The longest time to hold a motorcycle on your head
Gerard Jesse did it without a helmet on his head. The result is 14.93 seconds. Don't ask why.
The longest time to hold a Harley with your hands
Julie Moody saddled up his Harley-Davidson, grabbed the steering wheel with his hands and stepped on the gas. Not very useful for tires, but very popular in the motorcycle scene. Moody's record is 4.53 seconds. Yes, and it's a woman.
The highest mountain trip
Six guys from the Disha Motorcycle Club in North Kolkata rode 6,245 kilometers on a mountain road in India on Honda motorcycles hero. This is difficult not only because the road is difficult and dangerous: the engine often lacks oxygen in the rarefied mountain air.
On one wheel
The record for driving on one wheel belongs to Yasuyuki Kudo: in 1991, he drove a rear wheel his bike 331 kilometers.
most expensive motorcycle
This is one of those records that can be broken at any moment, but for now it belongs to the Ecosse Spirit ES1 - the bike designed by F1 car designers costs $ 3.6 million (232,025,536 rubles at the Central Bank exchange rate on August 11, 2016).
Most passengers
For most, a motorcycle is a transport for one. Or two. Three, if with a stroller. However, in some places the motorcycle plays the role family car. The record was set in just such a country: 56 people on one Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle. True, these people were standing on a platform welded to the motorcycle.
First double somersault on a motorcycle
The first double backflip on a motorcycle was performed by Travis Pastrana at the World extreme games in 2006 year. Don't try it yourself: Pastrana said that the difficulty with this trick is that if something goes wrong, then you fall face down. The motorcycle falls from above.
Most fast motorcycle in the world
Technically, the Top Oil-Ack Attack is a motorcycle, but only because it has two wheels on the same axle. It has a rocket engine, and it reaches speeds of up to 605.698 km/h. However, this record can be beaten next year.
Standing on a motorcycle
The longest continuous standing motorcycle ride took place in 2013. The captain of the Indian army Abajit Malawat rode 16 kilometers standing on a bike.
Mom, look, I'm without hands.
222 kilometers in Rome - a city with not the most empty roads. No comments.
And it all started, according to historians, back in 1884, when an unknown author proposed the concept of a "unicycle", that is, a bicycle with one wheel.
However, just such a unicycle, as depicted in the book Victorian Inventions - "Inventions of the Victorian era", apparently, was never created.
If you look closely at the drawing, you will notice that the pilot of the "unicycle" is sitting in his apparatus, as if in a cage, surrounded by long knitting needles.
On air traction.
Although, of course, it can be assumed that the double rim of the leading and only wheel could open into two parts, like a giant oyster ...
The next documented reference to the idea of a unicycle occurred exactly twenty years later - in 1904.
Mono Carriage.
The gasoline engine has already ceased to be a curiosity and the author was able to refuse to use weak human legs.
The car, which consisted of a huge, almost human-sized wheel and an internal frame with a motor attached to it, a seat and stabilizing wheels, was presented at an exhibition in Milan and, as the newspaper La Vie de l'Automobile wrote, aroused the delight of the most respectable public. . After that, the device was safely forgotten.
The twenties and thirties of the last century can rightfully be called the “golden age” of the unicycle: from 1923 to 1937, at least six designs were built and even patented using gasoline and even electric motors.
In 1911 an American Tom Coates Clinton patented a unicycle in which he installed a pusher propeller.
Taking into account the too low stability of most single-wheeled units (remember how you rode as a child in truck tires), they did not find best solution than to use the widest possible supporting frame for its construction.
The resulting wheel, apparently, has become even more stable than the authors wanted: rare engine will be able to budge such a colossus, and even to force him to turn off once the chosen direction of movement, presumably, was generally impossible.
Anyway, the Dynosphere pilot pictured in the photo looks very stressed...
In short, old Europe and her engineers divorced from reality have once again confirmed their complete failure.
The business of promoting the idea of \u200b\u200bthe unicycle again stalled for almost sixty years, until an American took up the design. Moreover, not just an American, but real biker! So to speak, a fanatic in the full sense of the word.
Dynasphere - a unique project and an attempt to change the way society thinks about construction personal transport. As for its time, the project is simply incredible, but the period of its appearance is even more impressive. The Dynasphere transport was developed by Dr. J.A. Purves, who called the essence of the concept "spherical movement". He openly declared that his project would revolutionize transport design, but in the end nothing came of it. However, already for the idea of Doctor Purves can be praised.
Let's find out more about him + video under the cut ...
Back in 1932, Dr. John Archibald Purves invented something unusual both for that and for today. vehicle, dubbed Dynasphere. Dynasphere is a three-meter steel wheel, weighing about 450 kilograms, which, according to the designer, was intended for use as a personal transport, as a replacement for cars.
