hotbike

[quote=Bikedued;5804622]How does the average income of where you live, have ANYTHING to do with this?,,,,BD
QUOTE]

The average income where I live has everything to do with the fact that I got twelve hundred dollars for it.
Please keep in mind that this bike was designed by my Daughter, and is intended to be a ladies bicycle, for a teenage girl.

hotbike

I think you mean something like one of these:
https://www.lanhai-china.com/eng/product.asp?Catalog=1

Again, keep in mind that this bike was designed by a girl.
The Type 9 has a cargo box in the front, inside the fairing, and I think the aerodynamic shape is a good trade-off. Otherwise , it would have a plain square box.
Type 9 also has a motorcycle style seat, so it has flat-foot geometry.

Type 9 was only a prototype, and if it was built using carbon fiber, it would weigh a lot less, maybe only 22 pounds.

I will further reveal that the Type 9 was bought by a man who works in an auto-body shop, as a gift for his girlfriend. He said he intended to put a $6000.00 paint job on it. So it's in the hands of a private collector now. I let him tap on the fiberglass with a hammer so he could judge the soundness of the construction.

I challenge you all to build a ladies bicycle. By that I mean a bicycle with a step-thru frame. For a motorcycle inspired bike, does that not mean the frame should be like a moped?


https://www.lanhai-china.com/eng/product.asp?Catalog=1

edzo

ok if this is designed by a youngin, then it is a worthy venture into knowledge and learning. hopefully you will guide her into advanced material science and get her into MIT when she is ready.

if you aren't planning along these lines then .....you know the answer already. fail.

cerewa

dude, this person is just messin with y'all.

It's art! If a rich person will buy a Van Gogh for sixty bazillion dollars, why would they not pay one grand for a goofy, artistic pink and dirt-colored contraption that makes you think of hillbilly engineering and hicksville science?

blickblocks

Van Gogh is not the person to compare to. Ryan Trecartin is:

hotbike

Mellisa's bike was the Number One Ladies Bicycle on Google, for most of 2005 and 2006. I saved the search, printed it, and scanned it. The scanner was having hiccups , but it's at the top of the page.

I think some of you are missing the point. First, it's a ladies bicycle, designed by a woman. Second, it's a Utility Bicycle, with a heavy cargo box on the front. Third, it's a composite structure; Fiberglass, which easily translates into carbon fiber. (I'm somewhat disappointed that bike builders will go to such lengths to build a carbon fiber bike, and not take advantage of the unique properties of that composite material, which gives the designer a lot of freedom.)

And also the seat is supported without a sissy bar, making for a good flat-footed, comfortable ride.

Mellisa was coached by her Grandfather, who worked as an aircraft structural engineer at Grumman , in Lake Charles ,Louisiana, during WW II. I'm happy to report that Mellisa joined the United States Air Force, where she's a second lieutenant, and she supervises other personnel who are studying the radio blackout that occurs when re-entry vehicles and future hypersonic aircraft are transiting the ionosphere.

Blais

Mellisa's bike was the Number One Ladies Bicycle on Google, for most of 2005 and 2006. I saved the search, printed it, and scanned it. The scanner was having hiccups , but it's at the top of the page.
Irrelevant, completely.

I think some of you are missing the point. First, it's a ladies bicycle, designed by a woman.
Which, in name, doesn't separate it from any other ladies bike designed by a woman. You'd get more points by saying that it was designed to look like the top of a Kenworth.

Second, it's a Utility Bicycle, with a heavy cargo box on the front.
You have yet to explain the advantages of a heavy cargo fairing over a simple pannier or watertight basket other than aerodynamics which seem to be useless on a bike which by nature (UTILITY) shouldn't need to be aerodynamically sound anyway.

Third, it's a composite structure; Fiberglass, which easily translates into carbon fiber. (I'm somewhat disappointed that bike builders will go to such lengths to build a carbon fiber bike, and not take advantage of the unique properties of that composite material, which gives the designer a lot of freedom.)
It could be made of wood and it would essentially be the same thing, only heavier. If the design is pointless, what does it matter what it is (or could be) made of? Also, Bike builders are taking full advantage of the unique properties of CF; they use it to build strong, lightweight bike components, not gaudy, pointless fairings.

