A Fearsome Bike Fit for the Dark Knight

So the Ronin motorcycle lacks front-mounted cannons and grappling hooks. But say that Bruce Wayne went belly-up during the financial crisis: This ferocious, gleaming-ebony cycle would definitely be his next choice to ride while whipping bad-guy tail.

Despite first appearances, this futuristic-looking motorbike wasn't hammered together by Japan's nutso street-racer gearheads; astute observers will notice it's built on the body of a Buell, a now-defunct Harley-Davidson brand. The makers of the cycle, Denver's Ronin Motorworks, wanted to pay a tribute to the Buell's iconoclastic design, so they bought up a bunch of 1125 models and took them into the garage. What emerged was a trimmed-down bike that rides fast and, with a sleek, muscular body, looks like a leopard in mid-pounce.