EUCs vs Motorcycles vs Cars

[UniGrad]

This is from a conversation I was having with @mrelwood on the thread "An advocacy for heavy wheels". Talking here about the fun factor of each vehicle from a bit of a logical perspective. Why most people find riding a motorcycle way more fun than driving a car. And then how riding a powerful EUC compares to riding a motorcycle.
The rant was interesting enough that I thought I'd start a new thread about it. Here it is below...............

I have ridden motorcycles all my life and have absolutely loved it. Started on a 50cc scooter and incrementally went up to a 1000cc sports bike. And yeah they're totally insane rocketships.
But there's just something about riding an EUC that's so different. I would concede that my super bike gave me more raw adrenalin than my Sherman does.
But the experience is totally different.
For starters, the EUC is so light that the vast majority of the weight is coming from the rider. And it's so small it's almost not there.
There's something about this. Almost like there's no vehicle and it's just you flying. Or perhaps you feel more like you've become one with the machine...

On that note, becoming one with the machine. The fact that there are no controls required to drive an EUC makes a HUGE difference to the experience. On motorcycles you're constantly pressing pedals, pulling levers, twisting throttles, turning handle bars. It's much more akin to operating from a computer.....if you know what I mean. Like operating from the interface of a control panel.

Now keeping that in mind, think about this. You see one of the things that makes motorcycles SOOOOOO much more fun than driving a car, is the fact that the vehicle is light enough and designed such that your body weight can throw the vehicle around. Think about driving a car. If you throw your body around in a car nothing happens. It's like YOU the driver, are totally irrelevant to the experience beyond handling the control interface. I.e. pedals, steering wheel, gears ect.

But with a motorcycle you are now more one with the machine. Now your body weight matters. YOU the driver, matter beyond operating the lame control interface. When you throw your body left and right, the vehicle goes left and right in spectacular fashion. It's awesome. An amazing feeling. You're almost flying free like a bird. Makes cars seem super lame to drive. Cars are like roller coaster rides. Kind of fun but not that great.

And then you have the EUC. For starters you've completely eliminated the ENTIRE control panel. Nothing at all. Not a single button to press, or lever to pull. Nothing. Just you the driver flying 100% free like a bird. So free that you're not even holding onto anything for balance/stability. Like with a bike you're holding onto the handle bars. But with an EUC you have both your arms completely free and this alone feels so amazing.

And this segways on to my final point. The fact that on an EUC you don't hold any handle bars, and you simply lean back and forth to brake and accelerate, adds an entire new dimension to the riding experience. Remember how the motorcycle is more fun than the car largely because it allows you to control the vehicle by throwing your body left and right. Thereby adding a new dimension to the experience. Well, an EUC then doubles up on that by giving you 2 new dimensions. Left/right and forward/backward.

And the thing is.......... accelerating on an EUC is pure ecstasy. Leaning forward like that and taking off literally makes you feel like you've got rocket boots on. And braking is pretty damn awesome too.

If you ask me, and this is just my opinion, the EUC makes motorcycles seem lame in the same way that motorcycles make cars seem lame. It makes sense to me since they add an entire new riding dimension just as the motorcycle adds 1 new dimension over the car.
Now I look at motorcycles like giant cumbersome machines.

 

Edited December 13, 2020 by UniGrad

[mike_bike_kite]

1 hour ago, UniGrad said:

For starters you've completely eliminated the ENTIRE control panel. Nothing at all. Not a single button to press, or lever to pull. Nothing.

I guess you're ignoring the on/off button, the lights button and the cut off button. Some also have a button for bluetooth and quite a few have state of charge indicators  I don't think you can ever put one form of transport above another as they all have their uses - I suspect doing the weekly shop for a family of 4 would be tough on an EUC.

[.....]

3 hours ago, mike_bike_kite said:

I guess you're ignoring the on/off button, the lights button and the cut off button. Some also have a button for bluetooth and quite a few have state of charge indicators  I don't think you can ever put one form of transport above another as they all have their uses - I suspect doing the weekly shop for a family of 4 would be tough on an EUC.

Pretty tough to mingle with interstate traffic on an euc as well. I still havent figured out how to land a pesky triple jump on the sherm.  I like motorcycles and euc's, I'm not sure either is 'better', it all boils down to useage.

[UniGrad]

5 hours ago, mike_bike_kite said:

I guess you're ignoring the on/off button, the lights button and the cut off button. Some also have a button for bluetooth and quite a few have state of charge indicators  I don't think you can ever put one form of transport above another as they all have their uses - I suspect doing the weekly shop for a family of 4 would be tough on an EUC.

I think you missed the point. I wasn't talking about practicality at all. At least as far as I can remember. I wasn't trying to put one form ahead of another. Just looking at which tangible factors make EUCs fun to ride. Namely the freedom to lean about 2 axes of rotation for controlling braking, acceleration and cornering. Although EUCs are extremely practical too. I have transported long stuff with ease that didn't even fit into my van. But yeah a family of 4 on an EUC is not gonna happen. The car has it well and truly beat there. If you look around though, the vast majority of cars have just 1 person in them. Around here at least. EUCs are also practical because they are the size of a briefcase rather than being the size of a barn house.

