A litre bike powered off of lithium batteries, cooool!
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/lightning_lithi.php
saw that on engadget yesterday. Neat concept, if not practical, yet.
Probably a common thought with many other but wouln't a silent motorcycle hard to notice and thus be really bad in terms of people not killing you and such.
nm just watched the vid. not silent but it sounds like an overgrown electric screwdriver.
Yeah, does sounds a lot like my electric drill lol... 100 MPH isn't too bad, but i'd hate to know how much energy is required to recharge those batteries. I'm thinking large scale deployment will never see light of day, think of every household in north america charging their vehicle at night... I smell brownouts similar to NY a couple years ago becoming more frequent.
I heard a few months back of a sugar-fuelled battery gaining grounds, capable of outliving lithium 5 fold and runs off of virually any source of sugar (Coke, Maple Syrup, koolaid, etc) ... and fully biodegratable. Reminds me of Back to the Future II, when the doc is dumping garbage into his Delorian :icon_razz:
Cheers,
J
This prototype bike looks pretty rough, but someday it might improve enough to be practical
Quote from: groff22 on June 03, 2007, 01:58:08 PM
but i'd hate to know how much energy is required to recharge those batteries. I'm thinking large scale deployment will never see light of day, think of every household in north america charging their vehicle at night... I smell brownouts similar to NY a couple years ago becoming more frequent.
IMO Electric vehicles are the future, but maybe I've been drinking too much of the Tesla (http://www.teslamotors.com/) koolaid :dunno_white: Electric demand is generally a lot lower at night when these vehicles might charge, so there shouldn't be brownout problems. Yes there will be higher electricity demands, but it's better than relying on petroleum forever.
think that rear sprocket will fit a gs?
Quote from: vsboxerboy on June 03, 2007, 01:40:34 PM
Probably a common thought with many other but wouln't a silent motorcycle hard to notice and thus be really bad in terms of people not killing you and such.
Contrary to popular belief.. its been proven that "Loud Pipes" Do NOT save lives :thumb:
Quote from: scottpA_GS on June 03, 2007, 03:06:57 PM
Contrary to popular belief.. its been proven that "Loud Pipes" Do NOT save lives :thumb:
they so do
since i put on my VH straights i have noticed a HUGE decrease in people trying to drive into me.
same thing with my lightbar, when the fuse blew i noticed a good bit more people trying to run into me
[7
My HOLY shaZam! LOUD pipes on my Meany DO make more people notice me... But, I would never say that they "Save Lives."
Quote from: RVertigo on June 03, 2007, 03:55:34 PM
My HOLY shaZam! LOUD pipes on my Meany DO make more people notice me... But, I would never say that they "Save Lives."
what pipes do you have on it?
ive got VH straightshots on my C50, and people tell me they can hear me LONG before and after the can see me
which is what i want
i did as well on my sportie, with teh same results. a lady raised hell about the volume of them, i was like "sure theyre loud, BUT... you saw me didnt ya! ma'am"
Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on June 03, 2007, 07:16:45 PM
i did as well on my sportie, with teh same results. a lady raised hell about the volume of them, i was like "sure theyre loud, BUT... you saw me didnt ya! ma'am"
im an @$$hole with mine too
if i see sombody on a cell phone at a light ill pull up next to them and just rev the shaZam! out of it
same thing if sombody gets too close to me while im cruisin, blip the throttle a bit and they back off
Quote from: manofthefield on June 03, 2007, 02:35:28 PM
Yes there will be higher electricity demands, but it's better than relying on petroleum forever.
Hey.. uhh.. where do you think the electricity we're charging the cars with comes from? We still use coal fired power plants to create that electricity. While coal isn't petroleum, it's what a good number of power plants are run on. Solar and hydroelectric are good alternatives.. but roughly 86% of power plants are steam power plants, which require combustion to create the steam. (That 86% is from wikipedia, so I'd take that with a grain of salt).
Electric power is not the wave of the future, unless we can perfect cold fusion.
i once nearly beat a man to death with a vance and hines straight shot from a sportster...if used properly, loud pipes can take lives.
bahahahaha... that's Mak for ya!
Quote from: NiceGuysFinishLast on June 03, 2007, 08:42:29 PM
Quote from: manofthefield on June 03, 2007, 02:35:28 PM
Yes there will be higher electricity demands, but it's better than relying on petroleum forever.
Hey.. uhh.. where do you think the electricity we're charging the cars with comes from? We still use coal fired power plants to create that electricity. While coal isn't petroleum, it's what a good number of power plants are run on. Solar and hydroelectric are good alternatives.. but roughly 86% of power plants are steam power plants, which require combustion to create the steam. (That 86% is from wikipedia, so I'd take that with a grain of salt).
Electric power is not the wave of the future, unless we can perfect cold fusion.
