A FLYING MOTORCYCLE IS NOT THE FUTURE ANYMORE
IT’S HERE THE
LAZARETH
LMV 496 By The Mag Man, Randy Gracy
C
ustom motorcycles come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing is common to them all… they stayed with the rubber on the asphalt; But not anymore. The French guys at the Lazareth Company are on the cusp of a truly innovative motorcycle. They’ve created a motorcycle that holds not only roads, but the sky too. It’s true! Their LMV 496 is a flying motorcycle that defies all sense of fabrication, and science, including gravity. Lazareth changed out its original design by swapping out their gas-powered engine to an electric powertrain that would give the 496 a 62-mile range. For the pièce de résistance, pull a switch, and the wheels hydraulically move from their upright orientation to a horizontal one. The rumble of four jet turbines that pop out from the four-wheel hubs starts putting things in perspective, and 60 seconds later, you have lift-off. Powered by four 96,000-rpm JetCat jet turbines, this 308 lb motorcycle could make some 529 lb of thrust, which is about a whopping 1,300 horsepower. Concealed within the composite body is a kerosene tank with enough fuel capacity to allow the LMV 496 hover above the ground for a good ten minutes. While in flight, the dashboard displays essential flight information such as speed, position, altitude, etc., and once in the air, it can be controlled using joysticks, which are fixed on both sides of the handlebar. The four JetCat turbines are made by German innovators that work on the NASA/Skunk Works X-56A experimental aircraft. Until future technology prevails, this LMV 496 can only hover to up to 3.3 feet above the ground, but as quickly as technology turns another year, that will be enhanced
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quickly to accommodate city and urban travel. The height of the motorcycle will also increase as technology allows for it. If you observe, two extra turbines can be seen on either side of the chassis to handle more weight (or to provide forward thrust). The inventors left nothing to chance on this machine by adding design elements like the kevlar carbon composite bodywork, Italian rear loop, carbon wheel covers, TFX Suspension Technology, a digital dash, driving position, light steering, Rizoma accessories, braking, and the undercarriage technology. Only five copies of the LM 496 will be made. Four of the five motorcycles are available to order and each of these flying machines can be yours for a cool $500,000. Competition is quickly approaching this company and their hoverbike. Hoversurf inc., a Russian technology company, has been at designing a personal quadcopter hoverbike for a while, then there’s a guy making use of two Rotax lawnmower engines to build his own hoverbike and Jetpack Aviation’s Speeder made by a California startup also showed a concept of their jet-powered machine. April 2020
3/24/20 3:16 PM
