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

Post by jff » Tue, May 29, 2012, 8:30 PM UTC

DanEdge wrote: post #77

jack-r-abbit wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The vast majority of motorcycles are water cooled and have been for some time. Incidentally, lane splitting isn't being abused when motorcyclists do it to go faster than cars; that's the whole point.

Post by InclinedPlane » Tue, May 29, 2012, 8:37 PM UTC

ajross wrote: post #100

InclinedPlane wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For most of the 90s gas was underpriced compared to historical levels. This was due to a variety of reasons, some technological, some economic, some geopolitical. Over the last decade or so gas has gone up in price though the price is still quite volatile. Short-term estimates are that gas prices probably won't go much higher. Longer-term estimates are tricky, but increasing production of crude oil and natural gas fr…

You're strawmanning. I didn't say we were going to "run out" of oil, I said prices were headed upwards, had been for a long time now, and was showing no signs of reversing. And that we're at the point now where fuel costs are 1:1 with production costs of vehicles, and thus we're going to start seeing changes in vehicle designs at the low end to compensate. I don't see a "this time it's different" anywhere, just an ex…

Post by WiseWeasel » Tue, May 29, 2012, 8:43 PM UTC

startupfounder wrote: post #56

jaggederest wrote: post #41

The gyro-stabilized, two-wheeled future of transportation is the bicycle, people. Seriously. If you're really into it, you can throw an electric assist motor on.

They already have them on kids bikes. Now they just need to upgrade to adult size, lower the weight, strap on an electric motor... http://www.thegyrobike.com/category-s/93.htm

Post by jules » Tue, May 29, 2012, 9:07 PM UTC

excuse-me wrote: post #45

freehunter wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would hope that in case of a gyro failure the computer would stop listening to the gyros, display a warning light on the dashboard, and you'd be able to bring it to a stop based on the same principles that keep a normal bike upright. You might have to dump it on its side when it comes to a stop, but you shouldn't have to spin off. The dangers of that are roughly similar to a blowout in a normal car, momentary but n…

It's a gyro-wheel not a gyro-sensor. The angular momentum of the wheels is what keeps it upright (laterally). This is different to the Segway which used the motors to control the forward-backward tilt with position input from a gyro (actually an accelerometer)

Post by jack-r-abbit » Tue, May 29, 2012, 9:24 PM UTC

jff wrote: post #104

jack-r-abbit wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since there is no law on the books that really defined the "rules" of lane splitting, back when I drove a classic Mini I often wondered what would happen if I just started driving in between cars that I knew I could fit between. I suspect I'd be getting tickets for that. So bikes are allowed to do it for what ever reason. I wonder what a biker would think if I just pulled up along side them on the freeway. I suspect…

A good motorcyclist would not allow you to pull up along side them in their lane. When riding normally, we take up an entire lane by riding in the middle, to prevent people from thinking "Oh, that motorcyclist is at the edge of the lane, that means I can try and use the rest of the lane to pass". Lane splitting is an exception, and a pretty hair-raising one at times because people are constantly jockeying to get into…