Retro Thing

Adults Try Power Wheels On For Size

 
photo from Power Racing Series website

In the mid 80s, toy company Kransco debuted Power Wheels, a series of ride-on replica cars and trucks for kids. The expensive battery-powered motorized vehicles were a hit with kids almost immediately, with sales reaching a million/year by 1990. I can think of some real car companies that would love those sorts of sales.

Eventually Mattel bought the line, and soon after we had Barbie and Hot Wheels tie-ins that have kept the line going for so long. Newer models have refinements such as FM radios, doors, power lock brakes... can an iPod dock be far behind?

Since Power Wheels have been around for a frankly astonishing thirty years, there are plenty of adults now who grew up with the toys themselves. A healthy hacking community has grown up around the all-plastic vehicles. Simple fixes like upgrading the rechargable battery, swapping out the original motor for a stronger one from a cordness drill, to complete retrofits. Then there's the next logical step... grown-ass men racing these little pink plastic cars.

The video clip here documents an annual event - Extreme Barbie Jeep Racing. This is among the easiest "hacks" - simply pull out the drive train, and freewheel down a muddy hill. This clip is a couple of years old, but is no less hilarious. The sheer number of times drivers lose a blow-molded plastic wheel (and it's not that big of a deal) gets a bellow out of me every time.

Then there are more serious hackers who replace every part of the vehicle, essentially using the outer shell. The guys at Make Labs esentially built a little metal framed car that you simply drop the plastic shell over. Fun, I suppose... but I think it flies in the face of the insanity of an adult driving the little plastic car. Plus theirs is built a little too well to throw a wheel - and what fun is that?

links:

read Make Labs step-by-step hack
user community devoted to hacking Power Wheels

 

Green Machine Vs. Big Wheel - Road-Ready Plastic Tricycles

There comes a time in everyone's life when our loyalties are questioned, and we have to draw our own personal line in the sand. Loyalists in ongoing classic brand battles find themselves reasserting their position on Coke vs. Pepsi, Nintendo vs. Sega, Canon vs. Nikon, and the like. Sometimes love conquers all, though. I know a couple from what we could call an American "mixed marriage". He drives a Ford Truck, and she drives a Chevy.

These vehicular brand battles aren't just waged by adults. I recall similar confrontations in the playground; before cars, even before bikes. Back in the 70s, I remember the hot-button topic was whether your all-plastic tricycle loyalty belonged to Big Wheel or Green Machine.

If you don't recall, Marx rumbled out Big Wheel in 1969. Marx was one of the top plastic toy manufacturers, and this venture into ride-ons was yet another huge success for them.

Except for the metal crank for the pedals, the Big Wheel was all blow-molded plastic - including the "tires" (holes quickly appeared in the wheels, and if you were unlucky enough to receive Big Wheel as a hand-me-down there was real danger of the front wheel splitting in two). Marx was undiscouraged, making the trike's slippery tendencies an asset. The motorcycle-styled Big Wheel was not just simple transportation - you could catch the eye of the neighborhood ladies with your slick spin-outs.

1974: Super 8 Bicycle Ride Around Vancouver

We tend to be fairly lax in photographing our day-to-day existence. Sure, we gather periodically in front of the Christmas tree or at the pub to smile into the camera, but the little details usually fall by the wayside -- we don't snap panoramic shots of the street on which we live, the office, the messy interior of our car, the kitchen, our favorite restaurant, or the train station platform we loiter on for a few minutes each and every day.

We ignore the mundane, assuming that it's not very interesting because tomorrow will be much the same. But flash forward two or three decades, and something as ordinary as a weekend bike ride around the city becomes a precious time capsule.

As if to prove my point, photographer Hans Sipma shot this timelapse film with a Braun Nizo Super 8 camera mounted on his bicycle during a cool autumn day in 1974 or 1975. The camera was configured to snap a single frame every few seconds, allowing a single cartridge of Kodachrome to capture his epic cycling adventure around Vancouver for us to enjoy in the distant future.

For those interested in a little more detail, Hans created a longer edit that slows things down and intersperses a number of present day stills along his route. It's fascinating to see how much has changed and how some things remain virtually unchanged.

