There is a certain type of enthusiast who dreams about scooting up to their airport gate on a little piece of motorized luggage, tossing it into a plane, and then riding away once they get to their destination. For some, the “suitcase bike” is seen as a sort of holy grail of ultra-personal transportation. There’s a new mini motorcycle out there that folds up into the size of a suitcase. But before you try to bring the new Icoma Tatamel Bike onto an airplane, there’s a lot that you need to know.
The Icoma Tatamel Bike has been years in the making. We first wrote about it nearly three years ago when Japanese firm Icoma displayed the suitcase bike at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in 2023. The allure of the Tatamel Bike was obvious. This bike is so small that it can be folded up and shoved into the trunk of pretty much any car. In theory, this means that you could park your car somewhere, pop the bike out of your trunk, and then ride the last mile to your destination. It could also supercharge your use of public transportation as you could ride to a train, bus, or plane, fold the bike into a wheeled suitcase, and then go on with your day. These bikes are also sometimes desired by general aviation pilots and boaters as a tiny vehicle they can use once they land or dock.
Technically, the possibilities are endless, and now, the Icoma Tatamel Bike is entering production. This little minibike is promising pretty decent specs for how tiny it is, and it looks oh so cute. And did I mention that it was created by a toy designer?
Decades Of Tiny Bikes
Before I continue, I want to point out that the concept of a “suitcase bike” isn’t new. In the early 1950s, a French inventor created a bicycle that folded into a suitcase for the convenience of travelers. In the 1960s, the Fuji Go-Devil was a 53cc minibike that folded in on itself for portability. The 1960s also saw the creation of S & K Suitcase Cycle, which took road-legal motorbikes like the Honda CT90 and added mechanisms that allowed them to fold into a fraction of their size.
More modern examples of this exist as well, including Mazda’s Suitcase Car of the 1990s and the iconic Honda Motocompo of the 1980s. Today, you can buy all sorts of super tiny folding two-wheelers and self-propelled luggage.
All of these diminutive vehicles attempt to solve the problem of last-mile mobility. The Suitcase Cycle was designed for private pilots and boaters who didn’t want to hail a taxi once they touched down somewhere far from home. The Honda Motocompo and its Motocompacto sequel strapped into the back of a car so its owner could park farther from the office and then ride the last mile into work. Motorized suitcases exist for the people who don’t fancy walking around a large international airport. The general idea of all of these devices is that your motorized mobility doesn’t end when you get to the bus stop, train station, parking lot, or airport.
But really, a lot of folks like these little runabouts because they’re just plain fun – fun to ride, fun to show off, and fun to have in the back of a car. Our Thomas Hundal pitches these things as the perfect escape pod for when your unreliable car breaks down, and sure, I can sort of see that. But I suspect most buyers get these sorts of vehicles just for the fun of it.
Now, there’s another option on the market.
A New Suitcase Bike
The Icoma Tatamel Bike has been years in the making. The minibike was designed by Takamitsu Ikoma, who used to work for Takara Tomy, the Japanese maker of Transformers toys. In 2020, he first went viral in Japan by releasing an animated peek into a Transformer-like bike that he had designed. By 2023, Ikoma was hitting the tech show circuit in America and Japan with his Icoma Tatamel Bike in tow.
The Tatamel Bike was a smash hit, winning the CES 2023 Innovation Award in Vehicle Tech & Advanced Mobility. The bike then won the “My Choice 2025” Good Design Award as well.
So, why are you hearing about this minibike again, nearly three years later? Well, the bike shown at CES was a prototype, and it’s taken a long time for the Icoma Tatamel Bike to morph into a production machine. The bike was supposed to go into production in late 2023 and then late 2024, but it’s finally in production now. So, what does all of the waiting get you?
Some changes have been made to the design since we last saw the Tatamel Bike in 2023. Thankfully, dimensions have remained the same. The highlight feature of the minibike is its unique folding system, which takes the bike down to 27 inches long, 27 inches high, and 10 inches wide. In riding mode, it measures 48 inches long, 39 inches high, and 25 inches wide. This size is important, and we’ll get back to it later.
Something that did change on the way to production was the weight of the bike. The production model weighs 139 pounds, which is an unfortunate bump over the prototype’s 110 pounds. The main structure of the bike, which permits the transformation function, is aluminum. A conventional fork handles the front end, and there’s a monoshock in the rear. Yep, this thing has something resembling a real motorcycle suspension! That’s why I’m calling it a mini motorcycle rather than an escooter. Well, that, and because of the weight.
The build is completed with a set of 3D-printed panels that are slapped onto the side of the Tatamel Bike. Icoma has advertised the bike with nearly infinite color combos and graphics.
