What can be new in the design of a motorcycle? Sometimes it seems that in such things everything has been invented for a long time. But no, it turns out you can! For starters, you can try to put a sports bike not on two, but on three wheels. What came of it, and how this miracle of technology drives - in this review.
A motorcycle is a vehicle that traditionally has two wheels: front and rear. There are so-called "trivillers", vehicles on three wheels. Motorcycles are among them. Most often they have a pair of wheels at the rear, but this is not the case with the Yamaha Niken, a new high-performance sports bike that has decided that it is possible to stand confidently on the road with only two wheels in front!
The motorcycle looks extremely unusual. According to the designer, he was always obsessed with the idea of creating such a three-wheeled sports bike, which, despite its “technical features”, could give heat to all competitors in the family. What gave the motorcycle such an unusual arrangement of wheels? First, unusually high stability. Secondly, much better handling and responsiveness. Side-tilt capability has been slightly reduced, but overall not much inferior to two-wheeled models.
Unfortunately, very little is known about the technical characteristics of the Yamaha Niken. They will talk about them at the official presentation, which, apparently, will happen in 2018. The release of the motorcycle in the series is also planned for the same year. The device turned out to be really impressive, it is larger, longer, wider and heavier than its closest relatives. On the other hand, it gives the impression that you are driving not a motorcycle at all, but some kind of antique chariot! It's a completely new, transferable driving experience.
Why do you need roller skates with three wheels? How do they differ from four-wheeled ones, what advantages do they have and is it worth buying them?
Let's find out in this article!
How did tricycles appear?
For the past few years, 3-wheel inline skates have been creating a buzz around them.
It all started in 2015, when Powerslide (a German manufacturer of high-quality inline skates) introduced the first three-wheeled model that could be used for speed skating, freeskating or just moving around the city with special comfort.
The manufacturer simply removed one wheel, and increased the rest to a diameter of 125 mm!
This is about 2 times more than the wheels in the classic children's model.
Powerful? Still would! To date, this is the largest wheel diameter for roller skates.
Literally immediately after the release of this model, a real “boom” began in the modern history of roller sports.
- All scooters hunted and still hunt in order to buy rollers only of this model
- One out of every three filmed reviews on YouTube
- The International Speedskating Federation even allowed marathons on wheels with a diameter of 125 mm (before that, skates with wheels up to 110 mm were allowed).
By the way, the winner in the first marathon with the “new rules” was an athlete on 125s from Powerslide. Naturally, other manufacturers also began to produce similar models.
Roller skates SWELL
Today there are a huge number of innovative models and most of them from the same guys from Powerslide.
They have developed a whole series of high-speed and comfortable, which is considered one of the best on the market:
- excellent comfort;
- high speed;
- the possibility of molding the boot individually for the foot in a special oven;
- the most stylish colors.
Benefits of tricycles
Let's move on to the main differences and advantages:
- Speed. This point cannot be disputed. With just one coasting, you can easily overtake a four-wheeler, which is vainly trying to maintain its speed.
- Maneuverability. The center of gravity is located on the middle wheel, which means that the rollers feel the slightest movement. This is very helpful in slalom driving around cones and for improved “double push” or “double push” technique.
- Trinity. All tricycle novelties from Powerslide feature the Trinity 3-point system - a frame that has not 2 mounts, but 3, which are located in places of increased sensitivity of the foot to get maximum control.
- Low center of gravity. With the help of a new frame and boot, the wheels were moved as close as possible to the boot and to each other. As a result, 125s feel like 110mm.
- Savings on spare parts. Fewer wheels - fewer bearings and wheels will have to be changed in the future, incl. and due to higher quality and abrasion resistance.
- perspective. Powerslide is so passionate about this topic that they tirelessly develop not only the brand, but also improve models by leaps and bounds from season to season.
Literally every month new tricycles come out in different colors with new accessories, including frames, bags and wheels.
Advantages of four wheel casters
What are the good old four-wheelers good for?
- Control. The center of gravity is between the second and third wheels, which means that the leg will not react so much to the slightest movement. This point is a big advantage, first of all, if you choose children's videos or a model for beginners, and not for professionals.
- Slides. 4 wheels are also good for this, especially until 2015 this type of skate was the only option for slalom.
- Comfort. On four-wheel rollers, vibration is better "quenched" when riding on uneven surfaces.
- Price. Still, four-wheeled models are more affordable, but every season they are more and more inferior in technology and innovative "chips" to tricycles.
