# Motorcycle with no rear hub??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 11, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-with-no-rear-hub/821174 "2018-09-11T17:18:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-with-no-rear-hub/821174/1 "2018-09-11T17:18:46Z")
I’m not into motorbikes, but [this](https://electrek.co/2018/09/11/rmk-electric-motorcycle-without-hub/) looks strange. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-with-no-rear-hub/821174/2 "2018-09-11T17:56:24Z")
There’s a few custom builders that do something very similar - looks ok but it needs a hard tail, the engineering to fit rear linkage and shocker are not easy, if at all, to implement. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-with-no-rear-hub/821174/3 "2018-09-11T18:10:20Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I’m not into motorbikes, but [this](https://electrek.co/2018/09/11/rmk-electric-motorcycle-without-hub/) looks strange. that only works because it’s an electric bike. the inner “ring” of the rear wheel (which mounts to the swingarm) looks to be the stator of the electric motor, and the outer ring (which the tire is mounted on) is the spinning armature of the motor. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-with-no-rear-hub/821174/4 "2018-09-11T18:21:56Z")
Not to be pedantic - but I hate it when they say it “has no rear hub”. It, in fact, has a rear hub. The hub just happens to be huge and hollow. If there were no hub, the wheel would not be able to spin independently of the cycle’s frame. It doesn’t need to be electric for it to work - though I don’t see any advantages aside from it looking different: > **[TMC Dumont sits 36-inch hubless rims either side of a roaring aircraft engine](https://newatlas.com/tmc-dumont-giant-hubless-rims/55471/)** > > Impractical? Sure! Vulgar? Most certainly. Unique? In every sense. This staggering custom motorcycle uses the biggest pair of hubless wheels we've ever seen, as well as placing the rider astride a snarling, 300-horsepower Rolls-Royce aircraft engine.... ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-with-no-rear-hub/821174/5 "2018-09-11T18:43:41Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > that only works because it’s an electric bike. the inner “ring” of the rear wheel (which mounts to the swingarm) looks to be the stator of the electric motor, and the outer ring (which the tire is mounted on) is the spinning armature of the motor. There have been hubless gas engined prototype bikes going back to the late '80s at least. I’m not aware of any going into major production, but the technology exists. [Sbarro’s prototype, 1989.](http://sbarro.phcalvet.fr/technique/roue_orbitale/roue_orbitalegb.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-with-no-rear-hub/821174/6 "2018-09-11T19:35:35Z")
If ever a bike needed rear-sets, this is the one. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-with-no-rear-hub/821174/7 "2018-09-11T20:43:28Z")
> [@brewha](#): > > It, in fact, has a rear hub. The hub just happens to be huge and hollow. Agreed. Here’s a [bicycle](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1989795590/the-cyclotron-bike-revolutionary-spokeless-smart-c) with a similar design. Though I see this Kickstarter was funded in 2016 and it still hasn’t been produced/shipped. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-with-no-rear-hub/821174/8 "2018-09-11T20:58:04Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Agreed. > > Here’s a [bicycle](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1989795590/the-cyclotron-bike-revolutionary-spokeless-smart-c) with a similar design. Though I see this Kickstarter was funded in 2016 and it still hasn’t been produced/shipped. There are [_lots_ of models of “hubless” bicycles](https://www.google.com/search?q=hubless+bicycle&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiFlP2P67PdAhXGfLwKHRKvCCcQsAR6BAgDEAE&biw=1408&bih=703). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-with-no-rear-hub/821174/9 "2018-09-11T21:16:50Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Here’s a [bicycle](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1989795590/the-cyclotron-bike-revolutionary-spokeless-smart-c) with a similar design. Though I see this Kickstarter was funded in 2016 and it still hasn’t been produced/shipped. I’m a cyclist and am going to pass on that one. Looks heavy and it is: Carbon frame and it weighs 26 lbs? Holy wheel hub, Batman! ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-with-no-rear-hub/821174/10 "2018-09-11T23:54:06Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > There are [_lots_ of models of “hubless” bicycles](https://www.google.com/search?q=hubless+bicycle&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiFlP2P67PdAhXGfLwKHRKvCCcQsAR6BAgDEAE&biw=1408&bih=703). [I love the storage options on hubless bikes.](http://www.beautifullife.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/12/02.jpg)