Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Lotus C-01

My pal English Stephen has been pretty excited about this bike for quite a while. Aero tech steel construction, 6-gear jaw-type shift transmission, hydraulic anti-hopping clutch, twin suspension struts and an upside down fork all draped in carbon fiber. The motor is said to have 200 horses coming out of its V-twin engine. Seems interesting. 


I'm not sure I've even been less sure what I thought about a bike in my life. To begin with I cannot fathom what it looks like with a rider on-board. I can only imagine strange.  



What kid of the seventies wouldn't appreciate the John Player Special influences?



So, is this the Vincent Black Shadow of our generation? A design too sophisticated for my conservative palate to appreciate yet.



Or is it our Vincent Black Knight? A design just too weird to work...



I guess time will tell.

1 comment:

Flathead45 said...

On an aesthetic level, it diverges from one of the attributes that most attracts me to motorcycles... The exposed "form follows function" aspect, like a steam locomotive. Too much is hidden from view. I love the front, and the rear, but am disappointed by the faired engine. I guess as an aeronautical engineer I should be more appreciative of drag reducing fairings.

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