[Closed] Lotus C-01 : Fancy motorbike content

I should hate that, but I'm not going to.

I hate it... however it's also exceptionally cool. !

Dumb, the triumph of style over substance. Like a sleek Harley, designed to appeal to people who want a premade image more than a bike.

What the smeg is the head angle?

mogrim - Member

Like a sleek Harley

With 200bhp.

52 degrees....

What the smeg is the head angle?

52 degrees apparently - it doesn't appear to have been designed for a road with curves in it.

Northwind - Member
mogrim - Member
Like a sleek Harley

With 200bhp.

Which isn't that impressive, given it weighs a ton. I'm sure it sounds lovely though.

According to the website it weighs 181kg dry. Reckon wet it'll be sub 200 as it's only got a 10l tank. Its truly awful. Colin Chapman must be doing about 9000rpm

I take it back, it doesn't weigh a ton. Basically the same power-weight ratio as a BMW 1000RR, except the latter carries 17.5l and can go round corners.

Colin Chapman must be doing about 9000rpm

Chuckled

I take it they dont handle particularly well then?

Claimed dry weight is 181kg. Which is about 20kg more than an 1199 Panigale, which seems a reasonable comparison... But tbf the margin of gigantic lies told by motorbike manufacturers means that doesn't really mean anything. (Ducati's margin for [s]error[/s] marketing was over 25kg for the 1098, who knows what Lotus's might be)

But it looks awesome!

Bit of a shame really, Lotus is otherwise such a cool brand.

I take it they dont handle particularly well then?

It's basically a Harley chopper covered in carbon fibre: huge fork rake and a massive back wheel are great for straight line stability, but useless when it comes to turning. Unfortunately the very stylish but also useless fairing means it won't be very good at high speed, either. So, good in a straight line up to about 100mph.

they seem to have forgotten the number plates as well.

Caterham ideas

Road
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Off road
[img] [/img]

[i]Bit of a shame really, Lotus is otherwise such a cool brand.[/i]

Since when?

mmm - 230Kg with 24l of fuel on board. At least it looks like it has a better chance of going round corners (though not quite as easy on sand as I might have hoped last night!!!!)

Rachel

[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/14403580964_468ff5c7eb_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/14403580964_468ff5c7eb_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/nWN7NQ ]IMG_1116[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people// ]rachel_norfolk[/url], on Flickr

mogrim - Member

It's basically a Harley chopper covered in carbon fibre: huge fork rake and a massive back wheel are great for straight line stability, but useless when it comes to turning. Unfortunately the very stylish but also useless fairing means it won't be very good at high speed, either. So, good in a straight line up to about 100mph.

Then add a riding position that'll make relaxed harley cruising impossible.

(also, where am I supposed to stick my tank bag! For that reason, I'm out!)

liking the Martini racing colours. My old man used to have a Yamaha XS 1.1 Martini, loved that bike when I was a kid.

Drag bike style thing looks rather good, will take one in Martini colours 😀

nickc - Member
Bit of a shame really, Lotus is otherwise such a cool brand.

I like 'em, you may not. Great looking and driving cars, some with issues. A great British car brand IMO.

^^ shingle??

As far as the Lotus goes it looks like that TRON thing form the 80's.

Not a fan, wasn't a fan back then either and this bike just makes me think of the 80's.

Maybe thats what the current trend for middle aged Blokes is, remembering the 80's.. I mean Harleys look like the 80's with a bit of black paint on them.

Hey ho, I like Rachels bike a helluvalotmore...^^

Hey ho, I like Rachels bike a helluvalotmore...^^

+1!

A great [s]British[/s] Korean car brand IMO.

FTFY

[url= http://danielsimon.com/lotus-c-01-motorcycle-design/ ]Here[/url]'s a link to the C-01 on Daniel Simon's website. It's designed by a guy that does flight of fancy vehicles for movies so of course it's going to look awesome.

I love how there's criticism of it's dynamics already when it's been little more than prototyped - all details are "subject to change" so that head angle could easily be steepened up. I'm more perturbed by the twinshocks. I doubt that fits with "simplify and add lightness".

[url= http://www.lotus-motorcycles.com/ ]Lotus Motorcycles website[/url]

I love how there's criticism of it's dynamics already when it's been little more than prototyped

yep isn't it 😉

Some more info here.
http://danielsimon.com/lotus-c-01-motorcycle-design/
Seems like it's nothing to do with Lotus apart from them licensing their name to it.

Yes, it's not a proper motorbike, but I reckon it looks great.

bikebouy - Member

As far as the Lotus goes it looks like that TRON thing form the 80's.

I think the designer bloke is the one who designed the bikes for the recent-(ish) TRON film, so makes sense....

Speeder - Member

I love how there's criticism of it's dynamics already when it's been little more than prototyped - all details are "subject to change" so that head angle could easily be steepened up.

The changes it'd need to make it anything but a straight line queen are so big, it'd be a change of direction not a design tweak

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

I love how there's criticism of it's dynamics already when it's been little more than prototyped - all details are "subject to change" so that head angle could easily be steepened up.

It's hard to comment on a model that hasn't been built yet, it's pretty obvious those of us who are criticising are basing it on the information currently available 🙄

one of my friends on FB posted that he had just passed a 'tron' bike on the road near Edinburgh. I wonder if it was a prototype of the Lotus.

Just for balance and all that..

[img] [/img]

As a styling exercise, it's amazing. Properly jaw-dropping. The fact that it's made it to road-legal prototype stage implies that it's not far off production. In which case the major dimensions will be roughly as they are now. To make it handle properly it would need major hacking about.

What's so utterly disappointing is that Lotus have been taunting us for years and years with talk of wizzy 400 or 600cc supercharged-turbocharged variable-compression direct injection 2-strokes that would turn the world of biking upside down. To have them now put their name to this (it's running the 1195 v-twin from the KTM RC8) is a bit of a let-down.

Just for balance, we work less than 0.5 miles from a Ducati main dealer and sometimes spend lunchtime in there making the place look untidy

Although the bikes look great, Ducati and the dealers go to great lengths to park the bikes so the punters only see the 'good' side which is the side opposite the side stand. The 'bad' side is a horrible collection of pipes tubes wires and plastic panels. The new Monster is particularly godawful in this respect as is the Panigale except it's covered by even more plastic.

Just recently a punter was being robbed of £1,700 for a full service + chain + tyre

Just saying like

The 1199 is still gorgeous from both sides.