Thrustcycle Releases GyroCycle, A Self-Balancing Motorcycle
Thrustcycle Enterprises, a company based in Honolulu, Hawaii has unveiled a new prototype of the GyroCycle – a self-balancing electric motorcycle – to experience the joy of riding a bike without the common fear of balancing. The GyroCycle would be the first self-stabilizing gyroscopic motorcycle in the market.
“The GyroCycle an energy efficient vehicle with rock solid stability,” says Thrustcycle Enterprises LLC President and co-founder Clyde Igarashi. “The gyroscope functions as both a stabilizer and mechanical battery so you get the benefits of both.”
The GyroCycle is not only self-stabilizing, but it’s also electric, transforming two trends in motorcycling that continue to garner traction. The bike uses internal flywheels to create a gyroscopic effect that ensure that the bike will remain upright and stable both during riding and while at a standstill (when the engine is running). Basically, this is to give the rider more stability and control at speed while enhancing safety conditions.
The vehicle will be less likely to lose traction when going into turns because the gyroscope will maintain lateral integrity, as the GyroCycle’s system keeps a fixed plane in space, Thrustcycle says. “The self-balancing function gives the rider more control and greatly increases safety,” Thrustcycle adds.
The GyroCycle also uses a mechanical battery that reuses energy normally lost during braking in addition to reusing energy stored in the flywheel for the self-balancing motorcycle function. It later transfers this energy back into the flywheel for use in acceleration in the future.
“These are the concepts that Thrustcycle has been promoting for a while now,” says Igarashi. “We are eager to demonstrate them with our GyroCycle. We are further encouraged by the announcement that Lingyun Intelligent Technology, based in Beijing, is also entering the gyroscopic vehicle technology race. We see the entrance of large competitors as vindication of the potential in technologies that we’ve been pursuing for years.”
Igarashi says that the final version of the battery powered GyroCycle will have a range of about 80 miles (129 km) and a top speed of 75 mph (121 km/h).
“We’re working with a custom builder for the first limited production run and anticipate being on market in 2017.
“Price has not been finalised for the limited run but it should be less than $20,000 USD.
“The price for full production runs in the future should be significantly lower,” he says.
If Thrustcycle is able to pull this off, then their next project would be a smaller, front wheel-steered scooter prototype along with implementing some of the technology on watercraft and hoverboards.
