhere.

You’ll find a liquid-cooled 1250cc Revolution V-Twin engine that outputs ~122 HP and 86 ft lbs of torque at 6500 RPMs. Check out the styling though. Specifically, the Brembo brakes, 240mm rear tire, dual straight shot side pipe exhausts and a generally clean look overall. At $18,000 it’s one of the most expensive motorcycles on the consumer market.

…but you know it’s so worth it.
(more…)

With all these awesome electric motorcycles sprouting up everywhere, you’re gonna need a sweet looking helmet to go with your new bike. French designer Jérôme Coste has shown interest in crash helmet design since surviving his sixth cranial fracture. Jesus, you’d think you’d quit around three or four cranial fractures, but no, Coste just keeps on biking.

Made from carbon fiber and detailed with chrome-plated trim, these helmets are directly inspired by science-fiction films and as a result, if you fall from a flying car, you’ll be thankful you had one of these stylish cranial casings on your head. Otherwise you’re getting fucked up.

Link (via)

Found on my pal Nick’s Tumblr, these sidecars from the past 50+ years are both unique and classic. What better way to add additional storage/passenger capacity to a scooter or motorcycle than a sidecar? From the gorgeous 1954 Steib sidecar above to the disgusting Volante sidecar of the 1930s, these are some metal caskets you can’t miss. Hit the jump for a link to the batch and some of my personal favorites…

(more…)

I’ve always wanted a motorcycle but I don’t think I’m responsible enough to ride open-air-style down a highway at 120 MPH. Ben Nelson, however, is more of a risk taker. The lucky sonofabitch got a 1981 Kawasaki KZ440 motorcycle for a mere $100. He swapped out the (broken) motor and was able to add four huge batteries for $160 and a $500 Etek motor. Two weekends of work later, Ben has a new hog.

It’s probably not as fast or badass-sounding as the original motor but you can’t beat this kind of mileage. While it can only do 45 MPH and run for 20 miles on a charge, Ben’s motorcycle hack is the perfect answer for beating the oil game, going green and having a fun project to work on. Besides, it’s ten times cooler than that ugly electric motorcycle those high schoolers made.

Link (via)

A group of young minds at the Saint Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, MN have constructed from scratch a lithium phosphate ion-powered motorcycle that can travel at speeds of 60 MPH for 50+ miles before needing to be recharged. Safer than any Vespa you’ve taken for a ride, this electric bike has been built with the driver’s safety in mind.  Implemented in its design are “crush zones” formed by compressible materials to protect the driver by keeping him/her inside the vehicle during the event of a collision.

The bike is going to be shown at MIT next week and the team plans on inventing a solar-charging station to make the electric bike truly carbon free. It seems like eco-friendly motor bikes are the way of transportation in our greener future.
Link

Half-motorcycle, half-Prius, the Enertia motorbike is bound to turn heads. With a striking design reminiscent of some Harley-Davidson and Triumph models, this bad boy only does 50 MPH top speed, which may disappoint some. Then you’ll realize it’s a 100-percent electric bike with a bunch of batteries, right as you pass that Sunoco gas station with premium hitting $4.73 a gallon.

With a charge time similar to the Tesla Roadster (three hours) and the ability to plug in pretty much anywhere, the Enertia certainly seems worth the $12,000 price tag that puts it in the league of BMW and Ducati bikes. I wonder if it’s liquid-cooled though…

Link (via)

Forget about the fact that this is even a PC, but even if this were a real motorcycle, the green LED glow would capture my attention. Now, imagine being able to have this Motorcycled Case Mod in your office or computer den.

This liquid-cooled Motorcycle Case holds the tradition of other vehicle themed case mods, but goes completely overboard with the modding, leaving the PC as just a footnote on the rump of the bike. (more…)

Those of us who respect a well-made and gorgeously designed bike will be happy to learn that Suzuki has decided to put their Crossgate concept into production. But that’s not the only good news. The Crossgate is also going to be hydrogen powered, a little perk for the environmentalists among us.

Developed with the help of the British Intelligent Energy, the Crossgate will be powered by a light-weight fuel-cell system, with a secondary battery as back-up. You know, just in case all of the Earth’s hydrogen disappears. In which case we’d probably be worrying about more then our Suzuki Crossgate, no matter how sexy it might be (sexier than the Suzuki Biplane in my opinion). Seriously, I just want to hump this damn bike. (more…)