Interview: Gregory Thüne - Industrial Designer

We have all seen amazing concept bikes created by Industrial Designers that never see the light of day. They are created on the computer and spend the rest of their days in the pixel world. Well, this Fiv0 concept was designed by Gregory Thüne who is trying to take it into the next stage — production. We asked Greg a couple of questions about this stunning bike and we cross our fingers and hope it does manage to do a "reverse Tron" and make the jump from pixels to the real world.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background? 

I'm a professional Industrial Designer (Canadian by birth) working with Astro Studios in San Francisco — I studied ID in the 90s with the thought of designing my own motorcycle, then really dove into researching the "hows" and "whys" behind designing a functional bike from the ground up in the early 2000s while designing toys, consumer products, electronics and the like, cause you know... a man has got to eat.

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CR&S DUU

As a concept, the 'DUU' caused quite a stir when it was launched back at the 2009 EICMA. Now two years later and CR&S (Cafe Racers and Superbikes) are taking orders for this macho Italian. Thanks to the impressive write ups by moto journalists around the world, the entire 2011 production of 130 bikes have already been sold. So even if you had the $29,000 needed to buy the DUU, you would still have to wait till 2012. Now that price may sound steep for a production bike, but these are no ordinary plain Jane motorcycles. Each DUU is bespoke built to the buyers specifications in the small CR&S factory in Milan, Italy.

The bike's engine isn't one we come across too often in an Italian built frame. The Amercian 1916cc 50th anniversary X-wedge V-twin engine by S&S sits perfectly inside the CR&S sporty rolling chassis. "One look at the engine’s fins is enough to be seduced by such a pure shape, devoid of radiator. And for a lot of motorcycles fans, the air cooling system and the pushrod distribution are elements issued from a rich historical past" says CR&S. And if by that they mean that v-twins kick epic ass, then we'd have to wholeheartedly agree.

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Café Racer Concept

When it comes to countries I don't know a lot about, Estonia is probably near the top of the list. The one thing I do know, is that one of the more interesting motorcycle designs from last year came out of Estonia – the love it or hate it Renard Grand Tourer. So why all the interest in Estonia? Well, last week we received an email from an artist named Kait who lives in Estonia. Kait specializes in post-apocalyptic sci-fi drawings but told us that he recently "spent an entire day looking at all the pages on Pipeburn and decided to build a bike". The problem was, Kait doesn't know anything about bikes. "Because I dont know how to build one, in fact, I dont know anything about motorbikes, I cheated and used a 3D application instead" he says. "There are many logical and technological errors, and probably not very comfortable to ride". The wooden tank might not be to everyones taste, and it may be carrying a bit too much weight for a café racer, but we think Kait deserves his 'café racer concept' to be shown to a wider community — so power down your ion phasers, depressurise your extra-vehicular spacesuits, and park that lunar module in a geo-stationary orbit while you take a few minutes to check out this beautiful concept bike.

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Harley Davidson 883 Scrambler

Only last week Harley-Davidson announced that they were planning to restructure the company and wanted to be quicker to market with new products. Well, young Italian designer Luca Bar has created this Harley Davidson 883 Scrambler concept that should be one such product.

Luca designed this scrambler with the European market in mind – he is Europeon after all. "The project gives a nod to the years when there were no major endorsements, the bike was the bike, one and good for all”, ready to adapt" says Luca. "The horses and the chassis are enough for the scope, the fork gets stiffer springs and at the rear longer units. The wheels 18" front and 17" at the rear fit very Italian Pirelli Scorpion Sync and the secondary transmission needs to be a chain instead of a belt. The classic saddle and tank shape, form the overall look of the bike. The protagonist of the right side is the "line" of the exhaust, tall and straight, half-way between the European regularity bike and American Drifters."

Although the Harley Davidson Scrambler has been done before, we love Luca's understated design, ready for the buyer to stamp their individuality on it. What do you think? Is this concept a viable production bike for the Milwaukee brand, and more importantly would it sell?

[You can check out many more of Luca's impressive concepts on his website Bar-Design.]

Concept Motorcycles

These radical concepts look like they could have been created by maverick designer Phillipe Starck. In reality they are the brain child of young english designer Paul Van Denton. After completing a masters in vehicle design from the Royal College of Art in London he now works for industrial designer Ron Arad. But Paul's true love is designing motorcycles - a lot of the time in his lunch hour. Paul says he is "unsatisfied with bike designs at the moment" and wants to build nostalgic rides with a futuristic twist. The pictured café racers below may not be very practical with their extreme riding positions but we love their simplicity (although not a huge fan of hubless wheels). Paul is also planning to build a full scale mock-up of one of his bike designs in the near future. Will keep you posted and have the pics when it happens. For now you can check out more concepts on Paul's blog. 

Pony Express

This beautiful machine named 'Pony Express' was built by brilliant Israeli industrial designer Amir Glinik. Unfortunately he didn't build it with a wrench but in 3D with his computer mouse. Amir's artwork is some of the best we have seen, his bikes look so real you can almost smell your jeans burning on the pipes. This is what Amir has to say about his creation "There are not any high performance parts on this bike, its all just an experiment with some retro lines and technology, using as much HD stock parts as possible except a custom single down tube racer chassis which still relay on HD stock swingarm and forks". This is just one of many motorcycles Amir has 'fabricated', if you want to see more of his incredible handy work check out his gallery. [Found on Rockefeller Customs]

Cafe Racer Concept

Industrial designer Alp Germaner from South Africa is well known for his Peugeot Capsule. A one person, off-road, electric vehicle inspired by the KLR 650 motorcycle. Although it's his latest concept that is really turning heads. In true cafe racer style it is a stripped down motorbike geared towards speed and style. The rear suspension looks cool but we would have loved to see a more classic cafe racer shape (especially the seat). Overall it's a bold design but not sure whether it would be welcomed at the Ace Cafe or Ton Up Club. For more pictures of this bike visit Industrial Design Served.