And also the seat is supported without a sissy bar, making for a good flat-footed, comfortable ride.
You keep parroting flat-footed, why? The orientation of the seat in relation to the pedals makes for nothing more than an awkward, overextended pedal stroke. What is comfortable about not having any leverage in the pedal stroke?

Mellisa was coached by her Grandfather, who worked as an aircraft structural engineer at Grumman , in Lake Charles ,Louisiana, during WW II. I'm happy to report that Mellisa joined the United States Air Force, where she's a second lieutenant, and she supervises other personnel who are studying the radio blackout that occurs when re-entry vehicles and future hypersonic aircraft are transiting the ionosphere.
Again, irrelevant to your cause. Glad to hear she's doing well in the USAF, but I don't see what all that has to do with your intent to market an obviously pointless fiberglass shell mashed onto a cheap utility bicycle for a ridiculous sum of money.

By the way, this is what I was talking about earlier when I said "it looks like some chinese-manufactured Flintstones version of those Motocykes bikes from Roadmaster. ":

Not a scooter with obvious practical applications. Let's not confuse the absurd with the practical, hmm?

hotbike

I agree that it could be made of wood, and artistically, the results would be the same.

I don't agree with anything else you just said.

Blais

You don't have too.
Tell you what, sink every penny you have into this endeavor and see how it turns out.

Bikedued

Everything Blais said, plus add that it just looks plain odd. I saw it on bikerodnkustom back in 04, and shook my head then. It still looks as weird to me now as it did then.,,,,BD

hotbike

I'm getting tired of replying to all you naysayers.

I'm going to stick to building custom bikes, on a one at a time basis.

My fear is if I sink all my money into producing a bike, I won't have enogh money to pay for advertising and distribution.

There are a lot of bicycles based on motorcycles. But the MC version of a step-thru frame is a scooter or moped. So it's natural that a ladies custom bike is going to look like a moped.

And listen, if I was to "mass produce" a bike like this, I would not charge twelve hundred dollars, I would charge seven hundred, and if they don't sell, I'd knock the price down to four hundred.
As I said, the raw material only cost two hundred seventy.
The auction price, $1,200, was based on the bike being the only one, i.e.- rarity.

I only post this to expand your imagination, and to show that a fanciful design can be worked into a rugged utility bicycle.

And please keep in mind that this is all fiberglass, no welding was used whatsover.

andygates

But with all that weight, doesn't it ride like crap?

hotbike

It's heavy, at 55 pounds, but the position of the seat is directly over the rear axle. The handling is really fun, once you get used to it and learn the new tricks you can do.
I can do a wheelie, and spin the bike around 180 degrees. I've also done 360's on this bike.
Because of aerodynamic lift, in the right wind, the fairing take some weight OFF of the front wheel.

I also have tried standing on this bike, like I'm surfing. The four inch wide deck the whole length of the bike makes it easy. I also tried walking up and down the length of the bike while it was rolling. It's like being on a boat.

I like the handling better when I add MORE weight to the front compartment. A couple shovel-fulls of sand makes it easier to ride no-hands.
I don't have to "jockey" over the handlebars with this design. The weight over the front wheel helps grab traction.
I never had any other bike that was so easy to ride no-hands. I know it defies common sense, but the weight centers the fork, because of the trail that every fork has.

Additionally, this design has something in common with a primitive weapon, like an arrow or a spear; the weight in the front is like an arrowhead, and keeps the bike moving in a straight line.

That being said, I wish I had $7,500.00 to buy enough Carbon Fiber, to build this design in CF at about a total weight of 22 pounds.

Blais

With all that ugly, does it matter how it rides?

East Hill

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

East Hill

garysol1 

True but sometimes ugly is just plain ole ugly.

Bikedued

That is so true.,,,,BD

FlatFender

I must have one.