Should I buy skates with 3 wheels?
There is no single answer to this question.
4 wheels is a classic that has gathered millions of devoted fans around the world in its circles, the history of which stretches for several decades!
At the same time, 3 wheels today is not just a novelty, but a trend, technology and the future, which is preferred by more and more amateur and professional skaters.
Being the official representative of the Powerslide manufacturer in Belarus, we supply and sell all possible models of only high-quality and durable rollers, incl. and for children.
Or ask our consultants by phone:
- +375 33 3 641 880 ;
- +375 29 1 641 888 .
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It would not be an exaggeration to say that for almost every cyclist, acquaintance with a bike began with a three-wheeled version in early childhood, and only then did he master the whole variety of two-wheeled vehicles, changing to mountain and road models. However, tricycles for adults also exist, and they are gaining popularity more and more quickly.
Adult tricycles, or trikes, are very diverse in terms of technical characteristics and appearance. They differ in layout, riding position, gear type, frame, application and other parameters.
Tricycle configuration
There are two main types of tricycle layout:
- deltoid with one front wheel and two rear wheels. This option has been familiar to everyone since childhood, only an adult tricycle has large dimensions and rear-wheel drive.
- Reverse delta, or "tadpole"(from the English word tadpole), which has two front and one rear wheel. This type is less common, and it can be seen much more often at sports competitions than on the street.
Sometimes there are models that look like motorcycles with a sidecar. In them, one of the wheels, most often the rear, is connected by an axle to the side. Such bicycles have not gained distribution, although some "kulibins" continue to experiment with them.
Bicyclist landing
Depending on the position of the rider's body while riding, trikes are divided into vertical and horizontal.
Upright Tricycles
This type is similar to a regular bicycle, and differs from it by the presence of three wheels. Such a trike has a diamond-shaped or open frame, often collapsible. The cyclist sits on top of it, dangling his legs on both sides. Often, trikes are made from a two-wheeled bike by replacing the rear wheel with a special unit, which is a bridge with a differential and one or more stars. Some of them can be equipped with a large wide seat with a back, which reduces the load on the back.
Horizontal tricycle
A bicycle that needs to be ridden reclining or lying on its back is called a ligerade or a ricambent. This also applies to a trike with such a landing. Thanks to its low center of gravity and high aerodynamic properties, it allows you to reach much higher speeds than a conventional bicycle.
Drive types
To propel the tricycle, mainly the muscle power of the legs is used, although there are models for the disabled in which the pedals are rotated by hands. Also, various types of electric motors are often installed on them.
In deltoid tricycles, the drive can be carried out on both rear wheels or only on one. The latter option is easier and cheaper. Such bicycles can have either one fixed gear or several. There are also options with front wheel drive.
The "reverse delta" variant usually has a driven rear wheel, however there are models where the pedals turn the front axle. Such tricycles have a more complex design.
Control
The tricycle is controlled using a steering wheel connected directly to the front wheel fork or axle. Such a device is most common on vertical tricycles, both delta-shaped and tadpoles. There are versions of bicycles with a reverse deltoid configuration, in which the control is due to the rotation of the rear wheel. Such a scheme is more complicated and has a larger turning radius.
Trikes-ligerads can also be controlled using handles, which are halves of the steering wheel. Usually they are located next to the seat and are connected to the wheel or axle with the help of rods or rods.
Use of tricycles
According to their purpose, trikes can be divided into three conditional groups: models for recreation and entertainment, sports and work.
Sports models
In terms of the number of different configurations, tricycles for sports can compete with a regular bicycle. Most often, various variations are used with a semi-recumbent or recumbent position of the rider, but there are also mountain and road bikes converted into a tricycle.
Due to their low center of gravity, ligerades are much more stable than upright bikes. In addition, they have better aerodynamic qualities, which allows you to reach much higher speeds than on a conventional bike. The configuration with the reverse deltoid wheel arrangement has the least resistance, so it is this configuration that is most often used in the creation of velomobiles.
Recreational tricycles
The most common type of tricycles are devices with a vertical landing and a deltoid wheel arrangement. It is these trikes that can most often be found on the streets of our cities, although their number is still not large. They are mainly used by the elderly and the disabled. They are also popular with those who have never been able to learn how to ride a regular bike.
People whose physical abilities are limited for one reason or another can easily drive such a vehicle. Often, for them, this is the only type of physical activity that they can afford. A similar 3-wheel bicycle is also used as a rehabilitation therapy for people who have had a stroke or other serious illnesses.
