10 Of The Coolest Motorcycles In All Of Science Fiction

Science fiction usually functions as a way to comment on modern society by envisioning what it might look like in the future. Contemporary societal ills may be exaggerated to point out how dire the situation is in the present day, and new technologies help fill out the world-building to sell this strange yet familiar reality. Even in the future, people need ways to get around, and sci-fi flicks haven't disappointed in envisioning what the future of transportation might look like. 

While there are plenty of cool sci-fi tanks out there, civilian vehicles like cars that soar through the air are also commonly found in science-fiction projects. Some of the best flying cars appear in movies like "Blade Runner" and "Back to the Future." Four-wheeled vehicles are fine and dandy, but there are bound to be audience members wondering what the future of motorcycles might look like. If nothing else, futuristic-looking motorcycles are just cool to look at, and fortunately, plenty have graced the big screen over the years. 

When making this list, we looked at motorcycles that specifically had a sci-fi bent to them. The 1990 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy in "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" is definitely cool, but that's a bike that already exists. We wanted motorcycles that pushed the boundaries of transportation in the future and perhaps even inspired folks to design their own bikes that look similar in real life. These are the sci-fi motorcycles that show that while society might change in the future, riding around on a cool motorcycle never gets old. 

Kaneda's bike in "Akira," one of the most influential anime films of all time, isn't just cool-looking — it inspired the famous "Akira Slide," which has entered meme status and has been referenced in a wide range of projects, from "Batman: The Animated Series" to Jordan Peele's "Nope." Even when it's not sliding, the bike is beautifully drawn. 

Forbes interviewed "Akira" director Katsuhiro Otomo about designing the vehicle, and he revealed that the inspiration came from another iconic sci-fi bike. "In terms of Kaneda's bike in 'Akira,' the initial inspiration was the lightcycles from 'Tron' designed by Syd Mead," Otomo explained. "However, they are wide, so I halved them and used that as an initial basis."

As the leader of a biker gang, Shōtarō Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata) needed a ride that exemplified his authority, and the sleek red design of this motorcycle certainly got the job done. It's easy to see why it captured the imagination of countless anime fans, and plenty of replicas have been designed over the years. Back in 2012, a replica of Kaneda's bike that cost ¥10 million to make toured Japan to raise funds for charity. Additionally, art studio Bel&Bel is designing a functional hybrid bike that people can put a down payment on to take home for themselves. 

"Akira" inspired and influenced numerous other works of art, and it roused people to design their own bikes of the future. It may be a dystopian world, but at least the motorcycles are cool. 

There is a long list of "Star Wars" vehicles we wish we could pilot, with the Millennium Falcon chiefly among them. Characters obviously need rides to get from one planet to the next, but once you've landed, how do you expect to get around on potentially rough terrain? "Star Wars" may be known for its massive spaceships, but speeder bikes also regularly make appearances that would be awesome to get around on — provided you don't crash into a tree. 

It requires a great deal of skill and precision to master riding a 74-Z speeder bike, as seen in "Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi." Losing concentration for even a second could lead to disaster, which is a good reminder for motorcyclists to always pay attention to their surroundings in the real world. However, speeder bikes are useful in more situations than just traversing a forest, as similar vessels made appearances in a litany of other "Star Wars" projects, like "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" and "The Mandalorian."

"Star Wars" speeder bikes allow a maximum altitude of about 32 feet, so whether characters are moving across a sand or forest planet, it beats having to walk long distances. It's far from the only bike-style vehicle seen in the franchise, as there are also the CK-6 swoop bikes, which are better suited for cold environments. However, when people think of bikes in "Star Wars," the speeder likely comes to mind first. 

Syd Mead designed the light cycle for "Tron," which in turn inspired the motorcycle from "Akira." However, Daniel Simon took over vehicle design duties for the sequel, "Tron: Legacy," and created a bike that expanded upon Mead's initial ideas. One of the biggest differences in the new designs is that the first light cycle in "Tron" has a covering over the top, making it resemble something that is more like a tiny car than a motorcycle. However, in "Tron: Legacy," the canopy is removed, and the riders are much closer to the ground.

