3 ms·
Is anyone else concerned by how close those treads come to the rider's legs? Given that it's meant for tough terrain, I don't think it's a stretch to say rider
by everforward 3y ago
Is anyone else concerned by how close those treads come to the rider's legs? Given that it's meant for tough terrain, I don't think it's a stretch to say riders will likely be wearing loose-fitting clothing like snow pants. Snowmobile tracks don't go all the way under the rider, and are much more covered.
These mockups seem terrifyingly likely to catch a piece of clothing flapping in the wind, and suck the rider underneath. Or tear the clothing off and repeatedly whip the rider with the zipper/button, or even shear through cables/waterproofing with the zipper.
Aside from that, how does this thing stay upright? To my knowledge, snowmobiles stay upright by having a wide base and motorcycles stay upright by the wheels having a gyroscopic force.
This doesn't seem wide enough to be stable on its own (especially in snow/mud/sand). Gyroscopic forces depend on rotational speed, which seems contra-indicative with going over rough terrain. I don't know that one could safely traverse dense woods or rocky terrain fast enough for gyroscopic forces to make it stay mostly upright on its own.
I'm a little curious if this is actually better in any way than a motorcycle tuned for torque instead of top speed, and using very deeply-treaded tires (like tractor tires, e.g [1]). I thought treads were primarily useful for either vehicles with a very high weight:area ratio (too little room for enough wheels to not sink into the mud), or for vehicles that are long and have a very low clearance so they don't get stuck.
This doesn't seem like either. It's not heavy relative to the area it occupies, and motorcycles generally already have a very high body. Honestly, so much of the bottom of a motorcycle is already wheels that I doubt it's even increasing surface area that much relative to tractor tires or something.
1. https://tractortire.com/wp-content/uploads/BHT-Wheels-Ag.jpg https://tractortire.com/wp-content/uploads/BHT-Wheels-Ag.jpg