Current Progress
(scroll down for latest update)
- Update 09/14/2007 -
Major update today. I am focusing now on getting a rolling chassis completed, so I have been working on the front end most for the last few weeks. In this update, I cast the fork mounts, suspension brackets, and leading link. Click on the picture or here for the full update
- Update 05/02/2007 -
Work is progressing nicely, I have been working a few hours on the bike almost every night. The Steering column assembly on the Power Prototype is approaching completion. This is a complex assembly as the whole thing rises up above the rider just as it does in the film. I'll post a video of it in action once this portion is complete.
- Progress Chart -
This progress chart is only relative to the day it was posted, early May 2007. A lot of work was completed prior to that.
I'll try to continually update the chart
If you are interested in assisting with the project either materially or financially please visit the contribute page.
- Update 03/05/2007 -
I have received quite a few inquiries on the bike project and I just wanted to let everyone know, I am still working on the project, but as you have obviously guessed progress has slowed. It has not slowed, though, as much as it seems from the lack of updates. I am not trying to build a bike that merely looks like an Akira Inspired bike, it will be a functional vehicle, and, I think, a superlatively functional vehicle compared to common motorcycles. Work on this project has led me to a few corollary projects which, if they work, I will patent but include in my Akira Bike design. There are complexities inherent in a functional vehicle like this that require some innovative solutions. Unfortunately these solutions require developing and testing of their own, currently I am building a machine which I need to build a functional prototype of one of these innovations. Because these are things that if they work I hope to patent, I haven’t been publishing any information on them, so it looks like the project has slowed more than it has. Additionally though, the project has slowed because of other circumstances which have limited the time and money I can devote to this project (which is extremely frustrating for me, as I would work on this every second if I could) Currently I am building two different prototypes to test out different aspects of the design, I then intend to build a new, 3rd one, out of all new components incorporating all of these designs. If everything works half as well as I think it will, I think many people will be quite impressed by the result of the project. So don't worry too much, though I appreciate the concern and implicit encouragement, but the project will sadly probably still take another year or two, unless my situation changes so that I can devote as much of the time and energy I want to on the project. I will post some salient updates as soon as it is feasible. Thank you again everyone. If you are interested in assisting with the project either materially or financially please visit the contribute page.
The Akira Bike Project is sponsored by:
Sponsored by means if you want to support the project, BUY ONE OF THESE
- Update 01/19/2006-
As I mentioned in the last update this project will be diverting into three related paths. The first is a bicycle based design whose geometry is similiar to my design for the Akira Bike. This bike will get a small engine and will be used to test out some of the geometry, steering, and drive train variables.
- Update 09/13/2005-
The new Frame Jig design
Well a temoporary but unfortunately a little too long employment trough had delayed the bike project, but now things are back on the up swing and I will soon have a lot of spare money to throw at this project. I have moved my shop again this time to a slightly larger two car detatched garage instead of the shop I was renting before, sometime soon I hope to be moving onto a 3 car garage. The news generated by the NEO-FUKYOKO design has tapered off singificantly yet my site is still getting over 100,000 hits per month. No doubt motorcyclists probably feel, as I do, that the NEO design was much more about show than any semblance of functionality. Thank you to everyone for your persistence in keeping up with the project, I am sorry it is taking me so long but it is a large and complex undertaking.
Pouring molten Aluminum
During this time I have learned a new skill, pictured is me pouring some molten aluminium into a sand mold. The ability to melt, pour, and cast aluminum has been one of the most enjoyable skills to acquire during this process. Behind it is the steel furnace I welded to heat the crucible in.
This project will likely branch into three related projects now. Project 1 will be the commencent of the construction of a completely new bike, with all new components, from the ground up, done right. Project 2 will be a continuation of the existing prototype, which will primarily be used to test the drive and control systems that will be integrated into the final version. Project 3 will be a recumbant bicycle with adjustable steering geometry in order to have a better sense of how this long low vehicle will be controlled. All 3 are well underway.
My listed contact of matus1976@onebox.com is no longer valid and has been down for a few months, so if you sent an email to it recently I did not recieve it. You can email me at;
- Update 04/23/2004 -
Well first off let me thank everyone who emailed me about the NEO-FUKUOKO project unveiled at the Tokyo Motorcycle show.
Additionally, to everyone who has requested email updates please be patient while I resolve the issues I am having with the mailing list.
For those who don't know about the NEO-FUKUOKO project it is an allegedly functional motorcycle inspired by Kaneda's bike from Akira was presented.
Click here for more info on the update, or either of the above pictures.
