Digging through The Kneeslider archives while looking for something else, I came across an article you may remember about Lotus Motorcycles. Daniel Simon, a digital artist who does absolutely stunning work, created the design and it was written about all over the web at the time, around 2013 or so. Unlike many design concepts, some of these were actually built and I found one that went up for auction in 2016.
It’s hard to design something truly new
I revisited Simon’s website to look at his work and was impressed all over again with his sci-fi creations and downloaded a few as wall paper for my computer (really eye catching) and after having done so I was looking at his Lotus-C01 and something struck me, I’d seen a version of this more recently. The recent version isn’t an exact copy, it’s sort of compressed into a shorter bike, losing some of the longer lines of the original, but there seems to be a really strong resemblance.
It’s Erik Buell’s Fuell Fllow
The Fuell Fllow is a perfectly nice bike, but sometimes you can see the inspiration for new designs if you keep your eyes open. Since the Lotus is powered by an internal combustion engine and the Fllow is electric, the design isn’t some obvious requirement of the internal parts, it’s a choice made by the designers. Yes, motorcycles all have some similarities, but this seems to be more than that and, like I said, this is not a twin, more like a sibling, from the same family with a strong genetic influence.
All designs are influenced by what the designer sees in the world which then becomes part of the creation, sometimes intentional, sometimes coincidental. Which is it here? I don’t know and maybe it’s just my imagination. What do you think?
Daniel Simon’s website – Go there, check it out, his work is jaw dropping.
Lotus C01 auction listing
Fuell
Victor Herbert says
L O T U S—-Lots of trouble usually serious.
Paul Crowe says
Well, this really isn’t about Lotus, since those motorcycles never came to market as planned. The focus here is on the design originally drawn by Daniel Simon and the influence it may have had on another bike.
On the other hand, I’ve owned another British marque, a Jaguar E-Type, and my tool box was seldom lonely.
Doug says
I see a little similarity with the front of the fairing (middle and lower) but not much else.
Why would Erik name an electric bike company Fuell?
Alex says
Because he doesn’t own his name anymore
Doug says
That doesn’t mean you name an *electric* bike company “Fuell”