Traveling with a group of tourists, you see the same thing everyone else always sees and has already seen before. When you travel alone, you might miss things you would have enjoyed, but sometimes you find really cool little places, like this collection of bicycles and motorcycles in France. Christian Pelletier was motoring around and came across this museum off the beaten path with some interesting old bicycles and motorcycles.
The bicycle above has an interesting front drive system which seems to be operated by rocking the handlebars somehow, fore and aft maybe or rather up and down? It’s pretty hard to see how it works from the photo but it’s pretty ingenious.
Then there was this woodgas powered motorcycle, something used during WWII when gasoline was rationed. Maybe not a high performance option but it’s amazing what you can use to run an internal combustion engine.
Lots of other cool stuff at the link. Thanks for the tip, John!
Link: Expedition Portal
James McBride says
What an amazing discovery! Would love a Google maps link if there is one?
JustThunkin says
Read (or look at) the photos on the website…there you will see the name of the house \Chateau De Bosc\…paste and google….and of course, just below that is the website chateaudebosc.com.
Stats says
Man, that second picture is like an Escher drawing. I finally got it when I realized the chain isn’t a loop. It looked like the chain on the close side (attached to the swingarm) was connected to the chain on the far side coming down from the fender. It appeared to be a loop passing through the spokes somehow, which is obviously nonsensical.
If you imagine a ratcheting hub, it makes sense, I just can’t tell how the bars move the swingarms, as it seems to be rigid above the fender.
Either way, it seems like the benefits of two wheel drive wouldnt outweigh how awkward you would look riding this thing.
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
That through the wheel appearance got me at first, too, until I saw where it was attached.
SteveD says
The site says “Another example of a 2-wheel drive bicycle. The front wheel is powered by a alternate movement of the front handle bar. Really.” BTW, if you haven’t gone to the site, go there and check out the double suspension ad.
Klaus says
“…I just can’t tell how the bars move the swingarms…”
If you look very closely you can see two thin cables coming down from the handle bar; they are attached to the curved cable guides below the bearings. Seems like you have to pull and push the hand grips up and down.
JustThunkin says
Of course this is a great find, if only it would have been found while riding instead of driving!
One of the lost pleasures of riding is just wandering backroads instead of pounding four lanes getting to and from “bike events”. Since age 15 (way back in the day) I’ve always enjoyed pointing the bars in a direction not taken before just to see what is parked in someone’s side yard. I’ve dragged a few rusted hulks and treasures home in the process.
Perhaps lost is the wrong word. I still take off during the week (hate weekend events and not real tolerant of weekend only riders) at least once a month and try to get lost. Once more than 20 miles from an interstate or town during the week, I rarely see another biker. So while it’s not lost to me, I perceive that it is missed by most.
But I can’t say that I’ve ever stumbled upon anything quite like this.
powermatic says
It appears that the front(two)-wheel-drive bike uses a handlebar pivot perpendicular to the length of the frame in order to move the wires or rods attached to the levers hooked to the chains. Probably designed to be used mainly while climbing hills, since when you stand on the pedals you have a natural inclination to ‘rock’ the bars from side to side anyway. Pretty clever-I’d love to try it out. And put some air in that tire!
akaaccount says
Where can I get that exhaust system from the first bike?
Paulinator says
I was struggling while dragging my 2 kids up hills in their little bike trailer….so I built a handle-bar power attachment for my mountain bike. It worked. It added about 20% more hill power at a penalty of about 5 pounds. Turns out that I wasn’t even in the top 100 documented efforts to tap upper body strength to drive a bicycle. There have probably been thousands of undocumented attempts. Just before Christmas I came accross something called the “Body Bike” that had the same movements but different mechanics. That website (http://www.bodybike.org/home.htm) is gone now. I’d love to see this one in person, though. It looks like art.
My prototype is still working well after 14 years of infrequent riding. It is (almost) completely natural since the handle bar and pedal motions are opposed – like swinging your arms when running. Of the 50 or so people who have tried it, only two could not adapt to the motion within 10 seconds. The major drawback of the concept is that you make more power but you stress your heart and lungs more, too. I confirm that its only good for brief sprints.
With respect to wood gas…that’s on my 2-DO list.
I love this stuff.
OMMAG says
I’d like to know what type of bike the grafted the gasifier to…………………..
todd says
Looks to me like the wood burner is a Gillet-Herstal 500cc OHV “Sport” from around 1929-30ish. Nice bike.
-todd
Otter says
I’m afraid my mind went straight to the South Park episode when I saw some of the bikes at the link. Some fantastic machines.
Bob Sinclair says
Stopped into the secret motorcycle museum which also has a wonderful sculpture garden and children’s museum. The owner seemed unaware that he had been written up on your blog. Gave him the name of your site and enjoyed the visit very much, Thanks for your good reporting! Bob