Tuesday Afternoon Moto Design News - Custom Builds, New Wheels and More

A well-to-do kid helps out his family business, moves to a new town and then sets about pursuing his dream. It does help that he had the backing of his parents, but his ideas are good. Tony Johns opened Motorcycles of Bend in 2006. He lets customers purchase their bikes in parts and then assembles them in his shop. It is the only shop of its kind in the Oregon city of Bend. Check it out...

http://tinyurl.com/yehhb82

Along the same lines, but with a more environmental bent, is a new design from Lawless Motorcycles. It is a hybrid motorcycle which allows the rider to switch from full electric to gas-power as needed or wanted. This is the bike which Orange County Choppers was building with help from Schneider Electric. It will be revealed on national television later this week. For more information, take the link.

http://tinyurl.com/ye34vuj

http://tinyurl.com/yk322fb

Next on this list is another air-powered motorcycle design. This one is from Matthew Perez, a Mechanical Operations Technician for the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, and he calls it the AirHead. It will do about 20 miles and the air is contained in four standard SCUBA tanks.

http://tinyurl.com/yzuogxd

Now there is yet another new creation from the tire geniuses at Michelin. They have two versions called the Active Wheel and Motor Wheel. The Motor Wheel contains one motor which is used for propulsion, and the Active Wheel has two motors, one for propulsion and one for suspension. So far, both Peugeot and Renault are testing with it currently. Of course, the interesting aspect of this to us is the motorcycle designed by Keegan McClain of Lafayette, LA. Take a look to see the future of transport.

http://tinyurl.com/yz9equ4