Thrustcycle Bumble Bee - What Trickery Is This?
Apparently, gyro cars have been around for decades, in one form or another, but have failed to go mainstream largely due to expensive technological burdens. With increasingly affordable gyroscope technology it seems as though, like it or not, self-balancing two-wheelers (some fully enclosed, others not) is a futuristic certainty. Troy Siahaan looked at the future of electric and self-balancing vehicles way back in 2012 in his report on the EV Live Oregon event, and Gabe Ets-Hokin more recently in his Skidmarks column Start Me Up. Both of those included Lit Motors, the San Francisco-based company with, at least, a website impressive enough to make folks believe that the company has a viable future.
Recently, another self-balancing concept has been making the rounds on social media. Thrustcycle‘s Bumble Bee project joins the ranks of Lit Motors as a company with a good(?) idea in need of financial backing. The test mule in the video below resembles a hideous gene splice of a Gurney Alligator and humpback whale, and not anything reminiscent of the artist concept on the company’s website. “I’ll bet I’ll be pulling in a six-figure salary before this vaporware ever reaches production,” says EiC Kevin Duke. And he’s right. If Thrustcycle doesn’t pretty that thing up, it won’t sell regardless the affordability or how well it functions.
A former Motorcycle.com staffer who has gone on to greener pastures, Tom Roderick still can't get the motorcycle bug out of his system. And honestly, we still miss having him around. Tom is now a regular freelance writer and tester for Motorcycle.com when his schedule allows, and his experience, riding ability, writing talent, and quick wit are still a joy to have – even if we don't get to experience it as much as we used to.
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Digging the Big-Wheel riding position. Also digging the fact that their prototype looks absolutely nothing like their concept rendering. Also at least get yourself a GoPro with image stabilization to take the damn video with. This is exactly how NOT to kickstarter.
They're gonna need David Copperfield to get whatever is stuffed into the butt of that test mule to fit into that concept