Peak Moment #27: Megan Quinn of The Community Solution discusses her visit to Cuba, and the movie "The Power of Community". This young woman sees Peak Oil as an opportunity to create the communities we want, but notes that we must reduce our consumption despite environmentalists' assurances that biofuels will save us.
(click on image to enlarge)"Finally, bikers, walkers and runners now have their own "Share the Road" specialty license plate! The process for requesting a new specialty plate requires a group to submit 900 applications for the plate before the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet can begin the process of designing a new plate. Late in 2005, they received double that amount from every area of the Commonwealth!
According to a press release from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, those who purchase a Share the Road license plate will have the option of making a voluntary contribution to the Kentucky Bicycle and Bikeway Commission (KBBC). This commission is charged with assisting the Transportation Cabinet in promoting the best interests of the bicycling public.
How do you get one?"
Lenore, a writer for the Evil Mad Scientist has come up with an interesting project "How to Make a Music Satchel". The satchel is slung over one shoulder like a Timbuk2 bag. The stereo speakers point out the face of the bag, and are hidden in the design of the bag. This may be a lot of fun to carry around on critical mass bicycle rides or on a Friday Night Skate, as a back up music source for the rolling parties.
It occurs to me how much this stuff reminds me of the shape shifting robotA 1979 film about moped safety. 16mm original that showcases vintage mopeds. Part 1 of 2
There is much information of building trailers and how to mount them to a standard bicycle. There are also many numufacturers of bicycle trailers. The law appears to be clear that pulling a trailer behind a bicycle is ok. It appears that red reflectors are required, by law, in california. And it is unclear if any lights are required, although many folks use the blinking red lights on the back of their trailers at night. Also, it may be the law that a reflector must be attach to each side of the trailer. Also, it may be required that the trailer have a red flag that flies at about 5-6 feet from the ground from the rear of the trailer, probably from the "passenger side"(car lingo) of the rear of the trailer.
What is not clear to me is what the rules are on pulling a trailer behind a "motorized bicycle", mopeds, or even scooters, electric or gas.March 8, 2004
electric scooter with trailer My First Electric Vehicle, the scooter: I was driving a 10-year-old Subaru wagon that got 22 mpg, and I was hearing the alarms about the coming crisis in world oil supplies. My teenage son got his driving liscense, no longer wanted to ride the bus, and I thought three cars for three people was the height of financial insanity. Then I saw this extremely cute Chinese electric scooter for only $1200, and I couldn't resist. The construction is very cheap, the speedometer doesn't work any more, I've blown two battery chargers, but otherwise I have been impressed with the reliability and low cost of operation over almost 3,500 miles in one year. Insurance is not required in Oregon, but for $75 I thought liability coverage was a good idea.
I asked the salesman if I could pull a dog trailer, he said it would slow me down, and yes it would be possible. What he didn't explain is that I had to be very easy on the throttle, so I burnt up my first set of batteries in 5 months. Now I push the scooter by running beside it to get going from a dead stop, and jump on, which is just a little embarassing, to say the least. I get weak acceleration from the permanent-magnet, 700 watt motor on the rear hub. It has four 22-Amphour glass-mat batteries which gets me and my dog to work (5 miles), where I recharge for the trip home. I could make it home without the recharge, but the last mile would get pretty slow. I have to keep my speed below 15 mph, stay in the bike lanes or the bike-route streets, and on the streets without bike lanes it gets a bit scary. I ride in all kinds of weather, so I've learned to allow extra time to suit up in the required rain or cold weather gear. The comfort level and visibility at night, in the rain, in the winter is terrible. Thus, the motivation for a semi-enclosed, more powerful vehicle.
If I were to calculate the cost-to-benefit ratio of this project, I would never do it. To save money on my commute to work, I would continue riding the scooter and endure a few more winters before I retire. No, I am trying to be a small part of the change I want to see. The "humm-E-bird" is intended to be a statement of a possibility, an encouragement to the imagination of others.
www.bagageres-genco.com/If you have more info on the subject of the law and pulling a trailer behind a scooter, moped, or "motorized bicycle" please send the info to me and/or post the info in the Comments. Thanks.
www.fibroconcept.com/fr/index_fr.cfm
www.armorside.com/
www.aerotrailer.com/ (awesome)
scooter.sidecars.home.comcast.net/globe/trailer.htm (awesome)
scooter.sidecars.home.comcast.net/globe/unitrailer.htm (awesome)
www.singlewheel.com/
www.retroscooter.co.nz/
Optibike Conguers Pikes Peak!
(approximately 14,000 feet above sea leval).
On September 30, 2005, Craig Weakley rode the Optibie 400 to the top of Pikes Peak (The highest road in the USA)
The Optibike climbed 7,200 feet in 19 miles. The average grade of the Pikes Peak highway is 17%. The maximum grade is 55%.
With the motorized bottom bracket, the efficiency of the Optibike is the same climbing a 30% as on a flat road
Climbing at 12 miles per hour, the pace van was averaging 4 MPG. The Optibike was achieving the equivalent of 800 miles per gallon.
The low center of gravity of the sleek aluminum monocoque fram gives the Optibike stable handling.
After climbing 7000 feet over a 19 mile course in 1 hour and 30 minutes, the Optibike still had 1 hour and 40 minute of runtime left (using the auxiliary toury battery pack)
The Optibike 400 www.optibike.com
Arnold, the Governor of California, is not a queen... well, he is not a queen in public... Well, I mean, it is not discussed in public that he is a queen... Well, I mean, he has not admitted, in public, to being a queen. Well... Uh, I mean... darn... He is the governor of California. And that is kind of like being the Queen of California, so to speak, isn't it?The Sprockettes are the Pacific Northwest's Synchronized all gal mini bike precision dance troupe.They will amuse and amaze you like no others. The Sprockettes interests include mini bikes, hot pink and black sparks, hotties, danceable music, feminism, radicalism, DIY stuff, cable access.
Spreading cheery winter holiday spirit using bicycle sounds, Flip Baber, aka Johnnyrandom, produced a musical composition for Specialized Bicycle Components, exclusively from the sounds made of mountain and road bike parts. It's wild!Glockenspiel - spokesRecommended Links:
Clarinet - spokes
Cello - plucked derailleur cables
Violin - plucked derailleur cables
Pizzicatos - plucked derailleur cables
Triangle - disc brake hit
Percussion - shifting, coasting, finger over turning spokes, chain pulls, braking, clipping into pedals, back-spinning, air out of tires.
"All persons attempting to conceal criminal acts concerning thier cars are hereby warned. Check first to see that underneath that chrome lies a concious, especially if you driving along a rainstorm in the twilight zone.."
And Moonbeam, the micro car that gets over 100 miles per gallon and can go 50 miles per hour, could be retrofitted to run on ethanol, a biofuel. And a small trailer can be hooked up to moonbeam, to make her into a work horse as well. I think it would be kind of fun to hook of a bicycle rack to her roof, with a couple bicycles hitched up, for a picture of her carrying two bicycles. (smile)
Recommended Links:
- Cycle Santa Monica! community forum
- Santa-Monica/West-L.A./Venice critical mass community forum
This is a quote and picture from the full report Noel Adams at Electrifying Times did on the AltCar Expo, that may be of interest:I stopped by the Sustainable Transportation Club booth to talk with Russell Sydney who I have corresponded with for some time and never met face to face. The Sustainable Transportation club is a big supporter of bicycling and electric scooters. They had two electric scooters on display, the Falcon EV eRunner and an EVT 168. John Breza, the local EVT dealer and another old acquaintance I hadn’t seen in a long time was also maning the booth so I had a chance to chat with him for a few moments.It is one of the most comprehensive reports, and display of pictures, from the AltCar Expo I have seen to date.
(click on images to enlarge)
I presented the suggestion that Euro Taxi consider some kind of program of the vehicles including portable bicycle racks, which could accomodate at least two regular diamond frame bicycle.
Perhaps, I am hopeful that we see taxi's in Santa Monica and the westside that, defacto, provide bicycle carrying racks, for the weary cyclist, or the cyclist with the broken down bike.
Some carry them on the rear through a removable, off-the-shelf, bicycle rack system. And some use the over the roof, more permanent bicycle rack system.
(click on images to enlarge.)
BTW, any of these can be easily fitted with an electric power assist hub motor on their rear, or front wheels. And with that, they continue to have all the functionality as a human powered vehicle. And with the electric motor assist they can be used to travel further and at higher speeds than a person can do by human power alone. They could essentially be described as a human/electric powered hybrid vehicle, which can powered by either power source alone or the two combined.
(click on images to enlarge. Piaggio MP3, TRIX Trike, and Big Toe, the "SUV Crusher")
Also, if you like the piaggio three wheeler with carving/tilting capabilities, you migh like the TRIX human powered trike (See Gizmag article) developed by a design comany named Product Group. You could stick a electric power assist hub motor on the rear wheel of that bike, and you got yourself a fuel efficient, environemntally friendly, hybrid vehicle that also carries cargo. Wild!"Cycle World show pushes the limits"OFFICIALLY, there isn't a theme to this weekend's 26th Cycle World International Motorcycle Show, but it might as well be "Extremes." Among the 600 bikes on display at the Long Beach Convention Center are the world's fastest, smallest, tallest and most expensive production sport bike motorcycles.
In addition to the hundreds of 2007 model street bikes, dirt bikes, cruisers and ATVs, visitors can check out the BUB #7 Streamliner and meet the rider who sped across the Bonneville Salt Flats into the record books at 350.885 mph this past September. They can take in the 7-foot-tall Big Toe and 2.55-inch-short Small Toe bikes — both of which are ridable. And they can admire what most of them can never afford — MV Agusta's new $120,000 production sport bike, the most expensive ever.
MV's F4CC is one of several highly anticipated unveilings reserved for Long Beach. Ducati is wheeling out the North American commemorative edition of its soon-to-be-released new superbike family, the 1098 S Tricolore. It will also be flaunting its six-months-away hypermotard.
Buell's new super moto, the Lightning Super TT XB12STT, will also make its U.S. debut, as will the first-ever three-wheeled scooter from Piaggio and a concept V-Max from Yamaha subsidiary, Star Motorcycles.
The Long Beach stop is the fifth and most influential of a 13-city tour that kicked off in Phoenix. "Southern California is the show that the manufacturers definitely bring out extra stuff," said show spokesman Robert Pandya.
That's because SoCal is the North American hub of the big four Japanese manufacturers, most of the motorcycle media and one of the country's largest rider populations — 40,000 of whom are expected to turn out this weekend, Pandya said.
If they bring a helmet and driver's license with a motorcycle classification, riders can even take some of the bikes for a spin. Buell, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, Piaggio, Moto Guzzi, Star Motorcycles and Yamaha are all offering demos on Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting. Just look for corporation-emblazoned tractor trailers and signs that say "Demo." They'll be outside in the parking area off of Shoreline Drive.
Custom builder Matt Hotch is setting up shop there too, to show off the many bikes that have won him many Discovery Channel Biker Build-Offs.
Head inside, and there's a little something for everyone. On the acrobatic end, Brandon and Preston Landers of the BOSS stunt team will perform synchronized stunts and back flips inside their famous Ball of Steel.
Cruiser types, if you didn't get to Daytona this year can see the $250,000 "Nehmesis" Star Motorcycle custom that won Best of Show at the Boardwalk — the first Japanese motorcycle to win the award. Designed by Sam Nehme, the gold- and chrome-plated bike doesn't have a kickstand; it parks on the frame and lifts to riding level with full air suspension. A Big Twin Customs area is also displaying a variety of one-of-a-kinds from builders across the country.
Cruisers aren't the only bikes getting the custom treatment. Sportbikes tricked out with graphics, stretched swingarms, nitros and superchargers have their own display in the custom sportbike area.
There are a couple of firsts at the show this year. A Motocross America Tour will track the evolution of motocross with period bikes and images of racing legends including Decoster, Hannah and McGrath. ATVs step into the spotlight with their own display area. And wannabe riders who've never thrown a leg over can stop into a new Welcome Center for information on how to get into the sport.
The motorcycle industry has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, with sales increasing annually since 1992.
Coincidentally, that was the year Cycle World magazine stepped in as title sponsor for the International Motorcycle Show because "the magazine really represents the length and breadth of all aspects of motorcycling, and the show is exactly the same thing," said publisher Larry Little. "In 1992, there were probably 260 different models available for sale. Last year, it was over 400 models.
"I continue to be floored by the length and breadth of product that still keeps coming out. Especially when you see it all in one place, it's pretty neat."
*
26th Annual Cycle World International Motorcycle Show, Long Beach Convention Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd. Friday, 4-9 p.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Cost: $13 adults (12 and older), $5 children (6-11); (800) 331-5706, http://www.motorcycleshows.com .
According to American Scooter Center, the kit on Shawn's scooter is like the "LX150 Touring Kit" (see picture to the right, below). They weigh about 25 pounds and cost about $700 through the American Scooter Center.I converted my 125cc two stroke Victa lawnmower to electric using a MY1020 motor manufactured by UniteMotor Co and 36V worth of SLA batteries. As you can see the lawn is very overgrown but it performed as well if not better than the two stroke version. It total I have 19Ah of batteries comprising buddy pairs of 7Ah (left over from ebike experimenting) and 12Ah (brand new). Total mowing time was over 45 minutes.
The 'best' folding electric bike there is! The smallest folder fitted with the smallest and lightest motor system that is silent, powerful ... all » and efficient. The nano motor www.nano-motor.co.uk. 2.1kg, 36V 200W/425W 22kph motor, 2.8kg 10A Li-Ion battery. Pedal Action Sensor/Pedal Force Sensor and Twistgrip.
Dermot, thanks for your comment. Corrections have been made. LINK
I was very interested to read your informative article on the subject of bicycles sharing bus lanes.
However, I must take issue with your heading:
Dublin, Ireland, UK
Dublin is in the Republic of Ireland, not the UK. Your heading is particularly appropriate because Dublin left the UK over eighty years ago, after a painful and bloody war of independence.
Kind regards,
Dermot
[Click on images to enlarge.]
Hmmmm, I wonder what will be on the screen. Perhaps it could be a virtual bicycle safety training film? Or perhaps, the kids can go out on a little bike ride with their buds, "critical mass" style? Will we see skaters and pedestrians on this virtual, McDonald's "corp" sponsored bicycle ride.
I wonder if the adult "kids" will be allowed to take a little spin on these calorie burning ped machines while taking bites out of their "Mc Salads"and washing them down with some "Mc OJ". (wink)(smile)
In Peru, they knit Chullo hats, scarves, and ponchos using the wool of the Alpaca. The Alpaca looks like a lama with a thick long wooly coat of fur.They are wonderful ladies who have an extraordinary amount of patience for our clumsy attempts at learning to knit differently. So first off, the five needles we are given are hooks at one end and pointed at the other and made from bicycle spokes.
Interestingly, the Chullo hat makes a nice hat for a bicyclist. It covers the head, very close, and has ear flaps. The hat fits nice and tight underneath bicycle helmets. The wool keeps the head and ears warm, while still allowing perspiration to escape. It ties under the chin.
You can get yarn for your chullo online or you can find some stores around Santa Monica. There is a non profit shop on Pico blvd , between 33rd and 32nd street that carries many colors and varieties.
e: Open Production
Get involved in the making of a NOVA program to air in the fall of 2007 on PBS.
For the next two weeks, NOVA will not be broadcast in most areas because of pledge programming. However, we wanted to take this opportunity to let you know about an exciting new project.
For the first time, NOVA has launched a Web site specifically to engage you, our audience, in the production of a documentary. The show will address a topic of concern to all of us: can we transition to a new breed of vehicles that relies less on oil and produces fewer greenhouse gases? NPR personalities Tom and Ray Magliozzi (a.k.a. the "Car Talk" Guys) will pepper the program with their unique brand of humor as they test-drive alternative vehicles, meet leading energy policy gurus, and more. The documentary will be shot and edited over the winter and spring of 2006-2007 and is tentatively slated to air in the fall of 2007.
As our production team embarks on shooting over the next few months, we'd like to hear from you. What questions would you ask of the experts we'll interview? What technologies would you like to see profiled? On the Web site www.pbs.org/nova/car, you can explore current plans for the program, submit your own ideas, and get updates as the production unfolds.
Here's what you'll find online:
Draft Script
This work in progress offers an overview of the program and a
sense of its style.
www.pbs.org/nova/car/script.html
About the Producers
Read about the filmmakers charged with the task of turning a
complex topic into compelling TV.
www.pbs.org/nova/car/producers.html
Expert Participants
Learn about the various experts we plan to interview.
www.pbs.org/nova/car/experts.html
E-Mail Your Questions & Ideas
Send us your input, and you may win a free DVD of a recent
NOVA show.
www.pbs.org/nova/car/mail.html
Join the Discussion
Take part in a dialogue about the technologies and policies
needed to keep us movin' on down the road.
discussions.pbs.org/viewforum.pbs?f=178
Audio Dispatches
Hear interview clips and reports from the field.
www.pbs.org/nova/car/dispatches.html
Related Links
Visit other Web sites to investigate the subject further.
www.pbs.org/nova/car/resources.html
