SteamPunks and Dinosaurs: Two More Unique Concepts

SteamPunks and Dinosaurs: Two More Unique Concepts

This week we were treated to two interesting and unique concept bikes. Though one of the two doesn't take itself too serious.

The SteamPunk V-Max 1700 by Carlex Design

The first of of these two bikes came from Carlex Design, a company known for their exotic custom auto interiors. This isn't the first time the folks over at Carlex Design have dabbled with the SteamPunk theme having made car interiors of the same flavor.

Carlex Design has previously customized a V-Max, albeit with a very different feel to their SteamPunk version with their first V-Max consisting of a clean modern look adorned in carbon fiber. This time when customizing a two-wheeler they opted to modify a Yamaha V-Max 1700. With ample pertruding parts and more surface area available to work with than most bikes, but still having a lot of visible mechanical parts with it's fully exposed engine and it's not hard to see why they went with the V-Max.

Carlex Design gave the bike an almost post-apocalyptic look, heavily influenced by industrial style accents and metals. The rugged and organic looking leather with its "rough stitching" does admittedly contribute a lot to the bike's overall transformation. The seat, pillion, brake/shift/clutch foot and hand levers, tank, grips and front fender are all covered in the aforementioned leather.

It personally reminds me a lot of the Diavel Diesel released earlier this year. I also seriously question the amount of die hard Steampunk enthusiasts who are also passionate about motorcycles. I'd be willing to be the vendiagram would have a small cross-section. Nonetheless Carlex Design have made a unique and unusual cruiser.

The Mugen Shinden E-Rex

The other bike unveiled this week was an MX concept from Mugen Shinden, an electronic bike company that's a subsidiary of Honda. Mugen are probably best known for their entries into the zero emissions TT event at the Isle of Man. Their newest prototype however is far more playful than anything involved with the TT and would be the bike my 8-year-old self would have selected if tasked with picking an electric MX bike. The Mugen Shinden E-Rex is an all electric bike that borrows its frame from a Honda CRF 250 and sports some dinosaur-inspired bodywork. This bike is plain fun.

While this does demonstrate the company's aim into the e-dirt market, I wouldn't count on seeing this ridiculous body design make it to production. Even the bike's monicker is somewhat of a joke, With the "E" standing for "Electronic" taking the place of the (convienetly rhyming) "T" in "T-Rex". It was arguably clever of the people at Mugen to deliver a product this unique as it's far more memorable than offerings from their competitors. Though the silly-factor isn't something I would have anticipated from a Japanese company like Mugen.

What do you think of these two bikes? If Mugen made a limited production bike with these exact bodies, would you want one? Finally, a motorcycle toddlers can be excited about.