Australia Freakin'
I traveled to Australia to bring my bike freakiness to a festival called Corinbank, put on by some of the founders of Rat Patrol Oz. Along the way I was impressed by the variety and cleverness put into the bikes in Australia. There are two prevailing clubs: Rat Patrol Oz located in Canberra, and Tongue of Fire from Adelaide. They didn't even know each other existed when TOF announced a tallbike tournament, so I suggested to RPOZ that they attend and much fun was had.
Here are some of the more impressive bikes from Rat Patrol Oz:
Master Gravity Esquire... it unbolts into two tallbikes and can carry a grill or a sound system.
Schlooong Bike:
Split Pea:
Zeds Dead:
The SS Mitzie (tall amphibious couch trike):
Bebbe Bike:
Here are some of Tongue of Fire's bikes:
Doris Day:
French Horn:
The Golden Gimp:
King and Queen: (this one is not normally ridden that way)
Two Dollar Deal:
Couch Bike:
Three-penny farthing:
Introducing Rat Patrol Russia
Slowly the rat-like tentacles of the Rat Patrol creep around the globe. With the U.S. and Europe an endless battleground, the Rat Patrol has focused on remote and undefended territory, securing the continents of Africa and Australia even as it seeps into the hinterlands of America and Points Continental. It is only natural that the conquistador turn his or her greedy eyes towards the ripe fruit that is Asia.
And what better way to invade Asia than a forced march across eastern Europe? For several months I have been corresponding via long telegram with an agent buried deep within the Northwest Federal District of Russia. He has recently transmitted images of a successful beachhead through which we can access the Eurasian subcontinent. With the recent influx of crappy, flashy department-store bikes from China the iron curtain has fallen and we are poised to peek upon the junky, rusty naked lady within.
And so the Rat Patrol proudly welcomes its newest chapter in St. Petersburg:
These pictures were labeled "Fest", I don't know if that means it's a bunch of Rats who customize storeboughts or if it's just a chopper parade:
Our quest for world domination is in the bag like a hidden jug of whiskey in a shopping-mall Santaland. Now we must train our eyes to listen close for the smell of opportunity in South America and the Orient.
Vintage Freakbikes 2
Gabriel sent me a link to this wonderful collection of vintage articles about freakbikes. Just goes to show, once again, that there's nothing new under the sun.
Check out the whole collection here- all 300 and counting- to see some really wacky stuff.
I've posted the ones I find most interesting.
All scans courtesy of Doug aka Vmax4coco. Thanks Doug!
I've long known of this research case, but never seen the actual unrideable bike before. The front-wheel-drive, rear-steer two-wheeler is considered to be a sort of holy grail of freakbikes because it is theoretically impossible. Think about turning- the rear wheel will swing around, while the front wheel stops dead in its tracks. A bike not in motion will fall over. I've ridden one of these, or tried to, and it's impossible as far as I can tell (seeing as I can ride ANY bike). However, someone once sent me a picture of a version that was indeed rideable- the key is to put the wheels as close together as possible. The frame was just an X, and supposedly it could be ridden by unicycle riders. More research is needed.