The minibike is powered by a 600W (0.8 HP) electric motor with a 2000W (2.68 HP) peak. Juice comes from a 600 Wh 51.2V 12Ah LiFePO4 battery, which Icoma says is good for 18.6 miles of real-world range. Complementing the go-power is a 10-inch front wheel, a 6.5-inch rear wheel, and a top speed of 25 mph. It can also carry 220 pounds, and there’s a USB port onboard to use the bike as a power station.
To put the Icoma Tatamel Bike into perspective, a Honda Motocompacto is 29 inches long, 21 inches high, and 3.7 inches wide when folded. The Honda also weighs about 41 pounds and has a top speed of 15 mph and 12 miles of range. The Motocompacto’s front wheel is about the same size as you’d find on a push scooter. The Motocompacto also doesn’t have a suspension. Basically, I suppose you could think of the Tatamel Bike as being like twice a Motocompacto.
Suitcase-Sized, But You Can’t Fly With It
But here’s where things stop looking so fun. On one hand, the Tatamel Bike does fold up into suitcase size, and it does have wheels, so you don’t have to wrestle the full 139 pounds of weight to move it around. However, it still weighs 139 pounds, which would suck to carry into an apartment if you do not have an elevator.
The Tatamel Bike, like the Motocompacto, is also too large to be used as carry-on luggage, so you can forget about the idea of scooting around an airport on one of these. Some other publications are saying that the Tatamel Bike is “carry-on” sized, but I don’t see how. For example, the carry-on size at United Airlines is 22 inches long, 14 inches wide, and 9 inches thick.
Even if it were carry-on-sized, there’s another hitch: per FAA rules, if you bring a mobility device onto a plane, it cannot have a battery larger than 300 Wh. If your cute minibike isn’t considered a mobility device, it’s even worse, as you can’t bring on something with a battery bigger than 160 Wh. Oh, and some airlines specifically prohibit bringing any sort of ebike, escooter, riding suitcase, hoverboard, or any variation of the sort. So, if you’re looking at the Tatamel Bike as a cool way to ride around an airport, you can forget about it.
Now, you’re really just left with the narrow use-case of having an ebike-like vehicle to ride around a city, and then park in your apartment, assuming you have access to an elevator or are not bothered by dragging this thing up the stairs every day. You could also use it as a trunk bike for your car, but 139 pounds of bike might wear away at the novelty value. I have a Honda Spree in my living room right now that weighs less than 90 pounds!
When the Tatamel Bike was unveiled at CES 2023, it had a price of about $4,000. Thankfully, the actual price is ¥498,000, which is about $3,300. That’s before you pay for shipping and tariffs. When all is said and done, don’t be surprised if your final cost is over $4,000. That’s four times the cost of a Honda Motocompacto, which you can just buy from your local Honda dealer. It’s also substantially expensive than perhaps any number of tiny escooters.
Icoma did say that it wanted to sell these in America, and there is an English website for it, but it’s unclear how shipping works. Still, you can place an order on the Japanese website if you want. The company says the lead time is two to three weeks.
I suppose there can be a different way to look at this. The old Honda Motocompo was too big to go on a plane. It also weighed about 99 pounds. Yet, everyone loves those little bikes. Maybe the Tatamel Bike should be marketed as a trunk bike rather than a suitcase bike. A new Tatamel Bike will probably cost you less than an old Motocompo, too, and doesn’t emit any exhaust gases.
So, I guess how much you love this might depend on your perspective. Either it’s a lackluster electric moto or a modern riff on the Motocompo. Still, it’s such a cool little bike, and, as far as I’m concerned, if it’s fun and makes you smile, who cares how practical it actually is?
Top graphic images: Icoma
A folding e-bycicle seems to overcome nearly all the issues this creates for itself.
Brompton (a reputable folding bicycle brand) has a number of bikes that would be better here. Lighter, theoretically unlimited range, e-motor so that pedalling isn’t really making you sweat more than the weather already makes you, larger wheels, and you won’t get kicked off multi-use bicycle trails
I used be friends with the person responsible for an ordinance prohibiting propelling yourself through the streets of Topeka Kansas with a leaf blower on roller skates. It probably would have been fine if he hadn’t decided to give everyone on his company a pair of skates and a leaf blower.
Anyway, I think a leaf blower and roller skates would be more practical than this.
Without vestigial pedals, it falls into a regulatory gap of uselessness unless you have a private area to ride it.
You’re probably on the right track Hugh… to ride this on public roads, would it not need to be registered/plated and also insured just as any scooter would?
It’s complicated and varies by state, but generally pedals, and low enough power make it a bicycle. No pedals, and no matter how slow it is, it’s either a motorcycle and needs a license, or it’s something else that isn’t legal no mater what.
