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Wearable Motorcycle Design
A motorcycle design student recently came up with a wearable motorcycle design that, while cool, is unlikely to see public adoption. The bike would be capable of doing 0 to 60 is just 3 seconds with a top speed of 75 miles-per-hour and would theoretically be controlled by 36 pneumatic muscles and 2 linear actuators. I would imagine the results of a crash would be much like being strapped to the hood of your car during a collision — bonus points for form, however.
What defines wearable? I would have thought wearable means - it goes where I go and can go anywhere I go. This vehicle appears to me not to do that. It looks like the rider goes where the trike goes - and the trike cannot go anywher the rider can go. But maybe I'm missing some key factor or my definition is insufficient.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
As shown, there is no way that it is going to do 0-60 in three seconds. If power is on the front wheels, they can't get enough traction because the rider's weight is over the rear wheel. They will spin. If power is on the read wheel, it will do a wheelie and dump him on his ass.
I therefore conclude that it has one of two undocumented features: either there is a ultra-high speed gyro concealed behind the wearer ( which I regard as very unlikely ), or the frame bends so as to lean the rider forward thus lengthening the wheelbase and moving the center of gravity forward.
when this thing hits a pothole.
What?
Given that this keeps the 'driver' standing upright, similar to the Segway, I dread to think what the aerodynamics of this thing are like at speed, it must be very inefficient.
"I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
Does this mean I can now be one of those robot overlords that everyone is so eager to welcome?
Proudly supporting the Libertarian Party.
Welcome to the world of motorcycles, where safety is not our primary concern. Motorcycles don't offer any protection in a crash, and never have, with few exceptions. The best you can hope for in a crash is that you get thrown one way, and your bike another so that it doesn't crush you. And wear a helmet. If safety is your primary concern, cars and buses are much safer.
Write your own Choose Your Own Adventure. http://www.freegameengines.org/gamebook-engine/
what will happen the first time a truck going the other way tosses a pebble up to about crotch height.
the preceding post was not spell checked... suck it.
Isn't this a tricycle?
It's obviously intended to change shape when in motion, hence the pneumatic actuators, etc. While you're racing down the street, it's change into a more-streamlined shape.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Yeah, that was my first though. It does say "vertically parking", so maybe that is what the image is depicting. Ah here are some more pictures. That said, it looks scary as hell to ride - when the two wheels move forward, you would also tilt forward, but there is nothing underneath you! You are being help up by the straps around your chest, while the road rushes beneath you. Plus having the helmet attached to the bike seems like a bad idea.
In Soviet accident, Yamaha Deus Ex Machina wears you!
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Here's one that actually works. It's an exoskeleton for street luge.
No. The best you can hope for is that when you low side, you slide along on your back armor, while your leathers are soaking up the damage. Afterward, you get up and brush yourself off. With only a helmet, you slide along on your ass until you have no ass left, then it starts in on the bones underneath.
A helmet isn't enough. There are plenty of synthetic, breathable mesh riding outfits that will protect you far better than the jeans and t-shirts that most riders wear.
I don't think the wearable motorcycle is realistic, but it could be great fun in an action movie. I'm picturing a guy who jumps off a bridge onto a sloped road below, hits a button in midair to transform his suit into motorcycle mode, and then zooms away. I could see this in the next Iron Man movie, as a product made by someone trying to compete with Iron Man on technology, or even as a suit built by Iron Man for an assistant/sidekick.
Yeah, it's a cheesy idea, but it could be fun anyway.
I'm disappointed in the complete lack of Mospeada references posted so far.
If it doesn't have wheels on my shoulders and a jet pack, I'm not interested.
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
I'd recommend wearing at least an athletic cup. At any kind of speed loose gravel and pebbles will make it feel like you're being attacked by a swarm of stinging bees.
Here is better picture that show's how bike transforms during ride:
http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/deusexmachina/1001615643
!motorcycle
!wearable
DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
the frame bends so as to lean the rider forward thus lengthening the wheelbase and moving the center of gravity forward.
This means riders crash head-forward into things. That eliminates disability and pain. Great design!
Just to clarify, Art Center is where many of the world's best professional transportation designers get their training. It's not unheard of for a car company to pay for a promising new designer to take off a couple years and study there. These aren't bunch of computer graphics nerds sitting around scribbling cool motorcycles in their notebooks, these are folks with money and advisers from every major auto company on Earth. They use the same engineering software and tools that GM or Ducati would use to develop a new product.
Their designs are no different from any concept car you'd see at an auto show -- sure, it may cost $20 million to make, but they aren't inventing critical materials and demanding that the whole frame is made out of Unobtanium. It may well be made entirely out of stuff that is still impractical for mass production, and that seems to be the case with a lot of these designs, but it all exists. If they say it'll do 0-60 in however many seconds, you can bet that under ideal conditions and with a couple million dollars to actually build it, that the claim is only a bit less accurate (due to more exotic materials) than the specs for any new vehicle design that hasn't yet had the first production run.
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
Amen. I just cannot ever see myself making a conscious decision to lay my bike down. I'd rather stay upright, on the rubber, on the clutch and on the front brake as much as possible to bleed off speed. In the average urban accident scenario, a rider has two seconds to react. In that time I can go from 35mph to 0 without skidding (and yes I practice regularly).
Today's tyre compounds have way more friction than your fairings, you're in control right up until the point of impact (if any) and twin caliper front brakes are insanely good on modern machines.
You're dead right that as soon as you lay your bike down, all bets are off about stopping distance and control.
--- Hot Shot City is particularly good.
Lay it down == crash intentionally.
I'm sure there's a way to crash intentionally on this thing.
As for laying down a bike intentionally, I bet you've never done it. You lose all control and it's *always* better to be in control.
Most of the comments here tell how wrong this is on the road.
It's also wrong off-road. I've been racing since I was nine, 30 years ago. I've done motocross, ice racing, flat track, etc. You can't use the brakes to slow down when you've laid it down. You can't save it & get back in the race either.
Well, maybe you can: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1UlEQtdUGc but these guys are at the top of the game.