motorcycles

Zero Motorocycles has secured $17 million in financing from a group of investors led by Invus.

The Santa Cruz-based motorcycle manufacturer said today that it closed the financing deal on March 3 and plans to use the funds to increase its production capacity and expand its international sales. In addition to the initial funding, the company said it also has the opportunity for an additional $9 million in the coming months per the terms of the deal.

Zero Motorcycles, which is known for its all-electric drive train on street-legal motorcycles, does its manufacturing at a plant in the U.S., … Read more

The 2011 lineup from electric-motorcycle maker Zero Motorcycles will be offered with an upgrade allowing them to be recharged at public charging stations, the company announced yesterday.

The company's line of all-electric motorcycles, which made their debut in the U.S. in 2009, has undergone a major overhaul, including new brakes and wheels. But most notable to those interested in green tech may be that Zero will now offer an upgrade that allows its motorcycles to accept DC (direct current) fast charging, and, with the use of a plug accessory, make it compatible with any charger using the SAE … Read more

This week, we get all Crave-y over a new boombox from TDK with a sweet design that belies the company's low-tech roots. Also, a fake coffee bot makes us yearn for the days when "The Jetsons" becomes a reality; some creepy crawlers get made over into flashy, USB-powered robots that are just ripe for holiday stockings; and we check out a tutorial on how to install your own "Star Trek"-worthy pneumatic doors. Plus, an utterly expensive--yet awesome--steampunk flash drive catches our eyes, as does a rather emasculating motorcycle ripped straight out of "Tron"--but for entirely different reasons. Finally, a shout-out to a local eatery in this week's "This is Why You're Fat" segment.

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Designer Justin Harder has made a life-size motorcycle from wood and documented the whole process in a photo gallery. While that usually wouldn't be such a big deal, this version is special--it's modeled after the bike from the classic NES video game Excitebike. It's not a working model, but that's fine with us--you wouldn't want to be sitting on a wooden motorbike when it overheats.

Not only did Harder handcraft the motorbike, he also created a matching helmet, protective gear, and a trophy, all adopting the same pixelated 8-bit style. Check out his Flickr page … Read more

YORK, Pa.--Take the world's most iconic motorcycles. And take industrial geekiness at its best. Mix the two. And what you get is what I'm looking at: the production lines of the 2011 model year Harley-Davidson touring, Softtail and "trike" motorcycles.

I've come here as part of Road Trip 2010 knowing that there are few ways more popular among those who travel the highways of America than Harleys. When planning this visit, I had in mind the motorcycle version of the story and photo package I did on the Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, … Read more

Daredevil Dave is a funny, quirky, stunt-based arcade game that offers limited gameplay but lots of heart.

The game's personality and humor--surely inspired by premillennial celebrity weirdo Super Dave Osborne--is evident from the main menu and the tutorial, as you play a self-absorbed and proudly reckless (but still somehow lovable) motorcycle daredevil, portrayed with pop-up cartoons and hyperbolic voice-over.

The game has 18 levels in all, ranging from more-conventional stunts involving trucks and flaming hoops to utterly ridiculous situations with lava, sharks, helicopters, and bombs. In each stunt, your goal is to hit the landing ramp as precisely as … Read more

Someone at Honda's been watching too much "Akira," because the automaker's latest electric vehicle concept looks a lot like the main character Kaneda's bike with training wheels.

Created by Honda's research-and-design facility in Milan, the 3R-C concept is an inverted trike that is powered by a battery electric drive train and seats a single passenger. When parked, the driver's seat and controls are covered by a clear canopy for added security and protection from the elements. This canopy rises and slides forward to become a windshield when the vehicle is in motion, protecting … Read more

Macworld Expo 2010 started on Tuesday here in San Francisco, and will continue through tomorrow (Saturday) at the Moscone Center. I had a chance to walk the expo floor on Thursday and though there weren't nearly as many vendors as in years past, I was able to talk to a few iPhone developers about their products and all seemed excited about showing off their latest projects.

Even though Apple is no longer in attendance at Macworld, Moscone North was crowded with throngs of Mac and iPhone fans, looking at the latest software, peripherals, and gear. While the big Apple … Read more

These days, with everything being untethered, it's strange to see a biker getting tubed up to his chariot. Then again, you'd do it, too, if you were stuck in traffic under the sweltering tropical sun. The idea of piped-in air conditioning on a motorbike isn't new. We caught wind of a prototype back in 2004, when Israeli physics professor Glen Guttman unveiled his compact A/C solution that rides pillion and siphons off the motorcycle battery to hose cold or heated air to a thermal vest worn under the motorcyclist's jacket. A wireless controller mounted on the bars controls the temperature.

Now it looks like the invention is finally moving out of cold storage, with trials being conducted that should lead to a commercial rollout. Marketed under Guttman's company EntroSys as BikeAir-1, it'll be interesting to see the cost of keeping cool on the road. Video after the jump.… Read more