"Cold" campfire coals . . . .
 

Campfire coals to provide some morning warming. Used them to warm myself before, but never Trigger. I use an electric heating pad and a ceramic heater for the same process almost every cold or cool morning. Campfire coals, interesting, very interesting . . . . undoubtedly, dangerous as well.

Trigger is basically my way to follow and control my Brittany Spaniel in the woods and in Field Trials. In days bygone, I used to hire a horse from the "Ranger" at the trials but with Trigger, he can keep up with ROC Independence Maverick almost as good as any horse in the "Ranger's Stable". And, I don't have to deal with a strange horse that only wants to go back to the feed wagon.

Trigger allows close encounters with the birds we hunt and has the added benefit of not damaging the environment. Certainly, initially, one gets some strange looks, but as usual, after they see Trigger's capability (and they don't have to feed, barn & provide Vet services), their wonderment and inquisitiveness overtakes them. Don't see too many acceptances of Segways vs. Horses in the Field Trials though, but it's a positive experience similar to the many Glides around town that initially start with chuckles and guffaws that later change into a natural inquistiveness and amazement.

ROC Independence Maverick's bloodline is of multiple National Gun Dog champions and is most at home in the brush. Trigger is more than capable of following ROC and I couldn't keep up with him otherwise.

I would love a year or two of that. I am not so sure my Ann Marie would feel the same, but I do envy those who get it done. There is so much to see and do...

I wonder if the gas prices of the last decade have changed people's view of this adventure? I have to believe it is not an uncommon dream.

Maybe the modern version is a rail pass with the segways for local transit.

This post put me in mind of good ole' horse pulls of yesteryear. I have not been to one in many decades, but I recall being almost as impressed by the giant good ole' giant farm boy as the magnificent giant draft horses. The horn blows and that good ole’ boy pushes so hard on the rumps of those good ole’ horses, it looked like their rumps were being lifted…

Now, we need some good ole’ boys on big wheeled X segways, pulling some sleds with some heavy weights… That would be a sight to see… :D

Many people do, and love it. There are a lot of resources out there. And, the segways are great shuttlecraft for the mothership.

Fuel prices do deter some people, but it depends on how you are traveling. If you move to a new place often, it can get expensive. If you stay for a while, it's not so bad. For my purposes, the RV is mainly used for weekend trips out of town. I boondock, rather than use RV parks, so for $40 or $50 extra in fuel, I can stay as long as I want, where I want, in the comfort of my own bed/bath/shower/kitchen. Better than Motel 6 !

There are aspects of a personal mobile house that really appeal to me, and the segway is an integral part of that.

You can avoid the cost of fuel if you put a mast and a sail on it. Make her watertight and attach a keel and rudder, and you're off! You can even visit down under!

But I think it might be a bit awkward rowing a Segway ashore in a dinghy. We need an amphibious version...

Hi Pete:

How do you take your segway along for your RV trips ? Is it inside the RV, on a bumper rack ? Looking for ideas as I just got a new RV late last year and will definately want to take mine along with me this year. I think you said you had done an I2 to X2 conversion. If true, how much wider is the end segway ? It looks great

That's really cute, Bob. ;)

But seriously, another our our dreams (from an admittedly long list of them) is to get a pontoon boat and fit a davit arm to its deck for lifting our machines between boat and dock. And we'd have deck cleats and canvas covers to secure the machines on board.

Clearwater recently finished a beautiful new marina off of downtown with floating concrete slips with reasonable rental rates.

We live on Florida's Gulf Coast and have a 30-mile-long archipelago off the mainland which stretches from a little north of us down to St. Petersburg. It creates the "Intra-coastal Waterway" with calmer waters than the Gulf and great for "tooling" in a pontoon craft.

If I had a trailer hitch on the RV, I'd probably get one of the Segway haulers. I like this simple one, although it is out of production and hard to find:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Segway-...item19ccd5f6e5

But, since I don't have a hauler, the segway rides inside. The i2 configuration can be lifted or power-assisted up the entry step & through the door, then I just lay it down in the entry hall with my travel bag on the LSF. The bag keeps the LSF still, and the machine is prevented from rolling accross the coach by being blocked between the door on one side and the kitchen cabinet on the other.

The x2 configuration is a bit move involved, as it is much too wide to roll up & through the entry door. I remove the LSF, lift 1 wheel onto the entry step, then lift/pivot the other end up & over until it is sitting up on 1 wheel in the entry hall. The tires are so wide that it is fairly stable sitting that way. It is blocked fore & aft by a wall and dinette seat so it won't tip over during stop & go, and the coach never generates enough force when turning to knock it over sideways.

Guess I should take some photos of these arrangements next time...

The relative sizes of the configurations can be found here :

http://www.segway.com/individual/models/x2-turf.php

Since I have the turf spacers for my larger 23" bearclaw tires, it should be about the same width as the turf model specification. Strangely, the official segway width specifications for the x2 and turf are the same (33"), which is not accurate as the turf spacers make that model about an inch wider than the x2.

New Shoes for Trigger . . .
 

After 7,500 miles I decided it was time to give Trigger some new shoes. An experienced and competent gear-head neighbor had a pair of 22x7x10's (vs. 21x7x10 OEMs) that had the exact same tread pattern, so I decided to give the oversized tires a opportunity.

They fit well with no clearance problems and have provided a performance boost (higher speed in my perception) on straightaways and slightly downhill while uphill and long declines have seen a reduction in speed as expected. Off-road hasn't changed as twisting and turning in ravines and gravel paths are not done at high speed and control or stability is the more important issue then top end.

Overall, the slight increase in circumference has been a positive for my gliding though I've been unable to specify any speed differential as I believe the speed info sent to the InfoKey is determined by software based upon rpm readings and not the actual amount of distance/speed traveled (especially if there has been a change in circumference which the software would have no way of knowing).

No doubt there are a number of engineers on SegChat that could calculate the hypothetical increase/decrease in speed and torque, but that stuff is beyond my expertise and better left to those more qualified then me. As I said though, I feel like I'm going faster and that's (mostly) what counts. Ignorance can be bliss.

Well, circumference goes up linearly with radius or diameter, so if a tire is 5% bigger across, it will go 5% faster, at the same rotational rate.

If you want to get real precise, you can measure the radius when you're on it at load, before and after, from center of axle to the ground.