Like the off-road motorcycles his company wants to improve, Steve Christini has been scrambling for years to gain traction for his small Philadelphia firm, Christini Technologies Inc.

The company got some last week in the form of a $3 million equity-financing commitment from Tradewise L.L.C., of Ridgewood, N.J. Christini, 34, plans to use the staged investment to  kick-start production of his firm’s “all-wheeldriveâ€? system for off-road, trail bike motorcycles. Today, almost all mass-produced motorcycles are rear-wheel drive.

“I truly believe you are going to witness a revolution in motorcycling,â€? said Tradewise president Matthew Trattner, who became interested in helping to bankroll the Christini bike after reading a 2005 review of it in Trail Rider magazine, which is published in Medford. Trattner rides off-road for recreation but earns his living as a commodities trader. Among other investing partners, he enlisted Vincent Viola, a former New York Mercantile Exchange chairman and part owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team.

Viola’s participation was a magnet for subsequent deep-pocketed investors, Trattner said.

“We’re not in here to make a couple of million,â€? Trattner said, scoffing at the notion of such a meager return. “We’re here to make big bucks. It’s something that’s changing the rules.â€?

Christini‘s system can be fitted onto certain existing motorcycles, or become the basis for a new line of bikes. Its advantage, say riders who have tried it, is that having two drive wheels gives the motorcycle better traction on loose or steep surfaces, improves handling and, overall,makes the machine safer and easier to operate.

Yamaha Corp., the Japanese conglomerate that makes pianos, music equipment, golf carts — and motorcycles — has been working on the two-wheel drive concept for many years, but is not marketing the innovation to consumers.

On its corporate Web site, the company says its “2Tracâ€? technology is for competition only, and that it will “further studyâ€? using it in other products, “Following future market research results and potential customer demand.â€?

Christini acknowledged that the world might not be ready for such a potentially disruptive technology, especially if it costs as much as a new motorcycle.

Initially, the company’s “frame kitsâ€? will cost about $6,800, plus the customer will need a Honda CRF250 off-road motorcycle, which costs $6,400. Professional installers will perform frame and fork-ectomies on the bike, substituting Christini’s strengthened all-wheel-drive skeletal system.

“We’re not going for the average guy right away,â€? said Christini, company founder and inventor of the technology. Rather, he said, the technology’s commercial debut, which will consist of about 200 units later this year, is targeted at hard-core enthusiasts.

To that end, the company has collected testimonials from several notables in the world of off-roadmotorcycling, using an unusual marketing technique — lacking money for paid endorsements, he simply invites top-level riders to try the Christini equipped bike during trail runs in the woods, and they show up.

“You can go over logs, go over rocks, climb hills where your rear wheel would normally be spinning,â€? said Ron Lucas, an accomplished trail-bike rider who operates a motorcycle suspension-tuning shop called Enduro Experts, in Egg Harbor City.

Christini’s kit consists of a heat-treated motorcycle frame and a patented network of gears and rotating shafts in the motorcycle’s front-fork section. A chain connected to the engine sets the front-wheel-drive assembly in motion, but only when the system “sensesâ€? that the rear wheel has lost traction.

Last week, in the company’s post-industrial loft workspace near Seventh and Callowhill Streets, Christini said the company planned a rollout of a dozen or so racing-spec all-wheel-drive motorcycles this summer. The company will use them to publicize the technology at motorcycling
events along the East Coast.

A “limited production runâ€? of about 200 frame kits will become available in the fall, with customers able to have the modifications done to their own Honda motorcycles. Alternatively, Christini AWD will arrange for the modifications to bemade by its dealership partners for their customers.
The idea could potentially help all types of motorcyclists, including those who ride more traditional cruisers and zippy “crotch rockets.â€?

For now though, Christini is aiming at the off-road segment — people who ride on dirt tracks and in the woods — because they stand to benefit the most from increased traction.

Meager revenue from the sale of two wheel-drive bicycles, along with a parade of loans and investments from friends, families and angels have kept the business alive since Christini, his brother and father formed a partnership in 1998.

“We hit up everyone we knew,â€? said Christini, a 1995 Villanova engineering graduate. “Everything we learned on the bike, we knew we could transfer to motorcycles.â€?

Christini said that if the company partners with amajor motorcycle manufacturer and licenses the technology, “in production this should only be an $800 upgrade.â€?

That could happen, or a larger company could buy Christini Technologies outright and create a windfall for its investors— an outcome Christini said sat just fine with him.

Or, he said, “The dream — maybe we decide to make 5,000 of these and just become a motorcycle company.â€?

If it is truly a “disruptive technology,â€? an industry game-changer like the advent of the electric start or disc brakes, Christini said, “this has the power to do that.â€? 

Contact staff writer Akweli Parker at
215-854-5986 or aparker@phillynews.com.