A cabin cycle is a form of land vehicle with a hull that wraps around the basic bicycle or motorcycle design. Unlike traditional designs, the chassis can be moulded to reduce drag when travelling at high speeds. Some 3-wheeled variants are commonly known as auto rickshaws or tuk-tuks. In eastern Europe, they are also called "dalniks". Streamliner variants have been known for challenging land speed records, with the current fastest FIM record of 322.150 mph, set by Easyriders Streamliner. Although not a strict requirement, most cabin motorcycles are also classified as two wheeled cars or feet forwards motorcycles.
History
The origin of cabin motorcycles can be traced to the 1920s, when it was an experiment known as Mauser. Contemporary builders such as Larel Horak were also credited for the early cabin motorcycle designs. In the 1930s, an Aero Vodochody engineer named Jan Anderle created a series of dalnik motorcycles. His idea of building an inexpensive two-wheeled car proved to be very popular with other Eastern European handymen after WW2, and many more experimental models were made. Anderle and his wife escaped to the West after the partitioning of Eastern Europe, but his wife persuaded him to return. Unfortunately, after they got back, he was arrested for treason and forced to work in the state uranium mines for the next 15 years. He spent much of the rest of his life in poverty and died in obscurity in 1982. Still, his influence over the vehicle type whose name he coined was immeasurable.
List of known cabin cycle manufacturers
- Bajaj
- BMW C1 (Discontinued 2003)
- Carver
- Campagna Corporation
- Fine Mobile GmbH (TWIKE)
- NSU Motorenwerke AG
- Honda (GYRO Canopy)
- Peraves AG Ecomobilefabrik
- Piaggio
- Quasar
- Norsjö Shopper
