Booster Bike

Last updated
Note: For 'Booster bicycle' see Electric bicycle
Booster Bike
Booster-Bike.jpg
The horseshoes of Booster Bike
Toverland
Location Toverland
Coordinates 51°23′51″N5°59′03″E / 51.39750°N 5.98417°E / 51.39750; 5.98417 Coordinates: 51°23′51″N5°59′03″E / 51.39750°N 5.98417°E / 51.39750; 5.98417
StatusOperating
Opening dateJuly 27, 2004 (2004-07-27)
General statistics
Type Steel  Motorbike  Launched
Manufacturer Vekoma
DesignerVekoma
ModelMotorbike Coaster (600m)
Track layoutOut and Back
Height15 m (49 ft)
Length594 m (1,949 ft)
Speed75 km/h (47 mph)
Inversions 0
Duration1:08
Acceleration"0 to 46.6 mph (0 to 75 km/h) in 3 seconds".
G-force 2.5
Height restriction55 in (140 cm)
TrainsSingle train with 8 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in a single row for a total of 16 riders per train.
Layout Layout boosterbike simple.gif
Booster Bike at RCDB
Pictures of Booster Bike at RCDB

Booster Bike is a steel roller coaster located at Toverland in the Netherlands. It is the prototype of a motorbike rollercoaster, built by Vekoma.

Contents

Design and construction

In 2003, Vekoma premiered the Motorbike Coaster at the IAAPA expo. The reception was good, as it received the Award for "Best Idea Euro Amusement Show 2004 – Paris" at the Euro Amusement Show in Paris. [1] The major difference with the normal sitdown rollercoaster is the positioning of the rider. Instead of the normal sitting seats, the rider takes place in a seat that is more leaning forward, like an actual motorbike. The rider can hold on to the 'steering wheel', and the rider is secured using a harness that pushes down on the back of the rider.

Ride layout

The ride layout is Out and Back, characterized by the long, stretching launch and the hills parallel to the launch. The ride starts with an S-curve, after which the train will be stopped before the launch. When the train is launched to 75 km/h (46.6 mph), it takes a stretched hill, which is followed by a turn to the right and the horseshoe. Then the horizontal loop and a left turn follow. The last part consists of two hills. After those, the ride ends with a brake run and a corner left.

Similar rides

After this motorbike coaster, two more were built. A clone of Booster Bike was built in China, in Chimelong Paradise. In Flamingoland, a custom model was built, with a different positioning of the helix parts.

Related Research Articles

Vekoma

Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is portmanteau of Veld Koning Machinefabriek which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld.

Roller coaster inversion Section of inverted track on a roller coaster

A roller coaster inversion is a roller coaster element in which the track turns riders upside-down and then returns them an upright position. Early forms of inversions, dating as far back as 1848 on the Centrifugal Railway in Paris, were vertical loops that were circular in nature. They produced massive g-force that was often dangerous to riders, and as a result, the element eventually became non-existent with the last rides to feature the looping inversions being dismantled during the Great Depression. In 1975, designers from Arrow Development created the corkscrew, reviving interest in the inversion during the modern age of steel roller coasters. Since then, the elements have evolved from simple corkscrews and vertical loops to more complex inversions such as Immelmann loops and cobra rolls. Featuring fourteen inversions, The Smiler at Alton Towers holds the world record for the number of inversions on a roller coaster.

Launched roller coaster

The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains, or other mechanisms employing hydraulic or pneumatic power. This mode of acceleration powers many of the fastest rollercoasters in the world.

Nemesis (roller coaster)

Nemesis is an inverted roller coaster located at the Alton Towers theme park in England. It opened to the public on March 19, 1994. The ride was manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard and designed by Werner Stengel, in collaboration with attraction developer John Wardley. It is located in the Forbidden Valley area of the park, adjacent to Galactica and The Blade attractions.

Suspended Looping Coaster Type of roller coaster

The Suspended Looping Coaster is a model of steel inverted roller coaster built by Vekoma. There are at least 39 different installations across the world. The minimum rider height requirement is 130 centimetres. Vekoma is now marketing a Suspended Thrill Coaster to replace the Suspended Looping Coaster. The Odyssey is the largest, fastest and tallest SLC ever built at Fantasy Island in the UK.

Galactica (roller coaster)

Galactica is a flying roller coaster located in the Forbidden Valley area of Alton Towers amusement park in Staffordshire, England and is the first flying coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard. Guests ride in a prone position and experience the feeling of flight by "flying" close to the ground, under footpaths, and narrowly past trees and rocks.

<i>Nemesis Inferno</i>

Nemesis Inferno is a steel inverted roller coaster at the Thorpe Park theme park in Surrey, England, UK. Its layout was conceived and designed by John Wardley and then built by Bolliger & Mabillard with Werner Stengel providing the layout calculations, the same Swiss firm that built the related Nemesis inverted roller coaster at Alton Towers. As a result, Nemesis and Nemesis Inferno are often compared. It is also listed on the Alton Towers website that the ride is “Nemesis’ Sister”.