The Dynasphere vehicle was made in several copies of two types. The first option was a single-seat variant, powered by a 2.5-horsepower gasoline engine, which allowed this huge wheel to accelerate to a speed of 40 km / h (25 miles per hour). A single-seat version of the Dynasphere was also made, powered by an electric motor. The only passenger, part-time driver, was placed inside this wheel on a special platform, where the engine was also located, sliding along the inner surface. To make turns, the driver had to deviate to the right or left, shifting the center of gravity of the entire unit and praying that there would be no obstacles on the way
The second variant of the Dynasphere was a two-seat version, powered by a 6-horsepower gasoline engine, and the platform on which the driver, passenger and engine were located was equipped with a suspension with an adjustable tilt angle relative to the wheel, which made it possible to control the direction of the Dynasphere as in a car - turn steering wheel. Dr. Purves designed several more variants of the Dynasphere, Dynasphere 5 and Dynasphere 8, which could carry five and eight people, respectively.
Looking at the pictures and the name "Dynasphere" one might wonder why the word "sphere" appeared in the name of the device, resembling a ring or donut in shape? It turns out that the outer surface of the Dynasphere is part of a sphere, which can be obtained by cutting off the sides of the ball in parallel relative to its center. With this trick, Dr. Purves managed to overcome the main drawback of unicycles - their instability.
A few more models from 1920.
47-year-old Kerry McLean started small: his first unicycle, assembled on the basis of a tractor wheel and equipped with a forty horsepower water-cooled gasoline engine, had an internal diameter of only about ninety centimeters.
Nevertheless, this device turned out to be the first unicycle to reach speeds of more than one hundred kilometers per hour and the first unicycle officially registered. traffic police state of Michigan.
According to McLean himself, his machine does not detect the usual drawback for other unicycles: even with hard braking the driver does not roll over his head, but only "nods" a little. Little bit.
The design turned out to be so successful that McLean even founded his own company McLean Wheel and designed a less powerful one (only five wheels) based on the record prototype. Horse power), but quite commercial model, which, having paid only $ 8.5 thousand dollars, every fan of extreme driving can purchase.
Of course, the American did not stop there and built a couple more units, now equipped with a V-shaped eight from a Buick car: McLean V8 and McLean V8 Rocket Roadster, which looks more like a small but vicious helicopter.
Unfortunately, the engine power is not indicated, but Buick cars Wildcat, completed V-shaped eights power from 325 to 370 horsepower.
So, if everything goes well, then soon Kerry will set another world record for unicycles: 160 km per hour!
But what dreams did past generations of designers have
Clipping from a 1925 magazine.
Computer controlled.
Mono - Bus.
Represented even military application these units!
From 1867 to the present, about 40 major projects of monocycles have been registered and patented - vehicles with one wheel. Some designs were so "brilliant" from a technical point of view that it is not possible to implement them even now. And only a few designs of monocycles were destined to be published. One of them, embodied in hardware, was the Edison-Puton Monowheel, which was built in 1910 in France.
Naturally, main problem for a unicycle is its stability. In some modern designs gyroscopic stabilizers are used, take for example: RYNO, but it is worth noting that on high speeds such a system is unlikely to help, especially since RYNO is just a scooter with maximum speed at 20 km/h. In any case, until the unicycle is equipped with intelligent system balancing, riding it will be akin to a circus trick, with a high probability of an accident, as you can see by watching the video.
But, back to our main topic. The Edison-Puton unicycle was restored by the German Ferdinand Schlenker and is currently in full working order. Its single wheel is powered by a 150cc De Dion gasoline engine with 3.5 horsepower.
Designer Ben Wilson presented his version of a unicycle at the Man of the 21st Century exhibition in Tokyo. The exhibition was supposed to solve those problems that were not solved in the past centuries, and Ben's bike fully fits the conditions of the exhibition.
“I understand that humanity will not immediately switch to unicycles instead of old, two-wheeled ones. Rather, my invention proves that a person can solve any problem that he takes on, ”says Ben.
Judging by the diagram and photo, a deaf gear is used. In theory, longitudinal balancing is impossible without it (?). Also, I wonder how he is doing with the transverse balancing - in the photo he rests against the wall with the steering wheel. The center of gravity is low, I think there should be no problems. All in all, an interesting concept.
Look, it's almost half of an ordinary motorcycle! And so the design decision can get out. This is an Italian model.
Greetings from Russia.
For example, there is a unicycle RIOT Wheel, who looks absolutely amazing - it seems that he has just been on the set of some post-apocalyptic movie. Never seen a driver in such an unusual location.
