World's fastest Lithium-ion battery bike crashes
 

So this thing almost kills its maker on live tv, and yet is anyone going to ban them as unsafe like they do with Segways?

http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/cont...33853-113.html

As far as I know, dragster bikes of this kind are not street legal, and are therefore already considered "banned".

It is unfortunate that the inventor/driver did not make more safety precautions before his attempt.

Link with less pixelated video:

http://webdogpro.com/2007/09/13/kill...-his-creation/

That was so stupid. No helmet? People nearby. I can't believe it. Electric drag bikes will surely be banned from city sidewalks.

Amateurs should not attempt to do stunts.

Duh. What an idiot.

Easy to see his poor judgment in hindsight. (and in foresight too, for the safety conscious.)

But this guy, Bill Dube, is one of the few actually making innovations in electric powered vehicles. I think we need more folks like this around, even if they occasionally pull some crazy stunt.

In all the comments on the TG Daily site, there are many negative ones, and some wishing well. But very few commending the driver for keeping the problem from getting worse than it was. Before the impact he was able to unstick the throttle and get it down to about 20 mph. Could have been a lot messier if that didn't happen.

Technically
 

A very impressive motorcycle, the tesla car does the same acceleration I think
but as a driver he was foolish, not to at least wear a helmet.
I think (bumps and bruises excluded) he has a great product.

Jonathan

Why do you ask? Is someone suggesting that motorcycles be allowed on sidewalks?

Well based on the video, the maker seems to feel it's appropriate to drive it on the sidewalks. 8^) 8^) 8^) Actually in all seriousness, I'm really glad no one was on that sidewalk at the time. Given the speeds involved, only someone walking directly at the camera would have had a chance to jump out of the way. And at 675 pounds for the bike (plus another 200 for the rider), any injury would have been serious. Did you see how much that minivan rocked when it was hit?!

Trying to associate or compare two phenomena which are far more different than similar is just plain silly.

A 619 lb, 400 HP drag bike is *NOT* a 100 lb 4 HP Segway PT, despite their both being battery powered.

Helmet schmelmet. The barnstormers of the '20s and '30s wore leather caps, and their motto was, "A good flight is one you can walk away from."

I admire this guy's spirit of adventure, ingenuity, and aplomb. On his back after the crash he calmly said, "The throttle stuck on." That's a true engineer and inventor.

That bike is awesome and an intriguing foray of electric-power technology into the world of racing. Racing is indeed dangerous, but it yields its benefits ultimately to the consumer, as companies like Honda, Toyota, and Ferrari know full-well. It's an extreme environment where technologies get tested to the max, where equipment shows its strengths and weaknesses dramatically.

0-60 in .97 sec, and the 1/4 mile @ 157 mph (according to Bill) is *QUICK*, and that while weighing 100 lbs more than a standard pro-stock bike. Take a look at an actual track run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDHJNG2PngQ&NR=1

For one thing it demonstrates the superior power of continuously applied torque from an electric motor, as compared with the pulsing torque of an IC engine.

Bill Dube isn't stupid. He's courageous. Admire the accomplishment, and again, the fact that *American* ingenuity is still alive and well--with Bill Dube and KillaCycle, Apple, Inc., Segway, Inc., et al.

Applaud!
 

Here here!!!

Positive rep points headed at you.

Jonathan