Segway brakelight

[jkzulu]

Hi Bob,

thanks for your warm wellcome.

I must confess during writing about that particular part I was not sure either,
if anybody is able to get the point.

Let me explain...

According to German legal rules the tire must have a consistent layout
of surface with certain grooves to make water flowing away and avoid
"Aquaplanning" (tumbelning on wet roads). First ascpect is a minimum deepness of 1 mm grooves for motocycles and 1.6 mm for car tires.

Secondly ther shall not be any line, if you create a full circle once arround the tire on the surface which is touching the street, which has no grooves.

Both SEGWAY tires I2 and X2 has a middle section, running continously arround the tire, which has not any groove. So the outmoststanding point
touching the road has no water drain possibility.

Of course the structure right and left of that middle line is nicely structured, but according to the German law there is no one cirlce line allowed, which is ungrooved.

Uuugh, that was hard to be explaind. I hope you could get the message guys. Thanks for your interest.

About the wheel generally in Germany any kind of load and stability proof is required. So I2 wheel coming with plastic rim does not show up well under the examination of the technical scientist. Also report of a lot of customers having problems with unbalacing of the I2 wheels after a heavy bump against the next curb is raising stability questions. But its just Hesse state yet and might be resolved with the Germanwide national solution announced for March 2009. Untill that ...

We are on the road with 5 SEGWAY here in Darmstadt and 12 SEGWAY in Friedberg (north of Frankfurt)

All with light system, number plates, tires and wheels according to the law,
ringing bell, reflectors and so on. We try to get some tour bussiness as
here the pricing is awfull. Basic I2 is 6500 Euro net, 7700 Euro with taxes
means 9800 USD. So market is not willingly to take it easy. So renting might
be better.

Warm regards from cold Germany across the big sea.

Jens

[KSagal]

Excellent explanation. Thank you.

Good luck and fun gliding...

[Bob.Kerns]

Jens, thanks for the explanation -- it was very clear indeed.

I don't think the law is written in the best way possible. A narrow line (a few mm) isn't a problem for water to escape, and I would think (though I'm not a tire expert!) that it would offer advantages for lateral stability, as well as a smoother ride.

In general, it's better policy to establish minimum performance standards, rather than specify how those standards should be met.

That's why laws objecting to Segways because they don't have friction brakes are nuts. What Segways do have (dynamic braking) is better than friction brakes. A stopping-distance standard or braking deacceleration standard would be much more sensible.

Anyway, welcome to Segway Chat. I hope the pricing issue gets better for you. Maybe after all this economic mess shakes out, the dollar will be weaker and give you better pricing.