Historic "Deathbike" stolen in Oregon, $1500 reward

spinningmagnets

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Luke Workman, known as Live for Physics / LFP, was storing the "deathbike" in a new facility owned by Luna Cycle in Bend, Oregon.

$1500 reward for it's return.

Deathbike2.jpg
 
Hope the guy that stole it loses more than his shoe. :twisted:

We hauled the first version of that in my van from CA to the death race in New Mexico. Amberwolf, Dogman and Thud entered their bikes there too. We did the final assembly in the motel parking lot the AM before the race. Had trouble getting the borrowed Kelly (I think) controller to work, Had to call -methods for the magic code. :)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DPeKBvmZCPS1X1kw5

Good times.

This is another race near Barstow, CA

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HkmNzg6QcMDiYnEM7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jiKvFfga3sWax7sK9

Bad luck in turn 4

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BmhcePFNJ8bDMet9A

Not THAT'S a charger! it choked my 1500W generator :shock:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y4hB7uomg32CmtCR7
 
Thanks for the old pics Nick my friend!

I sincerely pity whomever gets it running! They should be easy to find by following the trail of blood to there remains.
 
Oh shit really?? I'll keep an eye out as best as possible... there are some sales groups in Lane county as well as a "Caught on Camera" group I can monitor. Sorry this happened Luke! That blows... that incredible machine deserves a museum spot, not a crackhead tearing it down for copper... :evil:
 
OMG ! i guess that people that stole it have no idea on how much important this very ebike bike was for Luke and the community!!!

It would be great to have hyperspectral camera onboard of some Google satellite to track the blood traces like Luke is refering too !!!!

Or find all traces of lost shooes with couple black tire traces nearby!!

On the picture it's me when Luke invited me to try it back in 2014. It is great souenir!!

The motor versoin on the deathbike is if i remember corretly one of the few rare prototype of the 75-7 motor developpment,

So unique... let's keep an eye on that grey aluminum motor version that could appear somewhere on the web! :wink:

I wish the person that stole it realize the error he committed and bring it back !

Doc
 
Extremely frustrating to know that an important piece of history is in the hands of a thief.

Was there at least camera footage? because lane county is known for having severe issues with property crime... so hopefully someone had the foresight to install security cameras there.
 
This would have been stolen in Dechutes county... I'm in the neighboring county to the west, and thought that perhaps if the thief attempted to fence it here I could keep an eye out. They could've gone anywhere, or stayed right there in Bend.

neptronix said:
Extremely frustrating to know that an important piece of history is in the hands of a thief.

Was there at least camera footage? because lane county is known for having severe issues with property crime... so hopefully someone had the foresight to install security cameras there.
 
Was anything else stolen/missing? might give a clue as to being a random or targeted/inside job.
I lived in Bend for ~8 years(moved away in 2013), don't really have any particular contacts left there, but I will keep my eye out for possible leads.
Also, the thief may frequent ES, so may even read this thread, PM's may be prudent if leads are found.
 
neptronix said:
Extremely frustrating to know that an important piece of history is in the hands of a thief.

Was there at least camera footage? because lane county is known for having severe issues with property crime... so hopefully someone had the foresight to install security cameras there.

I have neat camera footage of 2 thieves who stole bikes here in April. The police do nothing about that. Bikes are very low on their list of priorities. Insurance paid about half the loss. I had not given up the hope of finding one by chance.
Bikes we had made ourselves are not easy to sell. I guess they end up dismantled to sell parts. It is fun to think of all the newbs who had crashed trying them, and dream that some thief out there is slowly recovering from a bad crash.
 
MadRhino said:
neptronix said:
Extremely frustrating to know that an important piece of history is in the hands of a thief.

Was there at least camera footage? because lane county is known for having severe issues with property crime... so hopefully someone had the foresight to install security cameras there.

I have neat camera footage of 2 thieves who stole bikes here in April. The police do nothing about that. Bikes are very low on their list of priorities. Insurance paid about half the loss. I had not given up the hope of finding one by chance.
Bikes we had made ourselves are not easy to sell. I guess they end up dismantled to sell parts. It is fun to think of all the newbs who had crashed trying them, and dream that some thief out there is slowly recovering from a bad crash.


That could have happened, the frame was found by someone stripped bare of parts.

Not a big deal though, today I would start over with enough differences it would be fine to start from scratch. I would have to make it faster than my commuter grocery getter Plaid Model S, or there would be no reason to make it. This means ~165rwhp (for my 185lbs body) is the baseline power needed to be worth building for the next iteration, and that leaves small margins for Tesla updates to make it quicker. Its so close to 8's I bet with improved understanding of the acceptable wear-and-tear rates on the vehicles, they get there. I keep coming back to a pair of Zero SR-F/SR-S motors and controllers on custom firmware with 100C rate pouches, and that wouldn't have fit well on this setup, so no harm done. We are so busy with our RnD business, I would need to hire out the frame build to someone who's better at metal fab.
 
nicobie said:
liveforphysics said:
That could have happened, the frame was found by someone stripped bare of parts.

That's a damn shame.

Oh well, at the least you still have all the good memories and hopefully a few pictures.

I see there being another deathbike. I'm still waiting for someone to break the old bikes records though, it's bad luck to break your own. I gave folks many powertrains capable of beating my bike, but nobody has done it yet.
 
liveforphysics said:
I'm still waiting for someone to break the old bikes records though, it's bad luck to break your own.

what were your track numbers, 1/8 and 1/4 mile? Top speed :?:

Sorry to hear your bike got stolen!
I’m sure you’ll come back even faster.
 
Eastwood said:
liveforphysics said:
I'm still waiting for someone to break the old bikes records though, it's bad luck to break your own.

what were your track numbers, 1/8 and 1/4 mile? Top speed :?:

Sorry to hear your bike got stolen!
I’m sure you’ll come back even faster.
deathbike timeslips.png
Very old video if it racing a Model S. The new Plaid Model S would destroy it though, hence the bar being ~165rwhp range as the low cost of entry to not be slower than my family grocery getter.
[youtube]lnGvSEcldzQ[/youtube]
 
liveforphysics said:
deathbike timeslips
Very old video if it racing a Model S. The new Plaid Model S would destroy it though, hence the bar being ~165rwhp range as the low cost of entry to not be slower than my family grocery getter.

Thanks for sharing!
When is DeathBike V2 coming out? Build a monster! :D
 
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