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Toyota Scooter?

That is some of the sweetest computer animation I've ever seen.

This looks like a great and very practical concept that solves a lot of problems. Way better than a 2-wheel open-air scooter.

Just think how great these things would be for lane splitting... it would keep the rednecks' tobacco spit off of you as you went by! :ha

I wonder when, and how much.

Great link, Ken. Thanks. :thumb

Ia
 
Toyota estimates 54 km per charge with a three hour turn around... wow, that's like.... 33.5 miles

"A scooter that drives like a car." but you'll need a Motorcycle Endorsement to drive it (motorcyclist's survival mentality not included).

But I have a motorcycle endorsement, and I think it'd be a hoot!

Toyota-iRoad.jpg
 
GM developed and built a couple prototypes proving this concept in, I think, the early 80s. It was called the "Lean Machine." Very little public interest at the time other than the "cool" factor among a few early adopters.

I guess everything old IS new again, especially if spun by Toyota.

Don't flame me, this is just an inconvenient truth.

Stan
Lake Tahoe
 
Three wheelers. Cum se, cum sa. They come, they go. But none seem to actually be produced in number.

The iRoad. .. smaller than the rest and it's cuter.
In reverse order...

2009, Mercedes-Benz Dreirad.
bild-46353.jpg


1994, The Carver, 200 produced between 1997 and 2006; no longer in production.
auto+(2).jpg


1984, Trautwein Dreirad (three wheels)

1984_02_motorrad_b01.jpg


1983, 3VG; designed and prototyped by the folks at Mother Earth News.

3vg2.jpg


1980, GM The Lean Machine

lean+machine.jpg

[youtube]ngn7Io4HtdU[/youtube]

TTW, Ernst Neumann, 1945 (German industrial designer responsible for the Neander automobiles & motorcycle).

neumann.jpg


1926, Neander Rahmen, aluminum box-section frame.
1928-neander-2-large.jpg
 
Forget about it being sold in the U.S. I can't envision a market for it. Some say a big city, where you never need to go on a highway. But our big cities already have mass transit and people don't even need a car to get around them... Maybe Europe?

But what would the price be? $15,000 is my guess, but for that price you could buy a small econobox car that gets 40MPG.
 
An enclosed vehicle that leans makes sense to many of us rider types. But now, add in the mix of people that have no idea how a motorcycle handles (dare I say it, countersteering) including many motorcycle riders, could make for some interesting development challenges. Take the Lit C1, it has two large gyros, well below the rotational centerline for stability, but I wonder how it affects steering. The C1 has a steering wheel, just like a car. That means to a car driver, you "steer" left to go left, "steer" right to go right. Just the opposite of what a motorcycle does to lean. They obviously went with a steering wheel versus a handlebar, to make it more car like and familiar.

But the physics of a single tracked leaning vehicle still apply. Interesting.

Maybe Sheldon on Big Bang Theory will finally see fit to buy a "car".
 
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