Rollfast

I think the fairing should be integral with the handlebar and the top of the fork, not wide open and exposed to weather like that. It allows you to present a solid storage frame that can be closed and locked as a whole for some degree of security and protection. What the rain and snow and dirt will end up doing inside the fairing god only knows.

PS Why does this suggest a small Honda scooter grafted to a BMX bike and a wading pool melted on top?

If KYMCO in Korea gets counterfeited in the Asian market (quite poorly I understand) and they are building really neat scooters and outrageously PHAT looking motorcycles mind you (never driven one), you will need far more styling than a YZ 250 and Peterbuilt mashup (nee Yamaha snowmobile actually). Were there that many aero cabs in 1989? I had '79 for a minute but I know Marmon, Western Star, Freightliner and Mack at least still had conventional cab models at the time to my recollection. Freightliner practically started the trend with Kenworth and Petes were into aero headlights more than anything.

Hey, I was always at the Oregon-Idaho Truck Stop (Texaco) at Oregon I-84 mile 276 chatting up Rhonda and Brandi too much, supposedly I remember and I got rearended at the ramp in '96 trying to get to my parents' 30th anniversary and second marriage and never saw it (I made up by doing the arranging for the 40th anniversary). They rebuilt the entire interchange and overpass and more a short few years later when the Texaco came down and Pilot went in.

hotbike

Please don't complain to me about the design. I only *built* the bike. The bike was designed by my adoptive Daughter, Mellisa.

I don't know what you mean, Rollfast, by "open and exposed to the weather". The fairing has a bottom, it was cast as a one piece "monolithic" casting along with the 4"x6" 'frame rail', and does not have any bolts , screws, or other fasteners. It's all fiberglass with a nominal quarter inch thickness, and water is sealed out to the extent that the bike floats.

Let me try to post the Google results for "Ladies Bicycle" again (from 2005 and 2006):

Although this Google listing was beyond my wildest expectation, I think it dramatizes the need for more woman in the Engineering Design field. If you give a woman "total artistic freedom" , as I gave Mellisa total artistic freedom, in the design of a ladies bicycle, (or motor scooter) , the pair of you would have a fair shot at very high Google rankings, like what we got.
Let me say something about ugliness, as my Daughter explained it to me: Women don't want their vehicle to be better looking then they are.
I will leave you with an image of the Type 7 fairing, on a "production" semi-recumbent bike, which I did not sell and use for occasional deliveries:

East Hill

Well, actually....what we've been discussing is how tired we are of seeing WSD bikes either pink or pastel blue .

We're also tired of seeing clothing that's....pink, or pastel blue .

We LOVE LOVE LOVE bikes that look good. Who doesn't want to be a hot chick on a hot bike ?

East Hill

blickblocks

Please don't generalize half of the world's population.

Blais

My girlfriend just peeked over my shoulder at the pictures of this fantastic ladies bike:

Her: "What the f**k is that?"
Me: (Thinking quickly to get an honest response from a woman who rides bicycles.) "OH, it's a new design for a 'ladies bike'. What do you think?
Her: "It's ********. Is it made out of styrofoam?"
Me: "Fiberglass"
Her: "Please don't buy me one of those"
Me: "No need to worry about that"

That just about fills my LOL quota for the month.

P.S. Seriously, quit posting the scanned image of a google results page. It's like flashing a really bad tattoo, nobody really cares and the most you'll get is pity, not admiration. Search 'Ladies bike' on google now and you'll find that 'Ladies Bike Night at Jessie Black's Saloon' is currently more important and popular than your pink abomination. I looked into it, 'Ladies Bike Night at Jessie Black's Saloon' doesn't even exist anymore but it still comes up number one.

mastershake916

Oh come on, just let this thread move on.

Rollfast

You've only affirmed my theories about why some women will look Tempest over thoroughly while their men hardly look. I won't get a tandem though, I still don't live the country music I love best.

PS Pink wants to get with black and that looks bad as a fashion point, like a box of Good N' Plenty or something. Most women are rarely the pink type. Frost colors seem to be a new rage for lips, but if you're gonna have black nails often, no offense but please bang a thumb fixing something. Maybe that was it...

*no letters, I don't have a girlfriend obviously!