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Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 13 2009, 09:26 AM

http://likecool.com/Monobike--Concept--Gear.html

to bad its forward leaning and not the recumbent design (why are there not more recumbent motorcycles out there?!).

Posted by: Zaranthan Apr 13 2009, 06:09 PM

It's only a model.

Posted by: Poison Shadow Apr 13 2009, 06:24 PM

There is a guy who's made a number of working models. Can't remember his name, but he's an american. He was on TV like, yesterday. He made a V6 model too, but doesn't ride it anymore 'cause it almost killed him.

Posted by: Draco18s Apr 13 2009, 06:34 PM

It's not like these things are impossible to build, it's just that no one really cares to actually do it.

They're also probably not street legal due to the vision impairment induced by the wheel. Someone would have to check.

Posted by: Poison Shadow Apr 13 2009, 07:39 PM

Yeah, he sticks his head out the side Ace Ventura style. Its pretty impractical if you ask me. That, and you pitch forward when accelerating and back when you decelerate. There's another motorcycle that has one wheel (more of a dual wheel actually) The rider sits over top of the wheel, and controls the motorunicycle(?) by leaning forward, back, left and right.

Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 13 2009, 10:23 PM

and you will find both in arsenal

and both made by that new company, no less...

Posted by: Draco18s Apr 13 2009, 10:52 PM

Oh, yes, they're both in Arsenal, I'm just saying I doubt the real world will ever see them beyond novelty (a car as a giant wheel has been done, but I think it's only ever been used in films).

Posted by: TKDNinjaInBlack Apr 16 2009, 12:58 PM

here's the monobike vids including the crash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4YmVP6i4qw&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoKPdebrVOY&feature=related

Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 16 2009, 01:09 PM

that engine block looked overkill for the vehicle...

Posted by: SpasticTeapot Apr 16 2009, 03:56 PM

I saw a working ride-on-top electric monobike prototype in Popular Science last year. It was intended for dense urban environments where the ability to turn on a dime (gyros!) combined with the low footprint and low cost of ownership (no fuel) would be a major benefit.

Electric bikes like this would likely be very popular amongst runners - they're easy to silence, the heat signature is tiny compared to their internal-combustion counterparts, and about half of Seattle would likely own the exact same model.

Posted by: TBRMInsanity Apr 16 2009, 04:03 PM

It was a 16 year old Canadian boy from Ontario that created that monobike. It was even on the Dragon's Den. They wanted to mass produce the model.

http://greatesttechnology.blogspot.com/2009/04/one-wheel-bike.html

Posted by: SpasticTeapot Apr 16 2009, 07:51 PM

The problem is an obvious one of "what happens on loose terrain?" Segways and ice mix badly.

OTOH, if you've got smartwheels, the end result is a mono-motorbike that can climb stairs.

Posted by: TBRMInsanity Apr 16 2009, 09:17 PM

Why would you drive a segway on ice in the first place?

Posted by: KarmaInferno Apr 16 2009, 09:20 PM

An older one, but http://keef.tv/images/uploads/SegwaySoldiers.jpg

Huh, upon searching I find that http://www.segway.com/individual/models/x2.php




-karma

Posted by: DWC Apr 16 2009, 10:44 PM

The ruggedized, off road Segways rule. The security guys at a client's site let me use one for an hour a few years ago and I was astounded at where the thing would go. Don't get me wrong, I still felt like a tool driving the thing, but it's a neat idea.

Posted by: Falanin Apr 17 2009, 01:53 AM

Might just be me, but I love the idea of the Cyclops monocycle with Gecko tips as an ascent tool. (WARNING: not for use by obese or larger-than-human riders.)

Posted by: SpasticTeapot Apr 17 2009, 04:42 AM

These offroad segways might work okay over normal dirt and packed gravel, but loose surfaces - such as mud or slick ice- leave the wheels with no traction. If there's no traction, there's no torque to keep you upright - and this gets much worse if you're moving at 15mph. If a three-ton SUV with knobbly tires can't get a grip, it can't either. (Studded tires might make a difference, though the requirement for more pressure per square inch means that an ice-segway would work better with the base model.)

And here's a bunch of Sweedish segway nuts to prove my point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlixEyDxezE



Most awesome concept for a go-gang ever. A regular go-gang is scary, but a go-gang that can drive up walls? People generally don't expect an angry man on a monobike to come crashing through their window at 3AM....especially if they live on the 34th story!

Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 17 2009, 10:14 AM

i got to say, i do not understand the modern slang use of the word tool...

is it the new nerd?

Posted by: Draco18s Apr 17 2009, 01:33 PM

According to what little I can find (the wikipedia article was deleted because it was moved to another project, but I can't find which project),

Tool:

an "un-cool" person; LOSER; WANNA-BE.
Someone who is easily used or manipulated.
Also an older usage, "poor tool" or "dumb tool" meaning "An unskilled worker."

I think this sums up this usage though:

"The most common use is to describe someone who is being used by large corporations, the government or most commonly pop culture. In this context, the term is thought to be a contraction of "tool of the system". The insult is used in Western counter-culture to describe strong proponents of those institutions, who seem to truly believe in what is thought of as a mass deception. This became a popular word in the 1990's and 2000's. Individuals may be described as "tools", as an insult meaning that someone is a klutz or easily taken advantage of. A person mindlessly buying into pop culture trends may represent a kind of "toolish" behavior."

Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 17 2009, 02:13 PM

cute, so the use of the word is relative to the users view of the world...

Posted by: crazyconscript Apr 17 2009, 03:45 PM

Well, around here i know when we call someone a tool its probably got more to do with the older usage that Draco found. We just use it to variously describe someone as dense or idiotic. Its pretty much got the same usage as muppet or plank

Posted by: treehugger Apr 17 2009, 05:11 PM

I clearly prefer the Monobike from South-park for a shadowrun setting.
No i wont provide links, i dont want to get permabanned

Posted by: AllTheNothing Apr 17 2009, 05:18 PM

Yes, the word's use dependes on the meaning that it's given (and the view of the world is one of the factor that concour to determine the intended meaning of the word), the problem is that the listener may not give to said word the same meaning generating confusion; how many word to just say "Yes" .........

Posted by: SpasticTeapot Apr 17 2009, 08:30 PM

I always just thought it was another phallus reference. Most insults point to some body part or another. (Ever looked up the origin for "berk?")

Posted by: Draco18s Apr 17 2009, 08:59 PM

It's that too.