The Diwheel unveiled: The gravity-defying electric vehicle that places the driver BETWEEN two giant wheels

By Claire Bates

From http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

When an evil henchmen flees from Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith he hops into a futuristic wheelbike to escape.

Now this strange-looking vehicle, which places the rider between two giant wheels, has moved from science fiction to reality.

A team of students from the University of Adelaide have created their own version called the Diwheel.

The Diwheel: The driver is strapped into the bright yellow electric vehicle with a racing car harness

The gravity-defying vehicle has two large wheels that are axially aligned with an inner frame. This holds the driver who is strapped in with a racing harness. A joystick is used to turn it on the spot and drive it forwards at up to 25mph.

The bright yellow electric motor is affectionately known as Edward, which is short for Electric Diwheel With Active Rotation Damping.

The mechanical design and some of the electronics were completed in 2009 while the majority of the electronics and control systems were developed in 2010.

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The rider can either lock the inner frame to the wheel using a handbrake for a 360degrees experience known as 'gerbiling' or leave it unlocked for a smoother ride.

However, the students found the driver would rock back and forth even when the Diwheel was unlocked while starting and stopping. While this would be perfect for a fairground ride it wasn't ideal for an every-day vehicle.

On a roll: A student shows how a control system keeps the driver stable within the Diwheel

To ensure a stable ride they used mathematical equations of motion to create a computer model of the Diwheel and then used this for numerous simulations. They then built a real-life control system using the findings.

Student Jack Parsons, who worked on the project, said: 'Edward not only rocks but it's green too.

'It's fully electric, and employs regenerative braking, so energy is recovered when slowing down.'

Those dare devils who fancy seeing the road from a different perspective can even invert the inner frame and drive around upside down.

The sealed lead acid batteres give about 1hours worth of juice for 'fairly aggressive driving' including turns and spins, although it would last several times longer in the hands of a careful driver.

At present the Diwheel can only climb inclines of 12degrees so while a a trip to the shops would be possible, the driver would need to avoid any hills.

The DiWheel (right) bears a resemblance to the wheelbike featured in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (left)

Custom Built Batpod Replica for Sale on eBay

By Spooky
http://www.odditycentral.com/

All you Batman fanboys out there, better get your tissues, so you don’t drool on your keyboards, because this Batpod replica is a treat.

We’ve seen cool Tumbler replicas before, but this is the first functional Batpod I’ve seen, so far. And the best thing about this thing is that it’s for sale. Sure, we can’t all just whip out $100,000 to buy it, but at least we can dream.

The 1:1 replica Batpod took several months to complete, including 2 months of research and over 1,000 hours of intense labor. Its frame and tubing are made of hardened steel, the covers and arm guards are high tensile strength fiberglass. The engine is a whopping 650cc, which features nitrous injection boost and water cooling.

In case you’re wondering this custom made Batpod can be ridden, and although it’s not street legal, it has been tested in a controlled environment. According to the seller, it can be made street legal, at the buyer’s request. Still I wouldn’t recommend taking this thing for a ride on the highway, if you value your life.

The auction for the Batpod replica is ongoing on eBay, so you still have a chance of snatching it, for $100,000.

Pee-wee Goes to Sturgis

Pee-wee Goes to Sturgis from Pee-wee Herman

Pee-wee Herman embarks on a new big adventure at 70th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. Along the way, he gets a tattoo, meets some new biker friends and hitches a ride with a Renegade.

Ryno Motors creates one wheel electric scooter

From: http://gadgetsmarket.com/

gadgetsmarket.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ryno-motors_3_g649Q_691.jpg”>

The Bat Pod Replica You Can Actually Ride

From: http://gizmodo.com/

Unlike the previous replica—which was more dragster than an actual road bike—it seems like this Bat Pod can actually be handled like any other motorcycle. Quite an impressive work:

If you are around Mountain View, California, you may actually spot it on the street. [Reddit]

The Motorcycle of the Future Has Arrived

• By Chuck Squatriglia
• From: http://www.wired.com/
  

This is the MotoCzysz E1PC. It is electric. It is almost certainly the most advanced motorcycle on the planet. And it is the future.

We told you moto-genius Michael Czysz — pronounced sizz — was building another contender for the TT Zero electric motorcycle race on the Isle of Man. But we caught up with him early in the build and he wasn’t providing details or pics. Now that the bike’s hit the track, Wes Siler of Hell For Leather has all the details on the MotoCzysz E1PC in a piece posted over at Popular Science.

This bike is bad-ass, no two ways about it. It has a custom-built 12.5-kilowatt-hour lithium polymer battery that can be swapped in seconds. The custom-built, oil-cooled motor generates 100 horsepower (continuous) and 250 pound-feet of torque. It all hangs from a custom frame. Of course, it’s got the usual top-shelf hardware. Ohlins. Brembo. You know the drill.

