Tron Bike

All-Electric Lightcycle (Screenshot from Parker Brothers video)

Practicality tends to take a back seat when you combine sci-fi cult status with custom chopper building - and there's no room for a pillion passenger on the Lightcycle. We first spied Parker Brothers Choppers Lightcycle project last year when it surfaced in gas-powered form, now the company has released video of a fully-electric version of the neon-packing two-wheeler in action. The electric motor may be quieter, but this one's still guaranteed to turn heads.

This is the illuminated, street-legal motorcycle inspired by the computer animated cycle from the 2010 film Tron: Legacy. Designed for casual cruising and slow ride-bys at shows, it is made from a steel frame covered by a fiberglass cowling that replicates the sleek look of its computer-generated imagery counterpart. Electroluminescent strips built into the tire cowlings, wheel rims, and body illuminate the cycle. It is powered by a fuel-injected Suzuki 996cc, 4-stroke engine. Riders lay at a near-horizontal position astride the padded leather seat, with feet on foot pegs that control its 6-speed constant mesh manual transmission and hands on the handlebars for throttle and braking. The hubless wheels are former truck tires built up then custom-shaped to fit onto one of two counter-rotating rims spinning within each other, providing the broad-tired authenticity of the computer cycles from the movie. A chain-driven friction drum manages acceleration and braking from the handlebars. It has spring-loaded front and rigid rear suspension. Its wet sump lubrication system eliminates tubes and hoses for oil pick-up, facilitating its streamlined, minimalist design. It uses a 3 1/2-gallon main fuel tank and 1 1/4-gallon reserve tank. All cycles are built to order. 8 1/2′ L x 23 1/4″ W x 28 1/2″ H. (474 lbs.)

The Lightcycle is based on the conveyance from 2010's Tron: Legacy and in its latest real-world form it has undergone extensive body reworking as well as getting a 96 volt electric motor and lithium ion battery pack. Parker Brothers quotes an (impressive if true) top speed of "in excess of 100 mph" and a range of 100 miles on a single charge with 35 minute recharge times.

There's no word yet on pricing or availability of All Electric Lightcycle, but the Suzuki V-twin driven model is still being sold through Hammacher Schlemmer for an asking price of US$55K.

You might not find yourself lane-splitting or scraping the pegs while astride this beast, but - at least until landspeeders hit the market - you'll be hard pressed to find a more radical 21st century ride.

Behold! The most badass motorcycle your geek eyes will ever see is here. The TRON Light Cycle isn’t just in movies anymore – a full scale and working model of the motorcycle is riding around the streets of Florida and New Jersey. Built by Parker Brothers Choppers, the scifi inspired bike glows and zips around like the ones you saw in TRON Legacy last year, or the original TRON movie back in the 80s. Selling for $55,000 these custom motorcycles are powered by an all-electric drive system and lithium ion battery. Space age stuff. Check out the latest, and most impressive videos for the TRON Light Cycles below, followed by a description of how you can win your very own! We’ve been following these killer vehicles since they were first announced more than a year ago, and they keep looking better and better. They do everything but leave behind an opponent-wrecking wall…give Parker Brothers Choppers enough time and they just might make that a reality as well.

Here’s the footage from one of the Parker Brothers latest test drives, showing the Light Cycle running in both day and night. Damn that glowing bike is amazing! Make sure to watch past 2:31 when they take off the shell and show you the interior as well:

Bill Weir of ABC Nightline News recently did a short segment on the bike and EVolve, the company behind the 96 volt plug-in electric motor used to power it. Some great footage of the bike riding down the New Jersey street. Very cool:

If you desperately want one of these bikes, and I know you do, you can either shell out $55k and get on the waiting list, or you can compete to win one. Parker Brothers Choppers is taking video submissions from their fans to see who can prove they deserve the Light Cycle the most. Official rules are here. Finalists will be decided by Parker Brothers, and the winner will be voted on by fans. The competition closes Novemeber 7th, so get to it!

They're giving one of these bikes away? Yes, you can click the image to learn more. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a Light Cycle winning video to make.

The TRON Light Cycle is about as awesome a piece of movie-inspired tech as I’ve seen. (And we’ve seen some great scifi ideas come to life.) As Weir points out, however, the EVolve battery and motor give the fiction some real world science to take along for the ride. It should be interesting to see if these small plug-in electric vehicles take off in the next few years, especially as they’re not too expensive. Even the high-end 96 volt kit used in the TRON Light Cycle was probably less than $10k (judging from quotes on the EVolve site seen here and here).

Electroluminescent strips built into the tire cowlings, wheel rims, and body illuminate the cycle. It is powered by a fuel-injected Suzuki 996cc, 4-stroke engine. Riders lay at a near-horizontal position astride the padded leather seat, with feet on foot pegs that control its 6-speed constant mesh manual transmission and hands on the handlebars for throttle and braking. The hubless wheels are former truck tires built up then custom-shaped to fit onto one of two counter-rotating rims spinning within each other, providing the broad-tired authenticity of the computer cycles from the movie. A chain-driven friction drum manages acceleration and braking from the handlebars. It uses a 3 1/2-gallon main fuel tank and 1 1/4-gallon reserve tank.

Tron is the highly anticipated remake of the ’80s movie that became pop culture and later developed into several games for geeks around the world. The special effects back then were the finest you could find. Jeff Bridges played one of the leading roles in this epic movie, and he kept us all on the edge of our seat. Speed has always been the movie’s selling point, and the fact that he’s drawn into the computer gave the movie yet another dimension.

With the new movie coming out soon, people are starting to reimagine the huge impact that the movie had, and some are even starting to create new and exciting concept bikes to further broaden the depth of the movie. This particular concept, created by designer Shane Baxley, is actually a Hyundai Aebulle and it’s as rad and extreme as the bikes you’ve seen in the first Tron movie.

With its 105.7 inch length (equivalent to the length of a 2010 Corvette), it’s not something you just whip out and drive around the block. The seating is something never before seen on a bike, which gives it yet another new dimension. The fact that you’re cocooned inside it while driving is probably going to make you feel like you’re a super hero on your way to a crime scene. But who cares, the rad look of this bike is sure to capture people’s attention, and you’re definitely going to have something that most people have never even seen. Now where’s that cape of mine…