"Considering where the bulk of the weight seems to be (ie: the rider on top), how do you prevent from being thrown forward when braking suddenly?"

because the braking is done by leaning back, as on a segway. go too fast and it will force you to lean back.

nutbastard

And as an avid sci-fi reader, you guys had me cracking up with the Anthony vs. Heilein comments!

Witchdame

Kevin

Fatty

deedrit

trendspotter

piratec

piratec

Let's save some bitterness for the fall, fellas.

pyleg

I post an article 9 month ago here [tinyurl.com]

piratec

I'm getting tired of the whole socialized medicine topic popping up everywhere I look. Is there really any good reason to be discussing politics on a gadget blog?

Free health care blah blah blah long wait times blah blah blah. Just STFU!

Exactly.

iomatic

Free health care blah blah blah long wait times blah blah blah. Just STFU!

cac67

piratec

Ally McBeal cool? Or dog with no back legs cool?

Now, this kid demonstrating ANY kind of motorcycle on wet pavement (cold, too?)... that's cool.

discomonkey

Mr.Wilson

pantan

See
[www.technovelgy.com]

Wazoo

"Good health insurance... or you could live in a country that cared about your health and didn't make you pay through the nose for substandard care."

no, i prefer to live in a country that still has some remains of its roots in personal responsibility. when the government provides healthcare (all you liberals, please, take note) you're still paying for it. It's just that if you happen to be particularly talented and successful, you are punished for your excellence by being forced to take on additional tax burdens. Where the hell do you socialists think government money comes from? And are you aware of how much of that money vanishes into thin air every time it changes hands? Governments exist to protect citizens from each other and foreign threats, not to hold your hand like a little baby.

nutbastard

Insurance Execs are too inherently evil for me to even bother wasting my breath to complain about them...

bpapa9013

@Lorne: I share your opinion. Also, can you imagine a BIG man on this thing? Not something I'd like to witness.

shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog

I dunno, I laughed out loud....

Mandatory_Field

berribrand

Shai

N@tedog

redman042

Batman: "No Robin, you'll get a full sized motorcycle when you earn it, bitch!"

Rabid Penguin

Wow, you do read Heinlein.

BasicBlack

[kirby.classicgaming.gamespy.com]

Upsilon

Or you could pay nothing at all because you've died on the inevitable waiting list. Service rationing! Yay!

Strangely enough, I missed the part about "insuring health care" in the Constitution's list of enumerated federal powers.

GadgetPlay

GadgetPlay

Rodime

This concept appeared way before Venus Wars in the original Dragon Ball manga. Used by the Capsule Corp.

diehippiedie

adrunkenmonkey

aelver

This thing apparently doesn't lean at all, that's going to limit your cornering speed because it will simply fall over to the outside of the turn.

Initially I was under the impression that the wheels scissored like the front wheels on the Piaggio MP3 allowing it to lean, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Either, it's still pretty cool, I'd ride one :)

Kyoseki

That rustling sound you just heard was the collective erections of 80% of the Gizmodo community.

BasicBlack

I refuse to allow my lack of reading comprehension to influence my opinions.

BasicBlack

aelver

Harley Sportsters are under 500Lbs, a Ducati Monsters and other sport bikes tend to be in the 400-600 range.

Cruisers (BMW 1200, GoldWings, Harley ElectraGlides) are in the 750-800 Lb range.

A fully loaded Boss Hoss has a weight of 1100 LBs.

That said, with no seatbelts or airbags, it doesn't matter much at all what what the the weight of the motorcycle you're driving at, even vs. a geo at 35mph.

styrofoam

Jasontrainer

adamator

Top speed is only around 40mph though, so you'd have to lean it and then slam on the brakes to break traction.

Kyoseki

Eschguy

hnkelley

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

adamator

Set to evil

schmere

You may need a new envelope.

GadgetPlay

[www.innovationcanada.ca]

anyone know how to help Ben get into MIT?

hooniebear

Kyoseki

The clone thing could be considered masturbation. And besides, they practically had to trip him and jump on him to get him going. Don't forget that he also did the physical incarnation of his home computer, as well. It was not a Dell.

