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Build Your Own Monowheel

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the need-something-quelled dept.

glengineer writes "Just when you thought it was safe to buy a Segway, Popular Sci has an article on the Monster Monowheel, an 1,100 pound single wheel 'scooter'. From the article: '...works on the hamster-in-a-wheel principle: Move a wheel's center of gravity forward and the wheel turns.' It has an 80cc four-stroke Honda scooter engine and 80 pounds of lead for ballast. Scary part: the driver's seat is in the very front, and the seat scrapes the ground when braking really hard." The builder's website is theriotwheel.com.

32 of 209 comments (clear)

  1. It looks really wide... by adrianbaugh · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... and since the tyre profile looks quite rectangular I guess it's "wheely" hard to steer ;-)

    --
    "'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'"
    - JRR Tolkien.
    1. Re:It looks really wide... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      What would be cool would be two large wheels in the back, with the ability to power one more than the other. Then they could be rectangular for better traction, plus you could turn on a dime (literally) and spin in place. You could work out a differential system to turn them both in the same direction for top speed, or power one more than the other to turn. Or to do it simply (but inefficiently) upt brakes on them and slow the right one down to turn right, etc.

      Do you mean, like a...Segway?

    2. Re:It looks really wide... by photon317 · · Score: 1, Funny


      Man invented the ultimate ATV a long, long time ago. It's called the Helicopter.

      --
      11*43+456^2
    3. Re:It looks really wide... by MrScience · · Score: 2, Funny

      At 1100 pounds? I'm not exactly fit, but I think my fingers would get tired...

      --

      You quitting proves that the karma kap worked. The most annoying of the whores shut up. --CmdrTaco

  2. Cool, the latest from apple: The iWheel. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny


    Can I get an Envirofriendly Gas Hybrid Model in Candy Apple Red?

    and does it have an iPod hookup?

    1. Re:Cool, the latest from apple: The iWheel. by ubugly2 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Just paint it some weird pastels and call it the iDarwin...

  3. Scary part: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Scary part: the driver's seat is in the very front, and the seat scrapes the ground when braking really hard.

    In other words, Ford owners will feel right at home.

  4. I love the diagram on their site... by BitWarrior · · Score: 5, Funny

    Particularly the labeling of the rider as - "Dummy". I may have to agree with that assessment ;-)

    1. Re:I love the diagram on their site... by bergeron76 · · Score: 3, Funny

      If for no other reason than that he's riding this "contraption" without a shirt! I can understand wearing a leather jacket, or hell even a t-shirt - but to go topless on something like that takes serious balls...

      Of course, I could just be jealous because I look like E.T. when I take my shirt off... but I digress.

      --
      Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
  5. nice by stfubye · · Score: 3, Funny

    The local segway owners will be soo jelous.

  6. Steamroller by RotJ · · Score: 5, Funny

    The most obvious use for this vehicle is to run over those snotty people using Segways. Of course, I guess you'd have to back up over them.

  7. Whackety - Whack! Don't Talk Back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    If this goes south on him/her, it has got to make one of the best "Whackety-splat-whackety-splat" sounds the world has ever heard. 1,100 pounds and stabilized on the horizontal axis by only 65 pounds of gyros? If you have ever seen a gyro fail at high speed, well, uh, can you say mincemeat?

    1. Re:Whackety - Whack! Don't Talk Back by HawkinsD · · Score: 3, Funny

      But there is a SKID in the front. Which makes this machine GROSSLY safer, and more practical, and stop-able, than the last thirty designs for mono-wheel vehicles that we've seen on Slashdot.

      --
      Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by mere idiocy.
  8. Re:The Bikers know how do to it by l810c · · Score: 2, Funny

    That thing sure makes harley riders look like wussies.

  9. Twisted Metal by bigtrick · · Score: 2, Funny

    Doesn't this remind anyone of Axel from Twisted Metal? You have a huge wheel and a shirtless guy riding it. Mmmm, I can imagine the fiery explosions that will ensue.

  10. Amazing by dirtsurfer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Clown technology has really come a long way

  11. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    Seriously, did you read the article?

    You must be new here...

