Ever see a two-wheeled car? No, not a motorcycle - a two-wheeled car!
What is the difference between a two-wheeled car and a motorcycle? I am not sure as far as the actual definition goes, but I guess one might say it's the stabilizer wheels of the car that makes it distinctly non-motorcycle-ish. Make sense? No, it doesn't to me either. But, they do exist, and you can find some of them at this site. Some are single-cylinder cars, or "thumpers" as some like to call them, and some even have V8 engines! Does anyone else have any information on these strange vehicles?
As an aside, I was thinking of the Boss Hoss motorcycle while I was looking at these. I have often thought that the only difference between that bike and a car was that it had two wheels. Perhaps somebody should add outrigger wheels to their Boss Hoss and re-invent these two-wheel cars? Perhaps not...
[Source: Monotrace]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Thompson Speck 12:57PM (6/01/2008)
Check out US Patent # DES. 371,528
The vehicle stays up like a motorcycle, uses a joystick instead of a steering wheel, and has a suspension system that will give it an exceptionally smooth ride. The outrigger wheels are located near the front, and aid in steering at slow speed; and fully retract at cruise speed. Any Questions?
I hope someone will be interested enough to provide capital to make one, and tool up for production.
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kballs 11:10PM (2/21/2007)
I remember seeing another 2-wheel car similar to this that came out in the same era... except instead of "training wheels" it used a heavy gyroscope to stabilize and balance the vehicle. These things were pretty efficient too because of the skinny shape and 2 less tires of rolling resistance. I have no idea how you would counter the monster torque put out by an old, heavy, longitudinally-mounted V8 motor though... seems like you'd have to "countersteer" to keep the thing upright (kindof like how helicopters without counter-rotating blades require some rudder to counter the torque produced when you lift up on the collective)... though maybe not in the gyroscopically-stabilized one.
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