New Motorcycle Technology

[beansbaxter]

Read about it here.

Check out the video here.

What do you think about this? Is this possible from a physics standpoint....the whole gyro thing??

 

[jagec]

oh, it's possible for sure...but it's hard to compensate for sudden, sharp shocks, and it requires a lot of power to ensure it can stay upright if someone leans forward sharply. Remember how the Segways like to fall down when the batteries start running low? Same problem. If they put a real, GASOLINE motor in there, it should be much better. I don't know where they plan to get a fuel cell that's relatively cheap yet capable of that much power.

 

[beansbaxter]

Yeah the power thing was the first thing I questioned, but I figured since a target date is "2025" that they would have the fuel cell thing advanced enough technologically speaking of course.

 

[TGHI]

By 2025 we should have our frickin' flying cars - who would want a one-wheeled piece of cro-mag technology then?

Damn future keeps letting me down.

 

[silverpig]

There was a motorcycle built at one time with a gyro inside it. It was stable sitting at lights and what not. I don't know much more about it though.

The bombardier thing looks neat

 

[Witling]

1. We're not going to have any significant amount of flying cars in your lifetime. Think of the freeway. Now, think of the freeway in three dimensions.

2. Good luck, even by 2025. The thing has a high center of mass. Imagine slamming on the brakes with your 170 pound body atop that thing. To work, it would need a gyroscope like I can't imagine.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Witling
1. We're not going to have any significant amount of flying cars in your lifetime. Think of the freeway. Now, think of the freeway in three dimensions.

2. Good luck, even by 2025. The thing has a high center of mass. Imagine slamming on the brakes with your 170 pound body atop that thing. To work, it would need a gyroscope like I can't imagine.

I'm sure the engineers have already thought of that...

 

[Witling]

Realizing that there's a problem isn't the same as solving it. It's like the bridge to Hawaii. Yes, in a theoretical sense it could be done but as a practical matter, don't by any stock in the company.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Witling
Realizing that there's a problem isn't the same as solving it. It's like the bridge to Hawaii. Yes, in a theoretical sense it could be done but as a practical matter, don't by any stock in the company.

just because it isn't safe doesn't mean it isn't fun

 

[Description]

By 2025 we should have our frickin' flying cars

That's what they said about the year 1980. :roll:

Think of the freeway. Now, think of the freeway in three dimensions.

Not just that, but:
a. Current ground transportation is sufficient.
b. Minor collisions are certain to be fatal.
c. Intoxicated elderly teens (Contradiction? Nay?) on their cell phones are bad enough as is.
d. Say goodbye to restricted areas. Spike strip...sheet?
e. They would consume great amounts of power, need to be on all the time, mind-numbingly easy to pilot.

Et cetera

You will never own a flying car.

I'm sure this moto-unicycle will make motorcycles obsolete, just as the Segway did to bicycles. :roll:

I don't understand why so much money is poured into the advancement of outdated technology. Why not toss gyroscopic stabilization into a real motorcycle?

 

[beansbaxter]

A bridge to Hawaii? I'd rather have a bridge that cuts across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Florida.

 

[klaatu51]

Folks, there have been a number of units wherein the rider sits inside the wheel. Right
now I can't find a bike book with one in it but you might try googling monocycle,
or something like that.

klaatu51

 

[SuperTool]

Reminds me of that South Park episode.

 

[TGHI]

Oh, I know we won't have our flying cars by then. Remember the one story that Issac Asimov wrote? I think the name was 'life in the year 2000' - or something like that. He predicted that not only would we have flying cars, but we'd have colonies on the moon, as well as mars. Not only that, but all major diseases will be cured, and the threat of pollution was to be non existent and robots would carry out all of our household chores. By the way, the book was written in the sixties and he was off by quite a long shot. That's what we get when we expect one of the greatest science fiction writers to make realistic predictions of the future. Bah.

There's nothing on the moon or mars - so why can't we just focus our efforts on some damn flying cars!