  12. Yeah... by Cyno01 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Thats what i thought at first too, kinda dissapointed. Although the one on monster garage reminded me waaay to much of the "It" on south park... Linky

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  13. Mr. Garrison's invention? by rkmath · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is an improved version of what we saw in South Park. There is no steering lever to be inserted into the rider's mouth. The other lever is still being used I think, as in Mr. Garrison's design.

  14. Re:Ummmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Yep. Wouldn't be too pretty if you ran into anything either.

    1,100lbs of steel and rubber behind you. At least with a motorcycle you might be ejected instead of turned to jelly right away.

  15. Re:Ummmm by cybermace5 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I imagine a very comical-yet-terrifying leap into the air followed by a large amount of spinning and bouncing. Of course, the driver would be dead before the wheel came down for the first bounce.

    --
    ...
  16. Re:See also... by Monkelectric · · Score: 4, Funny

    I find Maddox's segway design ideas intriging.

    --

    Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley

  17. How much would 'they' charge by kurt555gs · · Score: 5, Funny

    In Illinois the Tollway Authority charges 'per axle'

    I wonder if this would be free?

    Cheers

    --
    * Carthago Delenda Est *
  18. Umm... by dupper · · Score: 3, Funny
    Just when you thought it was safe to buy a Segway

    I never thought that. Well, I started to, once, and immediately preemptievly kicked my own ass.

  19. What a great idea! by Deraj+DeZine · · Score: 5, Funny

    All the safety of a poorly-made, precarious go-cart, but with the weight and fuel economy of a small car.

    --
    True story.
  20. Re:What impresses me MOST... by Deraj+DeZine · · Score: 5, Funny

    Rear-end impact, 5 MPH: wheel tipped forward, occupant thrown forward onto ground and run over by vehicle. Slightly above-average damage (approx. 7 standard deviations above the mean for CA motor vehicles).

    Front-end impact, 5 MPH: occupant's legs broken off, driver seat torn off and subsequently run over by vehicle. Comparable economic impact to modern SUV damage estimates.

    Side impact, 5 MPH: vehicle tipped on side, occupant's left arm broken off, driver seat broken off due to shear force and subsequently crushed under vehicle. Comparable results to Segway Human Transporter.

    Head-on impact, 120 MPH combined: occupant broken into several pieces, many of which fused to the vehicle and subsequently crushed under weight of vehicle. Comparable to average damage when involved in a collision with an SUV.

    --
    True story.
  21. Re:Ummmm by KarmaBlackballed · · Score: 4, Funny

    Unless the counterbalance can adjust position without power, an engine seize at high speed will result in the following series of events:

    1. Wheel locks up. (Conservation of momentum requires that the vehicle continue moving forward.)
    2. Because of the seize event, the frame now spins with the wheel.
    3. Look who is spinning with the frame, that flat guy. See him, no look now, see him? No look again, there he is, wait, he will spin back around, see him now?

    --

    --- -- - -
    Give me LIBERTY, or give me a check.
  22. Oh, crap. by ro_coyote · · Score: 5, Funny

    Scary part: the driver's seat is in the very front, and the seat scrapes the ground when braking really hard.

    Well, it seems two definitions of the term "tire tracks" will finally meet...

  23. Re:My Monowheel Experience by ColaMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    I can tell you personally that gerbilling and snowballing are both enjoyable activities assuming you take the right precautions.

    Lucky someone didn't take that statement out of context, you could be portrayed as someone decidedly unwholesome.

    --

    You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
    There is a lot of hype here.
  24. Does it come with a set of Fred Flintstone feet? by blair1q · · Score: 2, Funny

    This thing is the Lawn Dart of tomorrow.

  25. Re:What impresses me MOST... by Maxwell'sSilverLART · · Score: 4, Funny

    is that they have a version that is licensed as a motorvehicle in California.

    You're impressed that California found a way to tax this thing? I'd be impressed if the builders found a way to avoid it.

    --
    Moderate drunk! It's more fun that way!
  26. Looks fine but..... by avidday · · Score: 2, Funny

    Where are the front and rear flexigrip handles?