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See the original image at gizmodo.com —

Yamaha Branded Motorcycle Exoskeleton: A Segway on Steroids

gizmodo.com — Art Center Pasadena student Jake Loniak has taken everything that is cool about exoskeletons and motorcycles and crammed it into this Yamaha-branded Deux Ex Machina motorcycle.

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  • upick, on 05/23/2008, -15/+5Why are there no comments?? This is awesome concept design!
    Check out this pic
    http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/deusexmachina/1001 ...

    So wanna get this when it comes out..no pricing here which means its "NOT AFFORDABLE"
    • simg, on 05/23/2008, -1/+3agreed, it is awesome. it might be cheaper to produce than a modern motorcycle if produced in similar volumes ?
    • ToadLeg, on 05/23/2008, -1/+4Wouldn't making a comment containing the statement "there are no comments" invalidate itself? This is no different than saying "first post!"
  • GratefulGroover, on 05/23/2008, -10/+3very cool. you would still be just as much of a nerd on this as a segwya though
  • DeadHerring, on 05/23/2008, -5/+17Anybody reminded of the 'IT' from South Park?
  • sgun, on 05/23/2008, -9/+0It kind of takes away from the motorcycle experience though. You wouldn't have much freedom when you are hunched over in the driver's seat.
  • firewound, on 05/23/2008, -3/+3I suppose it was only a matter of time
  • kyyv, on 05/23/2008, -6/+1Just wait until us old folks start speeding down the sidewalks in these.
  • Wuss, on 05/23/2008, -6/+6You'll look cool as hell when you die.
    • halobender, on 05/23/2008, -6/+1You wuss, you'd look either Asian or like a Manga dick.
  • itsgotyou, on 05/23/2008, -2/+8Man and machine! Power extreme!


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centurions_(TV_se ...


    • Tenshi12, on 05/23/2008, -0/+5Dude! That show was the coolest. All the different combinations they had. Thanks for helping me remember the good old days.
      • itsgotyou, on 05/23/2008, -1/+35 more years and we'll have working models!
  • Jimbozu, on 05/23/2008, -10/+5Riding in that thing would be horrifying.
    • chrgrose, on 05/23/2008, -2/+2You are so conceded you know that? We're not talking about your mom. shesh.
  • Blitzwing84, on 05/23/2008, -3/+9Reminds me of Cy-Kill from Go-Bots. It also reminds me that the Go-Bots had really crappy names.
  • ninepointfive, on 05/23/2008, -2/+8Looks like the knees are awfully close to the ground
  • scalarjack, on 05/23/2008, -4/+0They should have named it "Cyclone", and given it a rocket launcher...
  • sockpuppets, on 05/23/2008, -3/+8This looks perfectly safe and affordable.
  • jjustice, on 05/23/2008, -3/+8Return to Oz, anyone?
    • Mr.Gone, on 05/23/2008, -1/+2That was the movie!! I was trying to remember where I saw these things.
    • MadOgre, on 05/24/2008, -0/+1WHEELERS!
  • 15thPD, on 05/23/2008, -11/+3Terrible concept, terrible design.
  • Mononuclear, on 05/23/2008, -2/+9looks sick but I can't imagine what happens the first time one of the wheels or something in front of you kicks up a piece of angle iron, rubber tire, or wood on the road and it impales you in the chest. You are basically head first chest down towards the road with nothing between you and it. Would make for an awesome ride but not too safe.
    • fulibs, on 05/23/2008, -2/+2I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have been driving down the road, later to find a piece of angle iron, rubber tire or wood that impaled my radiator. Good point Mononuclear.
      • Mononuclear, on 05/23/2008, -0/+2Well good for you, because I have seen crap on the freeway many times. I have seen semi trucks blow tires and throw rocks breaking my windshield. If my windshield wasn't there I would be dead or seriously hurting. I have seen pieces of wood and metal go flying. Pickups losing metal pipes from the back. It takes a bit more force to impale a radiator than it does your exposed body.
        • qwertydvorak, on 05/24/2008, -0/+1i hate getting smacked in the mouth with one of thse rocks while riding my motorcycle. the only thing i fear more is deer.
        • fulibs, on 05/27/2008, -0/+0Don't forget to take your meds.
    • thecatcantalk, on 05/23/2008, -0/+3Holy cow, you're so right... the first time you get behind a gravel truck, you get stones flung at your belly at 70 MPH.
      It just looks so damn cool, though. Wouldn't have thought it was possible to make a motorbike MORE dangerous, but this guy's done it.