Steam power also comes from nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, biomass, waste heat or .... None of these is perfect either, and as you said they require combustion as well (except for nuclear which is good IMO, but not perfect either).
(http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/fig1.jpg)
From eia.doe.gov (http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html) newsletter
I say that relying on electricity is better for two reasons: 1. there are much larger domestic sources for electric power, and 2. An electric vehicle is more efficient than a gasoline car.
Electricity isn't perfect, but with the current and forcasted high demand hopefully it will spur cleaner more efficient ways of producing electricity and a better transmission system. Electricity isn't perfect right now, but it has room for improvement, and is definitely better than fossil fueled personal transportation. And yes, we really need a plan for minimizing that demand too.
Don't get me wrong, I love the sounds and power of a fossil fueled engine: four stroke, 2 stroke, diesel, wankel, whatever. But they're dirty and their days are numbered, at least as everyday personal transportation.
Yeah electric and hybrid are so enviromentally friendly :icon_rolleyes:
Read this before you go praising battery powered crap too much. Even if we converted to clean nuclear energy for electricity the damage and resource depletion involved in the manufacture of hybrid vehicles is outrageous.
http://clubs.ccsu.edu/Recorder/editorial/editorial_item.asp?NewsID=188
Everybody and their brother has been toting that article around like the Holy Grail lately. I find it telling that the only vehicle brand he mentions is GM. It just so happens that Toyota is seen by GM as it's prime competition:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/AUTOS/05/25/gm_vs_camry/index.html
I wonder how much Chris Demorro got from GM under the table?
His article has no supporting evidence. It is designed to play solely on the reader's emotions. I don't see any links, interviews, hard data, or supporting evidence. As far as I'm concerned it's all bullshit. As I mentioned previously:
QuoteI don't know where they get the 100,000 mile figure from, but it is BS. A forklift battery is good for around 20,000 hours of operation, the traction motors at least that long. 20,000 hrs at 50MPH is a million miles more or less. The chassis will last half a million miles without question. I have a VW Rabbit, a VW Fox, and a Dodge Dakota well past half a million miles and they're still on the road.
So where does the 100,000 mile vehicle lifespan figure come from, or did Chris Demorro pull that out of thin air as well?
Just so everyone knows, batteries are INCREDIBLY bad for the environment. I'm not a Ph. D, but I am a B.S. (not bull) Chemist. Heavy metals (like lead) are incredibly toxic. Manufacturing batteries produces a lot of naughty by products, not to mention disposal of the batteries when they wear out. Electric vehicles sound environmentally friendly, but they are just as bad (or worse) than gas powered vehicles.
And just so people side with me...
My GS gets 60+ mpg, produces minimal emissions, and has a reliable range of over 180 miles. There are zero electric vehicles that can perform remotely close to the GS. If more people would buy a GS AND a Honda Accord (or similar) instead of a monster SUV/Truck/M-1 Abrams Tank, the world would be a much better place. Gas prices would also go down due to supply and demand.
I am the great consumer, my bike gets between 28 and 38mpg just depends on how much I twist the throttle and my new truck gets 14mpg loaded or unloaded. I guarantee you my 2 vehicles will do less damage to the environment than just the environmental manufacturing damage associated with one of your "enviromentally friendly" hybrid vehicles. You want to do something right start subsidizing the construction of ethanol refineies and bring back the heyday of the agro economy. Get Americas ethanol manufacturing capabilities up and I would gladly farm corn for a living.
Until they figure out how to create and contain quantum cingularities or fusion reactors the size of a ladies purse to use as lifetime power cells you will never see the damage done by mineral mining offset by the "green friendly" electric motor.
Electric cars aren't perfect but the idea is that they're a lot more flexible. Gas cars require gas to run. Ok great. Gas only comes from one place, you're locked in for life. Electricity, while it is still mostly fueled from coal and natural gas, at least has the capability to be generated from alternative cleaner sources. You also have to consider that it's usually a lot easier to reduce emissions from a single large scale source (a power plant) than from millions of cars. Hydrogen and electricity both rely on the same premise, instead of power the car with a fuel, you store up energy in the car and generate that energy from various ways somewhere else. It's not perfect, but still a lot better than what we've got.
I think right now nuclear power is the best bet for clean energy, nuclear waste is nasty but it's easier to manage a small amount of nuclear waste than a large amount of environmentally damaging chemicals leeching into the air and water. But I don't know that we'll ever see more nuclear power here. You'd have a hard time finding a community willing to let a nuclear plant be built, and with the regulations in the current nuclear industry it would essentially be impossible to make money on a nuclear power plant. Back in my college days during nuclear engineering courses, we took a tour of an abandoned nuclear power plant near cincinatti. Pretty cool, but more impressive was the fact that they abandoned it. They'd sunk millions of dollars into building it and every inspection came up with new regulations and requirements, until it got to the point where they did the math and found it wasn't worth the cost to finish building it.
