Holy Holes, Batman! WMC and Pininfarina Are On The Quest to Sell You a Wind Tunnel on Wheels
Image Credit: WMC/Pininfarina.
It's Friday; I'm looking forward to an early finish and a weekend full of scenic riding down the sunny coast, and then bam! An email lands in my inbox: White Motorcycle Concepts and those Italian wizards of style at Pininfarina are teaming up? They're not just playing dress-up with a few sketches; they're actually trying to sell us motorcycles with holes in them. I gotta see that.
This isn't the first time we've met White Motorcycle Concepts; in fact, Anna wrote about them only a few months ago and explained how these guys cut a hole through the entire motorbike. Initially, I thought shoving a giant duct through the middle of a motorcycle is a perfect recipe for disaster. But these blokes? Oh, they're dead serious. They've been tinkering with this "V-Air" technology for years. And now, since they have Pininfarina's help, they're ready to unleash it on the unsuspecting public.
Image Credit: WMC/Pininfarina.
Before you start huffing and puffing - this isn't some wild pie-in-the-sky concept. They've got patents, they've got prototypes, and they've got a burning desire to make every other motorcycle on the road look like a brick wall. They've been testing this design on electric speed record bikes, and now they want to put it on a roadster, a bike you can actually ride to the shops.
The whole point, as they keep hammering home, is efficiency. By routing air through the bike instead of around it, they're slashing drag and boosting performance. Think of it like a shortcut for air. I know I love shortcuts. Especially when it means you can go faster and further on less juice.
Image Credit: WMC/Pininfarina.
Pininfarina, the uncontested maestros of automotive elegance, have taken this rather…unconventional concept and turned it into something that actually looks good. Scratch that - it looks amazing! They've designed a roadster that uses the duct as a structural element, which, if you ask me, is a stroke of genius.
There's one interesting change from the previous concept. WMC is walking away from an all-electric setup and focusing on a compact, forced-induction hybrid powertrain. A little combustion engine, a little electric motor, all working together to maximize performance and efficiency. It's a team-up of a squirrel and a cheetah, working together to pull a sled. Odd, but very effective.
You may wanna sit down for the next bit. WMC has used this revolutionary “air ducting” on their land speed motorcycle WMC250EV. That futuristic machine achieved air drag reductions of up to 70%. Seventy percent! That's like going from trying to run through treacle to running on air. And they're not just making these numbers up. They've got wind tunnel data, they've got real-world tests, and they've got Guy Martin, the speed demon himself, giving them the thumbs up.
Surprisingly, this technology has been tested on a 3-wheeled scooter, and it resulted in a 25% drag reduction and 18% fuel efficiency improvement. That is a serious number for a little scooter. This tech proves it is a viable option for every motorcycle, not just speed freaks.
WMC is not stopping there. The company is looking to break speed records, to prove to the world that their technology works. They're chasing speeds of around 250 mph, which, let's be honest, is faster than most of us will ever need to go. But it's not just about the speed; it's about the technology. It's about proving that they can build a better motorcycle.
They are building a motorcycle that is more efficient, more practical, and, dare I say it, more interesting than anything else on the road. And they are working with Pininfarina, the best in the business, to make sure it looks good while doing it.
So, are they going to succeed? Will we all be riding around on motorcycles with holes in them in a few years' time? I sure hope so. WMC and Pininfarina are giving it their best shot. And I'm in their corner, feverishly waving my little banner that says: "More Holes! Holes Are Good! Holes For All!" Seriously though - when was the last time we had a revolution in motorcycle design? The air duct idea sounds obvious since it's out now, but it took more than a century for someone to actually come up with such an obvious solution. Kudos WMC; I'll be riding my thumper this weekend and imagining what it's like to have the air go through the bike instead of trying to pull my legs and arms off.
