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This Is the Gyro-Stabilized, Two-Wheeled Future of Transportation

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Re: This Is the Gyro-Stabilized, Two-Wheeled Future of Transportation

#61

Post by jack-r-abbit »

jff wrote: post #32

All the seating and cargo capacity of a motorcycle, with the visibility of a car! There's no way in hell I'd split lanes on that thing; when I'm on my motorcycle, I have no obstructions and can see all around me, and definitely know where the edges of my bike are. This looks like a low-slung claustrophobic nightmare. Even if it is a very technically cool thing.

As I understand it, lane splitting is illegal in many U.S. states, but is considered lawful in California (though there is no law for or against it... it is simply "allowed"). I might be wrong but I thought the main justification for lane splitting was due to the air-cooled aspect of motorcycles and the harm that can come from sitting in stalled/slow traffic (although, where I live I see this get abused everyday by motorcycles that just want to go faster than the cars around them). Being electric, this vehicle would not have that cooling problem and would have less need for lane splitting. Not being able to lane split would not be a significant negative to me.

Being two wheeled it will be classified as a motorcycle (at least here in California.. don't know if that is everywhere). Being a motorcycle gets you other privileges besides lane splitting like being in the HOV lanes and (in some places) special parking.

Re: This Is the Gyro-Stabilized, Two-Wheeled Future of Transportation

#62

Post by cameronh90 »

jack-r-abbit wrote: post #61
jff wrote: post #32

All the seating and cargo capacity of a motorcycle, with the visibility of a car! There's no way in hell I'd split lanes on that thing; when I'm on my motorcycle, I have no obstructions and can see all around me, and definitely know where the edges of my bike are. This looks like a low-slung claustrophobic nightmare. Even if it is a very technically cool thing.

As I understand it, lane splitting is illegal in many U.S. states, but is considered lawful in California (though there is no law for or against it... it is simply "allowed"). I might be wrong but I thought the main justification for lane splitting was due to the air-cooled aspect of motorcycles and the harm that can come from sitting in stalled/slow traffic (although, where I live I see this get abused everyday by m…

Lane splitting in the UK is allowed and encouraged, as it reduces traffic on the road.

Re: This Is the Gyro-Stabilized, Two-Wheeled Future of Transportation

#63

Post by mbenjaminsmith »

ajross wrote: post #54
mbenjaminsmith wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think they'll tap any market but motorcycle drivers. The cost -- even their lowered "target" cost of 16k -- will put you in a car of sorts (either a city car or a used one). I sincerely doubt anyone who can afford a four-wheeled alternative would consider this. It's just too small and too dangerous. Also, the gyroscopes will keep you upright even if you're hit? Yeah right. Let's see how that works out when an…

You're not controlling variables. Of course you won't sell these into the existing market. But the existing market is unsustainable (fuel costs alone would change your calculus about "same cost as a car" today ), so what will you sell in the future? Bikes, or these? I know what I'd buy. And I don't see anywhere where it claimed that the gyros would work in a collision that would destroy the vehicle; that's silly. The…

In what future will the two transportation choices be motorcycles and covered motorcycles?

On a more serious note, how is the current market unsustainable? Even if something as specious as "Peak Oil" were true, it's well within our power to move to another fuel source. And since when does fuel availability dictate personal vehicle design? If we can make any personal vehicle, certainly we can make one with four wheels and room for passengers and groceries?

Re: This Is the Gyro-Stabilized, Two-Wheeled Future of Transportation

#64

Post by dandrews »

TylerE wrote: post #7

Remember the last two-wheeled, gyro-stabilized future of transportation? The one that was largely a commercial flop, and which the company president ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Heselden ) _drove off a cliff_.

Yes, I remember the Segway. I've owned a pair for five years and have 13,000 miles between them.

It didn't take over the world, but it fits my use case perfectly.

Re: This Is the Gyro-Stabilized, Two-Wheeled Future of Transportation

#65

Post by ahi »

IIRC, two and three-wheeled vehicles dodge a lot of the safety and licensing regulations of four-wheeled automobiles. Partly why there are so many more custom motorcycle builders than custom car builders. I don't know what two-wheels gets you over a three-wheel version except the expense of cool gyros.

