Eleven feet long and 150 lbs, the “Blackbird” is “a fully custom made electric recumbent chopper bicycle constructed of off-the-shelf parts from the hardware store” combined with scrap bike components, along with a commercial motor and battery. As for being super-charged, this bike is driven by a 36V DC motor capable of delivering 50 miles per charge at up to 20 MPH. If necessary, it can be switched off and instantly becomes a pedal-powered chopper! An array of cateyes, headlights, a pair of monkeylights, and even a singular spinning strobe light would definitely cause this machine to be confused with a UFO late at night!
The maker, Cat Woodmansee, says, “It is mad science, and is abundantly cool. But it is a serious transportation machine, totally practical.” Cat claims to have logged over 15,000 miles in daily commutes.
Find this “Blackbird” Super Cruiser at the forthcoming Maker Faire Bay Area. It’ll be parked in the west lot along with other electric cars and solar vehicles. See you there!
14 thoughts on “Blackbird is a Super-Charged Pedal-Powered Super-Cruiser!”
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I would be all over this if my bike requirements have one thing first:
ZOMBIE SURVIVAL.
this is not a good choice for that because it is, by name, a cruiser- ie a road only bike.
yes i am quite aware of the incredible work that went into this, and applaud the creator.
I see where you’re going with this… perhaps consider the advantage to an open-framed bike like this, is more useful when you want to quickly pull out a chainsaw from its holster and joust with a zombie blocking your path. As long as its not the kind of zombie whose blood also infects, the road only bike is probably preferred (unless you need to pedal to escape!).
Whatever. I’m grabbing this thing after Cat Woodmansee gets eaten so I can look super-cool when I die, too.
+1!!!
[…] shot framed, but his face is completely obstructed by his side mirror. He also didn’t see the blog post I wrote prior to the Faire, but said he would look it up. Very unique project, ideal for his commute and […]
[…] shot framed, but his face is completely obstructed by his side mirror. He also didn’t see the blog post I wrote prior to the Faire, but said he would look it up. Very unique project, ideal for his commute and […]