monobike concept, yet again, reality catches up with fiction Options

[hobgoblin]

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?!).

[Zaranthan]

It's only a model.

[Poison Shadow]

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.

[Draco18s]

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.

[Poison Shadow]

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.

[hobgoblin]

and you will find both in arsenal (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

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

[Draco18s]

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).

[TKDNinjaInBlack]

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

[hobgoblin]

that engine block looked overkill for the vehicle...

[SpasticTeapot]

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.

[TBRMInsanity]

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.

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/200...wheel-bike.html

[SpasticTeapot]

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/200...wheel-bike.html

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.

[TBRMInsanity]

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

[KarmaInferno]

Segways and ice mix badly.

An older one, but someone tell the South Korean military police that.

Huh, upon searching I find that apparantly they make offroad Segways too.




-karma

[DWC]

An older one, but someone tell the South Korean military police that.

Huh, upon searching I find that apparantly they make offroad Segways too.

-karma

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.

[Falanin]

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.)

[SpasticTeapot]

Huh, upon searching I find that apparantly they make offroad Segways too.

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

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.)

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!

[hobgoblin]

Don't get me wrong, I still felt like a tool driving the thing, but it's a neat idea.

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

is it the new nerd?

[Draco18s]

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."

[hobgoblin]

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

[crazyconscript]

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

[treehugger]

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

[AllTheNothing]

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

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" .........

[SpasticTeapot]

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

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?")

[Draco18s]

I always just thought it was another phallus reference.

It's that too.