Light Rider 3D Printed Motorcycle
‘Building your own bike’ is about to take on a new and more all encompassing meaning thanks to a bunch of engineers in the UK. AP Works, a subsidiary of the aeronautics giant Airbus, has developed the Light Rider – a completely 3D printed motorcycle frame that as its name suggest, barely weighs a thing.
Using a proprietary aluminum alloy, Scalmalloy, to build out a frame that is not only light (it weighs just over 13 pounds), but also anticorrosive and incredibly strong, the folks at AP Works have taken a significant first step in the direction of incorporating 3D tech into the motorcycling world. The stats on the bike won’t exactly make your jaw drop, it can hit 28 miles per hour in three seconds on its way to a top speed of 50, and its battery only has a 35 mile range, but when you consider the power this thing puts out in relationship to the total weight (just 77 pounds), it’s hard not to be impressed. While this may not be the sexiest bike in regards to performance (although it definitely looks pretty kickass), just think about where this tech will be in the next five or ten years. We can expect these stats to only improve. In the meantime – if you want to own a bit of history, you can pick up one for around $56,100. [Purchase]
