eBay Find of the Day: Unusual Kawasaki-powered Sportcycle
Click above for more images of the Sportcycle
Cars powered by motorcycle engines and motorcycles powered by car engines... dogs and cats, living together – mass hysteria! Perhaps a more suitable compromise between four- and two-wheeled machines is in order, maybe splitting the difference and going with three wheels instead. From VW-powered trikes to ZX14-engined specials, the three-wheeled platform has seen its fair share of development over the years. One such machine, called the Sportcycle, offers a new twist on the three-wheel platform. It's powered by a Kawasaki ZRX, as in a whole Kawasaki ZRX motorcycle and not just its engine. The entire Kawasaki motorcycle on which the Sportcycle is based has been left completely intact, minus the front wheel and fork. Those have been replaced by the driver's seat and a full front axle sporting two wheels. It's absolutely brilliant in a crazy, maniacal kinda way. One benefit to this peculiar platform is that a second passenger could still ride on the bike's stock seat if you removed that absurd rear wing. The Sportcycle is currently on eBay Motors with a Buy-It-Now price of a little under $15,000, which is about what you'd pay for similar trikes like the the Tri-Magnum and XR3 from Riley Enterprises and the Can Am Spyder, which can also be had brand-new for about 15 grand. Thanks for the tip, Johannas!Gallery: Kawasaki-powered Sportcycle
[Source: eBay Motors via The Kneeslider]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
notYou 5:39PM (11/07/2008)
As both a car and bike enthusiast...
Wow...
That looks like... A. Very. Cool. Idea.
If somebody can mass produce the front pieces as essentially bolt-ons (or even better - something that can be connected/disconnected at whim) I think we may have a very interesting low-cost alternative on our hands.
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Franz 5:41PM (11/07/2008)
Would've looked way better without the dorky wing on the back.
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Tourian 7:12PM (11/07/2008)
...and without the Ferrari emblem.
Billy rageguy 6:02PM (11/07/2008)
At least it isn't made by GM!
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Reader 6:08PM (11/07/2008)
That looks like a lot of fun.
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BoxerFanatic 6:26PM (11/07/2008)
interesting premise, very odd execution.
I had a similar idea after looking at the Formula Vee article here on Autoblog a few weeks back...
But something a bit more custom.
The inherent problem with this, is that the thing doesn't tilt.
With one rear tire trying to apply power, lateral traction will be limited in the back, and will try to slide the tire sideways, and the front tires will have to turn to high steering angles to get turning radius.
Now... Leaving round-profile tires in play, the contact patches get somewhat smaller, but lateral traction might actually improve, with centripetal force being applied to traction pressure, rather than trying to break traction laterally.
With a tilting front suspension, as Tilting Motor Works, Harley Davidson, and others have started experimenting with, this could be very cool.
I am a boxer motor fan, so my first choices would be to use a motorcycle boxer engine. Several exist, both the hex-head BMW twin-cylinder engines, as well as the Honda 4 and newer 6 cylinder Goldwing/Valkyrie/Rune engines.
The GoldWing even has an electric reverse gear, using it's starter. might not hurt on a three wheel car, with the driver's legs inside the chassis.
The BMW engine has the advantage of a much shorter, lighter driveline with just as much horsepower, although less torque, and air/oil cooling, which simplifies things, compared to a water-cooled engine.
But one of those fitted to a scaled-down single seat chassis, narrowed at the front to mount the center carrier of the front articulating suspension, with a rounded or V-bottom chassis to allow lean angles.
With a firewall behind the driver's seat, the chassis would bolt to the engine's mounting points, and fix the swing arm pivot in place, for the standard motorcycle shaft drive single-sided arm, and wide, round rear tire. 190mm width would probably be fine, with two 120-130 tires up front, with rim-mounted brake discs.
I'd love to figure out some sort of right and left joystick/handlebar control set, and foot-pedal controls, somehow incorporating an inverse-proportional lean-to-steering angle speed sensitive system.
At low speed, the lean angle would be dampened or held upright (held upright when parked), and the front steering angle would be large, and the vehicle would steer much like a car, more than sawing back and forth on motorcycle handlebars to position the bike.
Then as ground speed increases, the steering angle would be much reduced, and the lean angle would be increased, transitioning to more motorcycle behavior in motion, where steering inputs are smaller, and conical-section tires can turn just by leaning, with much smaller steering angles. The controls in the driver's hands would respond similar to counter-steering on a bike.
A ground-bound three-wheeled experience a little closer to flying than a non-leaning car. Motorcycles feel somewhat like that, this would just be an alternative design with more front traction, and a lower center of gravity, and a bit of an open-wheel race-car feel.
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Jorge 6:35PM (11/07/2008)
Looks like the result of a crash of a bike in the butt of a formula car.
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Greg 7:55PM (11/07/2008)
It's a good idea, but if you wanna a much more stylish one, just see this one :
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/5613/dscf3046fh7.jpg
it's Rayvolution Cars, a european based kitcar manufacturer and this picture was taken in Peterborough Kitcar show (Uk)
http://www.rayvolutioncars.com
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TexRob 8:59PM (11/07/2008)
Truly epic Ghostbusters quote.
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Steve Smith 10:06AM (11/11/2008)
Important diff betw. this puppy & most bike-based trikes: you sit IN it, not ON it; steer with a WHEEL, not BARS; and stop/go with FOOT PEDALS, not TWIST GRIPS. So you drive it like a car. Sorta like a OMG modern Mog 3-wheeler (gasp!)
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tom 8:34PM (11/08/2008)
"One benefit to this peculiar platform is that a second passenger could still ride on the bike's stock seat if you removed that absurd rear wing."
Not sure if I'd want to try that. Seems like without the ability to lean, a passenger would fall off at the first brisk corner. Most likely without the driver even noticing.
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dusty71 5:48PM (11/08/2008)
This has been done in more professional way by Campagna Corporation. It is called the T-rex.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-rex_%28motorcycle%29
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Kawasaki ATV 12:13PM (11/19/2008)
I bet that car/bike gets an awesome MPG! Will that hold two people? It looks like there is room for a driver and someone can ride on the bike part in the back?
http://www.kawasakiatvforums.com
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