motorcycles

We've seen some pretty cool custom motorcycle helmets, even a few Predator heads here and there. But none of those quite reach the level of cool demonstrated by Russian company NLO Moto's Predator helmet.

If you felt like a beast on the road before, we imagine this sexy headgear will increase that tenfold. It's built on an actual certified motorcycle helmet as a base, with a fiberglass, carbon fiber, and polyester shell fitted over the top. It has a removable face shield and three optional red LEDs to replicate the Predator's targeting system. … Read more

Styrofoam, a plastic shell, and your own head are the only things separating your brain from the curb if you have an accident. It's a standard setup that most helmet designers use, but that arguably doesn't go far enough, as concussions are still one of the most common injuries bikers suffer in an accident.

What differentiates 6D Helmets' new products are the dual layers designed to protect a rider's head from a broader range of impact than standard helmets -- in particular, low-threshold energy impacts. A standard helmet is certainly useful in high-speed collisions, but 6D's "Omni-Directional Suspension System," or ODS, aims to keep motocross bikers safer in accidents involving less than 10mph of force. … Read more

Testing spacecraft components is no cake walk. It's expensive and can require subjecting them to tremendous amounts of stress and wear and tear, but it's necessary. You can't just blast them up into suborbit and hope they work.

Spacecraft manufacturer XCOR decided to get a little more grounded when it came to testing out components of its new piston pump technology destined for the Lynx Suborbital Spacecraft.

XCOR modified a Triumph motorcycle with propulsion parts and sent it off on a massive road trip from Roswell, N.M., to Mojave, Calif.… Read more

There are two worlds. One is full of leather, growling engines, and the call of the open road. The other is full of TIE fighters, adorable Ewoks, and the call of open space. At last, they have come together.

The Stormtrooper motorcycle suit from UD Replicas melds the power of the Dark Side with the power of leather. It's available in Shadow Trooper Black or Imperial White.

The suit looks suitably intimidating, especially if you opt for the ominous black one. It's made from leather with built-in body armor. This is way tougher than that plastic costume you bought a decade ago.… Read more

Ashland, Ore.-based electric motorcycle manufacturer Brammo announced on Wednesday that it has raised $28 million from investors to boost development of electric powertrain technology.

Leading the charge was investor Polaris Industries, a powersports giant that makes all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, motorcycles and road-legal electric vehicles.

I recall inviting Polaris CEO Scott Wine to SmartPlanet's New York City headquarters way back in February 2010; at the time, we discussed some of his company innovations under development, including military vehicles that can shrug off small arms fire and his company's entry into sustainability, from supply chain simplification to the company'… Read more

Mad Skills Motocross is a fun and addictive game that started on desktop computers, but seems much more suited to the iOS. Sort of in the vein of arcade classic Excitebike, Mad Skills Motocross is a side-scrolling racer in which you race against a single opponent on several challenging tracks. The default controls give you buttons for throttle and brakes on the lower left and buttons for tilt control on the right. You can switch tilt controls to the accelerometer in the settings, but both variations proved to work well after a bit of practice.

You will need practice, by … Read more

If you had a Green Machine tricycle as a youngster in the 1970s, then you were automatically the coolest kid on the block.

You may be all grown up now, but you can still make your friends green with envy with the Lean Mean Green Machine for adults.

The $75,000 trike is 9 feet long and features a 45-inch diameter front wheel. Hammacher Schlemmer (who else would sell such a thing) claims it as the world's largest front motorcycle wheel. The back wheels look they came off of a race car.… Read more

What it lacks in modern elite-precision engineering it more than makes up for in good old nostalgia. And now it can be yours. Fonzie's motorcycle is going up for auction in Los Angeles next month.

Henry Winkler played The Fonz on the classic 1970s sitcom "Happy Days," which looked back on a carefree 1950s in the Midwestern blue collar stronghold of Milwaukee. On the show, the leather-jacket-clad Fonzie rode around town in a 1949 Triumph Trophy TR5 Scrambler Custom--usually with a poodle skirt-clad passenger clinging to his waist. Auction house Bonham's and The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles will play host to the Classic California Sale on November 12, where the bike is expected to sell well north of $50,000, according to the auctioneers. … Read more

In this episode of Crave we have self-cleaning clothes, a poop-powered motorcycle, and an olde-tyme accessory for your iPhone. Plus, we introduce a new How To segment with CNET guru Rafe Needleman, and Eric rounds out the show by unraveling the influences of "The Matrix."

… Read more