Build Your Own Monowheel

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.

Comments

The Bikers know how do to it

[pvt_medic]

Just check this site out where a bunch of harley riding bikers have created their own monowheel thingy.

Automobile Mag

Re:Ummmm

[neurojab]

>The driver is held in place by a counterbalance. Even with no power, the rules of physics do not change.

Indeed. If the mechanism that allows the wheel to spin independently of the driver were to sieze up at 60MPH, what do you imagine would happen to that massive wheel's rotational inertia?

It woudn't be pretty.

Re:This is new?

[some_schmuck]

Uh, I don't think you understand the concept of 'monowheel' ... It means 'one wheel', so it doesn't matter if there's an axle or not.

It's from the Greek, 'mono' meaning 'one wheel', and 'wheel' meaning 'duh' ;-).

Re:This is new?

[Deadstick]

Umm, yes...and the picture shows what looks like TWO wheels on an axle. You can call it a biwheel or a roller, your choice: either way, gravity constrains it against motion about the longitudinal axis. The monowheel motorcycle contacts the ground at ONE point.

rj

My Monowheel Experience

[Sexual Ass Gerbil]

I had a chance to test drive a monowheel last summer. The first time I had trouble learning how to steer all over again, Because of the high center of balance (hint: it's just below the line of radial symmetry), you must be very careful while turning to avoid tipping the vehicle over! This is especially tricky because slowing down for a turn results in gerbilling (see below for a definition) where the driver is swung up from the base of the vehicle, further raising the center of gravity at a time when you need it as low as possible. Fortunately, the second time I mastered the trick of bringing the vehicle to a near stop in order to make sharp corner turns. I've (fortunately!) had several opportunities to drive one since then and my skills have improved.

For those interested, monowheel vehicles have a vocabularity of their own. For example, gerbilling is when a rider rotates around inside a monowheel due to a sudden force (such as when the wheel stops), much like what happens when a rodent stops running in an exercise wheel. Another loss of rotational control is due to the snowball effect. Snowballing is when a monowheel develops a coating of snow while rolling in much the same way you might build up layers on a snowball by rolling it. Be very careful when driving these things during winter! Monowheels are very efficient vehicles and even when driven on nearly flat ground-- even a small gradient can lead to rolling out of control.

Monowheels will never be practical vehicles. However, as recreation vehicles, they are quite fun. They're a ride, literally. There's nothing quite like steering around in one of them and feeling the unique forces that can only be felt inside of a big moving wheel. I can tell you personally that gerbilling and snowballing are both enjoyable activities assuming you take the right precautions.

Another design - sit inside...

[Bagheera]

I can't remember the specific issue, but there was an article in Car and Driver some time in the last year or two where a guy built a monowheel (actually a series of them) where the driver and motor set -inside- the diameter of the wheel. I seem to remember all of them had the motor ahead of the driver, and the whole thing running on some kind of big bearing structure. He sold them in kit form for about $8000 as I remember.

The killer was the Monster version that had one of those tiny Buick V8's driving it. From what I remember of the article, he bailed it at something like 50 once...

There have been a LOT of these things built over the years. Check out:

http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/ mo torwhl/motorwhl.htm

Now, as for this specific machine . . . I'm not sure I want my ass hanging out in FRONT of the rest of my vehicle like that. A motorcycle is bad enough with only a little overhang between you and the rest of the world. This thing just seems suicidal...