If, like me, you’re a child of the 80s, then bikes that make you think of Akira or Tron are always visually appealing. So when Frank Wu sent me an email with a couple of photos saying that the Frog Design FZ750 Rana was being featured at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco (in an exhibit appropriately named “Gorgeous”), I knew I had to share it with you.
Picture from Frank H. Wu
A little bit of background – in the 80s, MOTORAD magazine published an editorial calling for safer and more attractive motorcycles. Near the same time, California had passed legislation banning “dangerous motorcycles”, and both of these factors inspired Hartmut Esslinger, founder of Frog Design, to develop the prototype seen before you. Full of trick features, this bike was never sent to production. However, Honda was so inspired by this bike for the Hurricane that they even offered to send one to Esslinger as a gift! For more about the story of this bike, including some great pictures (one of which is for a matching helmet), head on over to Frog Design’s website.
Picture from Frank H. Wu
And by the way – the Frog lives on. In 2012, Frog Design released images of an updated Frog, the Frog eBike, to show how the design of an electric motor can change what a bike looks like.
From blog.motorcycle.com
So if you’re in San Francisco, check it out! Who knows, maybe you’ll be inspired to style the next wave of motorcycling.