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Tinkering leads to Burnsville man's business venture on four wheelsPosted: 5/30/03 by John Gessner A habitual tinkerer, Jim Black has built everything from cruise-missile engines to his own one-man airplane. His newest creation has four wheels and doesnít leave the ground. Itís a ìquadribentî ó two recumbent bicycles attached side by side. This four-wheel bicycle built for two with recumbent (reclining) seats is especially suited to special-needs children and the elderly ó those who would have trouble balancing or powering a traditional two-wheel bike, said Black. An aeronautical engineer by trade, the 54-year-old Burnsville resident received a U.S. patent in May for his EZ-1 Quadribent and EZ-1 Lite Quadribent cycles. Through his home-based Blackbird Sales Inc., he and partner Carl Gulbronson sell kits for connecting two recumbent bicycles into a Quadribent or will do the job for you. ìIím trying to have the bike business be a full-time job,î said Black, a veteran of airline-industry jobs and layoffs. ìAnd Iím getting close.î Black grew up in Minneapolis, where a still-unfinished Crosstown Highway 62 served as a test strip for his earliest invention. ìIíve been playing around with bicycles for many years,î he said. ìWhen I was 15 I took a 5-horsepower lawnmower engine and put it on a bicycle and made myself a motorcycle. ... It only had one gear so it wasnít very fast, but it was a lot of fun.î His career resume includes engineering jobs with Boeing, Piper Aircraft, Leer Jet and Williams International. At Williams International, he worked on the small jet engines used in the U.S. cruise missiles fired during both wars in Iraq. At Northwest, Black was the senior engineer in charge of maintaining $400 million worth of DC-10 engines. After Northwest laid him off 10 years ago, Black went to work for himself, offering design engineering services through his Blackbird Designs Inc. ó the company that also holds the Quadribent patents. He first thought of building a four-wheel recumbent bicycle for his grandparents, who were in their 80s and under pressure from family members to quit driving a car. ìThis is what they needed,î Black said. ìI wasnít able to do it for them, but this is kind of where it got started.î He converted two BMX bikes into a four-wheel ìcarî for his then-9-year-old daughter, Amanda, who will graduate this month from Burnsville High School. ìSo then I started making recumbent bicycles from BMX bikes for adults,î Black said. ìAnd then I joined two of them together side by side. People started asking for them so I started building them for people and selling them.î Attached, side-by-side bikes are nothing new, Black noted. ìOne-hundred years ago theyíd put two upright bikes together and call it a sociable,î he said. ìI tell people I can make your recumbent a little bit more sociable.î He knows of three U.S. manufacturers of attached recumbent bicycles. ìAnd theyíre at least twice the price,î said Black, whose steel-framed, EZ-1 Quadribent sells for around $1,700. ìAnd some of them donít have as many speeds as these. These have 21 to 24 speeds as standard, and we have an electric motor option.î Blackbird Sales also offers adaptive equipment. One piece of gear connects the pedals of both bikes, combining the effort of two riders. A physically challenged rider contributes as much as he or she is able while the person in the next bike does most of the work. ìIt helps them exercise,î Black said. ìThey contribute as much as they can, and the parent or the physical therapist is right next to them and can see how theyíre doing and help them out.î Blackbird Sales also offers a chest-level seat belt for physically challenged riders. ìSome of these kids have never been on a bike before,î Black said. ìTheyíre nervous, and some are really scared. But itís really nice to have a child come back with a big smile on their face.î -- Check out this week's newspaper for more details. © Thisweek Newspapers |
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