The tricycle has gained some popularity among tourists who love multi-day trips. Thanks to the installation of voluminous roomy trunks, they can carry a large number of things needed on long trips.
Business Application
Everyone is well aware of cycle rickshaws, which are widely used in Asia and Africa. Here they are widely used not only for the transportation of passengers, but also for cargo, sometimes quite heavy and having rather large dimensions. However, even in countries with developed cycling traditions like China, India or Bangladesh, they are increasingly being replaced by internal combustion engines.
In Western Europe, the USA and other developed countries, the use of tricycles as a means of transport for the transport of goods or passengers remains rather exotic. Nevertheless, in many cities the authorities pay great attention to the development of cycling. For example, in Copenhagen, The Hague, Paris and many other cities there is a three-wheeled taxi service, but the territory of their operation is limited mainly to the city center and is designed mainly for tourists.
Much more often you can find cycle trikes adapted for the transport of goods. Such vehicles are available in almost any city in the world, regardless of the degree of economic development of the country. Often these are mobile outlets selling ice cream, hot dogs and other goods. It should be noted that such vehicles are not designed for long trips. Most often, they travel a couple of blocks a day to the place of trade, and in the evening they return to the garage.
Advantages and disadvantages of tricycles
Like any other form of transport, tricycles have both positive and negative sides. A lot depends on their configuration and the position of the cyclist, as well as on the operating conditions.
The main advantage of using tricycles is that there is no need to balance to maintain balance even at a complete stop. For the elderly and the disabled, this circumstance is decisive when choosing a tricycle as a means of transportation. However, it has low lateral stability and is prone to roll over when cornering, which limits its scope and speed of movement.
This property is especially pronounced in tricycles with a vertical landing. In ligerads, it is less pronounced due to the low center of gravity. The problem can be solved by using the Ackermann principle in trike axles, which allows the wheels to change the angle of inclination when turning. However, such a swivel assembly dramatically increases the cost of the device and is found only in expensive sports models.
Another advantage, already related to rickambent tricycles, is the ability to move in a comfortable semi-lying or lying position, which reduces the load on the back and allows you to develop higher speeds. Such trikes are especially in demand among veteran cyclists, for whom lower back diseases are an occupational ailment. In addition, the low-lying seat makes it easier to get in. But there is also a negative side here: the low center of gravity and low ground clearance make such a 3-wheeled bicycle almost invisible to other road users, which makes its use on public roads extremely dangerous.
Another advantage of trikes is the ability to transport goods, due to the presence of a two-wheeled bridge. However, this drastically reduces the speed, maneuverability and versatility of a tricycle as a vehicle, while a conventional bicycle can easily perform the same functions, it is only necessary to equip it with a trailer.
So, our brief acquaintance with the tricycle has come to an end, and we can draw some conclusions. The tricycle, no doubt, has the right to life and is a completely self-sufficient means of transportation, but its scope remains very narrow. It is almost indispensable when used for recreational purposes and as a transport for people with disabilities. The trike also has great potential as a sports equipment. However, in other areas, the traditional bicycle remains the undisputed favorite, and in the foreseeable future, its three-wheeled counterpart has no chance of changing the established status quo.
What can be new in design? Sometimes it seems that in such things everything has been invented for a long time. But no, it turns out you can! For starters, you can try to put a sports bike not on two, but on three wheels. What came of it, and how this miracle of technology drives - in this review. 
A motorcycle is a vehicle that traditionally has two wheels: front and rear. There are so-called "trivillers", vehicles on three wheels. Motorcycles are among them. Most often they have a pair of wheels at the rear, but this is not the case with the Yamaha Niken, a new high-performance sports bike that has decided that it is possible to stand confidently on the road with only two wheels in front! 
The motorcycle looks extremely unusual. According to the designer, he was always obsessed with the idea of creating such a three-wheeled sports bike, which, despite its “technical features”, could give heat to all competitors in the family. What gave the motorcycle such an unusual arrangement of wheels? First, unusually high stability. Secondly, much better handling and responsiveness. Side-tilt capability has been slightly reduced, but overall not much inferior to two-wheeled models. 
Unfortunately, very little is known about the technical characteristics of the Yamaha Niken. They will talk about them at the official presentation, which, apparently, will happen in 2018. The release of the motorcycle in the series is also planned for the same year. The device turned out to be really impressive, it is larger, longer, wider and heavier than its closest relatives. On the other hand, it gives the impression that you are driving not a motorcycle at all, but some kind of antique chariot! It's a completely new, transferable driving experience. 