With regard to the on/off button and the bluetooth button (I'm not even sure if you're being serious with the bluetooth button). These aren't driving controls. They take absolutely nothing away from your riding experience because you NEVER need to press or think about them when riding.
The onboard bluetooth button is just an extra novelty and only serves to add to the experience. But has nothing to do with driving the vehicle. Same goes for the cutoff button. It's just a bonus feature that's good to have.

Edited December 13, 2020 by UniGrad

[UniGrad]

On 12/14/2020 at 6:38 AM, ShanesPlanet said:

Pretty tough to mingle with interstate traffic on an euc as well. I still havent figured out how to land a pesky triple jump on the sherm.  I like motorcycles and euc's, I'm not sure either is 'better', it all boils down to useage.

In that post I wasn't saying that one is better than the other. Just looking at the dynamics of riding each vehicle and how that impacts on the experience of freedom. The EUC gives you the freedom to lean about 2 axes of rotation while the motorcycle only 1. And cars, zero.

But motorcycles are way more powerful machines so whatever floats your boat. Perhaps that's a jet boat lol. Yeah don't get on the interstate on an EUC. I see an EUC more like a bicycle. But this bicycle can get me to places faster than my car for most of my commutes. And it's way smaller than a bicycle. And if we're talking peak hour traffic, my EUC even makes motorbikes look like slugs. When they can't lane filter they just sit there sweating in their gear as I casually cruise along. The EUC can ALWAYS lane filter.

Edited December 15, 2020 by UniGrad

[UniGrad]

5 hours ago, mike_bike_kite said:

I suspect doing the weekly shop for a family of 4 would be tough on an EUC.

Okay I miss read that in my previous response. If you're talking about doing the weekly shopping for a family of 4, the EUC is more than capable. You'd just have to do it in a couple of trips. Not the best option but the EUC is very capable of it. You can carry a whole bunch of stuff with a large backpack and a bag in each hand. You could do it in 2 trips. I bet that in those countries where they carry like 3 families on a moped, I bet they would make the EUC work lol

[Scottie888]

IMO there is no best nor even better. All have their +/-'s but that said, PEVs (&I'm includ EUCs) are much easier to reach the edge plus the price of admission makes it a better value by far. Also the safety factor is gadzillion times better than the other 2 forms mentioned.

For me, its playing at the limits that makes it fun rather than an arbitrary ultimate number like acceleration & topspeed. Not that going fast isn't fun. It's just that the price of entry & failure is that much harder to bear as all.

Personally I doubt that EUCs will achieve similar acceptability as the ubiquitous bicycle. The nature of solo rider only plus the relative difficulty of learning makes wheels extremely unlikely to reach mass transport status anytime soon which is too bad as wheels are the most practical form of PEVs.

[RetroThruster]

I have all that stuff and can say that I've yet to experience anything that compares to motorcycle roadracing, but it's VERY expensive and requires a lot of driving, EUC'S give me 75% of what a roadrace bike does, but, the better I get on an EUC, the closer that gap gets, like anything, the better you get at something, the more fun it is...

[.....]

One thing an euc can do that a motorcycle can't... Fit in the car so when the wife wants to go into a store, you just ride around the lot instead. A little euc like an mten is akin to a skateboard for ease of transport and random rides. Just the mere fact you can decide to ride down the block to look around, w/o much prior planning = euc win in my book. Sometimes fun is simple...

[Scottie888]

52 minutes ago, RetroThruster said:

I have all that stuff and can say that I've yet to experience anything that compares to motorcycle roadracing, but it's VERY expensive and requires a lot of driving, EUC'S give me 75% of what a roadrace bike does, but, the better I get on an EUC, the closer that gap gets, like anything, the better you get at something, the more fun it is...

I did a stint racing a FZR400 in our local club series during my misspent youth & no doubt it was super fun & definitely honed my riding skills. At the end of day, it was too much in terms of time, effort & money preping the bike plus costs of towing & driving to the tracks & ofcos the motel stays. All that while maintaining a fulltime job & having a normal (somewhat) family life got to be too much.

While there were lots of choices in the Summer for fun, the most fun I had was in the dead of winter. What can a guy (or a bunch of somewhat intoxicated guys) do at 25 below you say? Sleds (snowmobiles to the uninitiated) are the most fun to be had! Not 'em long track mountain sleds where I am now but the reg studded shorties on groom pack trails out in eastern Canada (primarily Ont & Quebec). Imagine 100-200 ponies with amazing grip on tight trails 5-6ft wide with no limits. Well, no limits imposed by the Man at least. Just ditches, snow banks or rock faces. Those were fun times indeed. Not cheap but much much cheaper than racing.

Incomparo PEVs are so very much tamer with a very inexpensive price of admission. Folks nowadays have never had it so good.

