The Alligator is a

feet forwards motorcycle A feet first (FF) motorcycle is a class of motorcycle design which positions the rider with their feet ahead, like a car, rather than below and astride, as with conventional bikes. As there are other types of motorcycle (e.g. choppers) that have a ...

built by Dan Gurney Alligator Motorcycle Company which is the motorcycle division of the former driver/racing team owner's

All American Racers All American Racers is an American auto racing team and constructor based in Santa Ana, California. Founded by Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby in 1964, All American Racers initially participated in American sports car and Champ Car races as well as ...

workshop in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

. Although not the first of such design, it is unique for its unconventional low-slung seating position which allows for its low center of gravity.

History

The bike design traces itself back to the pioneering era when

Gottlieb Daimler Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf (Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He was a ...

designed a similar prototype in 1886, since then the conventional seating position has been used on all bikes with the exception of the few bikes like the commercially successful Ner-a-car and unsuccessful

Quasar A quasar is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is pronounced , and sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. This emission from a galaxy nucleus is powered by a supermassive black hole with a m ...

. The bike design was first instigated when Gurney took a 1976 Honda XL350 as a base to develop the first design evolution known as the A-1 (a.k.a. "Grandpa Gator") and was completed in 1980. The bike was named after the reptile of the same name, due to the bike's long, low appearance and was also chosen to reflect the North American nature of the species. After several years of R & D, with eighty nine different riders consisting of professional motorcycle and car racers, prominent bike enthusiasts, engineers, journalists and regular Sunday riders to help develop the bikes through test rides along with Gurney's busy schedule running a team, six different prototype configurations all have logged thousands of miles before Gurney and his team decided on a sixth evolution, the A-6, with full fairing to be launched in 2002 with an intention to build no more than 36 as it was the number that appeared on the Eagle-

Weslake Weslake & Co also known as Weslake Research and Development was founded by Harry Weslake, described as England's greatest expert on cylinder head design, with premises in Rye, East Sussex, England. Weslake is most famous for its work with Bentley, ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

racer which won the

1967 Belgian Grand Prix The 1967 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 18 June 1967. It was race 4 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 28-lap race wa ...

. The bike is then made available to consumers for $35,000, considering its price, beside its rare nature of the bike with a

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

body over a

chromoly 41xx steel is a family of SAE steel grades, as specified by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Alloying elements include chromium and molybdenum, and as a result these materials are often informally referred to as chromoly steel (common va ...

frame powered by a single-cylinder Honda XR650 engine, bored out to 710cc, which is capable of and 0-60 mph in 3.1 seconds.Strange vehicles: Alligator Motorcycle
/ref> The weight of the Alligator is 320lbs. In 2002 AAR announced plans to build an updated version of the Alligator, called the 'Instigator', which was to be powered by a 1,820cc S&S V-twin engine, but production never began.

References

External links

Motorcycle manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Santa Ana, California Feet forwards motorcycles {{Motorcycle-stub