The Lemon Fool

It's definitely got the Clive Sinclair touch, hasn't it? The extendable landing gear would be ingenious, if not for the fact that it wouldn't have been necessary at all if the silly @rse hadn't decided to turn himself into a mobile fishtank in the first place.

Never mind, the excitement at 1 hr 05 mins proves that a bike that tips over is perfectly safe, just as long as you've got your support crew close behind to bring you back to the vertical.

Elon Musk is probably getting night sweats right now, and the space in Jay Leno's garage is ready and waiting. Probably.

BJ

Snorvey wrote:Making of futuristic motorcycle - I Modified Scooter to the two-wheeled vehicle

Now I have a 300cc scooter in the garage.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f708GtL6tns

But it goes into a speed wobble at 30mph and falls over!!

Then in the comments everyone thinks it is amazing!

Weird.

John

I spotted a similar (but not fully enclosed) BMW scooter a few years back : Looked pretty cool

And to think, all those years when bikers would tell their four-wheeled contemporaries that the view through a car's windscreen was just so much TV. And now they're trying to replicate the experience for themselves?

Although, in this case, admittedly, the vertical hold needs a bit of adjusting.

BJ

Snorvey wrote:Yeah a c1.

Yup, BMW C1. A mate of mine bought one from a chap who had a herd of them. My mate asked me for a lift down to deepest darkest Oxfordshire to fetch it as it was near my old stomping ground, but refused to tell me what he was buying until we got there. The seller opened up his workshop to reveal a fleet of about 15

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_C1

My mate has a strange taste in odd vehicles. Bear in mind this is a good old fashioned old school biker, former bouncer in the Newcastle night clubs, rider (and occasional crasher) of various high-powered sports bikes, a hardtail chop, a Harley, etc etc, you get the picture Buying the C1 was just the latest episode of his occasional desire for the oddballs in the world of transport - Pug 207 and Vauxhall Tigra convertibles (one of which transported an entire Ikea bedroom suite in one go!), several Smart cars, currently to be seen in the slow lane in a Suzuki Vitara. So far so normal until you realise it is a Kei Car version, so has a motorbike engine, ultra short wheelbase, weighs next to stuff all and is flat out at about 55mph Yup, proper rufty tufty biker car ...

MM

Snorvey wrote:Yamaha have already built an unenclosed 3 wheeler tilting that you can ride on a car licence.

The Yamaha Niken

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_Niken

Back Street Heroes, a magazine for the discerning motorbicyclist (ahem ... ) had one on long term test for just under a year and loved every mile they put on it. So much so that I think it went back to Yamaha some 12k miles older than when delivered!

Not so sure that it is car licence friendly though, the track width between the front wheels makes it a bike, not a tricyle, though I am open to proof otherwise. Certainly for MoT purposes it is Class 2 (motorcycle).

MM

MonsterMork wrote:

Snorvey wrote:Yamaha have already built an unenclosed 3 wheeler tilting that you can ride on a car licence.

The Yamaha Niken

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_Niken

Back Street Heroes, a magazine for the discerning motorbicyclist (ahem ... ) had one on long term test for just under a year and loved every mile they put on it. So much so that I think it went back to Yamaha some 12k miles older than when delivered!

Not so sure that it is car licence friendly though, the track width between the front wheels makes it a bike, not a tricyle, though I am open to proof otherwise. Certainly for MoT purposes it is Class 2 (motorcycle).

MM

Anyone watching Tour de France coverage will recognise those. They're used as support vehicles and by the cameramen filming the race

Back Street Heroes
Ah, I remember that magazine - mainly for the covers...
Usually some lingerie-clad slightly skanky* young woman straddling a chopper

mmm

* no offence, I like slightly skanky

Health & Efficiency?

Always good for a surreptitious glance in W H Smith's in the 1940s.

TJH

tjh290633 wrote:Health & Efficiency?

Always good for a surreptitious glance in W H Smith's in the 1940s.

TJH

1940s? Never had you pegged for a 90 year old

As for the Niken - just because you can, doesn't mean you should. A triumph of complexity over necessity.

DrFfybes wrote:1940s? Never had you pegged for a 90 year old

I'll be 88 in June, young man.

TJH

tjh290633 wrote:

DrFfybes wrote:1940s? Never had you pegged for a 90 year old

I'll be 88 in June, young man.

TJH

You don't look it.

sg31 wrote:

tjh290633 wrote:I'll be 88 in June, young man.

TJH

You don't look it.

All the girls say that.

TJH

DrFfybes wrote:
As for the Niken - just because you can, doesn't mean you should. A triumph of complexity over necessity.

True, but don't forget that Yamaha have previous form for the weird and wonderful front end, viz the GTS1000 and it's hub centre steering.

Not that this is the first time that hub centre steering has been adopted, remember the Elf Yamaha GP racer from the late 70s/early 80s? Or the road bike creations from the likes of Tony Foale and others back in the day.

Not forgetting of course BMW and their Tele-lever front end, not quite as radical as hub centre steering but still very odd for the first few miles of riding when you are used to the forks dipping on braking.

MM

Snorvey wrote:The Niikon looks a bit silly, but the Tricity 300 has real practical appeal for car drivers.

Elf Yamaha GP racer

I don't remember the Elf Yamaha. ELF Honda, yes. With (among others) Rocket Ron Haslam on board IIRC

My bad, yes it was a n'Onda in the end, but it started life with a Yam TZ750 lump.

https://historicmotorsportcentral.com/2 ... the-elf-x/

MM

tjh290633 wrote:

DrFfybes wrote:1940s? Never had you pegged for a 90 year old

I'll be 88 in June, young man.

TJH

29th by any chance?

D'Oh.

DrFfybes wrote:

tjh290633 wrote:

DrFfybes wrote:1940s? Never had you pegged for a 90 year old

I'll be 88 in June, young man.

TJH

29th by any chance?

D'Oh.

Thereabouts. My birth certifiate says otherwise, but I know when it was.

TJH

Well you were there at the time, and the registrar wasn't....

AleisterCrowley wrote:Well you were there at the time, and the registrar wasn't....

It happened to be my grandmother's birthday.

TJH

tjh290633 wrote:

AleisterCrowley wrote:Well you were there at the time, and the registrar wasn't....

It happened to be my grandmother's birthday.

TJH

I share a birthday with my (paternal) grandmother too

didds