The Double Bubble Bike Transporter: I was inspired by some of the late 50s - 60's fiberglass three wheelers and many of the solutions they came up with to make commuting in crowded cities easier. I came up with this design. Front end tilts out to load/unload drivers (Ala Peel Trident), bicycle style steering wheel, 60's custom style white interior. Rear Engine (Mazda Rotary, VW powered) The back end can also tilt up to access engine/storage compartments. Bikes ride on top of rear deck, like a roof rack for a car. Ha Ha! Imagine buzzing around the expressway in this! Vinnie Blanco |
Results: P R O J E C T S H O W B O A T |
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From an Invitation posted on Chopperbicycle.net and a in a previous issue of BR&K's Editorial page: |
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"This might be a good TV idea, but for sure it would be something I'd show in BR&K: A kustom road vehicle designed to transport one or two bikes. . Usually, when you have to take a bike somewhere out of pedalling distance, you'll strap it into the bed of a pickup, or inside a van, or something. . That's OK if you're just hauling a normal bike somewhere; but kustom bikes are made to be shown off, so why not show it off while you're transporting it? . The project, let's call it SHOWBOAT, is to design a vehicle just for the purpose of hauling one or two bikes, while acting as a mobile setting to display the bike(s) to full advantage. |
The performance envelope of the vehicle would be the capability of travelling at normal highway speeds for a trip of say 500 miles. It wouldn't have to have any off-road capability, since that's not the kind of bikes we do, usually. It would be just for taking bikes to the other side of a city, for a cruise, or transporting them to a show a couple of states away, or it could ride in a parade with a pretty girl on each saddle, waving to the crowds. I like that one a lot. . It should also secure the bike(s) so they wouldn't be removable or tippable while all that stuff is going on. It would also be designed so it would actually be practical and affordable to build one. That's the fun part, in my opinion; secondary only to actually driving the thing around with a couple of really cool bikes on display. Can you imagine the amount of waves and admiring grins you'd attract while doing that? > Something else nice would be if it was cheap to operate, with high gas-mileage. This would call for something fairly compact and light, with an enclosed cockpit for the driver, so it could be driven in the rain. Other environmental consideration should be given to heating/ventilation/cooling for the driver, and one possible passenger in hot or cold climates." |
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Here are the top entries in the S H O W B O A T Project. Left and Above are shown proposal renderings by Vincent Blanco, a very talented artist who often depicts vehicles in his work. I was familiar with his work, but hadn't realized until these renderings came in that he even knew about BR&K. I like this proposal because it's extremely kustom in design, and I can easily imagine myself building something like this. The VW basis of the vehicle makes it extremely practical, and relatively inexpensive to build and operate one. |
The Double Bubble Bike Transporter: I was inspired by some of the late 50s - 60's fiberglass three wheelers and many of the solutions they came up with to make commuting in crowded cities easier. I came up with this design. Front end tilts out to load/unload drivers (Ala Peel Trident), bicycle style steering wheel, 60's custom style white interior. Rear Engine (Mazda Rotary, VW powered) The back end can also tilt up to access engine/storage compartments. Bikes ride on top of rear deck, like a roof rack for a car. Ha Ha! Imagine buzzing around the expressway in this! Vinnie Blanco |
H O N O R A B L E M E N T I O N S : Just because Vinne's solution was my personal favorite, and more slickly presented, doesn't mean that the ones which follow aren't good. In many cases they are more achievable and probably would do an excellent job at fulfilling the criteria for the vehicle concept. Our profuse thanks to all who participated in this project. . Those without composite body-sculpting skills or with smaller budgets, looking to actually build a vehicle for this purpose would do well to study the images which follow, for excellent sources of inspiration. Jim Wilson |
Ed Gobbo |
Larry Krauck |
JD Bugman |
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Right: A late addition by Mr.Blanco. This shows the vehicle fitted with a Kawasaki engine. There is one type of easy design of tri-wheeled vehicles, in which a motorcycle's frame, including engine, powertrain, and rear wheel are grafted onto the vehicle's front chassis. |
