[ExI] gentlemachines, start your engines...

[spike]

From: extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of William Flynn Wallace
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2017 9:56 AM
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Subject: Re: [ExI] gentlemachines, start your engines...

 

>…  Those big bikes are so heavy that some riders can't pick them up, right?

 

bill w

 

 

They can if they know how.  My bike is a full-bag touring rig.  As outfitted (with radios and such) it weighs 910 pounds.  I can hoist it to its feet if it falls over.  I weigh 129 pounds.  It’s all in the technique, not the brute strength. 

 

http://www.womenridersnow.com/pages/Bike_Lift_Technique.aspx

 

In bike to rider weight ratio, I might be a record-holder in the men’s division.  I have been to touring bike rallies for years and never saw another guy who I think weighs less than I do.  In all these years I saw exactly one woman who is lighter than I am but she also had a lighter bike, so don’t know on her, but I think I win in the men’s division.

 

Honda has this bike that can balance itself at walking speed or slower, so my intuition tells me it can do the much easier task of proceeding at freeway speeds or racetrack speeds.   I saw Anthony Levandowski’s self-rider in 2004 at the DARPA challenge.  Didn’t get far.  

 

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

 

Now we have Honda with this.  We have come a long way: 

 

https://www.wired.com/2017/01/hondas-self-balancing-motorcycle-perfect-noobs/

 

The bike this is built on looks like a 2015 Honda VFR800, top speed about 140 mph.  Oh we could have some terrific races with these things.  I just saw that Yamaha has a self-rider.  Let’s goooooo!

 

spike

 

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