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Jack Lyall (Jake Lyall) from the USA reinvented the wheel (" R e I event O f T he Wheel" - "the reinvention of the wheel"), giving it the functionality of a unicycle. This exotic steampunk-style vehicle was demonstrated by Jack in 2003 at the annual Burning Man festival, where such a flight of fancy is very welcome.
While watching the video, it seems that the seat with the driver is held in a raised position due to acceleration. In fact, inside the wheel is a heavy counterweight, as well as a motor from a Honda scooter, which can change its position inside the wheel, achieving balance. Thanks to the movement of the engine inside the wheel and the principle of "squirrels in the wheel", RIOT Wheel can reach speeds of 46 km/h.
The stability of the unicycle is given not only by the width of the wheel and the weight of the structure (almost half a ton), but also by the installed gyroscope. Turns on the RIOT Wheel seem to be very difficult, but there are some developments in control - due to the tilt of the gyroscope and the seat.
The author of the one-wheeler planned to release new versions of his creation, in particular, on an electric motor, but so far nothing has been heard about this. The site http://www.theriotwheel.com is raising funds from everyone who wants to help.
Lyall built his wheel specifically for the next (2003) annual Burning Man festival, which takes place during the week in the American Black Rock desert.
A couple of words about the festival, which perfectly characterizes the author of the invention, cannot be avoided here.
This forum is attended by tens of thousands of people who, as we would say, have "an awl in one place." It's boring for them to be like everyone else. They need self-expression. In a creative and constructive, note, form.
So, outlandish luminous castles and unusual sculptures, mysterious cars and other products of the activity of restless personalities appear once a year in the desert.
Unlike well-known unicycles, the driver of the RIOT Wheel does not sit inside the wheel, but outside. Ahead. From the outside, it looks like it should fall. That with a sharp acceleration, he will tip over on his back, and when braking, he will bury his nose in the ground.
But nothing of the kind happens, as you might guess, due to the opposition of a cunning system of weights hidden inside the wheel.
Actually, there are two main counterweights. One - special cargo(204 kilograms) at the end of the "crane" - a system of levers that automatically occupy the desired position.
The second counterweight is an engine (ICE, 80 "cubes", 4 cycles, 6 horsepower, Honda), capable of changing its position inside the wheel regardless of the first counterweight.
There is also a gyroscope (weighing 30 kilograms), rotating in a vertical plane, but capable of deviating along the horizontal axis, responding to the rotation of the control knobs. It serves as a "rudder".
Also, the driver's seat, which is deflected to the sides by 15 degrees, contributes to the control of the machine.
The main counterweight is positioned to balance the seated driver. Regardless of whether the wheel is in place or rides.
We note in passing that very wide tire(along with the gyroscope) also contributes to the stability of the structure in the "starting" position, when the driver's seat on a special frame comes off the ground.
The internal combustion engine itself deviates forward (during acceleration) or backward (during braking), in proportion to the developed torque (braking) moment.
Scheme of Lyalla's unicycle. A - frame, B - seat, C - control knobs for the engine, gyroscope and "crane", D - internal combustion engine, E - transmission, F - brake, G - main counterweight, H - gyroscope, I - gas tank, J - tire width 50 centimeters (illustration from popsci.com).
All mechanics are designed so as to automatically keep the center of gravity of the entire system at the right point: in front of the wheel axle during acceleration and uniform motion, behind the axle when braking or under the axle when stopped without lowering the seat to the ground.
The deviation of the center of gravity, says the engineer, is enough to realize the full torque of the internal combustion engine and intensive braking up to the skid.
The weight of the whole machine is 500 kilograms, the speed is about 46 kilometers per hour.
The position of the center of gravity of the system (red dot), the driver, the engine (blue square) and the counterweight (green sector) during landing, standby position, acceleration and braking (illustrations from theriotwheel.com).
Now, under the "veil of secrecy", as the inventor jokes, Lyall is building RIOT 2 and RIOT 3.
They will be significantly (about twice) lighter than the first sample, and will no longer be driven by a weak internal combustion engine, but by hefty electric motors with a capacity of 30 and 200 horsepower, respectively.
One of these devices (the third one) should become the fastest unicycle in the world.
By the way, as far as we managed to find out, the current record for monocycles is 85 kilometers per hour.
In this picture you can see some of the stuffing RIOT Wheel (photo from theriotwheel.com).
By the way, about the tests of another American monster - the McLean V8 monowheel unicycle, with an eight-cylinder engine from a passenger Buick, at full speed - until something is heard.
