Overview

The Akira Bike (Kaneda's bike from the film) will be the inspiration for the form of this motorcycle. It will first and foremost however be a functional vehicle, the similiaraties to the vehicle from the movie will come secondarily to a safe, reliable, functional well performing vehicle.

There are obvious aspects from the design of the bike in the film that are severe shortcomings when faithfully translated to a functional vehicle. One is the size of the vehicle, another is the lean angle, while others are the drive system and engine placement. Most are somewhat superficial and easy to design around, others are fundamentally different because we do not have the advanced technology depicted in the film, and a few are just plain bad ideas when applied to motorcycles. For the most part though, whoever designed the bike either knew alot about motorcycle design or had many very lucky guesses about certain design aspects.

A very early CAD sketch of the overall design

Embarking on this project will take a lot of time, work, and money. Since 2001 I have been studying in depth motorcycle design and motorcycle physics. I have also taught myself to MIG weld and torch weld / cut, and recently plasma cutting, as well as aluminum casting, machining, and composite construction. In the upcoming months I will be learning more skills necessary for the appropriate construction of this project. Part of the lengthy time involved is the extensive amount of research needed for each aspect of construction.

Design Process

The basic procedure will be to build a custom frame and fit the parts from the Honda CX500 onto it. I will start with a prototype frame, it is to be made of 1" mild steel square tubing, complete the design and construction of the prototype and work out any bugs inherient in the design. After that point I will go back and incorporate any changes needed into a new design and build the entire frame anew, with a bran spanking new engine. Only after this official model is done will I work to fabricate the aerodynamic fairings and windscreen.

The procedure will go as follows...

- Decide on a design concept
- Dissassemble the Honda and measure and model the engine, braking, electrical, and transmission components
- Design a frame that fits the a)Akira motorcycle design, b)the parts from the Honda AND c)is still functional and driveable (the most difficult part!)
- Build the frame
- Assemble the parts
- build and assemble the fiberglass body

There is some info out there on the technical aspects of the Akira powerbike, however most of it is rife with pure speculation. The designs I have seen as of yet tend to underestimate the necessary size of this vehicle. I know this because I have built a full size mockup intended to make sure one could comfortably enter and exit the vehicle, steer, and operate it. It will NOT be able to hold two people, despite the scene in Akira which depicts this. (They were a) teenagers, and b) cartoons after all)

I will not be making available some specific information on my design or the technical aspects of it until the vehicle is built and tested. I dont want anyone killing themselves on what may be a bad idea.

Construction Process

The first construction process started out with angle iron and bolts - where I was hoping to puiece together a very rough prototype before committing to welding and machining. This was quickly abandoned and I started on construction of a 1" mild steel square tube frame design. The status updates detail the progress of the construction of this prototype. Building frame and frame parts has ultimately generally followed this pattern.

• A rough conceptual sketch.
• Creating a detailed design based on the concept sketch in 3D to make sure all components match properly.
• Animating an assembly of related parts to make sure nothing is blocked.
• Creating a steel welding jig or meticulously linging and measuring parts to be welded.
• Tack welding those frame parts.
• Confirming all the measurements of the tack welding and modifying as necessary.
• Then onto final welding.

Frame Jig Design

Prototypes

Later the project was split into two concurrent prototypes. One is the "Power Prototype" which is what is feature in most of the updates and images because it most resembles a finished motorcycle. The other is the "Steering Prototype" which is mostly based on bicycle parts and runs on a 5HP engine from a mini-bike. The Power Prototype will be used to test the egress system, the low speed balance system, and my drive train. The Steering Prototype will be used to test and determine the best variables for steering and also to provide another test of my drive train system.

Final Model

The results of the testing of both the Power Prototype and Steering Prototype will be incorporated into a new design which will be built properly from round tubing and new engine parts with compelte aerodynamic fairings.

Features s

This is not a conventional bike merely assembled from off the shelf parts, a lot of custom work is going into this, and I don't mean welded spider webs or billet spokes, but into new innovative features unique to this bike and not present in motorcycles. This is also part of the reason the build is taking some time, not only am I designing and inventing some new components, but in some cases I must design and build the machines needed to make these components.

With that, some of the features I can detail on this bike are as follows

Long Wheelbase

Low Center of Gravity

Low Aerodynamic Profile and Coeffecient of Drag

Leading Link Front Suspension

Recumbant Seating

Powered Egress

Low Speed Dynamic Balancing

Overall Progress

		The earliest of the design phases, worked out back in 2001. Generally the overall geometry and look and feel for the bike was worked out here. Granted it's very simplistic, but I think it has an attractive appeal.
Not too long after I started the project I acquired a 1980 Honda CX500 for free, a great parts bike that was quickly disassembled. Astute observers will note that this is not a CX500, but a CBF750, acquired a year or so later in the project. Much iof it was used for the Akira Bike project as well, but the engine was sold to a friend and used in his Chopper project "Chopzilla"
		Here you can see most of the originally designed frame, as well as the very start of actual construction.
Most of the Power Prototype design with some of the components included in the geometry. This will be a hard tail bike. It is, again, only for a brief period of testing, then an entirely new model will be produced.
		Much more frame progress has taken place by 2002, including the geometry of the powered egress system, where the entire front end riases up.
More ofthe Frame completed as well as many componetns added
		Here the details of the front end emerge, the pwoeredegress assembly wihich rotates around a virtual pivot point, the leading link front suspension system, and the handlebar control and locking assembly.
A great picture of the Work In Progress as of 2007
		A glimpse of the steering prototype.The wood is all jig.
A decent rendering of the current state of the final design which will be built after testing is complete. This design has almost all details included, from individual bolts to the clasp mounting points for the carbon fiber body.

Check back soon for more!