Motorcycle sidecars are usually just additions to a bike that allow you to bring someone else along for the ride without having them hold on to you and stare at the back of your helmet all day.
François Knorreck saw things differently however, as his right-hand chain driven Laverda 3CL inspired a sidecar that turns his ride into something that more closely resembles a car than a motorcycle.
In all, it took him 10 years, more than 10,000 hours, and $21,000 to convert the bike into what you see here (he calls it the Snaefell) but for the two passengers that get to sit in an enclosed capsule of speed, the time, energy and money were most definitely worth it.
[Snaefell]
[Via: Jalopnik]
If you dream of spending weekends pounding the pavement in your very own four wheeled speed machine, but don’t have a clue about where to start or what to do, then check out Speed:Sport:Life’s guide to the real costs and stories behind entry-level sedan racing.
From 24 Hours of Lemons and SCCA to NASA and the Speed World Challenge, SSL will show you everything from how to race for less than $1000 per weekend to how to race for $50,000 per weekend and beyond.
It might not be for everyone, but if you’ve got a need, then SSL will show you how to get some speed.
[Speed:Sport:Life - Exploring The Pyramid of Speed — The Real Costs and Stories Behind Entry-Level Sedan Racing]
When speed is everything, anything that shaves off a few seconds can mean the difference between winning and losing, so for Shimano’s new bicycle derailleurs, they’ve gotten rid of cables all together and replaced them with computer controlled motors and gear selectors in an effort to provide smoother and more consistent shifts during the most demanding of races.
They’re not without their detractors however:
“People choose bicycles precisely because a bicycle’s motion requires only human effort, and nothing could be more simple, independent and autonomous,” said Raymond Henry, a cycling historian in St. Etienne, France. “Any source of external energy, however weak, runs counter to this philosophy.”
As with any new technology, these things don’t come cheap, and initial systems are expected to add about $1,250 onto the cost of an already expensive system, but if they can prove their reliability and speed up a rider’s pace, they just might be shifting the gears of every high-dollar race bike in a few years time.
[Via: The New York Times Via: Gizmodo]
Pictures of the mythical Pagani Zonda R have been floating around for some time now, but I was hesitant to post them because they seemed to be just that: mythical, made up of mostly renderings and drawings.
Well thankfully, the Pagani Zonda R is very real and very worthy of its mythical status, and is set to tear up a track near you in the very near future.
Based on the already potent Pagani Zonda F, but with only about 10% carried over from the street going version, the Zonda R manages to improve on every area of the car. With 6.0 liters of Mercedes-Benz V12 on tap producing 750hp and 710Nm of torque, the 2,359 lb race car gets to 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds, and tops out at a mind numbingly fast 233 mph.
If you can see it, it’s either been stripped down, made of carbon fiber, or eliminated, and everything is designed for one goal: Going fast enough to outrun death itself.
Speed and exclusivity definitely don’t come cheap however, as buyers of this ultra-rare uber-car will need to shell out nearly $2 million for the privilege, but if you’ve got the cash, I can’t think of a better way to spend it.
[Pagani]
[Via: 0-60 Mag]
