OLPC designer styles goes-like-stink electric motorbike The metaphorical dust cover was yanked off the latest 'leccy motorcycle at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference in Long Beach, California, yesterday - and an arresting looking bit of kit it is too. Mission One Mission Motors' Mission One: striking looks Called the Mission One, the bike has been designed …
Unless I'm missing something big here, this bike is run by batteries. Batteries are HEAVY. Weight is the absolute enemy of any fast bike worth the name. Surely something more in the Harley/Goldwing mould would be a more suitable er.. vehicle?
Go coz if it lives up to the blurb it might still have a future.
>>At least desirable to those of us who fancy the idea of a twit-proof twist-and-go super bike
twit-proof? I'm glad that this bike will also make sure you have correct balance, observation, braking distance estimation, appropriate speed use etc. etc.
If my CBR1100 was automatic I'd no longer risk being a twit I guess? a superbike is a superbike, you're just as small and vulnerable regardless of the fuel used.
Doesn't look very nice (IMHO), I'd rather have something that looks like this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8utqgS7es7k
Much cooler (though seems to be yet another electric vehicle that never makes it to the production line :( ).
Just have to stick with my trusty Sinclair C5 for just now.
A conventional MB can power off with either hand (accelerator right hand clutch left hand) This can be a life saver if you hit a bump in the road that shifts your weight in such a way that you need to put weight on your throttle hand. (I think I saved myself with the clutch when my bike fishtailed on ice yesterday).
Very cool and I'd love to have one.
I do foresee a small problem. A lot of motorists (in cars) only notice motorcycles because of the racket they make. I'm sure this bike will be very nearly silent. A rider will have to take extra care to be seen by other drivers. And I hope that isn't the speedometer near the hand grip---very poor placement if it is.
I hope to buggery that it comes with some form of traction control, then, so if you grab too much throttle you don't end up getting spat off the back because you won't be able to slip the clutch to control the power!
(And WTH is with the trellis-work on the sides???)
" A lot of motorists (in cars) only notice motorcycles because of the racket they make"
They can't hear my beemer either, but not wanting to receive a personal Darwin award, I don't drive it as if I can be heard or seen. Anyone who drives a motorcycle like that isn't likely to make it past the first set of traffic-lights.
Wow. That is one hideous design. So it comes as no surprise to read that it was designed by the same guy that designed the XO laptop. And what's with the recharge times? 8 hours from a 120V outlet, but only 2.5 hours from a 240V outlet? Assuming a standard US 15A 120V outlet, that's 1800W/hr, so 8 hours will consume a maximum of 14.4KW. To do the same thing in 2.5 hours, you would need to supply 5760W/hr, which comes to 24A at 240V.
From our local media reports (http://www.iomtoday.co.im/video/Our-man-takes-39Green-TT39.4942343.jp) it seems that even the early prototypes handle reasonably well. It really will be a question of how the batteries hold out it seems.
I look forward to seeing them racing next year.
Sorry for being an old stick in the mud, but why is a motorcycle which can do 150 mph desireable? Dangerous, yes. Pointless, yes. But desireable? There is no where you can go where these kinds of speeds are either sensible, legal, or even possible (owing to traffic and road conditions). When are people going to grow up?
> Anyone who drives a motorcycle like that isn't likely to make it past the first set of traffic-lights.
Yep:
Graham's three rules of defensive riding:
1) Don't assume they've seen you
2) Don't assume they'll respect your right of way
3) Do assume they'll do something stupid which will kill you unless you get out of their way.
It's not how it should be, but it's certainly how it is :-(
(And anyone who says the answer is Loud Pipes is just an anti-social git)
What do you think those "super bikes" are for? Going fast that's what. While not exactly safe you can easily cruise for very long distances here in the US as 150 MPH on the Interstate system.
In fact, back when Montana had no speed limit (the "limit" was reasonable and prudent during daylight hours) and I crossed the entire state at more than 130 MPH. Granted it wasn't on an electric motorcycle cause the batteries would have been dead before I got across the state.
Not realy pointless? You ever been on the motorway on a bike with a top speed of less that 100MPH? It is not a nice thing to do. Unlike a car you have alot of noise and vibration due to the very nature of how high the engine revs (And an electric engine will probably be just as bad). You needs a minimum top speed of 120MPH to be ok crusing at 70, and having a little left if you need it in an emergency.
Finally, a bike with the potential to select what noise you're going to make today without spending a fortune on different pipes.
Do I feel like a nice understated Beemer burble, or a full on Japanese yowl. Maybe a H-D 'potato-potato'? Nah, that'd be silly. Any Harley afficionado worth his tats wouldn't be seen dead on a nancy-bike powered by the Duracell Bunny.
@Graham Marsden
The speakers are obviously behind the trellis work on the sides.
Now if we work on 100 watts RMS per channel to get the right accoustic signature (gotta be stereo, right?), what's that going to do to the range of the bike?
Paris, because she knows what it's like to have a good steady throbbing beat between her legs.
>Being me I would have built the motor into the rear wheel.
Then you need to read up on "unsprung mass".
Also generally it's beneficial to put the heavy stuff in the middle rather than out at the back end, although you could put the rider lower down if there was a gap there...
>This is a piss poor example of some idiots putting available 'old' tart technology with a bit
>of crapton fibre and aluminium with holes in it to come up with something that is 'pretty' (shit).
While I agree with the sentiment, they haven't done that at all, all they've done is drawn a sketch of how they'd like it to look.
Here's mine:-
O-Ó It's twice as fast as theirs and is made of recycled yack dung so it's even more environmentally friendly.
As much as I would like to see a good, high performance leccy bike showing their backwards 4-wheel brethren how to do the job properly I feel this won't quite be the one. And that's a shame because I'd love to see this be successful. As the detailed spec doesn't seem to be available - well, I couldn't find it anyway - it's difficult to comment about the layout beyond that it appears to have a clutch; if it contains a small CVT in the drivetrain then it would really get me very interested.
The relative silence of such a bike wouldn't be the major handicap you may think either. As any biker will tell you, you don't hope other people hear you, it's more whether the average car/HGV/bus driver is actually conscious that it uppermost in your mind.
But the killer is the price. £47,178. That's more than a Ducati Desmosedici RR, and one of those would go very nicely indeed with my Monster 750 and old 750SS. Why namecheck a very nice Honda when you could instead plump for an outageously gorgeous Italian?
Anyway, I think I'll go and wipe down my Termi's.........
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