Yamaha Returns To Their Roots With The Y125 Moegi

Back in 1955, a little company called Nippon Gakki unveiled a 125cc 2-stroke motorcycle known as the YA-1. It won a couple of races and started selling at the blistering pace of about 200 units per month. Fast forward 57 years, and the company -- better known as Yamaha -- has gone back to its roots with the Y125 Moegi concept bike.

The Moegi looks more like a classic bicycle than most scooters, but its decidedly high-tech from the handlebars to the tires. Yamaha's engineers chose to mold the aluminum frame from die cast aluminum, resulting in a machine that weighs a mere 176 lbs.

Like its ancestor, the bike uses an air-cooled 125cc engine, although the modern low friction 4-stroke power plant uses the world's first mass production aluminum die-cast cylinder for motorcycle use. While it won't win any races, the bike is probably capable of 45 mph and the company reports that the miserly power plant couple manage as much as 188 mpg.

Let's hope the company decides to put this retrofuturistic design into production.

 

Pedal Cars For Adults

The velomobile might be the perfect choice if your New Year's resolution involves getting fitter, but you can't tolerate the typical speed of bicycles.

Velomobiles are essentially recumbent trikes encased in composite bodies — sexy in the case of the Trisled Avatar and zoom-zoom cute in the Velomobiel Quest. Despite some relatively high-tech materials, they can trace their lineage to the Velocar, an early 20th century French vehicle.

Some of the finer modern examples bring to mind a 1950s vision of the future — or at least fake visions of it. (I could totally see one of these painted like a tin toy rocket parading around town.) Though they might be mistaken for something you might see at the Bonneville Salt Flats, they actually can take a ton of cargo and require minimal energy to go twice as fast as a well-tuned road bike.

Josef Janning recently wrote about his experiences in a velomobile at Commute By Bike. He put it thusly: "The velomobile … allowed me to ride faster than on any of my other bikes, in more comfort, with better weather protection through all seasons, better luggage capacity, and on top of all this, with the most sensational feeling I have ever experienced on wheels."

Not bad for an adult-size pedal car.

Retrovelo: One of a Kind Classic Bikes From Germany

Retrovelo is a German bicycle manufacturer based in Leipzig. They produce an enticing mix of classic and modern city bikes that combine understated good looks with immense practicality.

Their Classic lineup consists of 3-speed and 7/8-speed models for both men and women. They feature 20.5" inch or 22.5" frames, Shimano Nexus hubs and Busch & Müller Lumotech retro chromed head lights and LED chromed tail lights. The saddles are Brooks leather, and a centre stand is standard equipment, along with stainless steel fenders and an optional color-matched carrying rack.

The company's Modern series has a certain timeless look, too. Models in this range feature larger frames and anywhere from single to 14-speed shifters. Perversely, these are city bikes that I'd be afraid to park on the streets of most North American cities. All Retrovelo bikes are available in your choice of 12 stock colors, and custom paint is available if you have the urge to make a bold and unique statement.

There. This post nicely encapsulates my New Year's dream of eating less, excercising more and considering the plight of starving Arctic Lemurs whose very existence is threatened by my addiction to shiny plastic things that beep and flash.

Retrovelo: We manufacture favorite bicycles

Raleigh's Classic BMX Reissue

I know I'm late to the party, but the Raleigh Super Tuff Burner is worth a quick mention. This £269.99 BMX reissue reminds me of some of the best and worst moments of the 1980s. The remake came out several years ago and is already hard to find (perhaps a re-reissue is in order?), but it's impressive to see a company bow to public demand and return to an iconic design -- if only for a limited time.

The Super Tuff Burner features 14" mag wheels, a chromoly steel frame, single speed gearset, old school caliper brakes and classic BMX stem, bars and saddle. Sadly, it won't bring back your youth.

Raleigh Super Tuff Burner [thanks, David W.]

A Very Curious Vespa

Tony Rabassa writes, "Take a look at this link that I stumbled on. This seems like a labor of love from a hell of a craftsman."

Yes, indeed. You're admiring the world's first Vespa Woody. This beautiful machine was crafted in Portugal by Carlos Alberto, who christened it Daniela in honor of his daughter. His website captures the intricate build process in painstaking detail -- it's unnerving to see the gracious curves of a Vespa frame carved from precious little more than laminated hardwood. For once, I am speechless. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Visit Carpintaria Carlos Alberto for more pics.

