Apr 28 2008Uno Cycle Looks Like It Has One Wheel, But Actually Has Two (They're Side By Side!)
Now I'm not here to start an argument over who came up with the first one wheeled motorcycle, so, for simplicity, we'll just assume that I did. Anyways, this is the Uno (which is not as cool as the Wild Card I built), a two wheeled motorcycle that has the wheels placed side by side. Oh snap! It was designed and built by 18-year-old Ben J. Poss Gulak, who is probably a genius. It stays upright thanks to advanced gyroscopic technology and a powerful sorcerer using black magic.
Operation of the 54.4 kg (120 lb) machine is simple, in fact it's so simple there are no controls except for an on-off switch. To go forward you simply push your body weight forward to tilt the machine. To back up, just lean back on the seat to tilt it backwards and back it goes. The farther you lean, the faster it accelerates. The gyro tells the ECU how much to accelerate and that in turn delivers the proper amount of current to the electric motors, one for each wheel.
Wow, that's pretty cool. Too bad you look goofy as hell riding it. Still, my hat is off to Ben for being able to create something so amazing at 18. God knows the only thing I was making at 18 were bongs out of 2-liter bottles. Regardless, I think we can all agree the Uno brings new meaning to the phrase "crotch rocket", doesn't it? HAHAHA HAHAHA! What's that -- it doesn't? Well shit.
Several more pictures of the machine after the jump.
The Uno [motorcyclemojo]
Thanks to Hielke, who actually made a hovercycle but then drove it into a lake, for the tip
Reader Comments
1. none - April 28, 2008 11:55 AM
christ, like motorcycles aren't dangerous enough. I can already see the headlines the day after this starts to sell "another uno-moron has gone end-over-end and landed himself under an 18-wheeler"
I wouldn't use one of these on the road even if you paid me millions to do so.
2. SmokingGirl - April 28, 2008 12:07 PM
I concur, none, that this is a Darwin award just waiting to happen.
However, think of the abs that one would have after riding this for awhile. Rippling, powerful muscles of pure control and balance...eh, what? Sorry, I've forgotten what we were talking about.
3. Stolencheese - April 28, 2008 12:12 PM
Okay, I didn't actually get to read the article as I cracked up over the opening statement:
"Now I'm not here to start an argument over who came up with the first one wheeled motorcycle, so, for simplicity, we'll just assume that I did."
Thank you Geekologie writer, Thank you
4. hnb - April 28, 2008 12:12 PM
agreed. this is unnecessarily retarded.
5. Nava - April 28, 2008 12:37 PM
18 and already wearing Dad-shoes?
6. Darth Caligula - April 28, 2008 12:38 PM
What happens if you have to hit the brake because something is in the road? Faceplant! Then again, those who get crotchrockets and then like to drive like complete tools, this will get rid of those jackasses real quick-like. Sell it!
7. D - April 28, 2008 12:51 PM
This is just a less nerdy segway
8. Scott - April 28, 2008 12:55 PM
Nothing like a machine that gets you to the crash slightly ahead of a conventional motorcycle.
9. mike - April 28, 2008 1:00 PM
it looks like this guys riding the head of an autobot with his mouth gaping open.
10. ActionJezus - April 28, 2008 1:13 PM
i want to ride it...
11. Merlin the Tuna - April 28, 2008 1:36 PM
You control it just by leaning? So this is basically a Segway clone for people that don't like standing?
12. Uncle Eccoli - April 28, 2008 1:38 PM
#7 - That's funny, I was just thinking the exact opposite - that this is just a nerdier Segway.
13. jesse - April 28, 2008 2:33 PM
So, how do you not die on this thing?
14. berlinmassive - April 28, 2008 4:20 PM
@9
lol i was thinking the same...
it does look like a pretty terrified transformer about to hit some wall straight on
15. pickle - April 28, 2008 5:11 PM
this looks like something i pulled out of a box of cereal this morning. oh yeah and he has ugly shoes, yeah shoes are very fucking important when you're, what, trying to prove you have a dick? thank you. fuck your shoes and your gay hot rods.
16. roku - April 28, 2008 6:20 PM
Isn't this a tech blog? Where are there nothing but chicks posting
here. America just doesn't make men the way it used to. I would love to take this thing for a spin. The rest of you can keep pedaling your ten speeds.
17. Someone special - April 28, 2008 6:55 PM
Agreed #16 Roku.
18. kyoseki - April 28, 2008 8:21 PM
Uh, so if the only controls are "speed up" and "slow down", how the hell do you turn?
19. SmokingGirl - April 28, 2008 8:29 PM
Nothing but chicks, huh...*looks around* I seem to be outnumbered by this sausage fest that we have going on here.
One perhaps up to three vaginas does not equate "nothing but chicks". Oh, excuse me, why don't you borrow my douche, Roku. Wouldn't want that mangina of yours to get any itchier. And here's some Summer Eves powder to go along with it...you know, for those times that you have that not so fresh feeling because you're discharging disgruntled mangina juice.
There you go...we'll keep this between us. ;)
20. Nate - April 28, 2008 8:43 PM
It has to use centrifuges to stay balanced. it would be almost impossible to tip over. It's simple physics really... all he did was copy the same idea of the Segway.
21. BK - April 29, 2008 1:50 AM
so basically this kid built this motorcycle that works on "gyroscopic technology"... basically he ripped off of segway, like what nate said. lawsuit anyone?
22. Super Duper! - April 29, 2008 8:38 AM
This is a terrible idea. Anyone who's had a go on a Segway knows how ridiculous they are and how unpleasant they are to ride on even the most gentle of slopes. Fast acceleration and sudden stops are hard to do and are disorientating, so they decide to make it into a motorcycle? Clever, chaps, very clever.