Matus
- Update 01/25/2004 -
Here is my brother testing out the newly made foot rests.
Here is the second fork version, as alluded to before, mounted on the steering
column.
This update includes the construction and mounting of the foot rests, and the re-design of the fork and its subsequent remaking. Click here to see the details
Also updated Research Images with some great new pictures.
Matus
- 11/18/03 -
Please see - How Can I help?
- Update 11/04/2003 -
The preliminary front fork has been completed. Click above or here
to see.
- Update 09/10/2003 -
This update documents the building of the Steering Column Housing, which you can see mounted in the above picture with the steering column inserted. Click on the picture or here for more info.
Just added - Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Also added - Research and reference images
- Update 04/25/2003 -
Virtual Pivot point mounting brackets welded to the frame, and the virtual
pivot point bars mounted and connected to the Steering column brackets. Click
here or on the photo for more info
- Update 02/08/2003 -
I am working approximately 60 hours per week now, so progress will slow for a little while. Here is where I am at so far. Built the front of the frame, the tires came in, and here I have it all lined up. You can really start to see the shape of the vehicle taking form. Click on the photo or here for more info.
- Update 12/17/2002 -
I am no making significant progress on the frame, here you can see the front of the rear section is done, and the bottom section. These parts are only tack welded right now. The bottom section adds signficant stiffness to resist twisting effects of the frame. At the rear of the frame you can see where the engine mounts to it. Click the picture or here for more info
- Update 11/21/2002 -
Update for November, a full size mockup was built to verify the angles and dimensions relating to the pilot. They where the only things that could not be accurately modeled. This is not the final seat or foot rests! This is all temporary with the exception of the metal frame base and the engine of course. See here for details
- Update 08/12/2002 -
Update for August, the engine mounting brackets were made and welded to the frame. The various components were added to the engine and its functionality was verified. Now the parts will be removed and I will move ahead with construction. I will be posting a video of the engine running soon, keep checking back.
- Matus
8/13/2002 - See the Engine running Engine.zip
(this video was recorded sideways, if anyone has the capability
to turn a video easily and would volunteer to do this please let me know)
- Update 06/13/2002 -
Construction has officially started! Above and to the right is the current state of the frame. To the left is the rendered frame with the portion that was constructed over the last few days highlighted!. Welding takes a lot of practice to learn well. Click on the picture for more information on this update. The complete design of the bike is still not finished, as I animate the assembly of the bike I find things interfereing here and there and design changes need to be made. I will be constructing the frame as the individual part of that design is finalized. My hope is to get building this thing while not ending up going back and redoing anything.
Matus
- Update 04/30/2002 -
Things are still progressing, though there have been some changes. I have the Honda 550 almost completely gutted, the engine and all components have been removed from it. Above is the Engine and exhause assembly placed on the square frame. The most significant change (at least right now) is that I have abandoned the square frame phase of the developement. It has become redundant in the light o accurately modeling the design in 3D. There are a few areas of concern still in the design, but hopefully I can work them out in the building phase.
Instead of making the square frame version I have moved right on to designing the final frame around the now removed and 3D modeled components. I am fitting these components together as best as possible while still maintaining the Akira Design. The final product should end up similiar to the orignal 3D sketches posted a few months ago. But more design work is needed.
I have purchased a Miller Millermatic 135 Mig welding unit, thanks to a contribution from a supporter, its a low end unit and perfect for home projects, plugs right into a standard US outlet 115VAC. The frame will likely be made from mild steel instead of Chome Moly but that still is up in there air.
Before proceeding with construction I will need to be reasonable good at welding, and this is the stage I am at now. I plan to spend about an hour a night practicing so hopefully in a few weeks I should be pretty proficient, proficient enough anyway.
Click here for more info on this update
Keep checking back for more updates!
- Matus
- Update 03/19/2002 -
More work has been completed on the square frame. This frame is only a temporary frame to complete and finalize the dimensions of the bike. The components of the Honda 500 (engine, airbox, carb, battery, etc.) will be added to it and simple functional tests will be done. Once the dimensions are finalized a new frame will be welded out of tube steel. The wood and seat cushions are not permanent, so dont email me telling me that look stupid! Click here for more info.
- Matus
- Update 02/28/2002 -
I have been spending time doing research and developing more of the design ideas. The frame concept is hopefully frozen now, and I have started construction on the 'square' frame now. More technical details will be posted soon. Click here to see details of the frame construction
- Matus
- Update 01/22/2002 -
Things are progressing well, below is pictured the steering column center with the axial collars, the bearing cones, the bearing cups, and the outer axial collar. I may end up re-making the center column and possible one of the outer outer collars.