Batwing (roller coaster) Flying roller coaster at Six Flags America

Batwing is a steel flying roller coaster built by Vekoma at Six Flags America in Prince George's County, Maryland. This is nearly identical to Nighthawk at Carowinds, however that ride has a slightly different ending, and different paint scheme. The ride is also a clone of the now-defunct Firehawk at Kings Island.

NoLimits Roller Coaster Simulation is a software package available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X designed and built by a team of programmers and artists led by German programmer Ole Lange. It was first released in November 2001. The package includes two separate pieces of software, the NoLimits Editor and NoLimits Simulator, with a third application, the NoLimits Terraformer supported as well.

Motorbike roller coaster

A motorbike roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster designed with motorcycle type cars. Booster Bike at Toverland was the world's first motorbike roller coaster. Vekoma was the first company to design such a ride, although Intamin and Zamperla have since created similar designs.

Silver Bullet (Knotts Berry Farm)

Silver Bullet is a western-themed steel inverted roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard located at Knott's Berry Farm, an amusement park in Buena Park, California. The $16 million roller coaster was announced on December 1, 2003 and opened on December 7, 2004. A first rider auction was also held where people would bid on seats to be the first riders. The track is approximately 3,125 feet (952 m) long and the lift hill is about 146 feet (45 m) tall. The ride lasts two minutes and thirty seconds and features six inversions including a vertical loop, cobra roll, zero-g roll, and two corkscrews.

Firehawk (roller coaster) Former roller coaster at Kings Island

Firehawk was a flying roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Manufactured by Vekoma, it originally opened as X-Flight at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure on May 26, 2001, billed as the Midwest's first and only flying roller coaster. Cedar Fair purchased Worlds of Adventure in 2004 and began efforts to downsize the park. X-Flight was relocated to Kings Island following the 2006 season, where it reopened as Firehawk on May 26, 2007.

Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn. Variations in normal track movement that add thrill or excitement to the ride are often called "thrill elements".

Invertigo (roller coaster) Steel roller coaster

Invertigo is the name of an inverted shuttle roller coaster model developed and manufactured by Dutch company Vekoma. Four roller coasters based on this model were built, with the first installation opening in 1997 as HangOver at Liseberg amusement park located in Sweden. Three of the four are still in operation. Invertigo is designed as an inverted variation of their traditional Boomerang model, which first appeared in 1984. Invertigo's seat configuration is also a departure from its predecessor, in that riders sit back-to-back, resulting in all rows facing one another with the exception of the first and last.

Road Runner Rollercoaster

The Road Runner Roller Coaster is a Vekoma Junior Coaster which opened on 26 December 2000 at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Australia. The 335-metre (1,099 ft) ride features an incline of 13 metres (43 ft) and reaches a top speed of 45.9 km/h (28.5 mph). The ride has a height restriction of 100 centimetres (39 in). This ride is themed to Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.

Looping Star (Nagashima Spa Land)

Looping Star is a roller coaster which is located at Nagashima Spa Land in Mie, Japan. It was built by Anton Schwarzkopf in 1982. It is identical to other Looping Star roller coasters in different Amusement Parks. It was built two years after the Shuttle Loop rollercoaster and the same park was built.

Verbolten Roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Verbolten is a Zierer multi-launching steel roller coaster that officially opened on May 18, 2012, at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia, after a soft opening began on May 11, 2012. The concept was jointly designed by the park's creative design team and by Zierer of Germany. "Verbolten" is a play on words of the German word "verboten," which translates to "forbidden" in English.

Hyperion (roller coaster) roller coaster in Poland

Hyperion is a steel roller coaster located at Energylandia in Zator, Poland. The ride was manufactured by Swiss manufacturer Intamin and opened on 14 July 2018. It is themed to a fictional mission to Saturn's moon Hyperion and reaches a height of 77 metres (253 ft), has a maximum speed of 142 kilometres per hour (88 mph), and features several hills and banked turns. As of 2020, Hyperion is the tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster in Poland.

Lech Coaster steel roller coaster in Chorzów, Poland

Lech Coaster is a steel roller coaster located at Legendia in Chorzów, Poland. It was the first Bermuda Blitz coaster by Dutch manufacturer Vekoma and opened on 1 July 2017. The ride reaches a height of 40 metres (131 ft), has a maximum speed of 95 kilometres per hour (59 mph), and has a track length of 908 metres (2,979 ft). The ride also features three inversions.

Formuła (Energylandia) steel launched roller coaster in Energylandia, Poland

Formuła is a steel launched roller coaster at Energylandia in Zator, Poland. It was the first Space Warp Launch Coaster built by Dutch manufacturer Vekoma and opened on 25 June 2016. It has a height of 24.7 metres (81 ft), reaches a maximum speed of 79.2 kilometres per hour (49.2 mph), has a track length of 560 metres (1,840 ft), and features three inversions.

References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2010-08-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)