A friend once got a citation for riding a Fender twin reverb on casters down a hill. It had wheels he was sitting on it, and it wasn’t a bicycle, so it was illegal. My roller skates were apparel, thus legally allowable. I was wearing roller skates all over Manhattan for about 8 months until it started snowing. Years later it became illegal to wear them on the subway, but the 70s were sort of a free for all.
🙂
I also grew up in NYC in the 1970s. Somewhere around here, I have a few of those 35 cent bus/subway tokens with the little “Y” cut out in the middle.
So only good to take from the park and ride to the train and from the train to office. No one can carry a 139 pound suitcase I bet the handle breaks on the first trip. Also even if it was usable as carry on you could not have a second carry on bag for what you need to carry on. I think it should be changed to carrion because like Steve Martin in plains trains and automobiles you would be carrion before this actually helped
Though it was a bit of a long walk, I had to compliment you on carry on/carrion Mr. S. 🙂
I love these folding things, even though they’re usually compromised and my back wouldn’t allow me to ride one anyway. The main plus of this is that it has a suspension, which is sorely lacking from most small folding units. Is there a suspension/front fork too? I can’t quite tell is yes/no and the rear wheel is the only one to benefit. Also, the price (w/o shipping and tarrifs and customs) actually strikes me as not too bad: the size of the wheels and suspension and lots of aluminum extrusions almost justify the cost of this over a Motocompacto.
Of course, it’s mostly novelty (from my POV/needs). I’d much rather have Mercedes’ Honda Spree at 90 lbs. It looks more comfortable and easier to service/maintain too. 🙂
Or… and this is going to be weird for many… walk the last mile?
Neat toy… but I just don’t see how it’s a mobility improvement.
COMMUNIST!!!
(/s)
Even as a check-in bag it would cost more due to the weight.
Have you seen the new electric Antic bike from One Wheel makers? Different than this in that it’s more of a bike from the 70’s with an electric motor. But full on wheelies whenever you want, battery on the “floor” of the frame so great balance. Pricey though! $2100 or something? Just announced so hard to get a good frame on that.
Another flaw for the airport dream: while it is the size of a suitcase, it is not your suitcase. That’s your other bag. And where is that supposed to go??
Depending on what all you’re bringing with you, your suitcase could just be a backpack, or a schmedium duffle bag with a sling. Not really an issue then.
But yeah, if you have a traditional suitcase you’re kinda screwed. …duck tape, anyone?
Yeah, it’s doable with a backpack, just….not great.
Airlines are starting to only allow one bag now…not one bag and one “personal” item (that’s the size of a suitcase).
Confirm the tow rating, and hitch up your rollerbag.
This is the only answer.
I don’t know of any airport that has roads connecting to the rest of the world that you could ride that on, at least in the US.
I see tourists unpacking their bikes at JFK, and think “you have no idea what you are getting into”
The front wheel with the drum brake looks very e-bike like so a 139 lb weight bothers me. It would make more sense as a smaller and lighter vehicle with more modest performance. A good folding e-bike would be feasible as luggage on a plane and get you where you want to go without giving you a hernia
I’m old and weak so I don’t understand the point of something that is supposed to be portable but weights over 100 lbs.
It’s for people who can’t walk a mile or two, but can lift a 139lb suitcase just fine. Which may be a niche that exists, but if so it’s a very small one.
The only people I know who fall into that category are too heavy to ride this.
Alt headline: Tatamel Bike Shows the Brilliance of the Motocompacto.
I am that type of enthusiast, but no motor is needed. I had dreamed of doing this ever since I bought a Bike Friday to take on a trip to France, but I never realized it until I got my Brompton.
I’ve flown with my Brompton like this: ride to neighborhood L station, train to ORD, roll through airport (fold for security X ray), fold and board with bike as my carry-on (fits in the overhead bin) and the bag as my personal item, deplane in PDX, ride through airport, out of terminal to bike path and straight to destination in Portland.
It’s glorious.
Yeah, the Honda Motocompacto is such a better deal. And it’s only $995!
I like my motocompacto as a trunk bike. I used to ride it to lunch all the time from my office. Now that I’m back in the city, I can’t wait to do it again when the weather is nice again in 6 months.
Or get a folding e-bike that does the same thing for less cost at a fraction of the weight. Maybe a little less compact, but also quicker to transform.
I sure hope there’s a catch; I like my suitcases to stay closed!
I was all in until 140lbs. That’s a fail right there.
Yup, I was thinking like 80lbs but almost double that is a no go
It pretty much disqualifies it as a trunk bike. Nearly no one is going to repeatedly lift this to and from the deck of an SUV, so it only makes sense only if you’re also going to carry around a ramp (HD dog, or motorcycle). As far as use with a trunk, no one I think is going to want to lift 140 # that’s several feet away from their lower back over a trunk lip.