William Shatner, the man who will forever be known as Captain Kirk, has teamed up with an Illinois-based company to create a three-wheel demon of a motorcycle that is aimed at revolutionizing the entire bike industry. The bike’s name… the Rivet One.
“American Wrench in Chicago and I are designing a brand-new, never-before-seen-anything-like-it motorcycle. I’ve asked them to put three wheels on it for the stability,” Shatner said last month in an interview with Motor Trend. “… It’s going to have an eight-cylinder engine and the ability to slide an electric motor in very soon, and it’s going to have all kinds of innovative things that motorcycles don’t have now — the way it protects you, the windshield, the storage, the way it steers, the drivetrain, even the suspension.”
Originally coming together at one of Shatner’s autograph sessions, the partnership has already gained widespread publicity, and it’s not just because of Shatner’s celebrity. This bike actually looks like the real deal and has even been nicknamed the “Iron Jet” by certain industry enthusiasts.
“With its powerful V-8 engine mated to a high-performance transmission and rear end with independent suspension and big disc brakes, its setup is much like what you would find on a high-end American sports car like the Corvette,” says Kevin Sirotek, vice president of marketing for American Wrench.
Sirotek adds, “There are several things that set this design apart, but the obvious one is the front wheel and steering setup. Rather than using a set of traditional motorcycle forks on the front end, we opted to use an independent swing-arm solution. By doing this, it enabled us to give the vehicle a very unique, organic design feel.”
According to the company, this bike will be available for purchase sometime in late 2015 and no price has yet been set. Sirotek says, “There’s an opportunity for selling some of these as a hybrid, a mix of a Corvette, a Harley and a hot rod. It has a little mix of those three things,” Sirotek says. “We’re looking to develop and sell it as I would call it a semi-custom, where it’s not going to be high volume production.”
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