I’ve always been fascinated with vintage engineering and this particular example is quite remarkable. Exactly who first came up with the idea of using a wheel’s spokes as suspension seems to be somewhat elusive but the idea itself is quite brilliant. Or it could be utterly terrible. I’m having a hard time imagining how a motorcycle like this would handle.
So far as I am aware there aren’t any companies manufacturing these today, which seems kind of a shame as for one thing, it would allow a person to build a hard-tail motorcycle that doesn’t try to slam your arse through your nose every time you hit a bump.
This brilliant find comes via Frank @ The MotArt – A site that well and truly deserves a spot in any self respecting chap’s bookmark folder.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
The MV Agusta three-cylinder, known as the Tre Cilindri, was ridden by Giacomo Agostini to 13 of his 15 World Championship titles between 1966 and 1973. MV Agusta had started with a 350cc version of the three-cylinder in 1965, this engine would be expanded to 500cc for 1966, allowing the Italian company to challenge both the 350cc…
The Mash TT40 Cafe Racer is equal parts French, Chinese, and Japanese – in a manner of speaking. The design is French (with some very obvious British cafe racer influences), the bike is built in Mainland China, and the engine/transmission is (very closely) based on the Japanese Honda XBR500 power unit from the 1980s. The…
Walt Siegl is deservedly known as one of the finest custom motorcycle builders in the world, but we’ve always associated him more with Ducatis than any other marque. The Bol d’Or is a step away from Ducati, but not a step away from Italy – it’s a comprehensively modified MV Agusta F3, and it’s no show…
This custom BMW R1100GS is the work of one of Poland’s pre-eminent custom motorcycle garages – Red Hot Chili Customs. The donor bike was bought from its former owner in Switzerland before being transported to Poland for a rebuild into a custom scrambler with genuine off-road ability thanks to its GS origins. Red Hot Chili…
This short film shows what went into building a car engine back in the 1930s, including casting, forging, machining, assembly, and testing. It’s a remarkable look back at how it was done before the robots took over, the amount of hand work required is impressive – as is the somewhat casual nature of the safety…
This article was written by Jenna V. Genio AKA “Dæmon Ex Machina”, a freelance writer and photographer with a love for motoring, aviation, and adventure. You can follow her on Instagram here. Meet Kenji Shibata Kenji Shibata, also known as “Kengde Seevert” of Seevert Works, is one of the world’s premier motoring artists. He was born…
