Banshee Cyberbike
The Banshee Cyberbike was designed to be the fastest and safest cyberbike on the market. With the youth market share exploding, North American Motors (NAM) was determined to exploit this growing demographic. Only a small percentage of youths are able to legally drive and even less of them could afford their own ground car or spinner. After a lengthy study NAM decided that to capture the youth dollar they needed to enter the cyberbike market. The cyberbike market is a fickle market that is driven by fads and niches. A bike with high sales one quarter could struggle to sell a single unit the next quarter because it is no longer considered “cool”. NAM realized that they did not have any experience with cyberbikes and it would take years to develop a new cyberbike division. So they did the truly corporate thing, they bought one and absorbed it into their infrastructure.
Road Masters Ltd was a small design firm that developed the popular Apache cyberbike. NAM bought them out and immediately put them to work designing a new bike. The bike needed to be fast, safe, and appeal to the largest market possible. Making the bike fast was no problem, but they spent months trying to meet NAM’s safety criteria. They tried everything from emergency crash foam to and ejection seat but eventually had success with the Ghost Rider System. Ghost Rider is a limited onboard AI that helps drive the cyberbike at high speeds. If can perform controlled braking during tight turns, adjust engine performance and even change the tire pressure for better traction. Over time the GRS learns the way the driver handles the bike and can customize it’s performance to best suit their driving style. After a month of use by a test rider, with only minimal experience, the rider was able to run the bike at full speed with little difficulties. To make the bike appeal to the widest range of riders all the controls are adjustable. The handles and pedals are on slide rails allowing a rider as short as 4’10” tall to operate the bike effectively. It is no coincidence that the average height of a 12 year old in the ISA is 4’10”. RMLtd also took a cue from the street racers of the late 1990’s and designed the exterior body so parts of it could be replaced with after-market body kits. This way the entire look of the bike could be changed without having to buy a new bike.
The first Banshee hit the market in June of 2027 after a three month media blitz to build up hype. Despite a $3000 price tag sales have been good and are expected to pickup around Christmas. By making the Safety of the GRS a prime selling point many parents are buying Banshees for their children. The Banshee has managed to penetrate several key groups except the GoGangers. GoGangers scoff at the bike and refer to it as the “Poser Bike 3000”. Since the GRS is simply mimicking what GoGangers do out of instinct they gain no advantage from the AI assist. They also resent the legions of PoserGangers armed with Banshees who think they can now run just as fast as the real GoGangers. However, they do really like the idea of customizable body kits and RMLtd is already developing a new cyberbike without the GRS to satisfy the GoGangers with the customizable body feature.
Banshee Cyberbike
AI assisted cyberbike, with direct link plugs as well as ‘trode link’, drive by wire response and onboard status computer. 160mph SPD=11
Ghost Rider System – For every week that a rider spends on a Banshee he receives a +1 bonus to GoGo checks made while riding their Banshee to a maximum of +4. This bonus does not apply to the Hotbiking Skill. This bonus can only be applied to one rider since the AI can only store a single performance profile. Should anyone else try to operate the bike they do so at a -4 penalty.
