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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?
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.
- 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.
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'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.
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.