BMW С1–200: maxiscooter, 2002, 199 cm³, 17 hp, 184 kg, 100–200 thousand rubles.
BMW С1–200: maxiscooter, 2002, 199 cm³, 17 hp, 184 kg, 100–200 thousand rubles.
This scooter with a roof in itself already provides a very high level of comfort: there is not only protection from the weather, but also a wiper on the glass, heated handles and seats, full-fledged ABS and many other “gadgets”. But the Velorex stroller, which was “friends” with the scooter both in terms of fastenings and color, helped to radically solve the issue of stability on slippery surfaces. Not without winter tires Schwalbe Scooter, on which the inhabitants of the Alps cheerfully dissect (details about it - in "Moto" No. 02-2006). But the "Velcro" on ice is almost powerless - I had to hiss it. Naturally, a regular BMW 12-inch wheel with winter tires was also installed on the stroller. Along the way, a decent audio system with component acoustics and a subwoofer was registered here, which also serves as the ballast of the stroller. The set of functional tuning was replenished with an on-board thermometer, "mittens" on the steering wheel, a windproof cape on the legs and - the main sign of any real pepelats - a rotating anemometer on the roof.
The first trips were to bike rallies "Lev Nikolaevich" near Tula in autumn and "Medved-Shatun" in December. But the real test was going to Snow Dogs in Togliatti. A thousand kilometers one way at minus 10–28 ° С with the fulfillment of the “Bear Mile” standard on the way there and back. By summer standards, immodest for a moped, what can we say about winter! However, the three-wheeled C1 is very confidently rushing along the by no means simple winter federal highway. At speeds of 100-110 km / h, he confidently overtakes trucks along the uncleared middle of the road, he is not very sausage in ruts, the oncoming flow of frosty air breaks against wide glass, the handles are warm, the music sings. Easy to drive, stable and predictable even on snow - isn't that ideal? You don’t get tired of the road at all - the main thing is how to insulate yourself, taking into account the fact that it is impossible to move or stretch in the saddle. Although the hauls between gas stations are not long (120–150 km), at a cruising speed of 80–90 km/h each of them is two hours of almost static sitting in the cold. In addition, given the short daylight hours, with long runs, a considerable part of the path has to be overcome in the dark. Then it becomes clear that a dead full-time scooter headlight, equipped with a single 35 / 30W bulb, requires speedy tuning. Nevertheless, winter long-range shooting is kayfous in its own way, at other times even more interesting than summer - it is worth remembering the open mouths of tankers, drivers and other eyewitnesses.
Last year's trip to the Snow Dogs in the "Ural" with a sidecar took 22 hours there and 17 back in much warmer weather. Compared to the C1, the Urals simply do not have wind protection, which makes the cruising speed less, and the driver freezes more, there are no heatings, and the vehicles are similar in dynamics. But, unlike the German moped, it breaks down much more often on the way, which causes special emotions in winter, when fingers freeze to screwdrivers.
Yes, the C1 series of scooters on the markets, as they say, “didn’t go”, but it’s unlikely that any of the developers considered this smallest of the BMW motorcycle families for riding in the winter. And as it turned out, it is ideal for this: those who do not like cats simply do not know how to cook them.
Specifications BMW C1-200 (manufacturer's data)
COMMON DATA |
|
Model year | 2002 |
| Dry weight, kg | 184 |
| Base, mm | 1450 |
| Seat height, mm | 700 |
| Fuel tank volume, l | 8 |
ENGINE |
|
| 1-cyl., 4T | |
| timing | DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder |
| Working volume, cm³ | 199 |
| Cylinder diameter x piston stroke, mm | 62x66 |
| Compression ratio | 9,2:1 |
| Max. power, hp at rpm | 17/9000 |
| Max. torque, Nm at rpm | 18/6500 |
| Supply system | Siemens fuel injection |
| Cooling system | liquid |
| Launch system | electric starter |
TRANSMISSION |
|
Clutch | centrifugal |
| Transmission | variable speed drive |
CHASSIS |
|
| aluminum spatial | |
| Front suspension | 41mm telescopic fork |
| Rear suspension | pendulum, lever-block-engine |
| front brake | disc Ø 220mm, 2-piston Brembo caliper |
| Rear brake | disc Ø 180 mm, 1-piston Brembo caliper |
| wheels | aluminium, cast |
| Front tire | 90/90 R13 |
| rear tire | 90/90 R12 |
