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Enclosed motorcycle prototype with gyros

Jonk67

Jonk67

Well-Known Member
Stumbled across this video and since I've been interested in converting different things to electric I watched out of curiosity. There are a lot of electric motorcycle/3 wheel/car prototypes out there but this is the first two wheel one I've seen with gyros for self leveling/ no 'training wheels' needed. Watch at 1:57 where they try to jerk the wheels from under it with an SUV.
http://youtu.be/mU-NGPOOMVM

Jon
 
Waiting for Mikey to chime in on this. :pop

But at 12k for use in the city in moderate weather conditions. :bow

fd
 
Cool.
I'm sure they addressed it but how will it go around corners with those gyros fighting you? If it will turn like a car then the speed at which you can take corners will be limited. And that wheel base is quite long making it not very manueverable. Moving around a parking garage would be difficult...more like a car I guess.

Its all great but someone will simplify it and put two small wheels on it making the gyros a waste and then you have a electric trike....tada.

or you can get a http://www.piaggiousa.com/scooter/mp3-250.html
 
Trust the tech....just can't get past that phrase. Tech will fail, and when it does, is there something to stop it from bodyslamming itself into the pavement?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
 
I think the tech is really cool. I don't consider this a motorcycle in any traditional sense, except for the 2 wheels. But I think it's super neat.

Purchase price is set at 19k AFTER federal incentives. NOPE...too rich for my blood.
 
"AtlantaSteve" said:
Purchase price is set at 19k AFTER federal incentives. NOPE...too rich for my blood.
Click to expand...

I listened to the end part again, they said 12k after bla bla bla...

I would think that it would be programmed to lean into a turn and have a reverse gear for those parking garages.

fd
 
Ahh I missed that $24k, but they expect it to drop to $12k after they scale.

CURRENT price on their website is listed as 19k.

http://litmotors.com/faq/

Also has a pretty neat explanation of how the steering and leaning of the vehicle works. You wouldn't fight the gyros to make it lean. You, as the driver, don't lean it at all, the gyros themselves force it to lean during a turn.
 
"AtlantaSteve" said:
Ahh I missed that $24k, but they expect it to drop to $12k after they scale.

CURRENT price on their website is listed as 19k.

http://litmotors.com/faq/

Also has a pretty neat explanation of how the steering and leaning of the vehicle works. You wouldn't fight the gyros to make it lean. You, as the driver, don't lean it at all, the gyros themselves force it to lean during a turn.
Click to expand...

The thing about that fix for a lean-in turn ...what about when I don't want to lean into a turn? There are times that with exprience I know the traction won't be there looking at the surface, so I straighten up. The gyros will force a lean and no traction on a lean in a turn means falling over...no matter what the gyros do.
 
With a steering wheel, the countersteering will difficult to be precise with. The info says it will take traction conditions into consideration as it allows for the turning input. Almost sounds like it is designed for someone who has never ridden a motorcycle or any other two wheeled vehicle. I have a feeling I would really confuse the gyro trying to "ride" it as opposed to 'driving' it.

And that other thing on their web sites...lol.
 
I only had time to watch the video on the gyro part which was what peaked my interest. I imagine the gyros will react differently whether it's parked (self leveling) or moving (lean for turns but not too far). I hadn't even gotten to all the FAQ stuff but this is pretty impressive:
The C-1 is 100% electric, using a small 8 kWh battery pack to travel up to 200 miles per charge. And the C-1 is freeway-ready, with a top speed of 100+ mph and acceleration of 0-60 in six seconds.

I considered a Piaggio after going to Italy in 2011 but would have been only a fair weather ride for <20mi. (need to get on interstate farther than that) so not really a commuter. I drive 80mi. a day to get to/from work so if I could do that in an affordable (<$15K in my book) way I'd be interested. This offers inclement weather coverage, the ability to listen to the radio/drink coffee during commute and a long enough charge to go to work/back twice in one day if needed or take side trips into downtown from work. I don't have any interest in hybrids or full electric that cost 1.5X+ what a gas car costs and will *maybe* get me to work and back.

I thought the tech of the gyros for leveling parked/sitting at a stoplight was cool and noticed they do have posts that come out for parked solid also if used.

I keep researching how to convert my sears driving mower to electric as I'm tired of getting it running again every year, fixing the clutch/trans, etc. and just the noise of using it. If I could convert it over with some extra car batteries then I'd try doing a small used car with Li-ion battery packs.
Jon

 
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