Motorbike roller coaster

A motorbike roller coaster or motorcycle roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster designed with motorcycle type cars. Booster Bike at Toverland was the world's first motorbike roller coaster. Vekoma was the first company to design such a ride, although Intamin and Zamperla have since created similar designs.

Motorbike roller coaster
Velocity at Flamingo Land, a Vekoma Motorbike roller coaster
StatusIn production
First manufactured2004
No. of installations16
ManufacturersVekoma, Intamin and Zamperla
TypeSteel motorbike roller coaster
Motorbike roller coaster at RCDB

A similar but unrelated Steeplechase roller coaster was Knott's Berry Farm's Motorcycle Chase by Arrow Dynamics which opened in 1974 . That attraction featured single motorbike themed vehicles racing side-by-side, each on one of four parallel tracks, launched together. It was retrofitted in 1980 as Wacky Soap Box Racers before removed in 1996.

Design

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Vekoma

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Motorbike coaster ride vehicle

The Vekoma Motorbike Coaster consists of a train with nine cars, each consisting of two motorcycle seats. Each seat was designed to replicate the seating on a motorcycle, and allows free upper body movement.

After dispatching from the station, the train is hydraulically launched into a twisting layout. The first Motorbike coaster was the Booster Bike at Toverland in The Netherlands, opened in 2004. A second, Velocity opened at Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo in the United Kingdom. A third, identical to the Booster Bike, opened at Chimelong Paradise in China.

The Vekoma Motorbike Coaster concept was first demonstrated with the use of the No Limits roller coaster simulator,[1] and is included as a track style in the commercial version.

Intamin

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Jet Rescue at Sea World is an Intamin motorbike roller coaster with jet ski cars.

Intamin was the second company to come up with a motorbike roller coaster design. Their design utilizes drive tires to launch its trains. Currently, only four installations exist - two in Australia, one in Denmark, and one in the United States.

Zamperla

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The Zamperla Motocoaster consists of a train of six cars instead of nine, but they are set up similarly, two seats side by side per car.

Zamperla's coaster uses a flywheel launch instead of a hydraulic launch system. The standard track layout is a 3-layered figure 8.

In 2008 2 MotoCoasters were installed in the United States. The prototype is at Darien Lake near Buffalo, New York.

The Pony Express at Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California, in a twist on the once famous Motorcycle Chase of Indian Motorcycles on a Steeplechase roller coaster, now sports a Zamperla Motocoaster styled as horses.

Installations

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Name Location Manufacturer Trains Opened
Booster Bike Toverland Vekoma Motorbikes 2004 [2]
Velocity Flamingo Land Vekoma Motorbikes 2005 [3]
Motorbike Launch Coaster Chimelong Paradise Vekoma Motorbikes 2006 [4]
Motocoaster Dreamworld Intamin Motorbikes 2007 [5]
Jet Rescue Sea World (Australia) Intamin Jet Skis 2008 [6]
Moto Coaster Six Flags Darien Lake Zamperla Motorbikes 2008 [7]
Pony Express Knott's Berry Farm Zamperla Horses 2008 [8]
Moto Coaster Jinjiang Action Park Zamperla Motorbikes 2009 [9]
Moto Bala Mundo Petapa Zamperla Motorbikes 2010 [10]
MotoGee Särkänniemi Amusement Park Zamperla Motorbikes 2010 [11]
Dinosaur Mountain China Dinosaurs Park Zamperla Pterodactyls 2010 [12]
Steeplechase Scream Zone Coney Island Zamperla Horses 2011 [13]
Juvelen Djurs Sommerland Intamin All-terrain vehicles 2013 [14]
Rocket Cycles Adventureland Zamperla Motorbikes 2014 [15]
Storm Rider Xishuangbanna Sunac Land Zamperla Horses 2015 [16]
Tron Lightcycle Power Run Shanghai Disneyland Vekoma Light cycles 2016 [17]
Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster SeaWorld San Antonio Intamin Jet Skis 2017 [18]
Drydock Express Wanda Theme Park Zamperla Horses 2018 [19]
Paradise Fall Sun World Danang Wonders Intamin All-terrain vehicles 2018 [20]
Pioneer OK Corral Zierer Horses 2018 [21]
Yukon Quad Le Pal Intamin All-terrain vehicles 2018 [22]
Canavar Dalga Wonderland Eurasia Intamin Jet Skis 2019 [23]
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure Universal Islands of Adventure Intamin Motorbikes 2019 [24]
Namazu Vulcania Intamin All-terrain vehicles 2021 [25]
TRON Lightcycle / Run Magic Kingdom Vekoma Light cycles 2023 [26]
DarKoaster: Escape The Storm Busch Gardens Williamsburg Intamin Snow Mobiles 2023 [27]
Arctic Rescue Sea World San Diego Intamin Snow Mobiles 2023 [28]

References

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  1. ^ "News". NoLimits. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  2. ^ Marden, Duane. "Booster Bike  (Toverland)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  3. ^ Marden, Duane. "Velocity  (Flamingo Land Theme Park & Zoo)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  4. ^ Marden, Duane. "Motorbike Launch Coaster  (Chimelong Paradise)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  5. ^ Marden, Duane. "Mick Doohan's Motocoaster  (Dreamworld)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  6. ^ Marden, Duane. "Jet Rescue  (Sea World)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  7. ^ Marden, Duane. "Moto Coaster  (Darien Lake)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  8. ^ Marden, Duane. "Pony Express  (Knott's Berry Farm)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  9. ^ Marden, Duane. "Moto Coaster  (Jin Jiang Action Park)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  10. ^ Marden, Duane. "Moto Bala  (Mundo Petapa)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  11. ^ Marden, Duane. "MotoGee  (Särkänniemi Amusement Park)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  12. ^ Marden, Duane. "Dinosaur Mountain  (China Dinosaurs Park)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  13. ^ Marden, Duane. "Steeplechase  (Scream Zone)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  14. ^ Marden, Duane. "Juvelen  (Djurs Sommerland)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  15. ^ Marden, Duane. "Rocket Cycles  (Adventureland)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  16. ^ Marden, Duane. "Storm Rider  (Xishuangbanna Sunac Land)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  17. ^ Marden, Duane. "TRON Lightcycle Power Run  (Shanghai Disneyland)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  18. ^ Marden, Duane. "Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster  (SeaWorld San Antonio)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  19. ^ Marden, Duane. "Drydock Express  (Wanda Theme Park)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  20. ^ Marden, Duane. "Paradise Fall  (Sun World Danang Wonders)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  21. ^ Marden, Duane. "Pioneer  (OK Corral)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  22. ^ Marden, Duane. "Yukon Quad  (Le Pal)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  23. ^ Marden, Duane. "Canavar Dalga  (Wonderland Eurasia)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  24. ^ Marden, Duane. "Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure  (Universal Studios Islands of Adventure)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  25. ^ Marden, Duane. "Namazu  (Vulcania)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  26. ^ Marden, Duane. "TRON Lightcycle / Run  (Walt Disney World - Magic Kingdom)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  27. ^ Marden, Duane. "DarKoaster  (Busch Gardens Williamsburg)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  28. ^ Marden, Duane. "Arctic Rescue  (Sea World San Diego)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
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