Anthem creator, and CEO of Ryvid, Dong Tran, is qualified to launch a motorcycle business. He is a Detroit College of Creative Studies alumnus and has had positions with General Motors, BMW Designworks USA, Toyota’s Design Laboratory in Tokyo, and Honda R&D. Since then, he has worked as the main designer of the Icon seaplane and the chief designer of a top-secret eVTOL aircraft (electric vertical take-off and landing). You may like to read Eins Bike is World’s Coolest And the Most Fun Urban Bike
His true love is motorcycles. What really piques his attention is something unrelated to the US or European motorcycle markets: using motorcycles for transportation. He observes the sizable two-wheeler markets in Southeast Asia, Latin America, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Africa and predicts that these regions are ready for electrification as battery prices fall, fuel prices rise, and public demand for cleaner air and reduced emissions grows.
Anthem at Master of Public Health:
The Anthem By Ryvid was created to be the most efficient and waste-free way for a human to travel at 80 MPH over short to medium distances on a daily basis. That is our mission, and we cut out anything that didn’t serve that purpose.
Having simple platforms that allow both the user and company the flexibility to innovate are our main goal.
Simple controls, displays, and ride modes all aid in getting you comfortable, and accessible features like a seat that lowers and raises help get more people on two wheels quicker, therefore accelerating our mission of personal EV transport.
We want to appeal to riders and non-riders alike, so getting on an Anthem By Ryvid will not be an intimidating experience but rather a very welcoming one.
For design language, we chose to straddle between a classically mechanical motorcycle aesthetic. Something that pushes the boundaries of a more futuristic feel. The aesthetic is carried out through the specific use of different manufacturing tech, materials, and functional details like a removable battery and seat height adjustability.
Having a modular layout for our design allowed us to play with different trails and center of gravity (CG) placements. The challenge for us was to design something that is optimized for daily commuting but also safe for freeway use at 80 mph. A shorter trail is typically better for maneuverability but not great for high-speed stability.
Because we have the ability to change the CG around using the large battery mass and lowering it all to the ground, we were able to extend the trail slightly and still have a very maneuverable bike at low speeds and a very stable bike at higher speeds. With a rider on the Anthem By Ryvid, CG is very close to 50/50.
FAST QUESTIONS:
Do You Have Any New Bikes In The Pipe?
We have more 2-, 3-, and 4-wheeled products in the works that will cater to different segments in the space. The underpinning platform will be the same, but the use case and purpose will be different.
Do You Create Petrol Bikes As Well?
As much as I enjoy working on ultra-complex car engines and the beauty of customizing a load-bearing Ducati L twin (90-degree V twin) motor on a trellis frame in my garage.
Ryvid’s mission is very clear: we will only focus on creating EV products. We will carry over the most mechanical parts of a petrol bike and combine them with the simplicity of an electric drive train to make a familiar shape with futuristic details.
I believe the emphasis will shift away from making an engine as reliable as possible. Toward trying to squeeze out every horsepower possible to make something that is the most usable and most fun to ride every day.
What Got You Interested In Electric Motorcycles From The Beginning?
Overall simplicity is what got me interested in electric motorcycles—the fact that you can generate so much power with few moving parts and so little wasted energy opened opportunities for sustainability in design that had never been seen before. Riding an electric motorcycle is something that must be experienced rather than imagined. There has never been such a thing before. a community that encompasses such a wide range of technical experience. EV drivetrains allow for creativity in personal transportation, unlike anything a petrol-based engine has ever done. We will see many different types of layouts and vehicles created in the future. by many different people. This gets me excited!
Do You Ride A Motorcycle Yourself?
I started out riding on the back of mopeds in Vietnam as a child when there was no such thing as traffic lights. At the age of 16 years old, I started out riding a Suzuki GSX-R 750 (not the best bike to start out riding).
Since then, I’ve ridden a wide range of two-wheeled contraptions from building and riding Puch, Motobecane, and Tomo mopeds to dirt bikes and small bikes like the Honda Ruckus and Groms. Soon after, I got into riding larger motorcycles like the Triumph Speed Triple, Ducati Monster S4R, and Ducati Panigale.
What Is Your Inspiration?
I get inspired by many things, but most of all, I am extremely curious about how everything works. This typically means everything gets taken apart and studied. The ability to learn with freely available information constantly inspires me to make things better and differently. I love it when something so obvious can be taken out of context and transformed into something completely new.
In my opinion, there are not many things that are totally uninspired and unique. Everything is a cumulative understanding of what came before. Inspiration and creativity refer to one’s ability to create something new yet be inspired by something old that came before.
In the case of the Anthem By Ryvid, inspiration was drawn from how aircraft are bonded together. Which was then combined with simple paper folding. On a previous product, I designed and created a perfect frame manufacturing technique that is much simpler than welding with fixtures.
Do You Create Other Things Besides Bikes?
I have many hobbies, and most of them turn into serious projects. I’ve built everything from rolling motorcycle workshops to Class B campers and dune buggies. Taking apart and completely rebuilding old cars is therapeutic, and I still do that when time allows. My next adventure will probably involve something that flies—recreational and electric, of course.
Tell Us Something That You Thought Was Especially Fun To Be A Part Of?
This is a hard one; I had so many opportunities to be part of amazing projects. The most memorable one, however, was the ICON A5 aircraft development. I was lucky enough to be involved in bringing that aircraft into production and to be one of the first to go through the flight training program.
I think every kid inherently loves airplanes. Maybe it’s something that’s built into our curious nature as human beings. Flying in a small aircraft and then being able to land on the water is by far the most enjoyable experience I’ve had. Freeing ourselves from the bounds of gravity is something special that everyone should experience.
What’s Shaking For 2023?
We are completely committed to bringing the anthem to life. We are set to deliver the first Anthem By Ryvid electric motorcycles in the summer of 2023. The state of California recently awarded us a $20 million grant to help us accelerate our efforts.
Also, 2023 will be an extremely busy year for us, but it will be exciting to see where this space goes.
There are too many to mention, but the biggest thanks must go to everyone at Ryvid. Who has poured their hearts and souls into the mission? I have been extremely lucky to meet many extremely talented people. Having the chance to collaborate with them is nothing short of amazing. Without the Ryvid Team, this mission would be nothing more than a pipe dream.
Additional credits would go to all the people I have ever had the chance to work with in the past. Everything I’ve learned from them has become an important component of what this company stands for. In a big way, Anthem by Ryvid is the culmination of everything that came before, assembled in a specific way to serve a specific mission.