One Spaniard, who was fond of the history of the creation of bicycles, decided to recreate unicycle sample of 1873. To do this, he studied a lot of information and documents of the 19th century, and using the technologies of those times, he was able to make his dream come true by creating his amazing masterpiece - an exact copy of the 1873 unicycle, invented in France
To create this unique transport tools were used steel and bronze parts, wood (oak), leather. It is also interesting that you can ride it, i.e. device is fully functional. The inventor put his work up for sale, the starting price is 13 thousand dollars.
Here is an example of such a concept.
Unicycles have been developed and designed for a long time. The difference between the Yamaha concept and many others like it is in principle and in size. Here the pilot does not sit ON, but IN this very one-wheeled vehicle.
The wheel is very big. With smooth mirror elements. Looks very, very futuristic. So far, it exists only in the picture and in design programs.
The author of the project is Japanese designer Yuji Fujimura. Moreover, Yamaha notes that they ordered this authoritative person to develop the design of this ultra-modern model not just like that, but with an eye on commercial use - so that sometime in the future such wheels could really start to roam the streets!
Somewhere in Japan they came up with such an option.
Iranian artist and designer Mohammad Ghezel has unveiled a futuristic electric car concept. eRinGo looks like a mobile barrel of beer and resembles a spinning druid warrior from the first Star Wars series.
In eRinGo, which is still only computer model, in theory, two people should be accommodated. An electric motor rotates three rings around the circumference of this gondola. Similar to the Segway, the integrated gyroscope keeps the eRinGo stable while moving.
This device is set in motion with the help of one - the central ring, the diameter of which is larger than that of the side ones, providing additional stability, and also allow you to enter the turn sharply.
In Iran Ghezel is already known. For his two previous works, he received an award from the Iran Khodro Design Competition, which showcases the largest Iranian car manufacturers.
"I love futuristic design and believe that basically anything is possible," Ghezel told American online publication Wired. "Current technologies can be easily found in modern cars but we can create the future ourselves. Perhaps this will encourage engineers and scientists to develop our ideas."
The name eRinGo means electric rings that make it go and in translation sounds like "electric rings that create movement." This "car" will be able to manage each of the two sitting inside. As soon as one of the "pilots" takes control, the partner's electronics are deactivated.
During the creation of your unusual car Ghezel took the most important part, the wheel, and integrated the motor and cab into it. "Perhaps this form is still considered unsuitable today, but my motto is: Nothing is impossible. Fantasy is limitless"
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eRinGo looks fantastic, but in reality there are already similar concepts. The so-called unicycles have been built since 1869, but at that time they had a manual drive. It is assumed that the first motorized wheel was the Garavaglia monowheel of the 1904 model.
Here's another interesting modern version.
If you are tired of walking from the garage to the house, feel free to buy NAO Aphaenogaster scooter. The three-wheeled cart only looks ridiculous, but in fact, in front of you is a very convenient vehicle. It is light (20 kg), fast enough (more than 20 km/h) and environmentally friendly - it is powered by electricity (350 V motor). Only one handle is used for control and no rights are required. True, the battery charge is only enough for 12 km. 
The Chinese army trains balance using unicycles.
“Time passes, the eco-trend rules and it’s time, after children’s bicycles with a gyroscope, heavy and expensive Segways and other clumsy experiments, to transfer people from bicycles and cars to the right transport, more convenient and compact.” The designer of the Solowheel unicycle and the founder of Inventist, Shane Chen, reasoned something like this. The Solowheel is a wheel with footrests and a battery that carries the rider by itself. When driving, the passenger-driver stands on the steps, and the wheel spins in the casing between his legs. To accelerate, you need to lean forward, loading your socks with your weight, to slow down, you should lean back, loading your heels. Left-right weight transfer allows maneuvering.
TTX unicycle Solowheel:
speed - up to 19 km/h
power reserve - up to 2 hours
weight - 9 kg
battery charging time is less than an hour.
price - about $1500
the machine has folding footrests and a carrying handle. Charging the unicycle is from a conventional electrical outlet, in addition, when driving with a low load on the motor, for example, downhill, the battery charges itself. It is clear that, despite the optimism of the skaters in the commercial, for comfortable ride on a unicycle, you need excellent coverage under the wheel, without pits and curbs, and a helmet, knee pads and others are also appropriate protective accessories. And then the way from home to work or a store can be done on one wheel without standing in traffic jams. Inventist has been implementing various crazy ideas since 2003 and is interested in distributing its products.
But modern cinematography!
Well, tell me, what of the interesting monocycle I forgot?
sources
95live.ru
scooteruz.blogspot.com
itmizm.com
mhealth.ru
science.compulenta.ru
gizmod.ru
avto-vip.com
www.membrana.ru
autoexpert.in.ua
motonews.ru
