Old VS. New, Motorized Bicycles

Chances are, if you are over Forty, you will vaguely remember seeing something like this and snickering;



That one is brand new, for $600.00.

Courtesy of WildFire Motors.



Say hello to the latest upgrade.



Pretty wild design.

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The first picture I found courtesy of Mother Earth News, after doing some browsing from an article on a little three wheeled truck that gets 72 MPG.

I guess my point here is, I am trying to kick myself in the butt and find a low cost, fairly simple mode of hauling groceries.


I will be the first one to admit that even for being so skinny, I am over weight and WAY out of shape. I am not into pedaling, but I could be if I hooked up a motorized bike and a little trailer like that.

I am extremely fortunate to live, virtually, in walking distance of THREE small shopping malls, complete with a Dollar store, two laundry mats, two banks, a car wash, a McDonalds and a Taco Bell, a DMV and three cocktail lounges.
If they put in a liquor store in one of those malls, I am good to go.
I am not into walking though.
I walked miles and miles and miles when I was younger. Yeah right, uphill both ways.
Seriously, I did and I am getting old and crippled up. I had my lower back fused twenty five years ago and now I am having hip and knee trouble, on top of my back killing me all the time, the fusion wasn't all that successful and I have lived in misery ever since.
Something like that set up, I waste more gas getting in the truck and getting to the street than one of those little critters would use on a round trip to the farthest point out of that circle!
I don't know yet.
I don't have the money to plop down for a motorized bike, yet. I can have the little trailer built for virtually nothing, just some parts scrounging and maybe a 20 dollar stick of tubing.
We'll see,I keep thinking about it, it would be a perfect setup for some one like me who has so many conveniences close by, at five bucks a gallon for gas.
Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention I am five blocks from the Columbia River, it would be perfect for a part time fisherman.

Big Brother Is Watching You, Much Closer Than You Think

Get a load of this.

They already have cameras all over every major city and even some highways.

Bush just turned our own spy satellites on us, on top of tapping all of our web surfing and Emails they intercept.

My Dad sent me this video and I JUST FELT A CHILL RUN DOWN MY SPINE.

Notice that this was filmed in Canada, also notice at the very end how he says it is going to revolutionize police work ALL OVER NORTH AMERICA!

Nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide.




Don't forget they also put RFID chips in the new passports......

Cross posted @ Ornery Bastard

Get Rid of The Training Wheels, Gord.

Beep Beep my ass!

It's not like this a new idea, kinda, these things have been around a long time.
I think that the fold up rotor and being able to drive it down the road is what makes this unique.




H/T My Pops.

I Learn A New Word

I stumbled on a new word today technology wise;
Tribology.
I immediately Googled it because I was researching another Alternate Engine piece and it stopped me in my tracks.
Even with a degree in automotive technology it was a new one for me, to wit;

Tribology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Tribology is the science and technology of friction, lubrication, and wear, derived from the Greek 'Τριβο' ("tribo") meaning 'I rub'. Formally defined, it is the science and technology of interacting surfaces in relative motion and all practices related thereto.

Contents [hide] 1 Applications 2 Origins 3 Fundamentals of Tribology 4 See also 5 Bibliography 6 External links

[edit] Applications

The study of tribology is commonly applied in bearing design but extends into other almost any aspect of modern technology, even to such unlikely areas as hair conditioners and cosmetics such as lipstick, powders and lipgloss.

Any product where one material slides or rubs over another is affected by complex tribological interactions, whether lubricated (e.g. hip implants and other artificial prosthesis) or unlubricated (some studies, for example, have looked at high temperature sliding wear in which conventional lubricants can no longer be used and the formation of compacted oxide layer glazes have been observed to protect against wear).

snip

I will leave the literal translation of 'I rub', alone.

Fascinating stuff, this goes all the way into molecular motors and other exotic things like viscosity and God only knows what else.

Not a term I think would be easy to drop into a conversation though.