Motorcycle Monday: Battlestar Galactica Turbine Bikes

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Remember these flying television motorcycles?

There have been some pretty interesting, cool-looking science fiction motorcycles from the 1980s, but one stands out from the rest. If you don’t remember, in the original Battlestar Galactica TV series there were no motorcycles. That was corrected by Galactica 1980, a spinoff of the original series. While controversial among fans for reasons we won’t get into, the important part is the fabrication of the Turbines, which were strange-looking flying motorcycles.

Also known as turbocycles, Turbines were usually ridden like a normal motorcycle. That was supposedly so they would blend in, but the look of the things made them a head-turner everywhere they went. More likely it was that aerial shots were expensive and difficult to do. With today’s CGI they probably would have been flying constantly and creating all kinds of huge explosions, among other ridiculous things.

Each Turbine had two sets of wings. One set folded down over the modified taillights and rear fender, then raised almost like gull wings. The other set attached to the front forks, folding up when not in use.

Another unique feature of the Turbines was they could cloak or be made invisible when parked. That’s a nice little security device to keep your bike out of the hands of criminals. Plus, all it took was flipping a single switch by the left handlebar. Today it would probably be a smartphone app or an automatic keyless feature.