The Motorized Monocycle, made in the Netherlands, is one big skinny rubber wheel with a seat and handle bars housed in the center hole. However, only the outside wheel rotates, which propels the rider forward. Its fiberglass frame is connected to an inner steel frame with a centrifugal clutch to engage a 67-inch diameter outer flywheel that actually makes contact with the ground with a rubber tire. The Motorized Monocycle can reach speeds up to 25mph, all thanks to its 31cc, four-stroke 1.5 horsepower motor. Unfortunately, you won’t be doing burnouts in this thing.
Not quite the same monocycle, but I found a similar one, so you could get an idea of how it runs:
The Motorized Monocycle can accomodate up to 6′ 3″ persons, with a maximum seating capacity of 275 pounds (110 pounds minimum). The handle bars are equipped with a finger throttle and brakes. The Monocycle can run for two hours on a half gallon tank of gasoline.
You can leave your jumper cables and bulky jump starter machines at home. The Porta-Jump makes reviving your car’s dead battery a snap. Simply connect the device to your car’s cigarette lighter and it’ll charge the battery in about 10 minutes — all while you stay inside your car. No need to stand outside along side of the road or out in the rain. It’s safe and easy to use. Unlike other battery boosters that you eventually throw way, the Porta-Jump recharges itself as you drive your car, so you can use it over and over again. It can easily charge any battery up to 12V. It has a built-in “smart chip” that can detect whether or not the battery you intend on “boosting” will accept a charge.
It measures about 3 x 3 x 2.5 inches and comes in a nylon pouch so you can stash it safely in your glove box. It costs a cheap $20 at JCWhitney. Not bad.
Kia unwrapped its KOUP concept at the New York Auto Show. The car is a coupe (hence, the ‘KOUP’ name) that sports a rather aggressive styling, which is not what Kia is known for. The KOUP concept is outfitted with front and rear carbon fiber diffusers, carbon fiber side view mirrors, two-tone seats, panoramic glass roof, and Brembo brakes. Engine-wise, Kia has plans for a 2.0-liter Theta II turbocharged engine with direct injection pushing 290 horsepower and 289 lb-ft. of torque at 2,000 rpm. The car also gets MacPherson struts up front and a dual-link arrangement in the rear for a nice balance in handling. The KOUP is also blessed with Continuous Damping Control (CDC).
It looks like the tC will remain Scion’s best looking car. The Hako, which I posted about earlier this month, was finally unveiled today at the New York Auto Show. It looks funky…in a bad way. Unfortunately, they went the xB’s “iconic” box shape in terms of design. Seriously, I don’t know what Scion’s (Toyota) fascination is with boxy looking cars.
The Hako concept is garnished with LED tail lights, panorama roof, and bulky wheel fenders. 18″ wheels were also on the concept. I could hunt down some engine specs for the Hako and post them, but who cares…
Saleen has uncovered its S5S Raptor concept today at the New York Auto Show. The S5S Raptor gets a supercharged 5.0-liter V8, pumping 650 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and 630 lb-ft of torque at 4,300 rpm. 0-60 mph comes in a blistering 3.2 seconds. To side with the environmentalist and treehuggers, Saleen chose E85 as the juice to power the Raptor. The lightweight aluminum chassis, two seater supercar can be equipped with either a six-speed tranny or an optional paddle shifting sequential gearbox. To bring the 20-inch wheels to a stop, braking power is delivered by 15-inch front rotors with 6-piston calipers and 13-inch rear rotors with dual piston calipers.
Price, you ask? How does $185,000 sound? The Saleen S5S Raptor could see the streets in two years.
The Suzuki S-Ride is a concept aimed at the idea of replacing the rather ‘unsafe’ motorcycle as the urban mode of transportation. The S-Ride has a rear mounted engine, two seats (fighter jet style), aluminum outer shell, and motorcycle-like handling. It even sports a fighter jet canopy!
We’ve seen the Kizashi 3 concept, and quite frankly, I prefer the Kizashi styling. Though, it’s nice to see Suzuki playing around with more futuristic looking concepts, because their current cars are really boring.
Nothing pisses me off than a jackass with alot of money ruining a good thing. In this case, a very good thing: a Ferrari 360 Modena. Dan Cawley, the *genius* behind this abomination, stretched a Ferrari 360. Look, I understand if someone wants to take a Ferrari (or any high end car) and add rims. Fine. Want to add a stereo? Be my guest. But, don’t f*cking turn it into a limo! Okay, okay…I can hear some people saying, he bought the car, he should be able to do whatever he wants with it. Yeah, true, but it’s still pretty stupid.
Thankfully, Ferrari isn’t amused. I believe they vomited upon seeing it. So, they’ve sent their stampede of lawyers after Mr. Crawley ordering him to remove all Ferrari logo and associated emblems. Ferrari doesn’t want their name on the fugly thing “infringed” limo.
Aprilia makes awesome bikes. End of story. However, cost of ownership is pretty steep. The same applies to their latest RSV 1000R. The RSV 1000R made big waves during the 2006 9th Annual Masterbike contest, winning 1st place in the Maxisport category - besting the Suzuki GSX-R750 and Ducati 999 S. With a price tag of around $18,000 (for the Aprilia RSV 1000R Factory), you’ll get a V60 Magnesium four stroke longitudinal 60° V twin pushing 143 horsepower all the way up to 10,000 rpm. Torque is 76 ft-lbs at 8,000 rpm. It is capable of reaching speeds excess of 174 mph.
Click the thumbnail to view the RSV 1000R’s bells and whistles:
