Archive for: bike
The next time you see a car on fire off to the side of the road, picture a motorcycle or two hurtling towards the chaos to save the day instead of your typical gargantuan firetruck. That’s the goal of a test pilot program using some tweaked BMW motorcycles anyway. Weighing at £30,000 (that’s $46,000 USD to those living in the land of red, white, and blue), the bikes are far from cheap. Though in their defense, brand new firetrucks are well north of the six figure mark. So on the surface, it seems like a deal.
But how useful would a bike be in a fire? The fires these road warriors will conquer are only that of small car fires and other “brush fires” that aren’t an immediate danger to surrounding individuals or buildings, as obviously, a building would need a ton of firepower — more-so than a simple bike can provide. But their use seems to be taking off, with countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Turkey all employing at least a couple fire bikes of their own.
Speaking of fire power, the BMW-built bikes feature (2) 25-liter cannisters filled with water and foam, good for a solid three minutes of use. According to BMW however, the bikes are capable of putting out your standard car fire in as little as 20 seconds, so the seemingly small firefighting capacity isn’t actually that bad. Furthermore, specially trained drivers donned in fire resistant suits and helmets are the only ones allowed to pilot the two-wheeled machines.
It’s easy to understand that smaller fires are much more prevalent than say a five alarm gigantor fire that would require a dozen or more fire engines from multiple stations. With that said, these bikes could be an awesome tool for fire stations around the country. Hopefully the testing at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service goes well and they decide to pick a few up. You never know, the next time you turn and look, you could be seeing one hurtling towards a fire yourself.
When someone tells you they have a new and innovative new locking mechanism for their bike, don’t be surprised if they whip out one of these bad boys. A bendable bike certainly puts a wrench in any thief’s plans for taking your beloved mode of transportation. Cut this lock and you’ve effectively screwed yourself over.
Of course, how stable can a bike actually be with the two of the most important supports being made of rubber? Unless we’re looking at some new space age/science fiction materials here, I don’t see how this would work all that well. Then again, I love being proved pleasantly wrong.
I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase “Save the planet one *insert word here* at a time.” It’s a phrase commonly used by those who practice the way of life erring on the side of frugality, in order to preserve as much of this little blue marble that we have left. And you know what? There’s nothing wrong with that. Though often times, being gadget/electronic junkies that we are, energy savings and “earth friendly” things tend to get tossed by the wayside. But there’s a way to make everyone happy — The USB Bike Generator.
The design is simple: A small generator is mounted to a bike and powered by the bike’s wheel. With each tire revolution, a small bit of electricity is created. Hook up a couple of receptacles (in this case 2 USB ports) and you’ve got yourself a small mobile gadget charger. I can’t think of a more useful device to place on your bike. For those who live in big cities where bike travel is more preferred to sitting in traffic in a car, I can see this making a big splash.
The build is easier than you might think. Head on on over to Instructables and give it a read. Your very own USB Bike Generator is this close…
Image: AmadeusPhotography
I try as hard as I can to make my carbon footprint as little as possible. Though I’m not some living with the animals, wearing loincloths type of extreme. Still, every little bit counts. Along that same path, an all electric bike would be a pretty neat way to traverse our little blue marble floating in space and time wouldn’t it?
If I had to pick my all electric ride, I’d pick the MotoCzysz E1 without hesitation. Why? Oh, only the fact that this rather small bike has 10x more batteries than a Toyota Prius and tops out at 140mph. Also noteworthy, the MotoCzysc E1 has 2.5x more torque than a Ducatti 1198 — wow! You may be criticizing the 140mph top speed as it isn’t exactly blazing by sport bike standards. But then again, most sport bikes don’t have 10 Prius’ worth of batteries strapped to their frame, do they?
The story goes, the E1 was designed to compete in the bike race of all bike races — Isle of Man TT. If a bike can withstand the 37.7 of nerve torturing road and maintain an above 100MPH average, you have on your hands a good bike. Unfortunately, the team behind the E1 barely got to stretch the E1′s legs as an electric spike killed the ECU, putting an end to their race day festivities. Though at the time of the E1′s electric stroke, it was supposedly way out front.
And this all from a 6-person team more or less is rather impressive. There’s always next year…
I’m sold. Godzilla himself would even run if he had this bike coming after him. Humans and even cars aren’t safe either. Whomever owns a bike of this magnitude wins bragging rights for the rest of the decade hands down.
Jump inside for the video of the mayhem…
As far as I’m concerned, Dark Knight is one of the best Batman movies. Maybe not completely based on the overall theme and acting, but more-so on the rides, specifically the BatPod.
Well, now you can actually own your very own. The BatPod project above was created by several Batman enthusiasts to mimic as closely as possible, the real BatPod.
Hitting (I’m assuming 60) in 5.2 seconds is a breeze in this dark beast. Though plan your gas stops accordingly as the gas tank is tiny — and I mean tiny. But such things don’t matter when the end result is as epic as this.
So what about this “owning your own” deal…?
Oooo la la, a Porsche. Hold your horses folks. Looking past the garish blingity bling gold wrapping, you’re left wondering who the hell would destroy an exotic car as expensive as the GTR3. But looks can be deceiving as you are actually looking at the world’s slowest Porsche. It’s not because the engine is too small, lacking displacement or refinement. In actuality, the “engine” is quite crude. Nothing but a few pedals and sheer human determination. Have a laugh after taking the plunge…
Velcro + iPad + Motorcycle sounds like a unique combination, no? Jesse Rosten from Vimeo did just that. Think of all the nifty stuff you could do!
My only cringe moment is when imagining the unfortunate event of laying the bike down and obliterating that fine iPad under a few hundred pounds of twisted metal. Then again, I’d take life over a busted bike and shattered iPad any day. You know the drill, video after the jump…
Riding a bike can be exhilarating. It can also be a death sentence, especially at night. All too often I’ve found myself driving at night and out of no where a dude on a bike pops up in front of me. Whether in the city or country, bikers are hard to spot — even with some flashy vests and reflectors.
That’s why accessories such as LED Spokes need to be implemented. I can see such things getting pretty garish if taken too far. But in the name of safety, at least a couple of LED strips wouldn’t hurt.
What’s particularly interesting about the LED outfit desgiend by Japan’s Suns and Moon Laboratory shown above is that these LED strips can actually display messages in addition to keeping you alive.
Frivilous? Perhaps. But living to ride another day is more than worth it I’d say. Jump inside for a video of the LED light show in action…