23. laz - April 29, 2008 10:35 AM
@19
i think roku was sarcastically referring to the fact that most posters here thought this was a bad idea. In my experience this seems to be general girl logic (i know, because my gf keeps threatening to leave if i sell my car and get the CBR that i want - she says that i will kill myself on it)
i dont think he *actually* thought that all the posters here were girls.
24. Churnin - April 29, 2008 12:11 PM
Dude, at the risk of sounding like a complete tool, I saw this in a show like at least 15 years ago. Anyone heard of Venus Wars??? No? Well there ya go- I am a nerd! Damn IT! Oh well! Look it up!
25. SmokingGirl - April 29, 2008 12:22 PM
@23, perhaps he was, perhaps he wasn't.
And while I don't agree with your girlfriend threating you with loneliness, heaven forbid she be worried about your saftey. And I wouldn't really attribute the idea of saftey to be purely "girl logic". Nor would I attribute common sense to be purely "girl logic" either.
But thank you for the compliment.
26. Clint - April 29, 2008 1:47 PM
This is just a dissected Segway, seriously, it still has the same wheels and everything. He just built a shell around it and a few other exterior mods.
27. groonk - April 29, 2008 5:11 PM
that looks cool in a 1980s roger moore james bond kind of way.
28. laz - April 29, 2008 5:21 PM
@25
yeah, she loves me . i still dont have a cbr though.
29. zale - April 30, 2008 12:48 AM
@22
keep your opinions to yourself, cuntfoot.
30. Meron - April 30, 2008 9:40 AM
WOW!!
A certain path to a certain death I might say.
31. Shazaam42 - April 30, 2008 10:35 AM
What's the target market here? People who are "too cool" for segways, but not cool enough for a motorcycle? While it's an interesting idea and a really impressive thing for a 18 y/o to accomplish (I also was "engineering" 2 ltr bongs at that age) it's never going anywhere but the concept stage.
32. winnipegchicken - May 2, 2008 10:37 AM
18 or not this guy has no concept of safety
33. Dang Nabit - May 2, 2008 4:33 PM
Is this guy still alive?
34. Super Duper! - May 3, 2008 3:47 AM
@ 29
Clever. Very very clever. I'll have you know my cunt foot comes in handy in the bedroom. Oh wait, you wouldn't know about that stuff would you? Do you even know what a cunt is? No? Thought not.
35. Hirudin - May 3, 2008 10:37 AM
Heh, the bickering in these comments is hilarious... grow up, or at least become more clever.
I thought of Venus Wars after seeing this too... Cool movie IIRC!
Call me old fashioned: but as long as you're putting motorcycle handlebars on there anyway why not just control the throttle with the grip? Also, without a top speed, a 0-60 time, or a 1/4 mile time I'm not impressed. A segway with motorcycle fairings attached to it does not a revolution make.
36. Tony - May 4, 2008 10:40 PM
If This Thing Ever Went Into Production It Would Sell Like Crazy
37. Polly Pureheart - May 4, 2008 11:55 PM
Want.
http://wtcctr.blogspot.com
38. yan - May 5, 2008 1:33 PM
LOL WHATS THE POINT NOW HE CANT DO ANY WHEELIES!!!
39. Sev - May 5, 2008 4:15 PM
Looks... unsafe...
40. adis cheerios - May 6, 2008 6:57 AM
YO SPAK HEADS
THIS IS WELL SIKK BLED!
YO LOT ARE WELL FUCKERS
;D
GO SHAGG A FUCKING BLOODY SHEEP YOU MANKK HEADS
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx
41. John - May 6, 2008 9:09 AM
Can it get you laid? NOOOOOOOOOOO
42. cao - May 6, 2008 2:14 PM
Ban unicycles.
Ban fixies.
Require helmets for walking.
Butt donuts for sitting.
Rubber gloves for opening public doors.
I, personally, wear a motorcycle armor and an air filter everywhere I go. It is a dangerous world.
Oh, and ban sailboats... those things don't have any damn brakes.
43. kristopher - May 7, 2008 11:24 AM
that is a sweat bike
44. Grown up - May 7, 2008 1:06 PM
It is amazing the number of people that are badmouthing and bashing this thing as if your lame opinions mattered.
The boy is a mechanical prodigy, the device has potential in a centralized urban environment.
Why is that the lower the intelligence of a person the snappier there comebacks are? Or , it just shows your ignorance and lack of compassion for others as you sit behind your monitor, trashing something. Maybe, if you got off your butts and did something other than blog, you too could make a product or come up with an idea. But I doubt you will, because you are the type of people that would rather sit around pretending to be cool and put others down, becuase you, yourself, are totally lame.
Think about it for just a minute, then you may retort with the standard immature responses you obviously post on a regular basis.
Grow up!
45. Animayshun - May 7, 2008 1:14 PM
If you recall some of the old Japanese ANIME there was a bike that looked just like this. I think it was AKIRA. same basic bike but had little winglets.
I think it is cool.
It is also a shame that so many of the uneducated immature people feel a need to trash this thing.
If you don't like it, don't buy it.
In 2008 it is just sad that the childish grade school behaviours still persist in a modern civilized society.
46. James - May 8, 2008 4:52 PM
What the hell is the point of building a one wheeled motorcycle with two wheels? Did he get half way through and then chicken out and stick an extra wheel on?
47. Phy - May 9, 2008 4:50 PM
#9 & 14 - You're absolutely right. The rider looks calm but the bike is scared shitless. 8O
That's pretty fantastic for what amounts to a one-man design and build with a few consultations, though. Wonder how it steers.
48. Hmmmm - May 10, 2008 3:50 AM
Just imagine this.....
Faulty Gyro and a need to stop urgently....