Electric vehicle fleet

A tonne of Government vehicles could be run on batteries and electricity for a number of reasons (this on conservative/out dated notions of what electric vehicles can do):

• short trips within urban areas (let’s assume electric means short range.. a myth but hey.. Let’s be conservative)
• idle time spent in other government spots or depots (which could easily have, or already have, electric outlets handy)
• large fleet purchasing power to kick the arses of the car manufacturers to stop stalling with proper electric cars (see “Who killed the electric car” if you want to get mad about it)

If nothing else the government could throw some money and give a big boost to the efforts of groups like Better Place who are rolling out electric vehicle infrastructure in Australia and other parts of the world (go to their site and get a bumper sticker if nothing else).

Electric vehicle street park-and-charge

Imagine never having to go to another petrol station again. Smelly, dirty places based around pumping stinky, dirty fuel into your vehicle. I’ve spent plenty of time at service stations while touring (I managed to make one video of that journey before I got distracted by work/life/play etc)

Sure, perhaps a way to win over the fuel supply guys would be to have removable battery packs (I’ve been talking about this for years..) and make removable batteries the equivalent of “fuel”:

That could work too.. But whether that’s done or not: Government car spots could have re-charging stations built in just as easily as they build in parking meters (and there are a growing number of those around aren’t there??). Hell, you could make it via induction plates on the ground hooked to some sort of RFID on the bottom of the car I’m sure wouldn’t be too much of a technological stretch.

At a minimum to support the move to an electric fleet any reserved parking spots for government vehicles should have recharge points. Then you could make certain public spots “electric only” (not to suggest it’s like a disabled parking spot.. far from it!). I have heard some rumblings that this is starting to happen for hybrid vehicles in some parts of the world. It’s an ok start, but we really need proper electric cars and infrastructure. Hybrids are always going to be a half arsed attempt to get away from oil. Plug-in hybrids are better, but really: we should just cut our losses (we’ll be paying off that environmental debt for some time now) and revel in the clean air in our cities as we push on with solar.

I only hope the car companies don’t pull the same shit that resulted in some perfectly good (and loved by owners) cars getting crushed rather than serve as a reminder that we could have ditched coal a long time ago. The idea of not selling but leasing electric vehicles smacks of that sort of thing all over again.

Or how about the constant stream of scumbags who do the cowardly hit and runs on pedestrians and cyclists. Like on the 27th of October this one who hit and killed an elderly man got out and then took off. Or on the 12th of November an 11 year old girl hurt out the front of a school by a driver who got out and then again took off. Or 18th of  October another elderly guy hit, broken pelvis and leg and the driver “reversed, drove around the victim and left the scene”. A 9 year old was hit by a car driver who then “sped from the scene” in Brisbane.

Or let’s look at cars vs cyclists: 19th October teenager charged with killed 39 year old cyclist via hit and run. A cyclist suing the RTA over unsafe road where he was hit and run and left blind and brain damaged by a car driver.

Too true.. Particularly in Sydney.

Or we could even look at motorcyclists (presumably motorcycle thieves I should point out): police search for motorcyclist who hit and with assistance from two men in a car fled the scene.

I mean fair’s fair: How many cyclists have done hit and runs leaving people dead and in hospital? It’s pretty hard to hit someone on a bicycle and not end up about as damaged yourself.

I’m sure there are some, but compared to the deluge of drivers just doing hit and runs on pedestrians that make the Sydney Morning Herald for just the last month: shouldn’t we be calling for a ban of cars from roads? Instead we have twits like the (thankfully)EX transport minister Carl Scully stating emphatically “Cyclists do not have the same rights as motorists on the roads” and uttering such utter garbage as:

.. also acknowledge that it is motorists who pay fuel levies, tolls, registration and licence fees, as well as the huge cost of buying and running a motor vehicle. Apart from a negligible amount of GST on their equipment, cyclists pay nothing towards the cost of the roads they wish to use and rely on motorists to fund most of the cost of cycling infrastructure. Being more aware of this may make more cyclists a little more sensitive to the needs of the motoring public.

