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800px-Batpod

The Batcycle for the 2008 superhero film The Dark Knight (directed by Christopher Nolan) is called the Batpod and its mock-up was done by Nolan and later designed by Nathan Crowley, who designed the Tumbler for Batman Begins (2005). The bike has 20" front and rear tires (the Tumbler's front wheels), and is powered by a high-performance, water-cooled, single-cylinder engine - geared toward the lower end for faster acceleration and with no exhaust pipes. The exhaust is routed through the hollow steel/aluminum/magnesium tubing used for the frame of the bike.The Batpod is steered by the shoulders instead of hands, and the rider's arms are protected by shields. The two foot pegs are set 3½ feet apart on either side of the tank, which the rider lies on, belly down.

The engine noise was designed around the Shepard tone, for which sound effects came, in part, from the sound of the Tesla Roadster's electric motor.

The Batpod ejects out of the Tumbler's front end, making the Tumbler's front wheels both of the Batpod's. Because the Tumbler is ordered to self destruct , the Batpod allows Batman to continue his pursuit. For the film, the bike is armed with grappling hooks, cannons, and machine guns. Six models were constructed for the film's production to anticipate some of them crashing.

One action sequence in the film shows the wheels rolling against their normal axes, seemingly for added stability in sharp turns or other maneuvers. This also allows for instant changes in direction - if the driver approaches a wall, the Batpod's central frame will rotate to keep the driver upright.

The term Batpod is mentioned by Alfred only once in the movie and so far is the only Batman device to receive the prefix "bat" in the Nolan franchise

The Dark Knight Rises[]

The Batpod can be seen again in the Dark Knight Rises. In this adaptation Batman rides a black batpod while Catwoman, played by Anne Hathaway, appears to have a silver one of her own. During filming on August 9, 2011 a stunt performer collided with a camera while filming a chase scene involving Catwoman's batpod.

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