Motorcycles for Paraplegics….Ride On!
If you ride and especially IF you’ve ridden for any length of time, you HAVE had the opportunity of meeting someone that USE to ride motorcycles. However due to a catastrophic accident they no longer are able to do so. Our friend Brian uses a modified H-D Servi-car, but for the most part, paraplegic’s give up their riding helmets and boots as well as the fun and freedom they experienced while riding. Well this is about to change, hopefully. Seems a chance encounter with a paraplegic ex-motorcross champion in a hospital parking lot inspired West Australian Darren Lomman to put together an audacious project: a motorcycle for paraplegic riders - and his working prototype, a heavily modified Honda CBR250RR, is now road licensed and operational. The CBR250RR started off as a University project and has been modified to accommodate riders paralyzed from the chest down, with thumb-activated pneumatic rams for foot-free gear shifting, a combined braking system, custom-moulded ergonomic cups to hold the rider in place without any lower body strength, and a set of steel-braced “landing gear” wheels that drop to provide stability at very low speeds. Lomman and his company Dreamfit are seeking investors to make the project a viable reality for disabled riders.
