In December 2007 I wrote about steampunk motorcycles. It was a wildly popular post and, to this day, is my most-viewed post ever. Back then steampunk wasn’t necessarily a new concept, but was quickly gaining speed in becoming a massively popular trend.
Since then, the steampunk movement has become it’s own subculture, popular among goths, punks, cybergoths, rivetheads, gamers, and geeks. It has influenced fashion, art, books and movies and there was even a steampunk cruise on Sydney Harbor for those who dress up wearing cool goggles and their neo-Victorian best.
a fine example of steampunk fashion (from the LiveJournal Steampunk community)
So, what is steampunk?
The literal definition of steampunk is: a genre of science fiction set in Victorian times when steam was the main source of machine power. But the original idea of steampunk came from scientific, fantasy novels written by H.G Wells and Jules Vern. A facet of steampunk culture is comprised of modifying a modern object (computers, ipods, guitars & amps, etc.) using materials like old cogs & gears, rivets, polished brass, iron, and wood.
Movies like Hellboy and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen incorporate a lot of the steampunk aesthetic.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Capt. Nemo's car from LXG
Steampunk motorcycles
OK, now on to the good stuff.
Some of the motorcycles highlighted here may not necessarily been created with steampunk specifically in mind, but the end result of the design can easily fall into the category.
The Whirlygig Emoto is a steam-electric hybrid motorcycle that actually doesn’t “go” using steam, it’s propelled by propane and batteries. You can read my original post about it and even watch video of it in action!
Whirlygig Emoto
Dave Geertsen’s metal sculpture on wheels. There are more photos of his creation at bentwheel.com.
Dave Geertsen's steampunk creation
Choi Minsoo’s steampunk motorcycle is a hybrid motorcycle powered by gasoline and electricity, and the big box on the bike probably holds the batteries.
Choi Minsoo’s steampunk motorcycle
Newstalgia Wheel created this steampunk-styled chopper.
Newstalgia Wheel's retro meets modern, steampunk chopper
Confederate Motor Company’s Hellcat Combat and P120 Fighter.
Confederate Motor Company's Hellcat Custom
Confederate Motor Company's P120 Fighter
Concept bike RK Chain from RK Concepts
RK Chain from RK Concepts
Victory Motorcycles concept bike, the Victory CORE.
Victory CORE concept
Bike builder Chicara Nagata hand-crafts every element on these bikes that he can, except for the antique drivetrains he uses. There are almost 500 parts on each bike and fabricating each part and assembling it can take Nagata up to 7,500 hours per bike, which cost a cool million each.
Chicara Art Classic 1
Chicara Art Classic 2
Chicara Art Classic 3
Chicara Art Classic 4
Are you drooling yet? I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a spare million for one of Chicara’s bikes (although I wish I did!).
More, more, more Steampunk
So do you think Steampunk is the coolest thing you’ve ever seen, or you just don’t get it and you want to learn more? Here are some great sites to peruse and discover more:
Steampunk Workshop: for all things steampunk
Boing Boing: the geekier side of steampunk
Steampunk Fashion Flickr group: this is how the kids do it
Related posts:
Steampunk motorcycles
Video Thursday: Steampunk motorbike