      It's just like that "hang board", the snowboard above which the rider hangs suspended by an abbreviated hang-glider type harness. Picture lying down on your belly on a snowboard, and bombing a big run... if you wipe out in the trees, instead of breaking a leg, one hits a tree head-first.
    • Markpdotcom, on 05/23/2008, -0/+1Its a ***** stupid idea that will never make it into production. Glad its only a concept!
    • BSeffrood, on 05/23/2008, -0/+2I agree with you but normal bikers face the same dangers
      • Mononuclear, on 05/23/2008, -0/+2Normal bikers have a little more protection like windshields and the actual bike between them and flying projectiles. Normal bikers do face dangers but nowhere near as extreme as this.
      • BSeffrood, on 05/29/2008, -0/+1Not all motorcycles have windshields, mine doesn't. And if you have a windshield you're gay.
    • nephilimx, on 05/24/2008, -0/+1Well if your state was smart and these become popular, it would be wise to allow these to use bus lames and such.
  • VinceNoir, on 05/23/2008, -2/+12I expect this thing to decapitate quite a few bad drivers.
    • halleyscomet, on 05/23/2008, -1/+8So that's another thing it's got going for it.
  • stattek, on 05/23/2008, -3/+30Looks like the product of an art student thinking he's a mechanical engineer.
    • jaker277, on 05/24/2008, -0/+0he's an industrial design student - big difference from an art student
      • stattek, on 05/26/2008, -0/+1Please, describe for me the role of an industrial designer. Surely he is not a mechanical engineering student, else you would have said so. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_design%29, "Industrial design is an applied art..", and the best I can surmise is that an industrial designer makes art pertaining to machines. I fail to see the "big" difference from an artist; only one's medium and subject differs.
      • stattek, on 05/26/2008, -0/+1BTW, refer to this page

        http://digg.com/design/The_Extravagant_Designs_of_ ...

        for images from Luigi Colani, an industrial designer also producing art for mechanisms that would fail to function reliably in the real world. It's not that any of these could not be built, but that they all suffer from an impracticality in design that prevents them from widespread adoption.
  • Mie42, on 05/23/2008, -2/+8My Yamaha R6 is getting a 3 wheeled little brother if they produce this thing.
  • netviper8, on 05/23/2008, -2/+6It's Kinetica in real life!

    http://tinyurl.com/4prtv4
  • lordewoks, on 05/23/2008, -5/+11This thing looks awesome! I would definitely ride this!

    I, for one, welcome our Motorcycle Exoskeleton Overlords.
    • chuckDontSurf, on 05/23/2008, -3/+3I was going to digg you until you put in that goddamn quote that was beaten to death a long time ago.
    • kidcodea, on 05/23/2008, -3/+5"I, for one" = dead
    • chrgrose, on 05/23/2008, -2/+4Sigh... I'm a sucker for overlords comments... dugg.
  • LeRenard, on 05/23/2008, -3/+2Ugg. Doesn't anyone enjoy simplicity in design anymore? Also, I'm sure that "head" was necessary.
  • mnemy, on 05/23/2008, -1/+3Looks real cool but extremely dangerous. Road debris will F*** you up. Any bumps in the road will cause unpleasantness. I'd love to see it in action, but I'll take a normal motorcycle for myself thank you.
  • tschau, on 05/23/2008, -1/+4sorry, but how is this better than a standard motorcycle? I don't really get its advantage. It's slower, looks like much more work to get into, and appears to be even more dangerous.
    • simg, on 05/23/2008, -1/+4you forgot to mention how AWESOMELY COOL it is ...
  • sonicomega, on 05/23/2008, -2/+2@ VinceNoir - Get rid of the bad ones to make space for the good ones! I wanna know how well it turns.
  • UncleTimmy, on 05/23/2008, -1/+1And here I thought Hayabusa was the best
  • chuckDontSurf, on 05/23/2008, -1/+7I don't care how practical it is, that looks ***** awesome.
  • AlaskaLoneWolf, on 05/23/2008, -4/+1Want to see a race between this thing and a regular motorcycle.
    • tschau, on 05/23/2008, -0/+5It's top speed would be 75mph, FTA.

