Thoughts on using electric unicycles?

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

My Segway mini is back in business after a $40 part from China. I paid a Russian hacker for a firmware that allows it to travel 16 MPH (up from 10) and about tripled the power available to go uphill. Huge difference in usability/enjoyment now. I've got 300 miles on it now.

I recently bought a hoverboard for $65 and they are pretty lame compared to my $350 Segway mini. Got it with my 2 year old daughter in mind who wouldn't be able to physically fit on my Segway until she's probably 7. Maybe she'll master the hoverboard by age 3 and we can cruise together.

Would still love to pick up one of those monster EUCs. I'll keep checking Craigslist for a deal.

On a longer time horizon, I'm waiting for a Chinese knockoff of this;

The suit, which creates 317 pounds of thrust and makes 1,050 brake horsepower, carries 5.25 gallons of jet fuel. That will allow it to propel a person of less than 200 pounds for about four minutes

off topic but on topic that suit is wild.

Cost: 400k
To use it: The founder said he had to get to core strength level of being able to flag pole to be able to use it. Oh my god... This man is a monster.

https://www.t-nation.com/system/publ...png?1450725316

[Snax]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

IamIan very graciously re-homed his EUC with me.

. . .

Thank you Ian! Most fun toy I've got by far.

Congrats on picking it up!

If your helmet is not full face, STRONGLY consider upgrading to one. The last time I crashed was at less than 10 mph and the only reason I did not mess up my face was because I was able to throw my hand down in front of the bridge of my nose as my head hit the concrete.

[redpoint5]

I ride the EUC IamIan sent my way about every other day. It's completely intuitive to me at this point and practically no scenario would cause me to fall... unless it randomly shuts off.

It did just that Sunday just as I left the house, and the security camera caught the beginning of the tumble. Minor scrapes to my hands, and my jeans and shirt protected my skin. While still bleeding I put on a helmet and completed the ride I had intended.

On my Monday ride I put a helmet and gloves on. We'll see if I continue with that discipline. I did purchase an airbag vest for the motorcycle, so clearly I'm thinking a bit more about safety than my younger self would. Funny how human instinct is to have a lower regard for safety when there's more life (in years) at risk to lose. Heck, infants are downright suicidal, and the very elderly panic stricken by risk.

My veterinarian friend took the EUC out for a spin while I took his Mom's Tesla Model X for a spin. He took a tumble too and scraped up his palms a little more than me. Fortunately no injury to his fingers, so he can perform surgeries. I should probably require people to wear gloves if they try riding the EUC, but to be fair, he's the only friend I have that would crash a thing the first day trying to learn it. He crashed my Segway by leaning past the pushback that occurs when you approach maximum speed.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P15...ew?usp=sharing

Originally Posted by JSH

NYC is using the presence of a throttle on the bike as the deciding factor. Easy to see, easy to enforce, and any bike with a throttle is a motor vehicle in NYC.

The only E-bike I've ridden used the motor as an assist only; no throttle. You could dial in the assist level to the point that agressive assist was providing something like 5x the effort input.

[Snax]

I actually just sold mine. Aside from the safety aspect, it just didn't have the range I needed at times. I'd buy a Monster Pro or S18 if I had the extra cash laying around, but probably won't get another one as my need would be purely recreational.

Gonna stick to my DIY e-bike for now. Got it up to 38 MPH this last month.

[redpoint5]

IamIan's EUC bailed me out yesterday.

The Mazda CX-5 sometimes stutters and dies randomly, and it seems to coincide with having less than 1/4 tank of fuel left. It had only done it twice before, once with my wife, and once with me.

I was nervously driving down from the coastal range towards Portland, keeping an eye on when my next fuel opportunity would be. With 22 miles of range showing left according to the car, and 1/8th tank showing from the digital fuel gauge, I wondered if the car would decide to stutter and die again. I passed the small fuel station knowing it wouldn't accept the fleet fuel card I have to use, and continued on downhill hoping to get fuel at the Arco in 10 miles.

1.5 miles later the car stutters, and I immediately know it's going to die, so I pull off at a country store. Unable to start the car again, I hop on the EUC, and at 17 MPH, I quickly arrive at the fuel station, purchase a 1 gallon fuel container and a gallon of fuel. 1.5 miles back to the car, and I'm back on the road again, the whole ordeal taking about 20 minutes.

The EUC is such a nice thing to have when misfortune strikes. I'm also going to keep a gallon of ethanol free fuel in the car, hopefully only using it for other stranded drivers from here on out.

After tallying the fuel put back into the Mazda, it appears to not be accessing the last 2 gallons of the 15 gallon fuel tank, and only occasionally as I've pushed the fuel towards empty way more than that before.

The previous time it stuttered and died I was able to start the vehicle and accelerate just enough to steer hard side to side to slosh things up in the tank, and then I drove another 15 miles to a petrol station. At that time I hadn't really formulated a hypothesis on why the car died, but just took an everything approach to hobbling the car along.

I'm not sure how fuel pickups work in a passenger vehicle. In a motorcycle there is a straw that sticks up in the fuel tank making it so you run out of fuel even though there's more at the bottom of the tank. Then you switch the fuel petcock to reserve, and it bypasses the straw, giving the full tank capacity.

I'm picturing a flexible hose with a weight on it that picks up fuel in a passenger vehicle. Perhaps I have a hole in that hose? Maybe the weight fell off so it kinda floats? Trying to figure out why it sometimes allows the full capacity to be accessed, but sometimes not.

This is one of those problems I'm hesitant to send to a dealer because those monkeys are incapable of using simple math to troubleshoot a problem. They'll say to refill sooner, or replace the sending unit, or something equally pointless to resolve the issue.

[freebeard]

Nice hat.

[Piotrsko]

Traditionally something on the pick up fails. The ranger has a nylon woven filter that degrades, the F250 has a tube assembly that just falls off. Suprise... they both fail at 1/4 tank but that is consistent. Some brands like GM put the lift pump at the bottom of the tank minus about 1/4" so it will always get fuel because their pump requires cooling..

The variable issue could be caused by not being level on the tank floor.

[Xist]

Is there a chance that your fuel gauge is off by 2 gallons?

[redpoint5]

My 2nd fill up with this car;

2017-12-31 405.9 mi 14.473 gal 28.05 mpg

It was capable of going 406 miles at 28 MPG without running out, and took 14.4 gallons of fuel. Actual tank capacity according to specs is 15.4, so I still had a gallon left in this example. I could have gone 434 miles on that tank to empty.

Originally Posted by Xist

Is there a chance that your fuel gauge is off by 2 gallons?

It's not my fuel gauge, but the fuel station pump. It put 13 gallons into a 15 gallon fuel tank (according to specs online).

The computer calculated I was getting 27 MPG. 27 * 15 gallons is 405 miles. I went 352 and it ran out.

Every way you look at it suggests I'm not getting the last 2 gallons from the tank.

I wonder if I can get my drain inspection camera in the tank? I'd probably have to access it by taking the rear seat out or something.

As I expected, people on the internet are suggesting I'm wrong instead of what is fairly likely a fault in the fuel tank. So this is what being Xist is like.

[Piotrsko]

Still don't indicate that the fuel was in the tank low spot, level, dead stopped. 1/2" rise could unport the pump

Since about 2000 there's an anti siphon system that interferes with the filler access. You'll have to pop the pump access.