When the Voltra electric concept bike from young designer Dan Anderson first came across our desk, we were eager to know more. Below is our interview with Dan about his electric motorcycle design project, and believe me: the more you get to know about the Voltra and its creator, the more impressed you’ll be.

Dan grew up around bikes and his natural passion for the subject matter really comes through in his technically interesting Voltra. It’s not just a project put together so that his university thesis looked good - it’s a truly original effort, well studied and well-built. If you think that electric motorcycles are playing an important part in the future of motorcycling, this interview is s must-read. See how a young, aspiring motorcycle designer views the future of motorcycling, and the role that electric powered bikes might play…

Firstly, tell us something about yourself. Are you a motorcyclist yourself? How did you embark on the project of making an electric motorcycle and did you have a team to help?

I’m a 23 year old, recently finished Industrial Design student born and raised in Sydney, Australia. I’ve been around motorcycles my whole life. My father raced classic British bikes when I was young so I spent a lot of time at the track having my hearing ruined by unsilenced exhaust megaphones! The sights, sounds and smells really stuck with me and bikes have been a fixture in my life ever since. I ride a lovely old Ducati Pantah 600 which I restored in the summer holidays. I have a ‘thing’ for old bikes; even if they spend more time on the workbench than on the road!

Dan Anderson Voltra electric

Continue reading: Electric motorcycle design: interview with Voltra concept designer, Dan Anderson

If you check out this video of Maarten Timmer’s VertiGO concept, you may be one step closer in being convinced by electric motorcycle engineering and technology. The idea is to gain the approbation of the supersports market in terms of the style and performance of electric motorcycles, using the innovation of electric power on the classic speed look of a supersports bike.

Maarten Timmer is currently participating in the Delft University design competition, with the aim of winning the 7,500 euro prize money to put the VertiGO into prototype production. To see more details on the competition, and vote for the VertiGO design, see the Delft competition site.

Source | HellforLeather

Continue reading: Maarten Timmer VertiGO concept video and design competition

It’s a risky enterprise, undertaking an interpretation of a possible future Lamborghini two wheels, when a legend of the auto world moves onto new territory. But Laurentiu Trifescu from Romania has turned his hand to the task, producing this Lamborghini V4 1,000 Caramelo.

It’s a mix between Aprilia, KTM and Ducati style with a four stroke V engine and rear swing arm. A real challenge is: if you were to produce a Lamborghini superbike, what would your vision look like?

Source | Motoflash

Continue reading: Lamborghini Superbike: V4 1000 Caramelo

We originally posted on the BMW Motorrad Innovation Contest back in April and here’s a reminder to get your innovations in before the competition closes. In the search for new ideas for BMW motorcycles of the future, the BMW Motorrad Innovation Contest for 2009 establishes a program to find new projects, prototypes and concepts from motorcycle design gurus.

If you think you have what it takes to create something, the dedicated site for the iniative, www.bmwmotorrad-innovationcontest.com has all the details. Ideas, sketches and designs need to be submitted by July 17th.

In the photo is one idea that was submitted by Igor Vishnevskiy. Prizes include 2,000 euros and other stuff… we’re not sure what exactly, but get your creation in to find out.

Continue reading: BMW Motorrad Innovation Contest 2009

In the current economic climate, you wouldn’t always expect people to continue innovating, creating and following their passions. But new British motorcycle brand, “Mac Motorcycles” proves that the heyday of English invention and the love affair with the motorcycle is by no means over.

Ellis Pitt, a design consultant with product design background, has teamed up with Xenophya in a collaboration that is producing some intriguing examples of British motorcycle tradition.

Mac Motorcycles are based on the 500cc Buell ‘Blast’ motor using lightweight, air cooled single cylinder technology in a tubular backbone frame. The result is four different models, which the company describes thus:

‘Spud’, for dossing about on, ‘Ruby’, the motorcycle equivalent of ‘the girl-next-door’, ‘Peashooter’, for squirting to your favourite pub and gassing with your mates and the ‘Roarer’, a modern-day dinosaur-chaser!

Mac-Motorcycles new British brand

Continue reading: Mac Motorcycles: new innovative British brand of custom designed motorcycles

Here’s a look an Italian Urban Scrambler, the first motorcycle designed by TPR Italian Factory. The new company has been established by Pietro Figini, and designed this Urban Scrambler, presenting it to the Italian press recently.

Pietro Figini, known as “Figio” had decided that no Italian offering on the market expressed character, style and uniqueness, and so he designed this, as the bike he had been looking for. His father, Figio Senior, is a well-known collector and restorer of Vespas.

Figini has a passion for English motorcycles, and so decided to use a twin cylinder 800cc engine as a base, along with the Triumph Bonneville’s double crade chassis. The rest of the bike then went into production, taking inspiration from bikes from the 1960’s.

The Urban Scrambler is also a performance bike, with work on the engine and fuel system resulting in a respectable 75 hp. Alluminium has been extensively used on the bike, making for a weight of approximately 180 kg. Now all we can do is wait to try it… Technical specs after the jump.

Continue reading: Urban Scrambler by TpR - Italian Factory

These pics come from the creations of Marco Lo Cascio who has re-designed some Moto Guzzi models for our pleasure. His creations even include a “transformer” white Griso 8v. If you have any of your own designs or tunings you’d like to share, don’t be afraid to send them through!

Continue reading: Moto Guzzi creations by our reader Marco Lo Cascio

Design firm Xenophya, dedicated specifically to motorcycle design projects, has opened a new studio in the UK, and taking a look at these pics just makes you want to get your hands all dirty, playing around with clay and letting your imagination loose.

The new complex includes clay-modelling and paint workshops along with a design office and conference facilities. The company has been around since 2001 and was established by Mark Wells and Ian Wride as an outsourcing consultancy on motorcycle design.

While much of their work is highly confidential, and Xenophya rarely gets public credit for what it does, it is starting to make a name for itself in the industry and is even opening a Hong Kong office for better access to the fast growing Chinese market.

In the gallery is some of Xenophya’s work, their prototype studio and clay modelling studio, about which Ian Wride says: “Although computers are now indispensable throughout the development process, we believe clay models are still essential for a hands-on evaluation of a design proposal. You just can’t interact with a CAD model in the same way.”

Xenophya Design Studio

Continue reading: New studio from Xenophya Design

Rendering even more lovely the MV Agusta F4 is hard task but some intrepid French have tried their hand and produced a satisfying result.

Alex, alias Alkatraxx, and the painter Sébastien Nor are the creators of this splendid livery designed for the Zone Rouge 76 dealership. Nice job - enjoy the gallery below.

Continue reading: Motorcycle design: MV Agusta F4 by Zone Rouge 76