The "Tron" movies have never been huge box office successes, instead garnering cult status after the fact. However, one could argue "Tron: Legacy" received a higher honor than box office supremacy — a ride at Disney World. Riders are positioned as though they're really on a bike, which is the closest someone can get to driving a light cycle outside of paying a small fortune to own one in real life. That's right – Parker Brothers Concepts has unveiled street-legal "Tron"-like light cycles. If you have the funds (and if the bikes are in stock), you can get one of your very own without worrying about Clu trying to kill you during a light cycle match.

Over the years, Batman has had pretty much every Bat-themed vehicle under the sun, from planes to submarines. Of course, the Batmobile remains the pièce de résistance in his arsenal, but if you wanted to purchase a Batmobile in real life, the cost would be in the millions. You may want to opt for something a little more reasonable, such as Batman's iconic Batcycle, which — as the name suggests — is a motorcycle the Caped Crusader rides around Gotham. Like the Batmobile, this vehicle has gone through various iterations, but none quite match the quality and overall coolness of the Batpod featured in 2008's "The Dark Knight." 

It gets an awesome introduction as Batman (Christian Bale) rides it out of the Tumbler, which self-destructs as he rides away to catch the Joker (Heath Ledger). It turns out the idea to make the Batpod part of the Tumbler came from an executive. "Dark Knight" production designer Nathan Crowley explained to Collider how the idea came to be: "That was actually a Warner Bros. executive in early garage times saying, 'Hey, the bike could come out of the car.' It might have even been on 'Batman Begins' ... It was like, 'I think they're right, we have to pull the bike out of the car.'"

The Batpod makes a glorious return in "The Dark Knight Rises," as Batman continues using it as a vehicle of choice until Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) gets it and uses its artillery in the final battle against Bane (Tom Hardy). For a guy with a no-killing policy, Batman certainly equipped his toys with some deadly features. 

If there's one thing you can trust about a Tom Cruise movie, it's that the man is going to do his own stunts — especially if it involves riding a motorcycle. Arguably, his best motorcycle stunt came in "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" where he drives a bike off a cliff, so one could view his motorcycle riding in 2013's "Oblivion" as a precursor to that. In the sci-fi flick, Cruise rides a foldable, futuristic motorcycle that's actually a modified Honda CRF450X. 

The Los Angeles Times caught up with Justin Kell, who tricked out the bike, who was surprised to learn Cruise could actually ride a motorcycle, "When they told me, 'Tom can ride,' I thought, 'Well, no, he can't.' But I was shocked. He's one of the best riding actors I've ever worked with. We didn't have to worry about rider error." 

Of course, accidents can happen even to the best or riders, and Cruise is no exception. A video circulated on social media around the time "Oblivion" came out of Cruise doing a stunt where he rides the bike over a hill, but there's an issue when he lands and falls to the ground. Fortunately, it appears as though he didn't injure himself too badly since he quickly gets back on his feet. 

As for the bike, they naturally couldn't come up with a way to make it actually foldable. Instead, the team developed various sections of a bike to make it appear as though Cruise's character was taking it out of the ship's storage and then folding it out to ride. It's Hollywood magic at its finest.

"Robotech" was a 1980s anime in which Earthlings needing to defend the planet from alien invaders. Humans use technology salvaged from a crashed alien vessel to construct mechs that can turn into vehicles. It's about as '80s of a concept as you can get, and Episode 62, "The Lost City," introduced one of the coolest vehicles to come out across the series — the Veritech Cyclone VR-038. The user of this device could ride it around as a motorcycle and then transform it into a mech suit to wear. That's some all-in-one functionality we can all get behind. 

As the show starts to highlights different conflicts, "Robotech" gradually introduces new mechs and vehicles. The VR-038 comes into play during the Third Robotech War and is primarily used for observation and scouting missions. The bike's typically affiliated with Rook Bartley, voiced by Susie London in the English-language version, becomes a lone wolf in the process who uses the bike to help her fight the Invid. 

The vehicles on "Robotech" are basically Transformers except the humans are the ones who get to turn into giant fighting robots. If you're going to fight an extraterrestrial menace, you might as well do it in style.

