phipck Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 I bet somone will still manage to screw it up though http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9776325.stm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 That is absolutely amazing, almost scary.... The only real down side is the fact you need a motorcycle license to drive it, which is kind of odd since you don't ride it or does it have an conventional engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted December 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 any vehical capable of a certain base output requires a license, as this one can accelorate quite quick im not surprised you need a license Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 A car license maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 A car license maybe. Seeing as it is a bike why would you need a car license? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 Never seen a steering wheel on a bike before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 Never seen a steering wheel on a bike before Never seen a car with 2 wheels before Seriously though, in terms of how you would ride/drive it on the road, it surely has more in common with a bike than a car so makes sense you would need a bike license. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 Works on weight over here not performance or number of wheels AFAIK I think its awesome and absolute genius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Works on weight over here not performance or number of wheels AFAIK I think its awesome and absolute genius Really? So a 2 ton motorbike would need a car license? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 no a lightweight car can be driven on a bike licence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Anyone remember the BMW C1 , a bike where you didnt need a helmet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 no a lightweight car can be driven on a bike licence Ok I suppose that makes sense. But I still imagine anything with 2 wheels is considered a bike, anything else just wouldn't make sense. Anyone remember the BMW C1 , a bike where you didnt need a helmet That was classed as a motorbike still though, which is why in the UK you still needed to wear a helmet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 It wasnt as simple as that if i recall there was a long drawn out legal case Dont forget that bike is a prototype , if those outrigger legs had wheel on the end its a car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Technology is awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sagitar Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Is it significant that all the clips show it travelling in a straight line i.e. no cornering. Bikes normally need to lean in order to steer - the front wheel is a freely pivoting gyroscope which precesses when the bike is laid over and hence gives steering. If there is another gyroscope (or two) that prevents leaning, how is the bike steered? There would appear to be a significant engineering problem in separating desired lean (for steering) from undesired lean (when falling over). It could of course remain upright during steering, as in a car, but that would appear to be energy inefficient and I'm trying to get my head around that thought. In vehicles that use flywheels to store energy, the flywheel is normally enclosed in an evacuated enclosure to reduce pumping losses, otherwise the energy required to spin the wheel is considerable. The weight of such devices is significant too, so questions about the overall energy efficiency of the device, especially for short journeys, must be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMARTLY Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 +1 I was wondering how it would corner, in the video it does turn slightly when they are pushing it but significant that they don't drive it round a corner. Maybe it will need another gyroscope in a different plane to allow you to steer rather than stopping it being knocked over from the side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyelcomb Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Quite so Sagitar, was thinking along the same lines myself. Initially I thought that the gyroscope would only kick in whilst at rest, but I would imagine it would be difficult to spin it up and slow it fast enough to avoid rather strange effects. Then I considered the flywheel(s) could be kept upright to allow lean and swivelled over to provide the low speed / stationary stability, but you must still get a very weird twisting effect in doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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