It’s an extremely rare occasion, a once in a lifetime event when one has the opportunity to experience something altogether new and different in the world, a product that not only transcends genre, but also combines traditional and solid craftsmanship with the latest technology in something so uniquely exciting, it puzzles the mind. But that’s exactly what is offered in a recently introduced, never before, high-tech personal transportation machine, a synthesis of bicycle and motorbike, offering the best of both technologies and a new category in the Millennium’s vocabulary. This new creation, called the M55 Beast, is unlike anything we have ever seen and known up until now!
The M55 Beast is a new dream electric bike that will appeal to anyone who has an appreciation for state-of-the-art bicycles and motorcycles. Like all great products, the M55 was created as a result of true passion, in this case the passion of Richard Szollosi, a Hungarian guy who loved riding bicycles as a child, but had to stop riding after he suffered an accident. As an adult, he developed an enthusiasm for motorcycles, but never lost his love for pure cycling, and wondered about the potential of a product that combined the feel of pedal cycling with the zip and and excitement of motorcycling.
It was this inspiration that resulted in the idea for the M55, a concept bike that first went on the drawing boards about four years ago. The project began on a financial shoestring. It took years of recurring bouts of design work and testing for the M55 Beast to reach the level of perfection sought by the engineers, as, at every stage of development, the team would always run out of funds in a short period of time. The M55 engineers had to experiment with quite a list of materials and technologies before everybody was happy with the results.
The engineering efforts, the costly modeling of the operation and the many design U-turns required a constant infusion of funds, and the team had to borrow from banks and scramble for resources to fund the ongoing development of the product to its final completion, often bringing the developers to the brink of starvation.
These hardships and challenges would have doomed a less determined team, but the M55 bike was an idea whose time had come, and the commitment and sacrifice it took to keep the project moving is testimony to the belief and passion the company had for this product. Like many other great inventions and lasting developments, (including Einstein’s and others going down the list) the ultimate sacrifice of human endurance showed its most trying faces many times. Where most would have given up, the talented, extraordinary and truly ingenious M55 Bike guys kept on going in a steady and determined manner despite all obstacles. Some principles many of us need to learn!
Thanks to the ongoing encouragement of Richard Szollosi and his team, the M55 Beast is finally a reality. Unlike a lot of high concept bikes that are seen in shows or industry publications, never seeing the light of day, the M55 Beast is a real product now available to serious biking and motorcycle enthusiasts. This engineering dream represents a seamless, highly-evolved blending of form and function.
The M55 Beast, the flagship model, is an artfully constructed machine that, while providing an altogether new connection between pedaling and power biking, also looks like a gleaming piece of functional sculpture. It’s a highly efficient, eco-friendly product that also exhibits the latest design technology available in personal transportation.
“We created the M55 product group with a commitment to never compromising any aspect of their quality,†say Dennis Buzek, who is in charge of internationally spreading the word for M55 products. The M55 team approach includes sourcing the highest quality components, most of which are custom made, and then assembling each bike meticulously by hand, “like a Rolls Royce,†as Buzek adds.
The basic premise of the design, a pedelec bike that is pedaled and assisted with an electric power unit and incorporates an electric battery made up of 24 Tenergy lithium-polymer (LiPo) cells, is now a reality. A speed/torque sensor decides when the motor needs to provide an assist, and at that point a gentle surge of power augments the pedaling effort. “The motor will never take over from you, it will only help you out, and can turn an uphill ride into a joyride. There is no experience like it,†says Buzek. The M55 Beast also includes a drive control unit to ensure that the pedaling motion and motor revolution will remain continually in sync for silky smooth operation. In the appropriate gear the M55 can easily reach 40 mph on smooth terrain.
All the structural elements use the strongest available materials, including grade 2 titanium for the chain rings, axles, and screws. The monocoque frame is CNC machined for absolute precision and constructed out of AL 7075 T6, one of the strongest known aluminum alloy. The front fork is a White Bros design that has been custom-designed for the M55, and the rear spring member is a Fox Float MXR, which was originally designed for dirtbikes. The braking system uses Moto GP components by Brembo adapted to the M55 design.
The M55 Beast’s battery pack is rated at 44.4 V; 20Ah and designed to be conveniently rechargeable (nominally 1½ hours) at any home wall outlet. A fully-charged battery provides a range of approximately 25-65 miles on a single charge, depending on usage. “It is a very efficient system,†says Buzek. “It provides a 1-5 assist ratio, so that for every unit of effort you put into it, it will give you back 5 units of power.†The electric motor has a torque of 28Nm (approximately 21 ft.-lbs,) which through transmission, at the principle shaft (shared with the rider for pedaling,) can be as high as 84Nm (appr. 62 ft.-lbs,) and the electronically limitable 1,500W design is rated to produce 540 rpm.
There are 3 gears to choose from depending on how the rider wishes to use the bike, and how long of a distance they want to cover: Eco, Normal, and Sport.
Specifications are one thing, but nothing compares to the experience of riding an M55 Beast. It offers both a feeling of tremendous strength and playfulness, a connection to the joys of childhood biking and the excitement of powered motorcycling. There is no real learning curve, as the functions are all intuitive, and the operation is smooth and effortless. An integral readout unit provides data on battery charge level, distance covered, selected gear, exerted torque and assist values, and other performance specifications. For measuring the actual speed the rider can choose between a bike computer or a touch-screen GPS unit by Garmin.
Additional models to accompany the original M55 design are soon to roll out. The M55 Beast, the flagship model, is now undergoing a revision to conform to street legalities in a version called the Daemon, whose official debut will be at the Top Marques 2011 in Monaco. A third M55 model, based on the essence of the Beast, utilizing a hydro-formed frame design to the same standards of strength but with less material and a lighter weight, is expected to roll out in the summer of 2011, and will be called the Shadow. These bikes will not be mass produced at any point. Even though the Daemon and the Shadow will be significantly less expensive than the Beast, the M55 brand aims to preserve the hand-made nature of production with limited series of 200 units per year for these model. They will always boast something unique, and will remain exclusive and mostly pre-ordered.
Richard Szollosi’s dream has finally been realized, largely in response to his passion and encouragement, and is now becoming available to serious biking and motorcycling enthusiasts looking for a unique electric bike that is free of any compromise, and which is just as prestigious and thrilling as a sports car, but which, unlike a sports car, is eco friendly. The M55, in its various incarnations, is a ride you will never forget.
For an Advanced Video on the Bike, please click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uizU-wKQtkc