Your Own Space Battleship, Training Wheels Included

The Japanese anime series "Space Battleship Yamato" — known in the U.S. as "Star Blazers" — never quite spawned the absurd merchandising that "Star Wars" did in the States. I don't remember seeing many toys in the early 1980s, when I regularly watched "Star Blazers" on TV, wishing every episode would include the crew firing the ship's wave motion gun. 

Even today, there's not that much Yamato merch out there, aside from models and figurines. (I have an unassembled Yamato model in its box in my basement, mocking me.) I was mildly surprised, for example, that I couldn't easily find anyone producing a t-shirt of the show's arrow uniform, the kind that an astronaut recently wore into space. 

Thirty years ago, however, some lucky Japanese kids could have purchased a bicycle version of the Yamato. Made by Bridgestone, the bike came with a control panel on the handlebars, a reticle on the windshield, various cool graphics, a rear reflector styled like a rocket engine and, best of all, a wave motion gun headlamp activated with the press of a button. Priced at the time around $200, it's hard to imagine what a good condition version would go for these days on eBay.

With a new live-action movie in the works, maybe we can look forward to a re-release of the bike. A man can dream.

Yamato Bicycle at starblazers.com
"Star Blazers" on iTunes

The Enduring 3-Speed

[Here's a post by long-time reader Jonathan Poet...]

I spent some time recently tuning up my wife's bike. It's a 40-year-old Hercules roadster that was built after Raleigh took over the company. It's got all the classic Raleigh features: a 3-speed Sturmey-Archer hub, a saddle with honest-to-goodness springs, sensibly-mounted fenders and "North Road" handlebars.

The bike is holding up remarkably well. It still had its original tires and one of its original tubes, which had a Schrader valve that looked a little different than modern ones. (Rather than a black rubber stem with threads at the tip, this one had threads the whole length of the valve stem and a little knurled nut that screwed down over them to hold the stem to the rim.) I decided to swap out the tires for new ones, replace the brake pads and bring the moving parts back to life.

There are many good resources for help in maintaining bikes, but for old English 3-speeds like this, the best place to start is the massive site assembled by the late Sheldon Brown. It was there that I learned that my local bike shop inadvertently gave me the wrong size tires. ("Schwinn" 26 x 1 3/8 tires, it turns out, are different than "Raleigh" 26 x 1 3/8 tires.)

The thing I found most impressive about the project was how simple the bike is to maintain. The brakes and hub are adjusted with various nuts and screws, not unlike modern bikes. But unlike modern bikes, all the moving parts are made to be lubricated with oil, from the chain to the trigger-style gear shifter to the brake levers. The hub even has a little cap that allows you to lubricate it with — you guessed it — oil.

The bike is now — if not good as new — at least serviceable. If it were my daily commuter, I would probably make some other upgrades, like swapping out the pedals, handlebar grips and maybe the tired saddle. As a weekend rider, though, it will be dandy.

Raleigh still makes classic-looking roadsters. These days they have Shimano's version of the 3-speed internal-gear hub. Sturmey-Archer, at one time synonymous with Raleigh, is chugging along and still makes the AW hub that dates to 1936. The still-made-in-England Pashley uses Sturmey-Archer hubs on their classic bikes. So does Brompton on some models. -- Jon Poet

Sturmey Archer Heritage site

A Bicycle Built For One And A Half

I've long been fascinated by motorcycle sidecars, but this is the first I've seen mounted to a bicycle. Steve Bodiley crafted the frame from a piece of bent 25mm strip steel with a removable wheel. The top and bottom of the body were made from 12mm plywood and a 4mm ply skin was used to create the sleek curved sides. A flap on the back opens to reveal a small storage area behind the passenger seat.

Considerable thought went into the suspension. The frame was mounted to the bicycle with a horizontal pivot, and springs and rubber standoffs help to cushion the young passenger's ride. All in all, this is a brilliant DIY build that's bound to attract attention wherever it goes.

Sadly, it's the sort of thing that will never find its way into mass production because of the possibility that a young passenger will accidentally stuff a hand into the rear spokes.

