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Out of the top of my head: 2 layers with rigid foam in between helps against the loss of stability when a crack does form. This guide is for a bike, but the same technique should be usable on a boat, with ballistic grade Kevlar instead of fiberglass.Also use more layers. If you plan on getting shot at a lot I'd advise a pump in the boat, because bailing is not the thing I'd want to do while getting shot at.

Likewise, I would like to see you strap pedals to a drive train underneath that solar car, and powering it to 88 km/h for a kilometre; I'll watch.

In the Autumn of 1985, at the International Human Powered Speed Championships, a fully-faired Moulton ridden by Jim Glover broke the 200 metres flying start speed record, at 50.21mph (80.79kph). Then on August 29th 1986, at the same event, he broke his own record at a speed of 51.29mph (82.54kph) which still stands today for the conventional riding position. [1].

It seems that if you design a bike completely around top speed, and if you are a professional-caliber cyclist in excellent competition health, you can beat 88 km/h for brief periods [2]. On the other hand, these are 200 m races lasting under 10 s, so they are a little more sprinty than the 1 km achieved by the car in question.

Aikon-

2 weeks ago at Hellyer velodrome Freddy was "getting too old for this" and now he sets a new record. This is a 1 hour record. Hitting mid 50's on a diamond frame bike takes a good hill. The drafting bicycle speed record is somewhere around 150mph. The non-drafting, pedal up to speed record no tailwind, no hills is at 82mph in a similar bike that Freddy used. Recumbents.com , Battel Mountain have info on the top speed runs. Freddy did something like 76mph last year. These bikes are more HPV's as they are fully faired. Aerodynamics and power are a cool combination.

  For the street, one of the best performing recumbents are the Bacchetta's. Bacchetta has been giving a good showing around the country for the past few years. They did the Hotter-N-Hell century as a team (drafting) in 3:56 passing the bicycle race that was part of the event. John Schlitter won the Race Across Florida on a Bacchetta this year, and Bacchetta took 1,3-5 overall. They were used for a 3rd place finish last year in the Race Across America 4 man team. They also had a rider up to third this year before he dnf'd. Cycling News Results with Jim Kern in 3rd on a Bacchetta . Later this month, there will be quite a few recumbent and HPV teams competing in the Race Across Oregon including a 4 man team, and 2 man team from Bacchetta.

Of course, to give credit where credit is due. One of the slickest bikes out there is the Velokraft NoCom low racer bike. This bike is more track/pure race oriented, and is quite fast.

If you want to increase your cycling speed by a few mph. Check out a recumbent. For more info, there's the wildly popular recumbent site Bentrider Online which has a very informative forum section.

2 weeks ago at Hellyer velodrome Freddy was "getting too old for this" and now he sets a new record. This is a 1 hour record. Hitting mid 50's on a diamond frame bike takes a good hill. The drafting bicycle speed record is somewhere around 150mph. The non-drafting, pedal up to speed record no tailwind, no hills is at 82mph in a similar bike that Freddy used. Recumbents.com , Battel Mountain have info on the top speed runs. Freddy did something like 76mph last year. These bikes are more HPV's as they are fully faired. Aerodynamics and power are a cool combination.

  For the street, one of the best performing recumbents are the Bacchetta's. Bacchetta has been giving a good showing around the country for the past few years. They did the Hotter-N-Hell century as a team (drafting) in 3:56 passing the bicycle race that was part of the event. John Schlitter won the Race Across Florida on a Bacchetta this year, and Bacchetta took 1,3-5 overall. They were used for a 3rd place finish last year in the Race Across America 4 man team. They also had a rider up to third this year before he dnf'd. Cycling News Results with Jim Kern in 3rd on a Bacchetta . Later this month, there will be quite a few recumbent and HPV teams competing in the Race Across Oregon including a 4 man team, and 2 man team from Bacchetta.

Of course, to give credit where credit is due. One of the slickest bikes out there is the Velokraft NoCom low racer bike. This bike is more track/pure race oriented, and is quite fast.

If you want to increase your cycling speed by a few mph. Check out a recumbent. For more info, there's the wildly popular recumbent site Bentrider Online which has a very informative forum section.

2 weeks ago at Hellyer velodrome Freddy was "getting too old for this" and now he sets a new record. This is a 1 hour record. Hitting mid 50's on a diamond frame bike takes a good hill. The drafting bicycle speed record is somewhere around 150mph. The non-drafting, pedal up to speed record no tailwind, no hills is at 82mph in a similar bike that Freddy used. Recumbents.com , Battel Mountain have info on the top speed runs. Freddy did something like 76mph last year. These bikes are more HPV's as they are fully faired. Aerodynamics and power are a cool combination.

  For the street, one of the best performing recumbents are the Bacchetta's. Bacchetta has been giving a good showing around the country for the past few years. They did the Hotter-N-Hell century as a team (drafting) in 3:56 passing the bicycle race that was part of the event. John Schlitter won the Race Across Florida on a Bacchetta this year, and Bacchetta took 1,3-5 overall. They were used for a 3rd place finish last year in the Race Across America 4 man team. They also had a rider up to third this year before he dnf'd. Cycling News Results with Jim Kern in 3rd on a Bacchetta . Later this month, there will be quite a few recumbent and HPV teams competing in the Race Across Oregon including a 4 man team, and 2 man team from Bacchetta.

