Not a Harley

When I was a kid I used to love riding my dirt bike; a 2 stroke Kawasaki. I think it was 180 CC’s, but it’s been so long I don’t really recall the size. I lived in a very rural area, surrounded by fields, woods and apple orchards. The orchard gave me access to the trails along the power and pipe lines. I would ride for hours and never encounter another soul.

Alas, as I aged, my fear of sustaining a serious injury pushed aside the joy of zipping over the myriad of obstacles that trail riding presented. By the time I graduated high school, my motorcycling was a distant memory.

Courtesy Google Images

I have found something that might reignite my desire to own a motorcycle. DVICE.com reported on a concept spherical-wheeled motorcycle that students at the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering at San Jose State University are investigating. The end result will be a rideable, electric motorcycle that uses balls instead of wheels. I think it looks cool; kind of like the Batpod from The Dark Night.

Courtesy Google Images

The students needed to obtain funding to study their spherical drive system (SDS) design so they assembled a sponsorship packet that outlined their team and its goals. They explained, in detail, why they wished to pursue the SDS, various aspects of the design, such as the drive system and the wheels and provided a detailed breakout of their projected costs.

I’m not an engineer or a scientist so I won’t pretend to understand all the nuances involved in making this thing operate. I just think it’s futuristically awesome-looking and I want one!

Anyone else share my desire to own a high-tech two wheeled piece of the future?