Ahem....

"TETSUO!!!!"

Had to be done.

I thought Sbarro made pizza!

I still want the Yamaha Tesseract!

@detach:

mall pizza...4 wheeled motorcylces...same shit in the end

I think that's a better looking vehicle than the Tesseract, personally.

I don't see any reason these things can't go on the streets in the US. The issue is that they wouldn't really be able to take advantage of the benefits of motocycles, such as cheaper insurance, using HOV lanes, and motorcycle parking. If you want stability in a motorcycle form, the CanAM Spyder is a pretty interesting vehicle, gets all of the above benefits, and is available in the US.

I prefer my motorcycles with two wheels.

Uh... what link?

@weatherman:
motorcycle insurance is cheeper? really?

Isn't a four wheeled motorcycle just a four-wheeler? You can put a pig in a prom dress and call it a prom queen, but its still just a pig.

This is just a skinny four-wheeler.

Finally, someone with the foresight and brilliance to design a four-wheeled motor vehicle!

@detach: They make pizza-shaped grease-blobs.

@weatherman: "I don't see any reason these things can't go on the streets in the US."

Well, for one thing, don't four-wheeled vehicles have to live up to automobile standards [ie, seatbelts, airbags, bumpers, etc.]?

@detach:

I hope your being sarcastic, cause I pay (roughly) $350ish for my car for full coverage every 6 months and I pay (again roughly) $220 for my Duc 748 coverage for a full YEAR.

@zenpoet:
I think thats a fair assesment.
If it aint got 2 wheels; it aint a motorcycle. PERIOD.

The Tomahawk was much cooler looking and didn't look like a redneck pimped out his ATV.

@zenpoet: The body of a 4-wheeler ATV does not lean when turning; this does. That's what qualifies this and the Tesseract (and, for that matter, the Dodge Tomahawk concept) for the term "motorcycle".

doesn't dodge have a similar motorcycle? with a viper engine?

@detach: definitely cheaper. my motorcycle insurance costs me US$90/year. not a typo.

Hmmm, me likey!! How about some larger flarings around the front and rear wheels so I don't get dirty water thrown up on me?

I believe to be street legal in the US it needs horns, turn signals, brake lights, and headlights. Could be wrong on the horn part though.

Would be fun to get a hold of one of these though. I might consider it if it is road legal in the US.

@Out2gtcha: i live in Ma $200 dollars a MONTH for cheapo insurance on my pickup i dont even want to get into my acura insurance.

and you are right about motorcycle insurance being a lot cheaper

Sbarro?!!! Don't they sell pizza by the slice at the mall?

@Rhainor: So you are telling me that the defining characteristic of a motorcycle is that it leans?

I would argue those semantics, as a motorcycle is a single track, two wheeled motor vehicle powered by an engine. The very nomenclature comes from the joining of the terms "motorized" and "BIcycle."

@zenpoet: It could be a Motorized Quadcycle... which opens the door to all sorts of innovation of non-motorized quadcycles... henceforth known as Really Lousy Cars.

@zenpoet: "Motorized" + "Tricycle" = Motorcycle. So by theory there, quadcycle would also work. And automobile is only self mobile, meaning it is a mobile vehicle that works under its own power. Thus, by using word alone, a motorcycle is an automobile.

I would go with defining characteristics as being sit on top, engine placement, and body characteristics.

Yes this is a quadcycle and not a "Bi-cycle" and I am sure the insurance companies would have to classify this into a product as such (similarly in off road products).

I think is more practical in a real world, every day sense than the Yamaha for sure. The Yamaha looks more off road crazy. This is more on road awesome, high speed. One question... where is the damn windshield?

Thinking outside the box and coming out with new and interesting products is always great and I am sure if you knew ANYONE with one of these, they'd become your best friend.

@ideaman2020: I think you're right - I forgot about the seatbelts. Most small auto mfrs can get around most of the safety regs like the airbag requirement as long as they have the minimum turn signals, horn, etc., but I think you're right htat the minimum does include seatbelts. And obviously a seatbelt on this would be like a screen door on a submarine.

@detach: motorcycle insurance is dirt cheap. I don't have a bike now but I think I was paying about $150-$200 a year last time I had one. Depends on the bike and whether it's classified as "high-performance" (which doubles the rate). And of course, you don't get medical. But chances are you won't need it if you crash anyway.

Quick Google: "This document denies a petition for rulemaking from GG Quad
North America requesting that NHTSA redefine the term ``motorcycle'' so
that the vehicle it seeks to import and sell, a four-wheeled vehicle
with a motorcycle-like body, would be classified as a motorcycle and
thus be subject to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSSs)
for motorcycles. Currently, the petitioner's vehicle is classified as a
passenger car. Since the initial FMVSSs were issued in 1967, the term
``motorcycle'' has been defined to exclude motor vehicles designed to
travel on four wheels in contact with the ground.
NHTSA is denying the petition because the petitioner has not shown
that redefining ``motorcycle'' to include the petitioner's vehicle
would be consistent with the safety purposes of the National Traffic
and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Denial of the petition means that the
petitioner's vehicle will remain classified as a passenger car. Before
it can be imported, offered for sale or sold in the United States, it
must meet all FMVSSs applicable to that type of motor vehicle."
and then
The petitioner requests that the current definition in 49 CFR571.3(a) of ``motorcycle,''

a motor vehicle with motive power having a seat or saddle for the
use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three
wheels in contact with the ground.
So these have been requested in the past to be reclassified, but doesn't look like it will happen.

