Video: McLean Monowheel inventor nearly killed by his own machine
Kerry McLean’s Buick-powered V8 monowheel contraption is an engineering marvel, supporting its rider in the centre of its rotating wheel. Completely road-legal in the USA, McLean’s had it up to a clocked 53mph on the public road.
It’s not the sprightliest handling machine in the world - steering seems to be a hit and miss, feet-down proposition, and because the interior has to rotate freely as the wheel is driven, you can’t really use all the power that V8 engine has in store if you don’t want to flip over.
But it’s the brakes the brought McLean undone on a recent road test of the machine, when despite having both feet planted on the ground he was unable to pull the contraption up before it developed a nasty wobble, which intensified before the machine smashed down on the road, dragging its inventor with it.
We’re pleased to discover that he was lucky enough not to be seriously injured in the crash and wish him all the best in the future with his crazy motoring alternatives.
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:33 pm
How many times has this concept been tried, and failed? These guys (monowheel enthusiasts) always seem to have a good grasp of engineering, but damn little understanding of physics.
A single wheeled machine will never be able to accelerate as hard as a two wheeled machine, nor brake as hard (the only torque that acts to counteract the acceleration/braking forces is caused by gravity acting on the occupant and power system - if these are not sufficient, the rider begins to roll with the wheel, with all the resultant loss of control). Emergency braking is out of the question.
A single wheel can never turn as well a two wheeled vehicle - the one wheel is very stable, and resists leaning. Without any way to introduce a force that will force this big gyroscope to precess (which counter-steering does in a motorcycle), quick turns are impossible. Slight turns can be accomplished by shifting the weight of the occupant/engine to the side, or by the rider dragging his feet - not so safe, as we see in the video.
I fail to see what, if any, advantage this arrangement has that keeps bringing people back to it. Poor acceleration, poor braking, slow turns, and a need to drag your feet through intersections - now that I think of it, this would probably appeal to a lot of the cruiser crowd as is.