downhill bike + aprillia = awesome

http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135255

project m85 is a cross between a downhill bike and a moto x bike. Pretty sweet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqLlDns1S5k

That looks really fun to ride. 125 pounds dry, according to the forum. Quite an accomplishment on their part.

holy hell i want one :omg:

Actually you know a KTM 105SX is darn close to this things stats wise, only weighs like 5 more pounds, but has a larger engine. I wonder how the suspension compares to the M85. Hmmm. Living in the sticks now I think its time to find a light weight dirt bike to toss around on some of these trails :grin:

There was a lengthy discussion about this bike on one of the cycling boards when it first appeared. This is one of those things that sounds great in principle, but is limited in application.

For one, it's really not much different than a trials moto...

Second (and most importantly) where would you ride such a bike that a normal moto wouldn't be more suited? It's not like my local mountain biking spots will allow a motorized bike on the trails... In truth, I can think of only one riding area where this bike could see regular use... although I'm not sure it wouldn't be any more entertaining than my current DH/trail bike (7" travel fork, 6" travel frame).

If they could get it lighter like around 80 lbs or less... hmm

Derbi (A spanish motorcycle/scooter company...no US road bikes. :( ) Makes something very, very similar, the DH2.0:

88 lbs dry, 100cc 4 stroke, basically a downhill bike with an engine, just like in OT.

Not the same as a guy building one for a school project, but cool nonetheless.

http://www.fxbikes.com/ 125lb 125cc bike there..

these things are neato...

i want

That Derbi is a concept bike, not a production one.

Looks like a trials bike to me...what's so special? I don't get it.

Bryce

Nashco wrote: Looks like a trials bike to me...what's so special? I don't get it. Bryce

It's a super light adult sized motorcycle capable of much higher off road speeds than a trials bike. I wish something like that had been around 20 years ago. It's been the Holy Grail of dirt bikers forever.

Some time back, DIRT BIKE magazine set out to see just how much weight they could take off of a production Japanese 125 2 stroke motocrosser. They started with a Honda CR125 and did things like find the lightest tires and rims available, converted them to tubeless, lightweight coolant hoses, stripped the frame and repainted it with very thin paint, compared forks until they found the lightest ones, the lightest handlebars etc and for the final touch had a set of carbon fiber fenders, side panels, tank and seat base made for it. IIRC, that bike got down to like 162 pounds. It cost a wad, something like $23k. They tested the bike; due to the light weight it RIPPED! but when sticky dirt clung to the underside of the featherweight fenders landing from a jump broke the back half of the rear fender off.

So, what's the difference between this bike and a trials bike that allows it to go so much faster. That's the disconnect for me, I'm really asking, this isn't a rhetorical question. I'm no trials bike expert, I just saw the video and thought it was a trials bike until I saw that somebody said it wasn't. A trials bike is way lighter than a CR125, they're not really comparable in my eyes. Doesn't a Gas Gas or similar trials bike only weigh 150ish pounds, and aren't they fully suspended also?

Bryce

this is a typical trials bike

notice the lack of seat. most trials bikes also run with a fairly stiff suspension compared to a regular dirt bike. While yes they are also very light weight, they normally are geared for much slower riding than a regular dirt bike.

Sure, but changing gearing, softening the suspension, and adding a seat support are easy to do on a trials bike and add little to no weight. A seat support might add 5 pounds. Ditching the (relatively) big rear tire would make up some of that difference. So, what have people been waiting for, if they really wanted this bike what's been keeping it from happening? I don't see any big departure for the Project M85, at least not any to get worked up about unless you just want to walk into a dealership and get exactly what you had in your head without swapping any parts around.

Bryce

I think it is really sweet. Of course, I work in the bicycle industry, but I am not a downhiller, and I haven't ridden a dirt bike in something like 18 years. :whatthe:

I am impressed with the amount of effort from a couple of guys, and the ultra-light-weight of it. It strikes me as something like the Caterham Superlight of the offroad motorcycle world. :cool:

The typical trials bike has short suspension and in a high speed situation over rough ground it uses that travel way too fast. That leads to the suspension bottoming, meaning it turns into a rigid frame bike, basically. That, in turn, leads to great photo ops and ER visits.

Compare the suspension travel shown here on a trials bike:

to that of a purpose built motocrosser, like this:

and the difference is readily visible. The trials bike is purpose built for low speed clambering over logs and stuff, the MXer is designed to go over them at much higher speeds. Sort of like the difference between a Jeep rockcrawler and a SCORE trophy truck.

If you look at the pics of the bike in the article, the suspension much more closely resembles the MXer in terms of travel.

OMG...those FX bikes are awesome...they're like something out of an anime, or a sci-fi novel, or my dreams. I have to get one. I think the upcoming public availability of those just overshadowed this guy's awesome custom-built bike :omg:

i cant wait to throw a kit on one of those :grin:

.... if you dont understand the reference im sorry

GlennS wrote: i cant wait to throw a kit on one of those :grin: .... if you dont understand the reference im sorry

GYT kit, anyone? :cool: