Issue #242 An Idea Whose Time Has (Yet To) Come | Protection, Motorcycle, Motorcycles, Have, Though

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Issue #242 An Idea Whose Time Has (Yet To) Come

Written by Robert Smith
Friday, 15 August 2008
As I write this, oil just hit $110 a barrel. A litre of 87 at my local gas bar is $1.20 and will, I’m told, hit $1.50 this summer. BC announced a carbon tax that will add seven cents to a litre of gasoline by 2012, while the cost of filling my Safari van is already nudging a c-note. The era of “cheap” gas is well and truly over. That’s not the only threat to Canada’s car-based lifestyle: an increasingly powerful environmental lobby wants a London (England)-style congestion fee applied to city driving, and like the revenue junkies they are, politicians won’t be able to resist. Brits now pay £8 or around $16 to drive in the Metropolis. (The UK capital’s coffers are so awash, London mayor “Red” Ken Livingston can’t find projects to spend it on.) Motorcycles are exempt, by the way, so we’d hope the same consideration will apply here. So what’s an environmentally-minded, cash-conscious commuter to do? Walk? Cycle? Take the bus? But our interurban communities are based around powered personal transportation, so the only real answer to mobility in the city is a two-wheeler with an engine. Motorcycles are nimbler, more economical, take up less parking space, and room on the road. And they’re way more fun, too. In Europe, where $2 a litre gas has been around a while, city streets are so thick with scooters and small motorcycles, it’s like riding through a swarm of bees. Auto makers have responded: the gas mileage of a small car is now approaching that of a larger motorcycle. But modern motorcycles are not typically designed with fuel economy in mind. And motorcycles also have one major aerodynamic disadvantage compared with, say, a Smart car—the nut holding the handlebars. Even the most svelte rider has a drag coefficient similar to the proverbial barn door. Fairings and windshields help, but they’re not the complete answer. And the reason so many of us like our cars is because they provide creature comforts: weather protection, climate control, luggage capability and crash protection for starters. All this means that Joe (and Josephine) Commuter can arrive at the office toasty warm without their Armani rumpled from being under an Aerostitch suit or their coiffure crushed under a helmet. So … what if someone came up with a bike that was economical, aerodynamic, provided weather and crash protection, and didn’t require the wearing of a helmet? Is that possible? And would it sell? Many have tried. The Ner-a-car of the 1920s, though it lacked a roof, had many car-like features. In Europe, a number of manufacturers built three-wheel “microcars” that could be driven with a motorcycle licence; and in the 1970s, Brit Malcolm Newell designed the ingenious, open-sided Quasar motorcycle with a roof and full luggage. Dan Gurney’s foot-forward Alligator (though, again, no roof) reduced wind resistance by seating the rider between the wheels with the engine in front, the rider’s bum a mere foot or so off the ground. Though Gurney made his engineering point, I wouldn’t fancy facing down a Kenworth on the freeway from hubcap height! If any vehicle of recent years has come close to a workable model of a two-wheeled commuter “car,” it’s probably the BMW C1. A scooter-with-a roof, the C1 came with a choice of 125 or 176cc engines, the bigger banger giving 110-kmh performance while sipping one imperial gallon (4.5 litres) of fuel every 136 km—just 3.3 litres/100 km. Even a diesel Smart car would be hard pushed to beat those numbers. Almost as soon as it left the drawing board, though, the C1 ran into trouble. The company gave it a front crumple zone, side protection bars and seat belts, claiming it offered a similar level of protection to a small car. The problem? Some jurisdictions still required riders to wear a helmet, because they classified it as a motorcycle. With the added weight of a helmet, and the rider’s body anchored by the seat belt, “whiplash” injuries were amplified. Some European jurisdictions (Britain and Sweden are notable holdouts) have recognized this anomaly and accepted that C1 riders can forego their brain buckets. IN THE PARKING LOT OF MY MOTEL AT THE LEGEND OF THE MOTORCYCLE show in California two years back, I couldn’t miss a vehicle that looked like a small airplane missing its wings. It had two main wheels front and rear and a pair of “training wheels.” The Ecomobile is a fully-enclosed “motorcycle” that deploys its stabilizer wheels when coming to a stop. The pilot and passenger sit in tandem inside a Plexiglas bubble. It has most of the advantages of both a car and motorcycle, returning 4.1 litres/100 km from its 1170cc BMW engine, yet can hit 100 kmh from a standstill in under six seconds and top 250 kmh. Try that in a Yaris! The drawback is the US MSRP of $79,500. Neither is it available in Canada. So here’s the challenge for an enterprising designer: a powered two-wheeler that offers weather protection, aerodynamic efficiency, economy and fun. Perhaps a cross between a C1 and an Ecomobile? You never know, in our green-tinged future, it might just catch on. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.