      Basically, it would badly get its ass kicked.
      • thecatcantalk, on 05/23/2008, -1/+1*****. All that fierce tech for a moped on steroids.
  • drqshadow, on 05/23/2008, -3/+17First and only comment on the page takes it. "Looks wicked, but I wanna see the first guy on this thing who gets behind a vehicle with big tires and takes a nice hunk of rock right in the crotch."
    • darling, on 05/23/2008, -0/+2Still, I'd imagine, open highway, it'd feel like you were flying, like a vertically challenged Superman. Assuming it leans forward like I think it would.
  • drmangrum, on 05/23/2008, -5/+4I dunno about this thing. At least on a bike, you can ditch if needs be. If you get in an accident on that thing your surrounded by mangled metal. The cool factor doesn't exceed the safety factor.
  • stubear, on 05/23/2008, -1/+4I really wish geeks would stop using latin phrases in an attempt to make them sound smart. In what way is this even remotely a "Deus Ex Machina"? Please spend two ***** seconds looking ***** up in a dictionary if you don't know.
    • thecatcantalk, on 05/23/2008, -0/+3"Deus ex Machina", in this case, is a reference to the video game "Deus Ex", in which one acquires all sorts of smart body armor, exoskeletal weaponry, etc. I think he was trying to suggest that it looks like something out of a video game.
    • jaker277, on 05/24/2008, -0/+0"god out of a machine" based on Greek tragedy for the machine that would lower the actor onto the stage
  • koft, on 05/23/2008, -2/+6I have an idea, you could take that platform, put a cage around it and stick a seat in there. Maybe even put a little wheel in the front of the cage so the person could change the angle of the wheels in the front.
    • shortyjacobs, on 05/23/2008, -4/+1Idiot! They did that already! Haven't you ever seen a car??
      • thecatcantalk, on 05/23/2008, -1/+1What is this "car" you speak of, stranger?
  • stlredbird, on 05/23/2008, -1/+1looks fun. I'll take two.
  • mrzeero, on 05/23/2008, -2/+675 mph laying on your stomach, headfirst. Yeah right. I make it a rule to never drive a vehicle where my body is used as the skid plate.
  • insanebrain, on 05/23/2008, -4/+1Site never heard of Firefox. . lame. . buried.
    • Hypersapien, on 05/23/2008, -0/+4I'm using Firefox and the site looks fine to me.
    • thecatcantalk, on 05/23/2008, -0/+3I'm using Firefox and it works fine. Maybe you timed out?
    • Leetamus, on 05/23/2008, -0/+0no probs here either
  • mrzeero, on 05/23/2008, -2/+3They should make people convicted of DUI's drive these.
  • Shenanigans, on 05/23/2008, -1/+2http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/deusexmachina/ lol...sex
  • mydjtl, on 05/23/2008, -3/+0Is there an ejection seat?
  • Prosequi, on 05/23/2008, -0/+6This looks similar to the wheelers from "Return to OZ" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Mcl39UD14
    The mechanical muscles are a nice touch.
  • ChileanGoD, on 05/23/2008, -1/+1Reminds me of the motorcycle on the last series of robotech.

    http://www.kent.net/robotech/mecha/ref/battler-cyc ...
  • Redpaw360, on 05/23/2008, -4/+2Where are the shocks?, it looks to ridgid to ride.... Where is the chest shield?.....Why not just put the rider on the back of it, protecting the chest cavity from the pedestrians you'll run over?.
  • chrgrose, on 05/23/2008, -3/+2This is really awesome. But I gotta say, I wish they didn't confuse inertia and gravity. It would make much more sense for you to be resting on top of the vehicle when in the fast position instead of just hanging there...
    • shortyjacobs, on 05/23/2008, -1/+2how exactly have they confused inertia with gravity?
    • thecatcantalk, on 05/23/2008, -0/+2Yeah, what happens if the driver rear-ends a small car, or hits a deer on a country road?

      Won't he he smashed like garlic between the "bike" and the object he's run into? Or worse, he'd get a set of antlers rammed through his ribcage and belly. It would be like being gored by a bull, only with much greater force. He might not die, but he'd wish he had!
  • Dolomite, on 05/23/2008, -1/+1pretty cool. anyone know how much this thing costs?
  • snotrokit, on 05/23/2008, -0/+3that is wicked. I would try it.
  • Pinkertinkle, on 05/23/2008, -1/+2I would take this a lot more seriously if it had been designed by an engineering student rather than an art student.
  • domokunt, on 05/23/2008, -1/+5needs more rockets
  • withremote, on 05/23/2008, -0/+3sign me up for one.
  • simpleshadow, on 05/23/2008, -0/+4Words, "O my, that is awesome!" literally came out of my mouth upon seeing this.
  • musicmanryan, on 05/23/2008, -2/+3Its kind of like this:

    http://images.vintagebmx.com/web_pages/ScottLovele ...
  • mlvassallo, on 05/23/2008, -2/+1Subtract two wheels and you almost have Gizmoduck cosplay!
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