Czyzs and his crew in Portland, Oregon, were literally buttoning the bike up before the first practice session on the Isle of Man, having just gotten the body panels through customs. No one had tested the bike before, but rider Mark Miller smoked the field during practice, finishing more than three minutes ahead of the competition. The bike hit a top speed of 140 mph and lapped the 37.7-mile course at an average speed of 94.66 mph.

For all the high-tech componentry, the E1PC is designed first and foremost as a motorcycle, so it’s meant to be hammered. Many bikes racing in the TTXGP series suffer ground-clearance issues when leaning into a turn, but the E1PC has no such trouble. Siler says riders accustomed to a conventional sportbike will feel right at home on the E1PC.

Take a close look at the pics. You’re looking at the future of motorcycling.

Photos: Amadeus Photography. More after the jump and over at PopSci.

Who Knew A Merry Go Round Could Be So Dangerous?

youtube.com — A merry go round + a motorcycle = hilarity

BMW S 1000 RR pulls off the old tablecloth trick

by Jeremy Korzeniewski

from http://www.autoblog.com/

BMW S 1000 RR pulls off the old tablecloth trick – Click above to watch the video after the break

Ah yes, the good ol' pull-the-tablecloth-off-the-table-without-sending-dishes-flying routine. The oldest trick in the book? Possibly, but BMW has taken it upon themselves to update the classic demonstration in a major way. How 'bout upping the ante with 24 complete place settings around a giant rectangular table? Yeah, that'd do it.

Just how is BMW planning to remove said tablecloth? Using a new S 1000 RR superbike, that's how. Will it work? Well, it's really a question of physics, right? Take 193 horsepower and a 0 to 60 time that's just shy of 2.9 seconds. Add in one rider with a quick set of wrists and shake well. Garnish with celebratory wheelie.

We highly recommend that you click past the break to see it all go down on video. It's very much worth your time.

[Source: BMW via YouTube]

Red Tires and Rockets: 1928 Opel Motoclub is awesomely insane

from: http://www.autoblog.com/

by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Back in the early 1900s, Fritz von Opel, grandson of Opel founder Adam Opel, was enamored with rocket propulsion. As the company's director of testing and the man in charge publicity, Opel had quite an outlet to fulfill his rocket-powered fantasies. Hence, the 1928 Opel Motoclub you see above.

The example showcased so beautifully here doesn't happen to have rockets attached to it, but a number of Motoclubs apparently did, as seen on the right. The 500cc single-cylinder engine could reportedly push the silver-and-red Opel motorcycle up to about 75 miles per hour, after which a foot pedal lit the rockets, sending the bike to a calculated top speed of 132 mph.

Sadly (or perhaps fortunately?), the German government forbade Opel from conducting a world-record top speed attempt, fearing that such a run on two wheels couldn't possibly be safe. The good news, though, is that decent examples of the Opel Motoclub can still be found from time to time, minus the six solid-fuel rockets, of course. Sounds like a good DIY weekend project, no?

[Source: Bike EXIF]

BMW’s Simple concept–which kinda looks like a Stealth Bomber with training wheels–is a hybrid trike that gets around 120 mpg.

The Simple (which stands for Sustainable and Innovative Mobility Product for Low Energy consumption) does 60 mph in just under ten seconds and has a top speed of 125 mph. The car weighs just over 900 lbs and has a super low drag coefficient of 0.18.

Sebastian Schelper, BMW’s Project Lead for the Simple concept, says BMW “wanted to minimize the use of resources while using the vehicle but also during the production of the vehicle.”

BMW’s target for the concept is the professional commuter. Specifically, those professionals who travel a lot and often alone. Oh, you know who you are!

Simple is as tall as a 5 Series BMW but when it comes to length the MINI Cooper has it beat. The interior of the vehicle has seating space much like a 3 Series coupe: so not a whole lot.

Schelper says that driving the car is much like “riding an endless wave with your surfboard .”

Its driving performance is aided by automatic tilting technology though the hydraulics are only activated in exceptional coniditions. The driver feels no transverse forces and need not compensate for any lateral movements. The team wanted to combine both the features and the advantages from both cars and motorcycles.

While BMW has been a bit tight-lipped about its foray into the microcar market, this concept probably falls under the Bavarian automaker’s Project I. Other vehicles included in the project are the Megacity and a Z2. It’s rumored the Z2 will be a hybrid offering about 47 mpg.

The car is currently on display at the BMW Museum in Munich.

Source: Wired’s Autopia

This Motorcyle Jump Is 1000 Different Kinds Of Awesome [PIC]

s.wsj.net — Jeff Fehr jumped over a cowboy settlement at the historic Bar U Ranch in Alberta, Canada, with the Rocky Mountains in the background Wednesday. (Joerg Mitter/Global-Newsroom/Reuters) | via http://blogs.wsj.com/photojournal/2009/05/28/pictures-of- the-day-186/