Still waiting on breakthroughs on solar, seems to be the best bet if they could get it cheap and efficient...
If they make it to market for under $20k, I'm buying one of these:
(http://www.gizmag.com/pictures/hero/6842_160207115727.jpg)
seats 3 (I can pick both kids up from school), comes in all electric or hybrid, 100+ MPG, air bags, crumple zones, etc. I love my bike, but this thing would make a much better commuter with 3 seats, better gas mileage and actual crash protection. I'd keep the bike for fun of course :)
Except that would be death in a Northeast winter...while I hate to contribute to pollution and would like to ride a bike all year..its just not practical here in NY. Unfortunately I'm going to have to buy a truck/suv something with 4x4 and a decent ground clearance...
yea batteries are horrible
the plant that makes the prius batterries in ontario is surrounded by a total environmental dead zone because of the lead mining and refining that goes into those batterys.
i would rather drive a freakin hummer that contributes to "global warming" which is really made up anyway, then a car that has immmidiate, tangible, and disasterous effects on the environment.
It's ridiculous how reliant we are on coal and fossil fuels, and how unwilling/uncertain governments are towards changing for the better... All I know is that I'm taxed up the @r$e when filling up at the pumps, and it HAS to change sometime. As I mentioned on the last page, Sugar-fuelled (bacterial) cells are developing at a great rate, and like lithium batteries the uses will increase tremendously as development continues... For example: http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;1546981340
It's odd that with all the research going on, our governments seem to continue to support regression (just my opinion)...
Cheers,
J
Quote from: jdanna on June 04, 2007, 12:50:28 PM
the plant that makes the prius batterries in ontario is surrounded by a total environmental dead zone because of the lead mining and refining that goes into those batterys.
Link or other evidence for this? I'm skeptical myself. Of course, I believe in global warming as well (like a tremendous majority of environmental scientists who are not on oil company payrolls).
Every web link I can find about this topic contains EXACTLY the same text. Can't rabid-foaming right wingers paraphrase? JEEEZE LOUISE! I did find this tidbit which seems to correct the misinformation found on all the wingnut sites:
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/text/print.html?in_article_id=417227&in_page_id= (http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/text/print.html?in_article_id=417227&in_page_id=)
That link, unlike all the others, has an attribution, AND is on the website of a prominent English newspaper. But I know facts are inventions of the liberal media... :icon_rolleyes:
I'm just going to reiterate my point that I might have not been to clear on.
Hybrids are false prophets (as far as environmentalism goes). Electric cars rely on large batteries (bad for environment), and can't remotely compete with gasoline or diesel powered vehicles for performance or practical range. Electric cars just can't be remotely practical without major improvements.
Gas guzzling vehicles, while sometimes necessary, are just as bad. Not to mention statistically SUV drivers are the WORST on the road.
The only practical semi-environmentally friendly solution available at this time is changing society's way of thinking. The only way to change society is to change yourself, first.
For instance when possible commute/run errands/ ride your GS. Not only will you help the environment you'll look cool doing it, and you'll have way more fun.
GS= Good Steward (of the environment) :thumb:
ps. Onlypastrana199, although Subarus aren't great on gas they are better than most other AWD vehicles.
The most economically and environmentally friendly transportation is... A bicycle.
(Don't say feet, 'cause walking isn't transportation... It's just walking.)
I read today that an additional gas tax of 2.5 cents per gallon would more than double the federal research budget on renewable fuels. But it's considered politically not possible. WHAAAT????!!??!!?? Gas went up 66 cents in May in my community and they don't have the balls to raise taxes 2.5 cents to fund research? Cowards, each and every one.
I propose a 200% gas tax toward research on out how to get Hummers, H2s, and Escalades off the road...
Hmm... The 200% increase might do it without actually researching anything...
whore :flipoff: :laugh:
Lib
+1 Vertigo, just put the GAS up to something rediculous and force people off the road... Thing is, most of these people with Hummers/Escalades are superficial and would probably rather go bankrupt than ride a bike to work.
Where is our breaking point? :)
Cheers,
J
That's okay everyone get rid of their trucks, then when someone goes down and calls me to pick their ass up I am gonna go nope you can't borrow the bed of my truck since you took an anti american stance. If you like the way other nations do shaZam! so much better then move the f%^k there quit trying to turn my home into a whiney mealy mouthed kitty cat whipped land of dickless libs. There's times I hate 4th ammendment rights and this is one of them but I'd still fight for you to keep the right to say what you think.
Owwwww my kitty cat hurts everyone should drive a prius.
When did George Bush get a GS500?
He'd rather live in a nation where the poor starve to death, the rich eat monkey brains of the backs of dead rhinos, and the American dollar is worth less than the Canadian Dollar.
Well, the third one is nearly true... $1.10 CND == $1.00 USD :mad:
Anyway... I'm too lazy to ride a bicycle. :dunno_white: