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Exotic Motorized Skateboard from Down Under
Somnus writes "On the British motorcycle news site MCN, they have a story on this weird device called a Wheelman -- it's a two-wheeled motorized skateboard where you stick your feet inside the rims of the hubless wheels! The top model, Bushpig, puts out 2.5hp and weighs only 44lbs. This would be a fun way to get around campus, if only I could find a suitable U-lock ..."
Yeah, I didn't notice that (I submitted the story). While I don't know for this specific case, two-stroke motors usually have more punch (torque) at lower RPMs than four-strokers, esp. at smaller displacements. This is why most off-road bikes use two-stroke enginees, while most on-road bikes use four-stroke engines for smoother power delivery, quieter operations and greater fuel economy.
If I get a Wheelman, I'll get the Stealthman model so I can fill up convenienty at my friendly neighborhood gas station.
*** Proven iconoclast, aspiring epicurean ***
Compare this with the modern US city: cars, on average, getting bigger all the time; traffic jams getting worse. Christ, there's a whole industry in traffic jams, with news helicopters and on-board computers. Meanwhile, cities continue to get denser and populations continue to rise. There's a clear end to this: cars have to go as the primary means of inner-city transportation.
Some cities are taking steps already: Portland OR has expanded it's bike lanes over the last 15 years and they're now pretty pervasive. Other OR cities, like Salem and Eugene (college towns) have even more aggressive bike lane programs and laws. bike lanes are clear policy and popular support for smaller, more economical short-distance transportation.
What's to replace cars? Scooters, perhaps (cf. Ginger), or something similar. What are the major objections to scooters?
- Safety. First, the system has to separate cars and small vehicles - they can't interact. Also, there has to be a licensing program, like for cars - we do NOT need thousands of untrained scooter riders - one fuck-up would take out a crowd. Finally, remember the dire predictions about cars? Thousands of deaths? Environmental destruction? (Well, ok, most of those seem to have come true, but why let that stop us?)
- Social engineering. No, most people won't trade their V-16 Ford Luxohemoth in for a battery-powered skateboard anytime soon, but that can certainly change (look how well the US government managed people in WWII). People don't think they're as susceptible to propaganda anymore, but they're wrong. We just call it advertising now, and it works really well. I don't think this will be a real problem.
- Climate. Here's the stake through the heart of this little idea. In Portland we get 36" of rain a year, and it's spread out very thinly - 5 or 6 days a week in winter are overcast and somewhat "moist." No way are people going to tool around in the open in a climate like that. So what do we need? Climate control.
Climate control. How can we get climate-controlled cities? Only in a closed, or at least roofed, environment. And the only real way to do this is with nanotechnology.Thus, as I submit in the title, these types of transportation won't become widely used until we have pretty well-established nanotechnology. Unless, of course, the world eceonomy collapses or gets spread veeeeery evenly, in which case I guess even US citizens will be happy to ride bikes to work in the rain.
Just a thought...
question: is control controlled by its need to control?
answer: yes
This isn't as much "normalization" as it is "don't take so many drugs when you're designing tables."
Pant legs? Geez, just wear a bikini. Couldn't you tell from the photo on the page?
This wouldn't be allowed on the public highway, but elsewhere, if people refrain from collateral damage, then there is nothing against it. Use it on the beach as envisaged, no worries!
Recreational shooting is regulated (you may have heard of Dunblane) so put that AK47 down. However with a Shotgun Cert or a Firearms Cert it isn't a problem. As the others who were modded down, you *can* parachute quite easily, you can paraglide and even microlight!
See my journal, I write things there
gas powered with a two stroke engine? Seems like it would be annoyingly loud (notwithstanding the earlier comment about wastefulness).
I'd want one that runs whisper-quiet and doesn't put out fumes.
Vidi, Vici, Veni
I was just getting in the bath to do some ironing, and I almost forgot to take off my clothes.
All your dangifiknow are belong to us.
There are tons of human-powered means of transportation, like shoes, bikes, skateboards, and scooters. But few of these are of sufficient technological interest to warrant a mention on Slashdot. This is about news for nerds, not news for powerless transportation consumers.
The local cop pulls me over and asks me for a motocycle license. The would pull you over just because it is so weird.
and I do not know about wiping out on this. I can see where the road kill potential is a bit higher than I would want.
Worryingly, there are no brakes and it seems the only way to perform an emergency stop is to fall off. But then, it's designed to be used on beaches and has a top speed of just 22mph, so you're unlikely to hurt yourself too much.
On the other hand, people do alot of things that I would not do.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
2 stroke geek haven. The Linux Pimp
--It's Pimptastic!--
From the article:
That does sound dangerous. 22 mph is a pretty fast clip. You could really get hurt. Try jumping out of your buddy's car at 22mph this weekend and see if you make it to work monday.
That being said, I think I have to get one. My goped has lost its charm.
All your dangifiknow are belong to us.
So what? Due to the wonders of global capitalism, energy is a pure commodity. Therefore, people who are willing to pay more for gas can enjoy the fruits of their labor with this fun device.
The two-stroke Bushpig model may not be that environmentally friendly, but the four-stroke Stealthman can't be that bad. Besides, how efficient is it, really, to burn food and take 30min. to get to work on a bicycle, when you can get there in half the time with one of these? To do a given amount of work in a given context, animal power is not always more enviro-friendly than machine power. If you want to bitch and moan, counter that having entertaining devices like the Wheelman disincentives forcibly packing ourselves into subway cars.
*** Proven iconoclast, aspiring epicurean ***
I hope the job you land in the states immediately starts paying out benefits because hospitals don't give coupons or price breaks regarding how much safety enginering was put into the thing you just crashed. Not to mention the standard of care your HMO is going to give you might surprise your average cynical european.
Once you've spent some time in the one of the 44 million without insurance you'll be back in heathrow in a heartbeat.
So, where did you get a computer that consumes no electricity while it processes information for your work and entertainment?
Motorized vehicles are banned from almost all bike paths, so that's out. Most beaches prohibit motorized vehicles. With no suspension, your knees and ankles would be shot in about 15 minutes of off-road trail use (plus the tires are too small to clear big roots, holes, etc.) What about on the street? Well, it has too much power to be classified as a moped. It doesn't have the DOT-approved lights, turn signals, brakes, etc. needed for a street motorcycle. It certainly could not pass any of the safety requirements for a car. It looks like it could be fun, but I can't imagine where one would ride it in the U.S.
I wasn't a hypocrite.
:))
:)
I do make attempts to conserve, though they are limited unless I choose to move away from culture completely.
My apt. has no TV, a minifridge style fridge, an electric stove, a microwave i use rarely, a coffeemaker, 3 small lamps, a clock radio (on most of the time), and a computer.
I use a Palm device instead of a laptop for my work because it uses less electricity, and is suitable for my needs.
But I have to use heat and water, trash, recycling, and public transportation, which use more energy. I don't use a car. I do use the streetlights, and all the infrastructure, and of course the Internet, so I am vastly benefitted by a lot of very dirty energy.
I want more people to be able to choose to cheaply and safely get off the grid, and generate their own electricity as much as possible. I have worked for political candidates in the southwestern US that aim to get as many people as possible on Solar power, which is mostly feasible in that sunny area. Espcially since the energy distribution crisis in California could affect the southwest and northwest if enough megawatts are pulled from the grid.
By the way, your sig is great.
Goat sex free since 2001
-----
"You owe me a case of beer. Sucka'."
Requisite cute girl model notwithstanding, this thing looks a bit tricky to manuever. From what I saw of college kids' ability to pilot a simple bicycle down a street, this thing looks like a road-rash in the making. How would you keep your pants legs from getting caught in the wheels? And sure, it has a throttle, but where are the brakes??
Guess I'm not seeing how this is an improvement over those gas-powered scooters....
Any product that can simultaneously satisfy my desire to avoice walking and has an attractive bikini-clad woman demonstrating it's use is a must-buy product in my eyes.
I'd still rather have the motorized skateboard from Motoboard.com. Theose gas powered rollerblades scare the bejesus out of me though.
TheGeek
TheGeek
http://www.geekrights.org
Kill the monkey
It's not *only* a question of how much energy you use, but also how much emissions you produce. CO2 is relevant in a global perspective, but other fumes are damaging in the close environment. CO2 is *not* what's causing bad air in many cities, infact CO2 is perfectly harmless in the conentrations we typically have. (It leads to global warming if it's from non-renewable sources, but otherwise it's harmless)
because I am going to give blood until I can buy one of these.
/.? Highest bidder gets my least favorite kidney. Bidding starts at $1,495.
Ok, so we've seen you can't put organs up for sale on e-Bay. Why not
Oh, and another $179 for the stainless steel.
Besides, how efficient is it, really, to burn food and take 30min. to get to work on a bicycle, when you can get there in half the time with one of these? To do a given amount of work in a given context, animal power is not always more enviro-friendly than machine power. If you want to bitch and moan, counter that having entertaining devices like the Wheelman disincentives forcibly packing ourselves into subway cars.
Animal power is 100% renewable, since animals consume foods that are 100% renewable. With respect to CO2/O2 balance, these work on a SHORT timescale compared to fossil fuels.
Animal power is also dramatically more efficient compared to fossil fuels, since our little cellular engines are quite efficient.
However, clean energy is generally a mask for electric engines that require fossil fuel burning at a power plant instead of on the road. They help places where loads of cars congregate, but they don't help the global picture.
If a substantial portion of people use SMALLER gas powered transportation, we save a LOT of total gas and energy usage, of the sort whose CO2/O2 cycle is thousands of years long. And perhaps it would be more popular (result in more savings) than trying to get people to use their own power.
It might not seem like it while you're coasting through a school zone, but 22 mph feels pretty damn fast when you're scraping across the concrete. As a test for the damage 22 mph can do, get in your car, find a handy brick wall somewhere, and drive into it at 22 mph. Oh... and you can't use the brakes.
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
They had one at the expo and were riding around there and on the beach.
I've talked with one of the inventors. I personaly think they are crazy considering the video they had at the big boys toys expo in Melbourne. These people come from the bush and their video show guys going through a tropical jungle like area at 25 mph (about 45kmh). The are the kind of guys who are man enough to not need breaks.
They pull apart weed wackers to get the engines since that the cheapest way to get engines. The thing won't pass California small engine emissions and may be worse than many small cars. It is also quite loud.
When I first saw this thing 2 years ago, I started looking into exporting them to the US but decided that I had better ways of making money that didn't invovle so many law suits.
25 miles down the road with trail of oil and engine debris:
Man standing beside Harley at the side of the road: "Damn, better strip the engine."
Suzuki/Honda/Kawasaki/Triumph bike owner: "Cool beer by the seaside, what a life".
Harleys are an overweight under powered pile of crap, useless for anything but posing. Constantly rusting, pathetic tank range, senile electrics. God help you if it should rain.
Give me a Bandit, Speed Triple or CBR any day.
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
That might be true in terms of chemical caloric content in the foodstuffs we ingest, but not when you also count agricultural, marketing and distribution energy costs. Our omnivorous diet doesn't help either. Also, is it more efficient strap 100 horses to a car, or just have a finely-tuned four-cylinder 2.0 liter motor?
Fossil fuel power plants win hands-down in both cost efficiency and enviro-friendliness due to the powers of scale. If you divide the energy produced by a large coal-fired plant in a day by the amount of harmful emissions over the same time frame, the dearth of emissions is actually quite remarkable.
Now that makes sense! However, if you've ever been accelerated from 0-to-60 in 5.0s in a 400hp car, you'll understand how difficult it is to convince people that the environmental savings are worth it; you wouldn't be able to convince me. Perhaps, a suitable alternative is a 150hp motorcycle that can take you from 0-to-60 in under 2.0s ...
*** Proven iconoclast, aspiring epicurean ***
Shut up, be happy. The conveniences you demanded are now mandatory. -- Jello Biafra
Cars that are the size of motorcycles would be a compromise here, eh?
But, the masses don't think beyond the need to look like they have the longest penis.
-G
--Fac Iustum Nec Time-- --Veritas Prevalibit--
I had a go at Big Boys Toys, which is a cool gadget show they run in sydney each year.
There pretty slow though, they seem to be geared for torque rather than speed.
Official GOD FAQ.
Call me a crank, but the last thing I want is Joe Idiot cruising through the park on one of these things. Bicycles, roller blades, etc. are fine because they're relatively quiet. A 2.5Hp engine is not quiet (not without a bit of work)..
With that said.. I've always wanted to put together a hubless recumbent touring bike.. So, while I really don't like the idea of another humming nuisance, I do like the overall design of this thing..
we are not suffering an energy crisis. Please quit spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
All your dangifiknow are belong to us.