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Ride a Carry-On? Wicker Park Man Raising $160K to Make Motorized Luggage

By Alisa Hauser | August 10, 2015 5:40pm
 Modobag seeks to raise $160,000 on Kickstarter for a motorized carry-on bag.
Modobag seeks to raise $160,000 on Kickstarter for a motorized carry-on bag.
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Modobag/Kickstarter

WICKER PARK — If a Wicker Park entrepreneur can crowd source $160,000, the world's first ride-able carry-on luggage could be hitting the market, providing relief to travelers tired of pulling their rollaway bags the old-fashioned way.

"Not only is it functional, but it's an awful lot of fun," said Kevin O'Donnell in a Kickstarter video for Modobag, a carry-on bag that a user can ride, as well as quickly convert from a motorized vehicle into a traditional "pull" luggage bag.

Launched last week, O'Donnell has raised $6,302 from 11 backers. The Modobag campaign is 4 percent funded, with 53 days left to raise the cash.

O'Donnell, owner of Pint Pub at 1547 N. Milwaukee Ave., got the idea to motorize luggage a few years ago after traveling through airports with members of a local break dancing troupe, Chi Town Breakers, which he sponsors.

The dancers were hopping onto O'Donnell's rollaway suitcase as he was pulling it, which got him to think, "What if you can ride your luggage?"

Alisa Hauser says the bag will cost $1,900 when it hits the market:

After partnering with a friend, Boyd "Boydo" Bruner, a competitive motorcyclist, the two got to work on designing the bag. In the video, Bruner said the biggest hurdle was getting all of the features into the bag, such as a battery, plus retaining most of the bag for its initial purpose: luggage.

The bag, which stows on all forms of transportation, such as planes, trains, buses or cars, can travel a maximum speed of 8 miles per hour, almost three times the speed of walking.

A traveler weighing 180 pounds or under can go up to a five miles on one charge, using a lithium battery that takes three hours to fully charge. The bag also has a built in GPS tracker so users always know where their bag is, along with two USB ports power station to charge phones and laptops.

The bag is $999 for Kickstarter backers who buy it in advance, or $1,899 for those who prefer to buy it when it hits the market, estimated to be in February. There are two sizes, a regular Modobag for those under 200 pounds and a Modobag MAX for folks up to 260 pounds. 

Weighing just under 20 pounds and made of nylon and aluminum, the Modobag features a thumb throttle, brakes and accelerator. So far it has been tested on about 100 users, according to the video.

Kickstarter video for Modobag [Kickstarter/Modobag]

O'Donnell, working on Modobag timeline at a new 24-hour Dunkin Donuts in Wicker Park. [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]

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