Click here or on the picture to see a detail of the work done.
- Update 12/26/2001 -
I have ordered more metal from www.onlinemetals.com (despite no responses to email queries) and have settled on using a steel tube for the steering column housing, at least for now. I will also need to order some larger ChromeMoly bars.
The Fork mount collars on the steering column were started, I drilled and cut them today. The collars will be welded to a base in which the angled bars will be bolted to which is what the structural component of the fork will mount to. I still need to order the metal for the base of these mounts.
The axial bearing collars were also moved toward the center of the steering column 1/2 inch, according to the recent modifications to the design.
Click the above picture or here to view the work done.
- Update 12/15/2001 -
Completed - steering column shaft with axial collars
Things are going well on the bike, I plan to devote two evenings 4 hours each evening once the holiday passes. I have ordered and recieved a good amount of metal as it is, thanks to generous contributions from people interested in the project.
The Design is still an evolving mesh of ideas. The steering column mounting underwent significant changes during the last few days, even while I was building the steerming column center. I am still lacking metal to use as the housing for the steering column, as I have been unable to find ChromeMoly tube with an inside diameter of 2.0 inches (I will also need tubes slightly larger than that as well) No thanks to the unreturned emails from onlinemetals.com inquiring about such a tube. Though I may end up using a steel pipe, I have been looking for the actual structural differences between the steel I have found in that size and Chrome Moly.
As mentioned above I have completed the Steering Column shaft with axial collars. This design has since changed slightly, but the modifications will be made easily as there are no welds. The long delay came mostly from the need to acquire the proper tools. I have since purchased a grinding wheel, compound miter saw, 9" drill press and a few other tools to work on this project with.
completed steering column shaft with axial collars.
Click on the picture above or here to see the detail of the work done so far.
- Update 10/25/2001 -
Ok, things are starting to come together. I have ordered my first piece of Chrome Moly from online metals (www.onlinemetals.com) Actually, I ordered it on the 15th, but the stock was just replenished today. The people there were quite nice and upgraded the shipping so it should be here within 3 days. The front suspension and steering design is almost done, about 90% complete Id guess. Still have a little work to do on the geometry of the wheel mount in relation to the suspension fork. Should not pose to much of a difficulty however.
I have spent a lot of time recently getting down the technical descriptions of the bike because my potential investor has been upgraded to a active investor. As soon as the technical descriptions are done and the proprietary information completed, he will be ready to support the project. If all goes well, construction should start within two weeks.
- Matus
- Update 10/11/2001 -
Good news for the update. 1st of all, I picked up another bike on Friday of last week.
Its a Honda, 1984 (I think) inline 4 cyclinder 750 CC. This vehicle is in excellent condition and has only 6000 miles on it. For now, Ill keep it together, but its inline 4 may fit much better into the Akira frame... hmm...
Second I found a metal and a bearing supplier. Originally I had priced Metric bearings and was having difficulty finding a metric metal supplier who sold Chrome Moly in metric sizes (as the English equivalent sizes did not fit properly). I will be getting the Chrome Moly 4130 tubing from Online Metals <http://www.onlinemetals.com/>
The bearings I actually picked up today, I bought 4 TIMKEN tapered bearing assemblies. The 'assembly' refers to both the 'cup' housing for the bearings and the 'cone' which contains the bearings. Here is one set...
On the left is the 'cup' You can not see it too well in this image, but it has a conical interior. On the right is the tapered bearing. I paid $16 for the assembly and bought 4 assemblies.
Here also is a picture of the disembodied radiator housing
Thats all for this time! Hopefully tomorrow I will start ordering some metal as the Fork design is pretty much finalized. Construction will be starting soon, so far, I am on schedule...
- Matus
- Update 10/03/2001 -
I have spent some more time disassembling the current Honda. Today I was able to remove the radiator and cooling system. The Honda is slowly getting down to bare bones components. I would have made more progress by this time had Honda not decided to use soft metals for thier structural bolts (I am sure there is some reason for this, but it illudes me) The bolts were getting stripped (the heads were). I ended up coming up with an spectacular idea for getting stripped bolts out which I may patent. I ran down to the local Home Depot and bought the equipement necessary and it worked perfectly, the bolts came out very easily in little time...
So right now the Honda is minus the Carberautor, the radiator, the airbox, and the gas tank. Here is the picture of it as of yesterday
In this picture the radiator is still present.