I barely know where to begin with this stupidity:

• Cyclists pay taxes, unless, like in Carl Scully’s world they’re all dole bludging hippies.
• Cyclists also pay for licences, registration, tolls, fuel levies if they own a car.
• The personal cost of buying and running a motor vehicle as something worthy of respect by cyclists (who presumably get their bikes left by santa claus) is about as relevant as stating the running costs of a lawn mower. No one twists your arm to buy your vehicle, just like no one twists your arm to buy a bike
• Complete ignorance of the taxation system is how I’d sum up the notion that roads are paid for entirely by motorists’ fuel levies, tolls and registration. Cycle ways aren’t funded by car drivers, they’re funded by TAX PAYERS which happens to include a mix of car drivers, bicycle riders and non drivers/non riders.
• Seemingly complete ignorance of the notion that people ride bikes for more than just recreation. For a minister of transport it boggles the mind to realise that this numpty doesn’t realise that people ride to work and that people WANT to ride to work more.
• Ignorance of the fact that car drivers are the ones that need to be more sensitive to the needs of cyclists who are exposed on the roads and who can have their lives snuffed out by a moment’s inattention by a driver (who might, as the articles I listed above, just drive off and leave them bleeding in the gutter)

Anyhow, it’d be nice if there was even the slightest attempt of fair coverage without the hysterical “cyclists are evil and must be banned from the roads” when there’s a one off  incident. After all, for every cyclist that’s a healthier (well.. aside from breathing petrol fumes.. but that’s another issue) and not burning petrol to get to/from work or using up space on public transport: that’s better for society.

So how about a bit less demonising in the press of those who are doing the more noble thing and pedalling to work.

Fenced off free (dodgy) parking

What does this mean?

• more pressure on other parking (which already fills up by about 8-8:10 am)
• unused dead space once again
• expense on the labour and fence which could have been used to take down the no parking signs

I suspect a bit later we’ll have a little ceremony and the Sydney city council will announce the creation of 50 new bike parking spaces in the CBD. The old “take it away, re-brand it and sell you what you already had before”.

Those crazy Japanese and their wacky inventions!

But wait, there’s more! I always try and value add on my posts so here’s the result of a bit of research. Let’s see what other countries have done with respect to the rather niche field of strapping a jet to two wheels.

1920s German rocket bicycles
Digging back into history those clever boffins in Germany were also sticking rockets on bicycles 1920s and 30s.

The trench coat must be a safety outfit for this rocket bike test

It had a bit of a rough landing for the rider when he got to 55 miles per hour (90 km/h for the civilised metric world). But he survived.

Bicycle racing doesn't get much crazier than this!

Make your own?

Seems like there are lots of people who have made rocket bikes.

This page talks of a collection of rocket bikes (and other rocket powered things).

This thing looks like you’re sitting on the saturn booster (from auto anything blog)

Stand well clear while starting up..

Random rocket craziness

Not bicycle related, but hey..

MotoCzysz E1pc - Electric just got sexy!

Their petrol burning version is pretty sexy also:

The petrol burning cousin the C1

I mean there’s so much good stuff about this thing it’s hard to know where to start:

• aesthetics are beautiful (see here for the full sized glory)
• it’s electric
• it has easily swapped out battery packs
• it’s beautiful from any angle I’ve found a picture of

Dash of the MotoCzysz E1pc, is that an iPhone for the console?

Technicals

Bit hard to find out much, but here’s what I’ve found or guessing on:

• lightweight carbon fibre and aluminium construction to free as much weight for batteries as possible
• 125kg of “hot swap” lithium ion battery packs (according to ecofriend and ashphaltandrubber). There are 10 (6 visible, 4 hidden under the faring).
• Three electric motors for drive
• Suspension adjustment is different (MotoCzysz fork/suspension assembly has some magic from their C1 bike)
• crank appears to go through the pivot point to the right side for final drive to the rear sprocket (see picture below and see whether you agree with me)

The swingarm, but pay attention to the pivot point - some magic for drive transmission to the other side of the bike?

• I think the chain goes something like:

My guess as to how they have the 3 motors rigged

• This appears to be the “frame” of the bike:

The frame I presume. Certainly a bit different.

• No gears (pretty standard for electric vehicles)
• 0 to 120mph (193km/h) in less than 11seconds (this was an “easy” test with less than 100% capacity)
• probably has some storage capacity in the “fuel” tank

History and Early Concept Pictures

The earlier pictures are a bit different, but pretty close really:

Early sketch

Earlier concept shot

There’s a video of the MotoCzysz E1pc to show it’s not just fluff.

