The Dark Knight Batcycle

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here's a pic I haven,t seen posted before

batpod.jpg
 
man this is sweet! so the thing can really move up and down, in order to dodge stuff (trucks for instance). On the today show it really seemed flatter.
 
I build things for a living. All kinds of different things. Majority of what I do is metalwork. Always been mechanically inclined. I love the history/discovery/learning channels. Watch all the bike building shows, Modern Marvels, How Its Made, Junkyard Wars, Monster Garage when it was on, etc etc. I'm pretty confident I could take a motorcycle apart and put it back together again.

All that being said, the mechanics of this thing are mind boggling. I really want to read a technical article on it. A bike just shouldn't be able to lay that flat and support someones weight and handle rough streets. Let alone jump something. The front fork is beefy as hell but still. I imagine all these images we've seen are with the bike laying down as low as it goes. I just don't think it can jump in this configuration or get any lower and be very drivable. I think it can already fit under a semi trailer the way we are seeing it. My guess is it gets as much as a foot taller in the center. It'll take on a bit more of the traditional bike stance when that happens and may be more appealing to people. I can't even begin to fathom the engines on this thing. I zoomed in on the licensing show pics and the hi res studio pics and I just cant figure it out. If there are two engines and they are in the wheels I don't understand how they could have done it. Nothing, save the handle grips, would have to be custom. Its amazing. Everything that has to go on in a wheel and then to somehow cram custom engines in there? Makes me feel like an idiot. Not to mention the problem of having engines inside wheels and then somehow transferring the power to the wheel itself. The engine couldn't possibly spin with the wheel but then again everything about this seems impossible, yet there it is and we're told the guy is practicing jumps with it. I can see the disc brakes in one of the pics and I can see completely through the rear wheel in one of the licensing pics. I think the wheel was covered in the studio pics. And then I'm wondering if the engines are in the wheels then what makes up the mass of mechanical under the tank. Or is it just for show. And then there are the hydraulics all over this thing but I can't figure out where exactly this thing would scissor up and down.

Aaaaanyway, yeah, beyond whether it is fitting for this Batman series I'm just blown away by the technical achievement of this thing and cant wait for it to get covered in some of the bike rags.

I'm going to post on some bike boards and see what observations I can dig up on just how the hell this thing might work.
 
360sculptguy said:
I build things for a living. All kinds of different things. Majority of what I do is metalwork. Always been mechanically inclined. I love the history/discovery/learning channels. Watch all the bike building shows, Modern Marvels, How Its Made, Junkyard Wars, Monster Garage when it was on, etc etc. I'm pretty confident I could take a motorcycle apart and put it back together again.

All that being said, the mechanics of this thing are mind boggling. I really want to read a technical article on it. A bike just shouldn't be able to lay that flat and support someones weight and handle rough streets. Let alone jump something. The front fork is beefy as hell but still. I imagine all these images we've seen are with the bike laying down as low as it goes. I just don't think it can jump in this configuration or get any lower and be very drivable. I think it can already fit under a semi trailer the way we are seeing it. My guess is it gets as much as a foot taller in the center. It'll take on a bit more of the traditional bike stance when that happens and may be more appealing to people. I can't even begin to fathom the engines on this thing. I zoomed in on the licensing show pics and the hi res studio pics and I just cant figure it out. If there are two engines and they are in the wheels I don't understand how they could have done it. Nothing, save the handle grips, would have to be custom. Its amazing. Everything that has to go on in a wheel and then to somehow cram custom engines in there? Makes me feel like an idiot. Not to mention the problem of having engines inside wheels and then somehow transferring the power to the wheel itself. The engine couldn't possibly spin with the wheel but then again everything about this seems impossible, yet there it is and we're told the guy is practicing jumps with it. I can see the disc brakes in one of the pics and I can see completely through the rear wheel in one of the licensing pics. I think the wheel was covered in the studio pics. And then I'm wondering if the engines are in the wheels then what makes up the mass of mechanical under the tank. Or is it just for show. And then there are the hydraulics all over this thing but I can't figure out where exactly this thing would scissor up and down.

Aaaaanyway, yeah, beyond whether it is fitting for this Batman series I'm just blown away by the technical achievement of this thing and cant wait for it to get covered in some of the bike rags.

I'm going to post on some bike boards and see what observations I can dig up on just how the hell this thing might work.
Click to expand...

Please. I could really use some info on the engines, its an engine in each wheel isnt it, maximum speeds etc? I can imagine the frame goes almost as low as the top of the wheels. I wonder how much rotating around the center of the frame plays into the steering. And how does he control the up/down, rotate around and both engines? Its pretty fascinating and I'm not even a car/bike nut

They could have another scene where the wheels are slanted but Batman remains horizontal, that wasn't terribly obvious in Begins on the roof. So many possibilities...
 
Hobodeluxe said:
I really don't like the bike. Sorry but it doesn't look practical at all. and if you try to ride it in the rain with no fenders you'll be drowned.
Click to expand...
Yeah the riders face looks to be right where a tire would kick up stuff.
It's a hot looking machine and it will look awesome in the film but it does have obvious flaws, like no splash guard.
Also, where do the guns hold the ammo? Do they shoot pellets? Why have a pellet shooter in a fixed position on your bike?
And how do you know your speed, location and fuel reserve? Some sort of minimalist readout mounted on a splash guard to glance at for info wouldn't be so bad, maybe take place of one of the guns, sorta keep the asymetrical look.
Just critiques after stareing at it for like 5hrs.
 
the_monk said:
Yeah, I remember that stuff. But Burton moved away from the true Batman story quite a bit didn't he? I remember seeing those movies as a kid and thinking "doesn't Batman hate guns?". Many of my friends were confused after seeing Batman Begins because they thought Joker killed Bruce's parents because they grew up on Burton's movie.
Click to expand...

begins wasnt a prequel, it was a brand new thing. just tell them that. and why so weird for batman hateing guns? that wasnt always true. i rememeber he shot bullets from a batplane in an old 40's comic. anyways, im not a stickler for the comics, that was always one of my favorite scenes from B89. hopefully nolan can come close to its awsomeness.

anyways, whats with all the "its not practical" talk? batman isnt or ever was a practical superhero, so who cares? its batman! if you dont like the design, thats one thing. to hate the logic behind it, well, its a comic book movie.
 
From BlueNDGold here
http://forums.thecarlounge.net/zerothread?id=3293957

I saw this thing and my observations are somewhat different. There is a Honda engine that is hidden in the midsection of the Batpod, below the chest area of any potential rider. I saw what is potentially a drive shaft going to the rear wheel. I'm not completely certain about this since it could also just be a giant bar that structually attaches the rear wheel to the rest of the body.


The handlebars is not like a regular bike that have the 1 bar which goes across the vehicle. Instead, the handles are position like a "Y", forking out from the central frame. From that point, the handles on the Batpod is just like your everyday motorcycle, complete with breaks, accelerators, and such.
Click to expand...

He is offline at the moment and his profile says he lives in Jersey so I suppose it is possible he saw it at the licensing deal in NY. I PM'd him about. Figure at a long shot maybe he'll have more pics.
 
74774466zv1uz7.jpg


I don't think there's any obvious way a driveshaft can transfer power to the rear wheel, the bars that connect to the frame are tiny. Unless it's in direct contact with the wheel itself, sounds unlikely. But I'm completely ignorant of this stuff.

Edit, the Latimes article specifically says they're in the hubs

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-batpod18jun18,1,392372.story?coll=la-headlines-entnews&ctrack=4&cset=true
http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/06/18/228490.aspx

Is it just the "shields" that rotate around the frame, or Batman as well?
 
Yeah, I dont really get the drive shaft comment but I can see how he would think there is an engine under the tank. In which case it would have to transfer power somehow. The thing that gets me is in that pic you just posted you can see completely through the rear tire. There just isn't room left there to get an engine of any significance. Not to mention brakes. The thing has to stop.

I want some good close ups of the friggin wheel wells already.
 
Maybe they took the engine out because it was too expensive to not have on set?
 
Awesomeness. A 9 from me. Diggin that. :up: I can just picture it jumping. It looks like it can fold so I'm sure that's how it fits in there. Probably shoots out and unfolds in midair. Not like Transformers or anythig but...Picture a giant cellphone unfolding and landing face first. That's what I see. Maybe it's ejected at a 45 degree angle.
 
the only thing they have in common is the redicuously oversized tires.

tumbler= badass
"batpod"= far from badass
 
I can see it popping out of the top like an ejector seat. Just look at all the segments. It looks very foldable to me.
 
Seeing this...um..bike in hi-res made me like it a little more, but I still have major issues with it.

1.) No wind gaurd? This thing looks like it hauls, but it has no way to deflect wind or rain from the riders face. Unless Batman is wearing goggles, he's gonna be squinting hard if he goes above 35mph.

2.) Where's the instrument panel? No speedometer? No tachometer? No feul gauge? Oil gauge? I don't care what you drive, if it has an engine, you need these things.

3.) The "arm sheilds". I don't see any need for them, especially with the bare-bones look of the bike. From a design point, they're purely arbitrary.

4.) No fenders. Minor gripe really, but this thing loks like it could use some wheel protection.

If I was Bruce Wayne and my sweet Tumbler got wrecked, and Lucious tried to compensate by giving me this thing, I'd punch him in the eye and yell "Are you kidding me? This thing is a death trap! You trying to get me killed?!" Then I'd go to my local Chevy dealer and buy a black Corvette, supercharge it, bulletproof it, and take off into the night. Maybe that would be over-reacting, but it's better than the alternative.:cwink:
 
360sculptguy said:
Yeah, I dont really get the drive shaft comment but I can see how he would think there is an engine under the tank. In which case it would have to transfer power somehow. The thing that gets me is in that pic you just posted you can see completely through the rear tire. There just isn't room left there to get an engine of any significance. Not to mention brakes. The thing has to stop.

I want some good close ups of the friggin wheel wells already.
Click to expand...

Here's a better 1
572674055_b21ce4b9e9_o.jpg
 
i do. i remember watching it with my dad a lot. that said, im sure i would wonder why if i watched it now.
 
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