Of course, to give credit where credit is due. One of the slickest bikes out there is the Velokraft NoCom low racer bike. This bike is more track/pure race oriented, and is quite fast.

If you want to increase your cycling speed by a few mph. Check out a recumbent. For more info, there's the wildly popular recumbent site Bentrider Online which has a very informative forum section.

I think you might be referring to http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/wisil/whpsc2006/sp eedchallenge-2006.htm

Er, design of the fairing and other aspects of the vehicle is not even close to low-tech. Just for example, see:

http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/wisil/whatsup.htm# 'Bent%20Commentary

http://www.speed101.com/

i wonder if this one is standing start or flying start.

but 60mph is not the top speed for a bicycle. Currently the speed record for an HPV (Human Powered Vehicle - i.e. no rockets) is 81.00mph or 130.36kph.

http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/records/fastest_ev er.htm

Looking at him I would say that he would have gained weight if he had bought a bike. There is nothing like a little exercise in the morning to build up the muscle mass in a hurry.

For the price of a segway he could have bought a really nice recumbent bike or trike. Or save a bundle and buy used.

Before anyone jumps down my throat: If you can stand for 7 miles on a segway you can ride a bike for the same distance. 7 miles may seem like a long distance, and it will be for the first 2-4 weeks. But it won't be long before you have the muscle mass to do twice that without breaking a sweat.

I just re-read the specs on the Segway and they suck. Now that I am in some what decent shape my top speed is twice that of the Segway. My regular "cruising" speed is 50% faster. And I probably can beat the Segway's best case max range of 15mi/25km on an empty stomach.

If you are a person with a disability limiting your mobility I can see a need for a Segway. But for the rest of us a bike commute is not a problem.

Looking at him I would say that he would have gained weight if he had bought a bike. There is nothing like a little exercise in the morning to build up the muscle mass in a hurry.

For the price of a segway he could have bought a really nice recumbent bike or trike. Or save a bundle and buy used.

Before anyone jumps down my throat: If you can stand for 7 miles on a segway you can ride a bike for the same distance. 7 miles may seem like a long distance, and it will be for the first 2-4 weeks. But it won't be long before you have the muscle mass to do twice that without breaking a sweat.

I just re-read the specs on the Segway and they suck. Now that I am in some what decent shape my top speed is twice that of the Segway. My regular "cruising" speed is 50% faster. And I probably can beat the Segway's best case max range of 15mi/25km on an empty stomach.

If you are a person with a disability limiting your mobility I can see a need for a Segway. But for the rest of us a bike commute is not a problem.

Human powered top speed: 80.6 mph

and after some quick calculations
60/((9.7*16)/60)
Human top speed on foot: 23 mph

12.5 mph doesn't seem so dangerous to me, it is about 3 times faster than I walk comfortably, and slightly faster than when i jog.

The fastest production motorcycle, the Suzuki Hayabusa, can do 200mph (320kph). However the manufacturers have agreed to limit superbikes to 298kph or 186mph. The 'Busa has a 1300cc 4 cylinder 4stroke engine and a claimed dry weight of 217kg/478lbs. Some people have modified their 'Busa and Kawasaki ZZ-12R motorcycles with superchargers, turbochargers, and nitrous. These motorcycles will do better then 200mph. GrandPrix 2 stroke 500cc, and 4 stroke 1000cc motorcycles have more powerful engines in lighter bikes, but are leased for 1 million dollars a year or more.

It is worth noteing that motorcycles are incredibly non-areodynamic compared to most enclosed vehicles such as this Landshark. I would not be surprised if a light aerodynamic vehicle with a well tuned 400cc engine could do 200mph. Humans can do over 60mph on aerodynamic bikes. That said I doubt the Landshark with its 400cc engine can do 200mph with 3 passengers or even 1 passenger. 200mph is fast! You need a well tuned optomised vehicle to go that fast. Trying to get a hybrid car/boat to go that fast with a reasonable price tag is not easy.

Plenty of 12 volt power.

Lots of fan noise in the trunk is OK.

The new shuttles have beautiful copper heat pipes that are begging for monster automotive airflow.

Think BIG. 9 inch diameter 600 cfm should be fine

Do NOT forget a filter. Try a Hepa home air conditioning filter.

Do not recirculate the already hot air in your trunk. Use NACA ducts

Years ago, when recumbent cycle 'technology' wasn't as well known as it is now, I had the opportunity to ride both recumbent bicyles and tricycles created by a company called Greenspeed here in Melbourne, Australia.

My experience with the bicycles was less than perfect - it takes a slightly different balancing technique to ride with your centre of gravity lower than the centre of the wheels. The handlebars are also beneath the seat, rather than up in front. I'm told a couple of weeks experience would be plenty to feel at home though.

On the other hand, the trike is a joy to ride. Not quite as fast (if you're going for the speed record) but fantastic for cornering. I hit a corner a lot faster than I'd dare on a 2 wheel device, and it swung around without even lifting a wheel. Truly a fantastic piece of machinery.

At AU$ 3,750 for the economy model, these things aren't cheap - but hey, I can drool.