The story so far.. (an introduction to “normal” motorcycle brakes)

For car or scooter riders (which sometimes only have one brake lever) here’s how proper motorcycle brakes work. Motorcycle brakes are operated by two levers: one on the right hand for the front brake, right foot for the back brake.

Motorcycle brakes explained

The right hand/front brake is just like bicycle brakes if you’re from Australia, UK, South africa, NZ. but the opposite to bicycles in Europe, USA. Ask me how I know they’re different and I’ll show you the scar on my arm from trying to ride a mountain bike with a USA setup.

It’s easy to remember: all brake levers are on the right, all gear stuff (clutch lever and gear pedal) are on the left. Brain is hopefully in the middle coordinating things.

What’s good and bad about motorbike brakes?

Before I tell you about the pros/cons of having front and back brake separate I need to tell you about motorcycling’s dirty little secret: we can’t really properly use our brakes while cornering. This is because, just like cars, most braking is done with the front wheel(s) and because it will either stand the bike upright in a hurry or else slip out from under you: you can’t use your front brake while going around corners. Yep, that’s right: 60-90%  of the braking power of a motorcycle is completely unusable whenever they’re going around a corner. Keep that in mind when you next have to yank on your car brakes while hammering around a corner at speed.

So the advantage to separating out the front brake from the rear brake is that you can apply the rear brake without having to use the front brake. How is that useful? Well another name for the rear brake is the “steering brake”, that should give some hints. If we have to brake while going around a corner a bit of rear braking is possible. Too much though and you’re stuffed, but a bit is certainly possible. For slow speed maneuvering the back brake is quite handy for giving you more control by using it to hold the engine back and thus having more “drive” available for the wheels at slower speeds.

Generally speaking: the way you most effectively use motorcycle brakes is to apply the front and back together smoothly avoiding skidding. If you try to use just the back you’ll find it locks and/or takes a long time to stop (when you finally do you’ll smell burning rubber that you’ve left for the last 50 metres or so).  If you just use the front: it’s likely you could brake better by having the back brake involved to “bed the bike down a bit” and spread the gripping effort across two wheels rather than just one (which is safer if you hit a patch of oil/gravel/sand etc with one wheel).

In terms of technology motorcycles (because of lack of electronic systems) have some areas where we have far superior brakes to cars (motorcycle brake pads/calipers are pretty high tech), but that isn’t enough.

The big issue with having control over both brakes is that it takes a lot more skill to coordinate the balance between front and back to get effective braking.

So what’s the problem with riders and current brakes?

Everyone tends to think they’re Valentino “prancing motorcycle superstar monkey” Rossi or Casey “pretty fast for that drug related last name” Stoner and can brake perfectly. They can’t, not even close. The deaths from motorcycling statistics show this.

Riders are also often caught out because their stopping distance is inferior to cars (who have 4 big fat grippy tyres and anti-lock braking that they can apply at any time without too much stress versus two skinny coin sized contact points).

We motorcyclists ride machines that can drag off a jet, but we get out-braked by anything from rusty decades old VW beatles to milk trucks.

Motorcycle riders also tend to be complete and utter Luddites when it comes to new technologies. Some examples over the decades:

• proper suspension – “Oh we’ll lose all feel of the road”,
• disc brakes -  “I like drum brakes because they are much simpler”,
• steering dampers – “but it’ll screw up the steering”
• hydraulic brakes – “what if they spring a leak?”, “I won’t be able to feel the brakes”,
• electronic fuel injection – “but I understand carburettor design” etc etc.

The complaints against ABS on sports bikes today:

• It’s heavier (so is a wheelchair lift on your car or that 15 kilos of beer belly you’re carrying. Really, a few extra kilos on 180 kilos of bike are worth it for safety, just like leathers weighing 10-15kg versus shorts and t shirt weighing few hundred grams)
• it’s expensive (so is intensive care but wait: didn’t you just spend 500bucks on wavy brake discs, 200 bucks on pimped out shorty levers and a 150 dollar tail tidy?)
• I want more control (sorry Mr Rossi or Mr Stoner, I didn’t know you read my blog..)
• I know how to brake effectively (statistically you most likely don’t, if you’re claiming you do then that’s a worry to start with)

Of course if you want to buy a new bike from a company that continually shuns any real technological advances: go buy a Harley.