I have found a bearing distributor, turns out the place by my work office sells generic versions of the bearings I need. I think I picked out a bearing model which looks good, I just need to find a metal supplier that I can get Chrome-Moly from in Metric sizes. I just started looking today, so hopefully I will find one soon, at which point I can start actually constructing the vehicle.
I have a lead on another Honda which I may get at a great price. I will use it to fool around with while this one is underconstruction and as spare parts in case any parts on the original Honda fail. I should be taking a look at it tomorrow.
I spent a good amount of time yesterday and today putting together a quick 3D model of the full bike.
This design is not yet finalized and is only meant as a representation. The scale is pretty accurate with the exception of the engine, I need to check my 3D models accuracy again on the engine. The wheel diameters and widths are still somewhat arbitrary and have not yet been finalized. It is missing the rear view mirrors and the instrumentation on the center console. One piston of either side of the Honda V Twin engine can be seen protruding. This also my not be the final orientation of the engine as I still have to account for the cooling system, the air box, carb, and exhaust.
For more pictures, check out the Preview Gallery
Until next time...
- Matus
- Update 9/27/2001 -
I am still looking for information on bearings, I have picked a company but I am still looking to identify the right model number. I have settled on using tapered roller bearings instead of a pair of radial bearings and thrust bearings.
The primary use of bearings is to provide to surfaces pressed against each other the ability to move in relation to one another.
In this image of a two row tapered bearing you can see the conical shaped rollers sandwiched in between two metal tracks. The bearings I need are single row, not two row, but otherwise are the same.
These bearings will sit in the steering column, the main steering structural column will consist of a hollow Chrom-moly tube, two small rings will be welded to the outside of that tube toward the center of it, the tapered bearings will then be placed outside of those rings. Tapered bearings can handle both radial loads (loads that push the inner circular ring against the outer one) and axial loads (loads which a forces applied on the axis of the tube) Often, bearings for handling radial loads are just called 'Radial Bearings' and bearings for handling axial loads are called 'Thrust Bearings', Tapered bearings combine both of these into one unit.
I am looking for a bearing that has an inner diameter (or bore) of 1.5" and an outer diameter of ~2.5". The combination of the Axial load and the radial load must be able to handle the entire decellerative force of the vehicle, which, with a good degree of safety margins, will be about 10,000 lbs on each bearing (assuming rapid decelleration with the majoprity of the load applied to the front of the vehicle)
I will most likely be getting some bearings from Timken (www.timken.com) but have not definately settled on a vendor or the specs of the bearing. I estimate they will cost between $10 - $50 each.
I came up with some preliminary designs for the rear drive system. My requirements are complex and trying to envision a simplest solution as possible took a good four pages in my notebook of sketches and re-sketches. I think I have a working design that will be easy enough for me to build and robust enough to handle the necessary loads. Specifics of design are available with contributions.
- Matus
- Update 9/22/2001 -
Over the weekend I finalized many of the specs of the front steering column mount and create many of the parts in a 3D animation and modeling program. I created an animation of the parts being assembled in the order to make sure no particular part would prevent any other part from being added.
Download Animation here
The protoype will have few welds and will be held mostly by bolts, as this will ease the changing of parts of the design later on or the implenentation of added design features.
I have yet to model the suspension mounts on the structural fork. The cylinder in the center is the housing which the steering column rotates around. The angled brackets hold the structural fork with an offset of 1.5". The actual handle bars have yet to be designed, but will bolt to the end of the "v" bracket.
I have also decided on the primary structural material, it will be a steel alloy often reffered to as 'Chrome-Moly' In the industry it is reffered to as steel 4130, it has a high stength to wieght ration, costs about 50 cents for 1" of a 1.5" diamter tube. Alloy 4130 is a general purpose high strenght steel with Chromium and Molybdenum. It is strong and ligthweight and is frequently used in the airline, autmotive, and motorcycle industry. I will post material properties of it later.
- Matus
- Update 9/20/2001 -
- Compiled this web site for the first time.
- Have a possible investor inline
- Current Status of project: I have a acquired a motorcycle (Honda
CX 500, a generous donation from my coworker Dave) to use the engine, transmission,
braking system, fork, wheels, carberautor, and whatever else is necessary.
Basically I will be fitting the components from this bike onto an Akira like
frame. The disassembly of the motorcycle has begun, so far the Carbuerator
has been removed (though not yet cleaned, the jets are likely clogged). Many
of the miscellaneous components have been removed from the frame of the Honda,
including the windscreen, fuel tank, fuel tap, seat, and splash guard. As
for the design I pretty much have the general concept realized, the front
fork / steering / suspension system has been decided upon (thought not officially
finalized in my eyes, it is close)
- Matus
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