| The Ecomobile | 1 comment |
  5 Dec 2005 @ 01:28, by Raymond PowersThe Ecomobile is the brainchild of former airline pilot Arnold Wagner. He took the old idea of an enclosed motorcycle and applied his aviation expertise and glider manufacturing facilities to develop the Ecomobile. In the last twenty years, he has built and sold over a hundred of the fuel-efficient road rockets. The use of extremely light materials such as Kevlar for the housing keeps efficiency high. The aerodynamics of a high performance aircraft and the power of the BMW K1200RS engine ensure a fun ride. And the full enclosure provides safety and comfort, as well as noise damping, so your roadtrip CD (...er, ah...I mean stimulating conversation with your spouse) rounds out the pleasure. The real break-through though, is achieving stability on two wheels when you can't put your feet down. The trick is the "training wheels" that automatically deploy at low speeds and retract upon acceleration. The Ecomobile does require a motorcycle license, but no helmet. They are now approved and distributed in the USA in addition to the original Swiss headquarters for European sales. And a hand-operated version with special door geometry and wheel-chair stowage is available for drivers with special needs. |