"Terminator 2: Judgement Day" is a beloved film that features one of the most impressive motorcycle stunts in movie history, and while "Terminator: Salvation" isn't held in as high regard, it does boast a particularly thrilling sequence featuring the Moto-Terminators. Most bikes are this list are simply cool, but these are downright terrifying. These AI-operated vehicles chase down John Connor (Christian Bale) and nothing can shake them, as even flaming wreckage is no match to slow down these unmanned vessels seeking to fulfill their primary directive. 

The bikes are made even cooler with the fact they're designed out of a real motorcycle — the Ducati Monster 1100 S. The chilling frame was constructed over the bike, and experts maneuvered the bikes during filming, even though there were various challenges of this, seeing as the bikes have sawed-off handlebars. Some VFX work was naturally required, but the combination of practical and digital resulted in arguably the most memorable sequence in a film that's pretty much been written out of continuity in the mainline "Terminator" franchise. 

While the Moto-Terminators have an almost skeletal structure in the design, there were initial plans to make them straight-up Terminators. Early concept art shows how it could've been literally a Terminator on wheels, but the idea was scrapped out of fear it would've just looked funny. 

One of the greatest tragedies of modern cinema is that 2012's "Dredd" flopped at the box office, depriving the world of what should have been at least five more of these films. It's an exceptional piece of action filmmaking that takes the comic book character Judge Dredd, played by Karl Urban, and gives him the big-screen adaptation he always deserved. The less said about the Sylvester Stallone "Judge Dredd" movie, the better. Naturally, this enforcer of justice needed his bike that originated on the pages of comic books with him — the Lawmaster. 

This is so much more than a simple bike — it's a complete artillery tool to give Dredd all of the weaponry he might need on the job. After all, Judges are judge, jury, and executioners all in one in this universe. The bike that appears in the 2012 film is really there with no green screen involved, as Urban explains in a behind-the-scenes featurette how they built the Lawmaster off of a 500cc motorcycle. The movie version is a bit different from the comics, as it's a bit more trimmed down so that it could actually be filmed. 

That same featurette includes a chat from Alex Wheeler, who worked on motorcycle fabrication on "Dredd." He explained, "The '70s idea of the future, which obviously has radically changed, so what we tried to do was keep in a lot of the elements while making it look more futuristic." Perhaps another adaptation of "Dredd" will come to fruition at some point, but even if it doesn't, 2012's "Dredd" accomplishes more in one film than many franchises accomplish with three.

Another films featuring Karl Urban makes an appearances on this list with 2011's "Priest." The movie is set against a post-apocalyptic landscape where humans and vampires have waged war for centuries, with the titular Priest (Paul Bettany) setting out on a mission to kick some vampiric butt to rescue his niece. Killing vampires in the apocalypse is already a killer concept, but you add a jet bike to the mix, and things only get better from there. 

The jet bikes are ridden by the titular priests as almost an extension of themselves that look like they were constructed out of a jet engine. A "Priest" DVD extra goes into detail about how the bikes came to be and how they were built for the film and then enhanced with VFX. Bettany even relays an amusing anecdote about learning to ride the bike in an enclosed space but having difficult out in the desert. "There were a couple of accidents," Bettany explained. "So at that point, we were absolutely not allowed to ride them without these training wheels, which were really humiliating because I had spent all this time learning to ride this bike."

Naturally, training wheels are nowhere to be seen on the jet bikes in the finished film. It's probably for the best, as vampires would've kept laughing at the priests whenever they rolled up to a fight. 

The 21st century revival of "Battlestar Galactica" may have had a bigger budget and greater assortment of sci-fi gadgets, but there's a soft spot in our hearts for the flying bikes featured in "Galactica 1980." The original show beginning in 1978 was canceled after 24 episodes, but it was briefly revived with "Galactica 1980," which also brought some sweet-looking flying bikes into the mix. 

The base of the bike was a Yamaha MX 175 that was fitted with some futuristic aesthetics as well as some wings because these bikes have to fly somehow. On the show, the bikes could be used on the ground, but when in a bind, they'd take off into flight. "Galactica 1980" sadly only lasted 10 episodes, but it made its mark. The series may have even predicted the future, as these flying bikes had turbines – hence the name, turbocycles — to aid them in flight. With this, the show may have predicted real-life motorcycles getting turbine engines, like the MTT 420-RR Turbine Powered Motorcycle that can reach 275 mph.