Re: This Is the Gyro-Stabilized, Two-Wheeled Future of Transportation

#66

Post by WiseWeasel »

morsch wrote: post #57
WiseWeasel wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did mention that rev two would be around $16,000, assuming they're still in business. That's getting closer to a realistic price relative to competing products. Keep in mind that this is competing with commuter cars, not motorcycles. You can also deduct the cost of fuel over the vehicle's lifetime. For someone commuting one hour each way to work five days a week, the cost of gas for a big car can exceed $200/mon…

Well, you're still paying for fuel/energy unless you recharge at work. ;) Of course it's a much more efficient vehicle than a car, due to it's weight, the higher efficiency of electrical motors[1] and regenerative braking. One figure in the article is 220 miles on an 8kWh battery. I think I pay something like €0.25 per kWh, most of you probably spend less. So about 100 miles/€, and about €2 to recharge the whole batt…

Power plants operate at a much higher efficiency than internal combustion engines, on cheaper and more diversified fuel sources, including renewable.

[Electric motors and batteries also have relatively little energy waste, making the system as a whole more efficient to operate, especially when you consider being able to leverage the superior distribution infrastructure of the electric grid versus the relatively sparse network of fuel stations. Consider that most fuel stations receive their supply by tanker-truck, which introduces yet more inefficiency.]

Re: This Is the Gyro-Stabilized, Two-Wheeled Future of Transportation

#67

Post by startupfounder »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #55

This is a cool concept, although I doubt it will be ready by 2014 at their current rate. My reasoning on that is that you have to have a complete pre-production vehicle before you can even start safety testing. But that isn't a knock, I like optimism as much as the next person. The horizontal flywheel concept is quite cool, and I'm glad they avoided the problem of earlier attempts which just had one (cars that did th…

"If they wanted to hit the tri-fecta of buzzword viral bingo they should use a 3D printer to print the body out of carbon fiber or something :-)"

I can see the headline now: "Printable Solar Powered Hover Bike Vending Machine Hits Congested Highway Rest Stops"

Re: This Is the Gyro-Stabilized, Two-Wheeled Future of Transportation

#68

Post by dchest »

eslachance wrote: post #46
dchest wrote: post #17

And the past too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrocar

The first one was commissioned in 1912? Sounds like it would have been a great opportunity for Lit to actually release it this year... They won't miss the mark by much, though. No wait, scratch that, just looked up the word "commissioned"... So if they release it in 1914, they'll have hit the nail straight on. Good on them!

Not sure what you're trying to say. Can you please explain?

Re: This Is the Gyro-Stabilized, Two-Wheeled Future of Transportation

#69

Post by hexagonal »

jdietrich wrote: post #14
vannevar wrote: post #4

If they added two more wheels instead of the gyros, they'd get passive stabilization and lower cost. They'd also get more room for a larger battery and cargo or passengers. And since roads and parking lots are already designed for 4-wheel vehicles, the extra width wouldn't be much of a disadvantage.

Two-wheeled vehicles have a party piece - they keep moving when traffic stops. In a city like London or Paris, a pedal cycle is faster than a car for most journeys. In a city like LA, a motorcycle can be twice as fast as a car during rush-hour. This has effects beyond the two-wheeled rider; Remember, you're never stuck in traffic, you are traffic. A recent study suggested that if 10% of car drivers switched to two-wh…

  A fully enclosed two-wheeler could be every bit as safe as a car.
Sure... if it also weighed as much as a car. Crash safety is a function of frame toughness and vehicle mass-- the heavier the car, the less G's it pulls when decelerating suddenly (when running into a wall, or being hit by a semi)

Re: This Is the Gyro-Stabilized, Two-Wheeled Future of Transportation

#70

Post by ajross »

mbenjaminsmith wrote: post #63
ajross wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not controlling variables. Of course you won't sell these into the existing market. But the existing market is unsustainable (fuel costs alone would change your calculus about "same cost as a car" today ), so what will you sell in the future? Bikes, or these? I know what I'd buy. And I don't see anywhere where it claimed that the gyros would work in a collision that would destroy the vehicle; that's silly. The…

In what future will the two transportation choices be motorcycles and covered motorcycles? On a more serious note, how is the current market unsustainable? Even if something as specious as "Peak Oil" were true, it's well within our power to move to another fuel source. And since when does fuel availability dictate personal vehicle design? If we can make any personal vehicle, certainly we can make one with four wheels…

At-the-pump gasoline prices have been moving steadily, inexorably upward for the past 13 years. It's not even news any more when we hit new record prices; it happens every summer. You really think that trend is going to halt any time soon? A median car in the USA is now less expensive than the fuel it will consume (and outside the USA, of course, fuel is a much greater fraction). You think that constraint won't "dicate personal vehicle design" in the future? I don't need "peak oil" theories to make this argument, just simple facts you can google for yourself.

(And the bit about the choice being "only" two wheelers is a strawman; please don't do that. I said it was a "reasonable commute vehicle", it was you that wanted to make an argument about whether it competes with a bike.)

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