An aspiring Vietnamese mechanic has proved he is the ultimate Batman fan by designing a prototype of the caped crusader’s motorbike, the Batpod.
Motorbikes may dominate the roads of Vietnam but the ‘Batpod’ that Vu Tung Lam designed and built, using scrap metal and an old Suzuki, is definitely one of a kind.
Mr Lam said locals in his home of Lang Son town, near the Vietnam-China border, always look twice when they see his bike accelerating down the street.
Thankfully for the local community the motorbike is not an identical replica, as it does not include the machine guns of the silverscreen version ridden by Batman star Christian Bale in director Christopher Nolan’s recent trilogy.
The prototype runs on a 125cc engine removed from an old Suzuki motorbike, whilst the tyres are from a four-wheel drive and the frame is welded from pieces of steel pipes. Finally, the covers are made from plastic sheets. At maximum speed, it can reach 56mph (90km/h). However, the aspiring mechanic cannot technically ride his creation on the streets because Vietnam law does not allow for structure-modified vehicles on its roads.
It took the 24-year-old two days to finish the design of the bike frame, and another two months until he could completely finish the vehicle. In total, the bike costs him around $450 (£280) to build.
“As I watched the Batman movies, I was very excited with the Batpod, which is a very interesting vehicle. It inspired me to make one for myself. I took the concept of the Batpod and built the rest based on my researches,” Mr Lam said.
Mr Lam says has no intention to sell it, but he intends to put it on display when he opens a vehicle modification business.