Keep in mind the same people that poo hoo ABS (despite all evidence of improving braking performance) are the ones who will recommend spending thousands of dollars on uprated suspension to dive less during braking, different brake pads and braded brake lines to reduce fade and so on. Or spend several thousand dollars making the bike more noisy and more polluting by changing the exhaust just to get a few more horsepower. So go figure.

What is Honda’s “Combined ABS”?

In a (long run-on) sentence:

When you hit the brakes hard the electronic magic in the bike uses a bit of both front and back brakes (the “combined” bit) to achieve maximum stable braking while preventing the wheels from skidding (that’s the “anti-lock braking” bit) which it works out via sensors on the wheels.

Here’s the satisfaction results and stopping distances from Honda on earlier attempts at ABS/Combined ABS.

So it’s the combination of ABS with combined braking tweaked to be as non-intrusive for sports bikes as possible. Combined braking is found in scooters all over the place, ABS is in any new car/van and has been available as an option on touring/enduro bikes for decades.

In a picture it is this:

Honda Combined ABS diagram. (Image courtesy of Honda's info)

In video it’s this:

And some more video resources explaining more:

Talking about the test launch where they put down sand to test it.

Having ridden in sand: yanking on the brakes is not something you’d do, so that must have taken some balls to trust the technology. If I wasn’t in love with the triumph daytona 675 I’d probably buy one. If I can test ride one I might consider swapping because you never know what might run out into the road and need you to drop anchor in an emergency.

Conclusions

I love that Honda has taken the lead on this at long last.

I think it has been long overdue on sports bikes and have been a bit annoyed that such an option isn’t available because of the typical macho bullshit attitudes that drive much of motorcycling (particularly in sports bikes). So I’m making a bet that within 5 years Suzuki, yamaha and hopefully triumph will all be offering ABS of some sort on their sports bikes and hopefully across all of the range. BMW already offer it on their “almost sports bikes” I believe.

Weight, expense and “lack of control” are the arguments used since the year dot against anything new in motorcycling. Helmets for example are too expensive, weigh too much, impede rider vision, feedback and control: but they’re safer. I think this technology is in the same realm and probably adds about as much expense and weight as a helmet.

Too many lives are lost while we play pissing up a wall contests over how we can out perform technology and make excuse after excuse as to why it should stay forbidden or for touring bikes only. By all means put a switch on it that goes from “extra safety mode” (on) to “dickhead hero mode” (off) and see how we go.

The “together for London” bit is right: everyone together, trying to make it onto the train with complete disregard for anyone else.

Let’s look at it in parts..

	This helpful chap is trying to say “give up your seat for someone else”. Firstly that’s assuming that the person has a seat and isn’t stuffed up in the cleverly designed tube shaped carriages that are designed for minimal seating and maximum discomfort if you haven’t got a seat and are anything above 5 foot nothing. Secondly this guy is clearly an emo with that haircut and pale skin. So for them to be wearing that t-shirt it’s probably just being ironic and showing off the teen angst. Let’s see the back of it eh?
	Where on the tube can you get reception on your mobile? This one was obviously a misprint: here’s the correct one.
	Let’s be brutally fucking honest: anyone who wears big arse silver headphones isn’t going for subtle or consideration of others. And with those sideburns he’s probably put a few people’s eyes out on the tube in addition to deafening countless others. They’re going to be blaring out some godawful cheesy shite RnB or some indie band they’ve deprived of income by downloading their mp3s. The whole point of walking around public wearing headphones is really about being able to ignore everyone else. It’s rare to find a big bling pair of headphones that don’t have exposed speakers which mean they broadcast out as much as in.
	Bit unnecessary as there’s no where to drop litter on the tube because of the million and one shittily written crapsheet free newspapers that sheeple take each day read about what posh and becks had for lunch and who Britney flashed her pink bits to recently. That’s if they don’t leave it on way up the escalator in some teetering pile waiting to crush some unfortunate small child.

One final big mistake

Anyone pick what else is wrong with it?

Since when does anyone bloody smile on the tube eh? This will NEVER change and any ad that implies people are happy to cram into awkwardly shaped slow cooking devices on tracks like mopey, grumpy sardines. People look at you funny if you smile at them, wondering whether you’re going to stab them or merely kick them into a coma (and rightly so given the stats).

Here’s one that might help too: