Motorcycle Exoskeletons - Yamaha Deus Ex Machina (GALLERY)

I’m not into biking, but even I can appreciate the beauty of this Segway-style monster of a bike. The Yamaha Deus Ex Machina exoskeleton is an immensely futuristic-looking, single person’s stand-up vehicle created by Jake Loniak, a student at the Art Center Pasadena.

If I’m interpreting the design correctly, the vehicle allows you to travel upright when you’re going at a slower pace, but when you really want to crank it up a notch, you enter a diving-style position to enter turbo mode.

“The vehicle is powered by ultra-capacitors and doped nano-phoshpate batteries (similar to the ones currently used in hybrid cars) and it is controlled using 36 pneumatic muscles with two linear actuators set along a spine consisting of seven artificial vertebrae,” Gizmodo explains. “Even the helmet is pneumatically attached.”

15 minutes of charging serves up a whole hour of riding time.

While the Deus Ex Machina looks a little bit scary, I’d be far more intrigued to take it for a spin than afraid to miss out on discovering the power of this mechanical beast! When else would I have the chance to travel upright at 75 mph, going from 0-60 in 3 seconds?