Too much carbon?

[Dirty]

Being a bit of a carbon junkie I didn't think that was possible but I'm not so sure now.

I still like it though :)

http://www.lotus-motorcycles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/LotusC01_blk_DanielSimon_Press_Feb2014_01-1024x675.jpg

http://www.lotus-motorcycles.com/ready-to-roar/

[Darren69]

Certainly different, is it a concept or are they actually going to make it?

[Darren69]

You can tell he designed the Tron bikes!

[Dirty]

I believe they are going to build some.

If I bought one I'd probably still change the mud guard and hugger to carbon versions :)

[DrD]

Due for production now: http://www.motorcyclenews.com/mcn/news/newsresults/new-bikes/2014/february/feb2014-lotus-bike-officially-revealed/

[Darren69]

Yea, and the nose cone that looks plastic too! I dread to think what the price tag for one would be thou :(

[Dirty]

Nose cone I'd lose straight away. Stick a big monster type headlight there, in carbon of course!

[Darren69]

It does look kinda pointless being that low, but I like the style of it very '70's Imola sorta style.

[Funkatronic]

not sure

looks like an electric razor with wheels

[Darren69]

Yea, not too sure how they arrived at that shape, I guess they didn't do a lot of aerodynamic testing, so maybe a little too much form over function? And you can tell the guy was thinking of his Tron bike design which may look cool in movies but in real life you're gonna struggle to hang on to it much over 80mph so the fact that it has 200bhp is completely pointless

[utopia]

Too much carbon is definitely possible.
It might be the new wonder-material, but some components simply don't lend themselves to being made of carbon fibre ...... other materials are simply more appropriate in certain applications..
As a slightly frivolous example, take the paddock stand. How much unnecessary time and expense went into making moulds to form the parts for that, only to be left with a non-triangulated tee joint which is inherently weak, despite the high strength of the material used.........?
Engineers have known for centuries about such basic design issues, so where's the progress there ?
Honestly, I truly believe that my own paddock stand, made out of recycled steel tube from a zimmerframe (!!) is a better design. ....And it has flashing wheels too !!!
And while I think of it, steel is a far more readily recyclable material than carbon fibre, which just creates more plastic waste (from the resin).
Don't get me wrong though. In the right place carbon fibre is obviously a superb material and I seriously fancy a pair of carbon fibre wheels for the high strength/low weight combo that they offer in such a critical area.
But bad design is bad design, no matter how much bling material you throw at it.

[Darren69]

I agree Jeff, I was gonna say the stand looks crap anyway but is it real c/f or fake because the design of it looks wrong? It doesn't look strong enough for a start

[Capo]

No triangulation here - not required

http://www.mrpmotorsports.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/f/0/f0061a-000_big.jpg

[Albie]

Its all about design and engineering. Frivolous but why not. F1 is a plaything in design to show the world and every now and again used for the benefit of us mere mortals. I actually appreciate the Lotus bike be it impractical or excessive purely on the fact that its different. Steering looks not easy to me and fairing would not work well. love it though.

[utopia]

No triangulation here - not required


Perhaps not, but......
The design would be stronger if it was triangulated.
Then it would be possible to use lighter gauge materials.
Of course its always possible to use heavier gauge materials to achieve the required strength, but that's not (usually) good design, in my book.
However, as with all design problems, there are many factors to be compromised and in this case simplicity/cost of production probably outweighed the need for lightness.
This is clearly not the case for the carbon stand though.

[Dirty]

I suspect the Lotus stand is just carbon wrapped rather than made of carbon.

One integral and important part of design is that it needs to look good too. Of course not at the expense of not working well but if a stand can be made out of carbon and it works and looks good, why not. There are loads of elements of great design that could probably be slightly improved in the name of efficiency, price, size, expediency, function etc etc etc etc............ but I'm glad they make Monsters, Porsches, Rolls Royces, Panigales, Bang & Olufson, iPhones etc etc etc etc

[Mr Gazza]

The thinking behind the concept reminded of the 1930s Wooler. Thier trademark was a spanner, as it only took a single spanner to undo any fastener on the bike.

Couldn't find a decent pic of the Wooler that I wanted but here is a "Majestic"....Bet they would have used Carbon if they could....Just sayin', there's nothing new under the Sun..:mand:

P.S. Liking the Gold stripes on the Carbon..:biggrin:
http://i59.tinypic.com/286osh.jpg

[NewMon]

I think this lot are sipping the same kool aid: http://www.johammer.com/en/electric-motorcycle/

I quite like the Lotus thing, but can't decide to laugh or cry at the Johammer.

