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I Just Saw This Thing
May. 11th, 2006 02:04 pm. . . Riding about Seattle, about an hour ago.
I saw similar machines in the Wim Wenders movie Until The End Of The World. I guess they are originally BMW creations, but the cycle site doesn't give much info.
Someone said they can get 90 mpg.
Update, 50 minutes later
After posting the picture and the above comments, I read into the website a bit further and found the cell phone number of the guy (Dan Whitfield) riding it around the country. I called. He was just around the corner at Ride West BMW.
So we went.
I loves me the interweb!
Turns out, the Ecomobile was the bike featured in that movie (1997). It was an earlier version.
The newer version uses a 1200cc K type engine by BMW, which is why the local Beemer rep is travelling about and thinking about sponsoring.
No, they do not get 90 mpg, which is a big disappointment. Only about 52. Then again, the BMW rep (Steve) says that Dan likes to drive, er, "and have fun." That might have a bit to do with the lack of economy.
In the Wenders movie, the cops getting out of the earlier Ecomobiles wore helmets. That was a big sticking point for the feds here in the states. Because is was a motorcycle, the feds required helmets. I'm sure most people like me wondered what the point would be, in an enclosed space with a helmet and not turning laps at the racetrack.
The new bike, in the picture, has a composite chrome-ally (sp?) frames encased in Kevlar. As long as riders use the three-point restraints, no helmets are required. In fact (not sure if I should be sharing, but what the hell) some rider in Chicago drove one of these through the wall of a building and went to work the next day with nothing worse than a headache. Try that with a regular bike!
If you're here in the NW, there will be a spot on tonight's Q-13 "News" (it's a Fox station, grrrr).
I saw similar machines in the Wim Wenders movie Until The End Of The World. I guess they are originally BMW creations, but the cycle site doesn't give much info.
Someone said they can get 90 mpg.
Update, 50 minutes later
After posting the picture and the above comments, I read into the website a bit further and found the cell phone number of the guy (Dan Whitfield) riding it around the country. I called. He was just around the corner at Ride West BMW.
So we went.
I loves me the interweb!
Turns out, the Ecomobile was the bike featured in that movie (1997). It was an earlier version.
The newer version uses a 1200cc K type engine by BMW, which is why the local Beemer rep is travelling about and thinking about sponsoring.
No, they do not get 90 mpg, which is a big disappointment. Only about 52. Then again, the BMW rep (Steve) says that Dan likes to drive, er, "and have fun." That might have a bit to do with the lack of economy.
In the Wenders movie, the cops getting out of the earlier Ecomobiles wore helmets. That was a big sticking point for the feds here in the states. Because is was a motorcycle, the feds required helmets. I'm sure most people like me wondered what the point would be, in an enclosed space with a helmet and not turning laps at the racetrack.
The new bike, in the picture, has a composite chrome-ally (sp?) frames encased in Kevlar. As long as riders use the three-point restraints, no helmets are required. In fact (not sure if I should be sharing, but what the hell) some rider in Chicago drove one of these through the wall of a building and went to work the next day with nothing worse than a headache. Try that with a regular bike!
If you're here in the NW, there will be a spot on tonight's Q-13 "News" (it's a Fox station, grrrr).