GadgetPlay

... and the reason there are two wheels, aside from stability, is that you wouldn't be able to lean it if it only had the one wheel, gyroscopic forces would resist leaning even if you were hanging off the side of the thing. You need to either be able to countersteer or scissor parallel wheels to be able to corner - which is why the bombardier uno wouldn't work.

Whilst this one won't allow you to dump it, I can't see it being able to brake very well, but it's still an awesome piece of engineering, mad props to the guy.

Kyoseki

"Actually this would be SAFER then a motorcycle as it cant fall over or flip. I would bet at least 70% of cycle accidents are from a driver over steering or over leaning and dumping the bike. This bike just wont let you do that."

you can't be serious. of course you can tip this over. it's called leaning to the side too much. it has no way of compensating for lateral motion that's at all comparable to what it can do for fore and aft motion. A segway is inherently more stable and i've been able to tip em over a couple of times.

nutbastard

That they did, that they did.

GadgetPlay

Actually, that sounds like the opposite of hang-ups. It sounds like he could use a few. Heinlein was a free thinker for his time, but nothing like that! *Shudders*

GadgetPlay

trrosen

Skitchin

vote Obama

@makanai: You're right. We have to kill Mel Gibson NOW!

DaOtter

johnnyabnormal

Seriously, though, this deserves much props. Even the guy was in his 30s, I'd still be impressed, but 18? Awesome.

makanai

blank

blank

well, sign me up.

robotleawesome

What are the advantages over a traditional two wheeled setup?

Stumies

Navin R Johnson

ANoel

...and Lazarus waited until the female clones of himself were pubescent to have sex with them... but yeah, that Piers Anthony guy really lowers the bar when it comes to who you consider a moral compass...

nutbastard

Somadis

nutbastard

fuzz54

DeadWriter

ibelli

I'd say the average motorcycle is 6-8 times that weight. A typical geezer-piloted Harley weighs 1000 lbs.

BasicBlack

Yup. At least Heinlein's characters waited until they were adults to bang their moms.

BasicBlack

This is one of those cases where the form of a comfortable ride happens to meet a nice happy medium with the function of the gas tank. I'm sure in this case, it's filled with electronics- but it's probably happily more of a functional design choice than purely aesthetic.

styrofoam

92BuickLeSabre

nutbastard

It's not really that different than a motorcycle- or more appripriately, a scooter. An average (non cruiser) motorcycle is probably double to triple that weight. And vs. a large road barge, that's still not a neccessarily significant advantage.

styrofoam

Motorcycle for suicidal geeks?

BaseVilliN

ORryOwl

nutbastard

uncleruss

nutbastard

[douglas.typepad.com]

theorie

Joseph

lankysob

Coincidentally, that was Piers Anthony's lifelong quest, too. If you ever want to read something truly disturbing, pick up a copy of his Firefly. Nothing like a protracted, graphic description of "consensual" sex between a 6 year old and an adult male to make you admire an author.

BasicBlack

yes i did, and it was awesome. as far as health insurance goes:

Office Visit $15
Specialist $35
Emergency Room $100
Urgent Care $35
Rx Tier 1/2/3 $10/$20/$40
Inpatient $200
Outpatient 10%

Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield PPO, $15/week. ER coverage is UNLIMITED (Most policies top out at one million dollars)

nutbastard

FubarGuy

Face_523

[en.wikipedia.org]

SavannahJack

tamoko

johnnyabnormal

maven2k

tamoko

citizen024

JustEaton

Crescent

szrimaging

insurance doesn't apply as this is not a street legal vehicle. Good health insurance is your best bet.

Props to the maker. It even LOOKS good.

nutbastard

@Hvedhrungr: Yeah, you'll never be able to leave your garage. Also, I don't think I'd trust the Segway Software/Gyros at high speed, even if they are redundant.

tamoko

BasicBlack

chaoslink

SavannahJack

LoganSix

Darrone

1. Insurance on this thing.
2. Job options still available to you once you've fallen off at 100mph.

Hvedhrungr

rawtoast

It looks awful uncomfortable to ride though.

Castle1914

johnnyabnormal