Wheelrider project seeks backers

November 2015

Motorcycle luggage | Top box | Crowd funding

We've received an interesting email from a guy named Stefano Mangini who's been 28 years in the saddle and is looking for backers for his 21st century motorcycle top box project. It's called Wheelrider, and it's a purpose-built wheeled carrier that you can quickly and safely remove from your bike, pull out a handle, and drag to the airport. Once there, or even en route, you can charge your phone or tablet with a built in solar cell, and this box will apparently fit standard size aircraft luggage lockers.

A docking carrier platform has also been developed with which you can secure a full face crash helmet to the bike (a waterproof hood is part of the deal). And there's a website with video footage that you can watch and see the thing in action.

But look out!

We had problems with this site. Nothing terminal, you understand. It just locked up one of our computers for a while. Probably some kind of scripting issue. So if you've got an Isambard Kingdom Brunel era PC, make sure you've got five or ten minutes to waste should the internet decide to have a bad hair day.

The top box is manufactured from some kid of plastic, or multiple-layers of plastic, and it looks pretty tough. There's also a carbon fibre case for guys and girls who've got a thing about carbon fibre (which ain't us).

What Mangini is looking for isn't sales, remember. He's looking for people who want to invest in the project and help carry it—or in this case, pull it—to market.

The target amount is $100,000. So far, around $12,000 has been pledged by 52 backers. The campaign has 25 days to run. Meanwhile, the appropriate web link is below. It will take you to a site called Kickstarter which calls itself a Benefit Corporation, and which appears to be a crowd-funding portal with a social conscience. At least, that's the story we're getting. If you check out the ABOUT US link on the site, you'll hear that nine million people around the planet have backed a Kickstarter project.

And what exactly are these projects? Well they can be anything from Chineasy (a simply way to learn Chinese), to a neighbourhood music project, to a pizza delivery service for astronauts, to an educational computer toy for kids (which is no toy). The limit is only your imagination (and the number of people willing to back you).

Good luck to Stefano, we say. And good luck to you if you back this project. There's bound to be a risk involved. But quite a few people have done very well by climbing aboard this kind of elevator when it's in the basement. On the other hand, don't gamble your home or your shirt, huh?

Take me to Kickstarter

— Sam 7