Steve's Bicycle Sidecar Build [via Make]

Ural's New 2WD Patrol T Motorcycle

Ural motorcycles are direct descendants of the venerable BMW R71. Prior to WWII, the Germans gave blueprints and casting molds for the design to the Russians, who promptly turned around and manufactured thousands of them for the Red Army. The Irbit Motorcycles Works has been producing updated versions ever since.

The new 2WD Ural Patrol T is a sport utility motorcycle with the world’s only on-demand 2WD sidecar drive shaft that would put a Lada Niva to shame. It even features a reverse gear to back out of tough spots in a hurry. The bike features a 749cc air-cooled 4-cycle opposed twin cylinder engine, Herzog gears, Brembo brakes and Domino controls. There's even a storage compartment in the sidecar for spare ammunition gear and tools.

Every Ural bike is still hand-assembled in Irbit, Russia and is simple to maintain. As the company proudly declares, there's nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer and sickle. Available for $12,399 at a sport utility motorcycle dealership near you.

Ural Patrol T Sport Utility Motorcycle

SYM Classic 150 Emulates An Early Seventies Honda

The SYM Classic 150 is a modern motorcycle styled like a vintage Honda CB125S. That's not particularly surprising, since San Yang Motorcycle (SYM) of Taiwan used to manufacture motorcycles for Honda. They're now an independent company with 2,400 employees that sells about 1 million scooters, motorcycles and automobiles each year.

The Classic 150 is powered by a 149.4 cc 4-stroke air cooled carbureted motor. Despite having only 12.5 hp on tap, it's capable of hitting more than 75 mph and gets as much as 118 mpg at more moderate speeds. The bike has a light curb weight of 266.2 lbs and features a front disc brake to handle heavy stopping with ease, along with a rear-mounted drum.

Assuming that SYM doesn't attempt to cut corners on quality, the $2995 Classic 150 looks like a great beginner and urban bike.

The 2010 SYM Classic 150 [thanks, Stephen!]

British Motorcycle Safety - 1960s Style

Tom, the calm and competent hero of this classic 1960s motorcycle safety film, owns the coolest riding jacket I've ever seen. Sadly, Tom's friend isn't nearly so well dressed. [via Cycle Canada]

New $900 Honda Gets 165 mpg

Honda India recently announced the CB Twister. It's manufactured in India and carries an estimated base price of 42,000 Rupees ($900) for the old school kick-start version. Expect to pay about $300 more for an upscale model with electric starter. The Twister is powered by a 109cc air cooled 4-stroke engine that puts out 9 HP (at 9000 rpm) through a 4-speed transmission. You get CDI electronic ignition and halogen headlamps, and the bike weighs a mere 108 kg (238 lbs).

The Twister Microsite claims fuel economy of 70 km/L -- about 165 mpg. Assuming that isn't a typo, one has to wonder why governments in the west are so hung up on promoting expensive hybrid cars as "the future." Surely it would make more sense to get hundreds of thousands of these bikes onto North American and European roads. I'm not suggesting it as a replacement for an Interstate cruiser, but the Twister would make a great urban runabout.

The same "less is more" approach could easily be applied to North American cars, too. Instead of wasting billions designing large and complicated hybrids that sill require fossil fuel, manufacturers could focus on lightweight conventional gasoline or diesel subcompacts that emphasize simplicity, light weight and efficiency over cushy comfort and ridiculously complicated drivetrains.

They could use lightweight aluminum frames, radical body streamlining and small and efficient diesel engines with idle-shutoff to boost efficiency to hybrid levels. Don't think it's possible? Well, back yard experimenters have already squeezed 64 mpg from an old Geo Metro. While we're at it, throw away expensive extras such as power windows, keyless entry, mahogany dash inlays and headrest-mounted entertainment systems. They just add unnecessary weight and complexity.

With a bit of clever thinking, traditional subcompacts could be reborn as surprisingly eco-friendly microcars. Of course, tiny and cheap vehicles don't carry the same profit margin as trendy hybrids, so don't expect GM, Ford or Chrysler to jump on the microcar bandwagon in the USA anytime soon. That's a pity, because Japanese manufacturers are already there.

Meanwhile, Honda hopes to sell as many as 250,000 Twister motorcycles annually. They hit showrooms across India in February, 2010. It sure would be nice to see something similar over here, even at twice the price.

Honda Twister - Wake up to a dream
Toyota iQ - Microcar for the masses