motorbike
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Preview of the Motorbike vehicle in Grizzly Hills
Did you doubt that engineers would be the coolest players in the expansion? This little demo of the motorbike coming (supposedly) to engineers in Wrath of the Lich King is, as our own Dan O'Halloran said when he saw it, the first movie of WoW where the death metal actually belong. The thing tools around Grizzly Hills at top speed. Maybe it's just the way it's been implemented on the private server, but if those jumps are possible on the live realms (physics? in WoW?), then vehicles in Wrath are going to be awesome.Of course, this doesn't exactly signal the return to swords and sorcery that players were hoping for in Northrend -- what does it mean if we've replaced the spaceships of the last expansion with tanks? But WoW has always had a steampunk feel, and this does seem like a natural extension. Ladies and Orcs, start your engines![Thanks, Akussa!]
The roads of Azeroth: Now with biker gangs
I know we've been laying the Wrath news on thick but we're all incredibly excited, and I think most of you are, too. It's especially difficult to restrain myself when I see things like the motorcycle you see above, which I was directed to by an acquaintance of mine that's in the Beta. I don't have a concrete source on the fact that these motorcycles are made by Engineers, but I'm pretty confident that's the case. Is there anything else they could be? I suppose it's possible that they're strictly for quest use, but I somehow have my doubts. It looks like they put too much work into them for their role to only be for a quest or two.The only thing that really makes me wonder if these are actually Engineering mounts or not is the fact that they're distinct by faction. A nice touch, but I think that would make it the first Horde/Alliance division in the profession. I suppose dividing the bikes by Goblin and Gnomish Engineering wouldn't make them as awesome looking. They're not quite Orange County material by any means, but they're still pretty slick. Let's be honest though, some races riding these things will be hilarious. Biker Tauren? Really? I suppose I can see a Dwarf riding the Alliance bike, but a Male Draenei driving it would probably be the silliest thing I've ever seen.Basically, what I am saying is, is that these are completely awesome no matter how absurd they may be. If you want to see the Alliance ride, check it out behind the cut.
Moto Racer DS is two-wheeled tomfoolery
When it comes to racing on the DS, we have the good, the bad, and the monstrously ugly. Moto Racer DS looks to be a refreshing change from the usual flurry of mediocrity -- both as a motorbike racing game and as a pretty impressive technical showcase. The environments look nicely detailed, and the tracks scream FUN!The biggest selling point we can see is the aptly-named Stylus Precision Handling (SPH). There isn't much of an indication on how this will work, and the touchscreen images in the gallery display only a map. Moto Racer DS supports up to 8 player Wi-Fi races, and features 44 tracks in a variety of road and dirt racing. That's quite a hefty amount of content, and we're hoping for a solid experience when it comes out in Q4 this year.%Gallery-28053%[Via press release]
Parrot launches the SK 4000 Bluetooth motorcycle headset
The next time you're heading down the highway, Easy Rider-style, looking for adventure and what-not, you may also want to remain in touch with the less rebellious and not-so-tattooed outside world. Luckily, the good folks at Parrot have come to your aid with the SK 4000 -- a Bluetooth headset meant for use with motorcycle helmets -- which features voice recognition, an FM RDS stereo, text to speech, A2DP support, 10 hours of battery life (600 on standby), and a handlebar-mounted RF remote control. Sure, you'll have to use The Man's money to get one, but once you do, you'll be free to wave your freak-flag wherever and whenever you choose... as long as you get permission from your wife. Available before the end of the year, €199 (or around $282).[Via Daily Motorcycle News]
The Enertia electric motorbike
The electric motorbike scene is so in right now, with the fourth that we've written about in the last two months being the Brammo Enertia. The Enertia is a plug-in bike that does 0-60 MPH in under 4 seconds and can go for up to 50 miles on one charge. Brammo is an Ashland, Oregon-based manufacturer that designed and built the bike, making sure that the bike has six 12 Volt lithium-phosphate batteries -- which don't blow up when punctured, unlike Lithium Ion models. It only weighs 275 pounds too, and most of the weight is near the road because the fuel tank isn't needed. The only problem now is the price: $14,995 for the "Carbon" model, and $11,995 for a later model once production is ramped up.
Solar motorbike uses snail shell shape for surface area
Powering a car with solar panels is a relatively easy task, but on a motorbike it's a lot harder to find flat surfaces to catch the sun. That means that a solar powered motorbike has got to look rather odd in order to provide enough surface area for the panels: hence the snail shell-like design of SunRed's prototype solar powered bike. When (or if) SunRed completes a real world prototype, the bike's surface area will be 25 square feet, allowing the bike to store enough of the sun's energy to ride for 13 miles at speeds of up to 30 MPH. The motor is integrated into the wheel too, so there's no transmission. Once these "green" bike thinkers sort out the problem of running a bike without oil, we hope they'll move onto making them a little less fugly. It seems like a precedent is being set here. [Via Autoblog Green]
Lithium Ion motorbike prototype is emission and sound-free
Now that Tesla Motors has resurrected the electric car in screeching sports car form, it's the turn of the motorbike to get all Lithium Ioned up. While it's not the first electric motorcycle, it is possibly the most rough and ready design: if you can afford the $15,000 odd fee for a custom modification, a team at the Electric Motorsport shop in Oakland will take out the nasty engine in your ride and replace it with an array of Lithium Ion batteries. As a prototype, the company created a fully electric version of the Yamaha R1 which has a top speed of 100MPH, a range of 100 miles, does 0-60 in 3 seconds, and looks pretty damn ugly to tell the truth. Ya' see, the number of brick sized Lithium Ion batteries required to eke out this level of performance is 28, which have to fit all willy nilly underneath the bike. Fortunately, the company hopes to produce a more refined production model, as well as a cheaper design with less advanced performance.[Via Digg]