[Darren69]

I think this lot are sipping the same kool aid: http://www.johammer.com/en/electric-motorcycle/

I quite like the Lotus thing, but can't decide to laugh or cry at the Johammer.

I did both and I think it was deserved, jeez that is one fugly motorcycle!

[pompone]

Blimey is one ugly bike!

[Steve Willmott]

It's only a rendering you know, doesn't even exist yet, but I agree, fugly!

[Dirty]

Luddites :mand:

[NewMon]

It's only a rendering you know, doesn't even exist yet, but I agree, fugly!

Unfortunately, all too real: http://gadgetshow.channel5.com/gadget-show/videos/other/johammer-j1200-series-19-episode-7

Obviously aimed at urban trendies with 21 grand to spare. I expect a lot of them will end up on display in design museums.

[DrD]

Unfortunately, all too real: http://gadgetshow.channel5.com/gadget-show/videos/other/johammer-j1200-series-19-episode-7

Obviously aimed at urban trendies with 21 grand to spare. I expect a lot of them will end up on display in design museums.
..who like the concept of recycled corrugated cardboard!:spin:

[Dirty]

..who like the concept of recycled corrugated cardboard!:spin:

There's no new ideas

http://s12.postimg.org/4cp4zlogt/Citro_n_Typ_H_1981_grey_vl_TCE.jpg

[Dookbob]

Everyone was in fits of laughter when Lotus wheeled out the first rear engined race car at Indianapolis, ( a race which they won of course) the following year every car on the grid had a rear engine. I,m sure Colin Chapman would like this bike.

[utopia]

The Lotus bike doesn't sound very radical to me.
It sounds like its little more than a smooth carbon fibre shell over existing technology.
And I can't see that the shell achieves very much.....the apparent aerodynamics go out of the window as soon as the rider sits on it, and are relatively useless at normal speeds anyway.
And Vincent did it, years ago.

The way I see it, electric vehicles are only clean because their pollution has already been produced far away at the generating source, where the end user can remain blissfully (ignorantly ?) unaware, while listening to the birds sing....if there are any left by then.
Furthermore, I suspect that the batteries contain massive amounts of highly toxic heavy metals etc, which present a serious recycling problem when they reach the end of their life.
As such they are dangerous, in that they tempt the consumer down a false path of supposed environmental friendliness when in fact it is just an illusion.
The very first lecture in my environmental sciences degree was "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch"
Urban eco-trendies should stick to bicycles (possibly with energy recovery braking systems to smooth out the hills) and be provided with proper, designated/safe cycle routes on which to ride them if we really want to tackle urban pollution.
And while they're at it, they should consider cancelling their cheap air flight holiday.

I do really fancy an old citroen van though.

[LouSCannon]

Well said Jeff... the whole green movement is a great display of effective marketing. All that's happening is, as you say, the carbon footprint is being moved from the consumer over to the producer. The mining operations for the core parts of the batteries and components for electric generation of vehicles far outweighs the end result, and again using finite resources. Added to that how exactly do people think the electricity that charges those batteries is produced?!

There have of course been steps in more efficient engineering and optimising making the best use of the energy produced, but in the grand scheme of things the impact is minor.

The culture isn't going to change, the vast majority of people are still ignorant to their impact and the capitalist culture will continue to drive demand for easy fixes... bottom line is we're all screwed so might as well enjoy it while it lasts... :)

[Dookbob]

Ok, ok, but I read that we are now only ten or so years away from a viable cost effective nuclear fusion generator, the researchers have one running as we speak. Once the costs are brought down to a viable level and the high temperature resistant tiles have been developed the whole game will be changed, and it's all coming from young newly qualified fresh thinking scientists and technologists. The downside is that once this new clean energy hits the street, all those Arabs etc. in oil producing countries will have to wander off back into the desert and revert to what they know best, goat herding.

[LouSCannon]

Ah but is it too late... it's the reason I live on top of a hill, so I can sit back with some scotch and watch us sink when it happens... Ducati Jet Ski perhaps? :) :) :)

[Dirty]

. bottom line is we're all screwed so might as well enjoy it while it lasts... :)

What he said :thumbsup:

[Steve Willmott]

Unfortunately, all too real: http://gadgetshow.channel5.com/gadget-show/videos/other/johammer-j1200-series-19-episode-7

Obviously aimed at urban trendies with 21 grand to spare. I expect a lot of them will end up on display in design museums.

Err, that ain't the Lotus bike, but it too is extremely fugly :didge: