Thoughts on using electric unicycles?

[redpoint5]

I'm ashamed to admit the EUC IamIan gave me 2.5 years ago is out of commission at the moment, and things don't look good.

Hauling the kids, their stuff, and a canoe to a friend's cabin, I threw the EUC in the canoe since space was tight in the car. The weather forecast showed some clouds, but no rain.

At the cabin, it hailed hard, and I forgot all about the EUC in the canoe. As luck would have it, all the water pooled right where it was located, and I found the thing submerged the next morning.

I've got it apart now, and the control board looks rough. Had green corrosion pretty bad on the power connectors and rust on the capacitor leads. Worse, I'm getting half a volt out of the battery.

A new control board is $200, and battery $450. That's assuming the motor is still good.

I estimate a 5% chance the control board still works, and 1% chance the battery survived.

Rain water isn't very conductive, but spending all night submerged didn't do it any favors. Very annoyed at myself.

Just finished fixing the garage door by replacing the internal torsion springs, so of course I need more broken things to fix now.

Last I checked, the wheel had almost 1900 miles on it, so I've put about 1,100 miles on it. It's by far my favorite thing.

[Grant-53]

Just keep in mind any stand up conveyance is pushing the maximum amount of air as drag and there is no restraint or protection under braking to avoid a face plant.
I have been thinking about the best mounting points on a bike for an inertial reel lap belt.

[redpoint5]

You don't want to be strapped to things you ride on, you want off those objects when the rubber side goes up.

I've low-sided the motorcycle at somewhere around 100 MPH before, and it was no big deal because it went ahead of me, and I stopped well before it.

For anything moving at <19 MPH, you can pretty well just jump off if things get out of hand.

No getting around the massive aero drag, which isn't too terrible at low speeds.

Everything has had weeks to dry by now, so I'm going to put the EUC back together and see if anything looks like it might function.

[freebeard]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-865JKpI-TL...d-mead-101.jpg

Syd Mead. I think the picture was cropped because it doesn't show one standing empty and open, with the gyros holding it upright.

[Grant-53]

Taking the slide for life is accepted doctrine when there is no barrier. The HPV slides on its side and no road rash occurs. It is when one collides with a vehicle or a guard rail that serious injuries occur such a broken back or a crushed leg. I have recorded changes in speed from different aero configurations as low as 13 mph. Just like any other vehicle reducing drag coefficients by half can greatly improve fuel economy and top speed.

[freebeard]

I imagine that Syd Mead unicycle at speed in a cafe racer crouch.