@zenpoet:
it is an interesting point, though, since a street-legal ATV is not permitted on Expressways, Freeways and any other street with a speed limit of above 40 or 45, something like that. I think it may have beeen convenient for categorization purposes long ago to say, a motorcycle has 3 or less wheels, a motor vehicle has 4. But as the more novel designs of our more idiosyncratic conveyances progress into increasingly bizarre territory, I think this whole method of classification will, of necessity become obsolete.

@Rhainor: Thanks for mentioning the Tomahawk. I was hoping someone would.

I'd like to see someone pass the motorcycle road test on this...I don't think it would navigate the cones too well....

"Hmm...where could they fit the airbag?"

I assume you were talking about a safety device, not girlfriend. She would totally fit on the back!

It's kinda bad-ass. I'm a daily power 2 wheeler commuter for 8 months of the year, but I like my bikes small and light. But I can see how this could be a lot of fun. Quadricycles are a reality in other parts of the world. Just because it wouldn't be allowed in the US (unless rules change) doesn't mean it's not a viable concept. Quadricycles still could retain many of the benefits of bikes in their lighter weight, fuel efficiency and small foot print for traffic and parking (discounted?). This machine just adds back one more similarity in the fun facter with it's ability to lean. I'd like to see NHTSA redefine the motorcycle class (or make a new class) to include vehicles that are made for no more than 2 riders who's seating position is directly in line rather than side-by-side. Safety can't really be an issue unless they outlaw all 2 wheelers. These things would be more stable and have more grip. If they want to address safety they should put limits on HP or engine size. But that would just make too much sense. The other, even bigger, obstacle is the auto industry lobby. Now if one of the big 3 US manufacturers were to buy BRP, Polaris or Arcticat and start in on products like that it could really save their ass (I'm looking at you, Ford).

Sweet!...i wish more companies would explore the forward-thinking styling of the bikes in "AKIRA" and other anime/sci-fi flicks....anyone remember the Dodge Tomahawk 4-wheeled motorcycle( it preceeded the Tesseract)

@Jiert: Two minutes before him and the post just above.

Link to the Tomahawk: [video.google.com]

I've always loved Sbarro's hubless wheels.
They are so futuristic although might not be practical.

i'll stick with my yamaha R1

@Hiphopopotamus: I agree, it could be a quadcycle. But that is still not a motorcycle.

@szrimaging: Just because you can make the contration with others words does not negate the fact that the original contraction was made from "motorized" and "bicycle."

If a word already accurately describes one thing, I am of the firm belief that new definitions need not be added to it to dilute the word. If its a quadcycle, then call it a quadcycle, but leave the word motorcycle alone.

@TheCapt: Thank you. I always love it when someone else does the legwork for my argument, and supports some wild statement I make with some actual thought out points.

@nutbastard: I agree that new designs are going to continue to challenge how we classify things, but my real point is that we just need to change the classifications and not try to wedge or ram ideas into definitions where they do not belong.

And just in case anyone was wondering, I am the same guy that gets pissed when someone says "chomping at the bit" instead of the correct "champing at the bit." The English language is so full of wonderful descriptors that it makes no sense to me to dumb down or modify language just because everyone thinks it would be easier.

Here ends diatribe. Please, enjoy your four-wheeler.

wouldnt that just be an ATV?

And what exactly is the point? Hey, stick some trainer wheels on a motorcycle!!

@szrimaging: Up until recently, horses and bicycles were classified as vehicles for purposes of traffic laws.

I was actually the attorney who convicted the last guy in South Dakota to have been arrested for DUI on a bike. Now, the interesting things is, I didn't agree that a bicycle was a vehicle, but as someone had made that the law, I was under the obligation to enforce it.

The Supreme Court agreed with me, but the Legislature changed the law shortly thereafter. To see the SDSC opinion, look at this .pdf. [www.sdjudicial.com]

This is an example of what happens when you try to make things fit into a definition when they really do not belong there..

Albeit cool, that in not a motorcycle. If it does not lean to turn, then it is not a motorcycle.

@JaXs:
RTFA - it leans.

@zenpoet:
In california, you can get a DUI on a skateboard, bicycle, roller blades, they could probably get you for riding a fucking shopping cart out here.

Marijuana? That's a ticketing!

@nutbastard:
Shopping cart - That's a ticketing.
Smoking a splif in public - That's a ticketing.
Not allowing you're phone to be tapped - That's a ticketing.

Saying any of the following or any combo of the following is a pattlin.....followed by a swift punch in the mouth:

"Does it blend?"
"Will it play *FILL IN THE BLANK*?"
"I for one welcome our *FILL IN THE BLANK* overlords."
"First comment!" (or any variation)

uuh.... did EVERYONE forget about the Dodge Tomahawk concept that was done a few years ago? motorcycle with 4 wheels (although it looked like 2 wheels due to how close they were), powered by a Dodge Viper V10 if i remember correctly....

Is there something stopping these guys from making a 3 wheeler road legal?

giant tire in the back, 2 skinny tires in the front?

or did they classify that too, with 2 tires must be in the back BS?

@skulldriveshaft:
no it can be either way - VW is working on something like that.

if only they already had a motorized bike of sorts with four wheels instead of two.....

Are those glass wheels or something? You can see straight through them. (?!?)