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.
Bruce F. Meyers, the inventor of the Meyers Manx, grew up in California deeply involved in the surfing scene, and driving a 1930’s vintage Ford to the beach. His interest in surfing and the ocean naturally led into sail boats and thus to a journey into the South Seas on a schooner shared with a few friends where he learned about sailing outrigger canoes, and learned a great deal about the sea and boats.
The Honda Hornet, known as the Honda CB600F in some countries, is considered by many to be about as close to the perfect daily rideable motorcycle as it’s possible to get. The Honda Hornet CB600F The formula behind the creation of the Honda Hornet CB600F creation was simple, Honda first took their much-loved Honda CBR600…
This is the first 1968 Fender Telecaster prototype that was made – only 6 were built in total, this guitar went to Elvis Presley, and the others went to other 1960s rock luminaries including George Harrison and Jimi Hendrix. George Harrison loved his Telecaster prototype, he famously used it to record Let It Be and…
The Bell Moto-3 Helmet is the original model from the hugely popular Moto-3 line, built with modern materials to modern safety standards, but in the style of the lids worn by motocross racers in the 1970s. The Moto-3 has three shell sizes to ensure a good fit, it uses a lightweight fiberglass composite with an…
Drag-U-La is a fully-operational drag car designed by Tom Daniel and built by George Barris and his team in 1964. It was restored in more recent years to fulfill the wish of Al Lewis (Grandpa Munster), who wanted to see the car one last time before he passed away. The restoration was completed in time, and…
This article was written by Paul Brace, a life-long bike enthusiast with a background in professional engineering and restoration, including the design and construction of the Eagle E-Type Speedster. I was looking for a lovely 916 for years but ‘the one’ never turned up. I would have been very happy with an exceptional standard 916…