[UniGrad]

3 hours ago, RetroThruster said:

I have all that stuff and can say that I've yet to experience anything that compares to motorcycle roadracing, but it's VERY expensive and requires a lot of driving, EUC'S give me 75% of what a roadrace bike does, but, the better I get on an EUC, the closer that gap gets, like anything, the better you get at something, the more fun it is...

Yeah to be fair I've never done track racing. Just hills riding ect. I guess that would up the fun factor a lot since you could get closer to using the full potential of that super powered machine. But still I think I'd prefer riding EUCs if I had to choose. Because I also really like the slow riding. The medium pace riding. Enjoying the nature trails.

For me no amount of brute force and speed can make up for the extra dimension of freedom that the EUC brings (forward backward lean angle). Not to mention the freedom to travel on gravel, sand, grass, up and down dirt hills so steep that people look at you like "do they really make those things?". The freedom to travel to places where no motorcycle, not even a bicycle can go. Only by foot or EUC.

Also, as EUCs progress they will get closer to that motorcycle type power. So it will be hands down an EUC for me. If I had to choose one over the other.

[mike_bike_kite]

10 hours ago, UniGrad said:

I think you missed the point.

I understood your point very well, I was just commenting on the error.  

[UniGrad]

3 hours ago, mike_bike_kite said:

I understood your point very well, I was just commenting on the error.  

Sorry about this (hate to potentially sound argumentative) but I don't think there was an error since I didn't actually put one form of transport over another. Just talking about the physics and what things add to the fun factor. And it was my personal opinion that EUCs are the most fun. But it never had anything to do with practicality or going shopping for the family.
And I still don't think there was an error when I said there are no controls needed to drive an EUC. The on/off button doesn't count since you don't use it while riding. And the bluetooth button certainly doesn't count.

Below is the relevant post:

19 hours ago, mike_bike_kite said:

21 hours ago, UniGrad said:

For starters you've completely eliminated the ENTIRE control panel. Nothing at all. Not a single button to press, or lever to pull. Nothing.

I guess you're ignoring the on/off button, the lights button and the cut off button. Some also have a button for bluetooth and quite a few have state of charge indicators  I don't think you can ever put one form of transport above another as they all have their uses - I suspect doing the weekly shop for a family of 4 would be tough on an EUC.

 

[mike_bike_kite]

23 minutes ago, UniGrad said:

Sorry about this (hate to potentially sound argumentative) but ...

You are sounding a little bit argumentative but, with your additional provisos, I think I can now agree with you

 

[RetroThruster]

9 hours ago, UniGrad said:

Yeah to be fair I've never done track racing. Just hills riding ect. I guess that would up the fun factor a lot since you could get closer to using the full potential of that super powered machine. But still I think I'd prefer riding EUCs if I had to choose. Because I also really like the slow riding. The medium pace riding. Enjoying the nature trails.

For me no amount of brute force and speed can make up for the extra dimension of freedom that the EUC brings (forward backward lean angle). Not to mention the freedom to travel on gravel, sand, grass, up and down dirt hills so steep that people look at you like "do they really make those things?". The freedom to travel to places where no motorcycle, not even a bicycle can go. Only by foot or EUC.

Also, as EUCs progress they will get closer to that motorcycle type power. So it will be hands down an EUC for me. If I had to choose one over the other.

Yes, I must clarify that riding an EUC now, for me, is more fun than normal  motorcycle street riding, even spirited riding through the mountains (or canyons as some call it) doesn't compare, I still have bikes but I get more jazzed about riding my EUC's...

[UniGrad]

3 hours ago, RetroThruster said:

Yes, I must clarify that riding an EUC now, for me, is more fun than normal  motorcycle street riding, even spirited riding through the mountains (or canyons as some call it) doesn't compare, I still have bikes but I get more jazzed about riding my EUC's...

Awesome to hear. What you said earlier on is also very true. That the better you get at something the more fun it becomes. I enjoy riding my EUC more now than I did say 1 month ago.

Also I was wondering how much experience you've had riding the Sherman. It's really next level stuff. It's also the reason I would even compare an EUC to a motorcycle. Otherwise I'd probably be comparing them to ebikes. After riding the Sherman for a week or so, it really starts to feel light and nimble and you have all that power there at your disposal. Combined with all that range, it's something out of this world. I very much feel like I've got a little motorcycle under my toes. With a full tank of gas.

Just for reference, the only other EUC I've ever ridden is the 16x. That was my 1st ever EUC and I still have it. The 16x is a super awesome machine. I absolutely love it. It's very powerful and nimble as anything. And I still ride it just as much as my Sherman.

But the Sherman is just a totally different beast. It makes the 16x feel like a toy. The 16x maybe accelerates faster from 0 to 10 km/h but after that the Sherman is way more powerful. Cruising at 40km/h on the Sherman feels like walking speed. It's quite insane. Gotta be careful around bike paths. You can find yourself travelling silly speeds and catching ugly looks without even realizing you're going fast. Then you look down and see you're going like 45km/h. Yet it feels slow. But that's not to say it feels boring. Once you start to hit 60+km/h you do really feel the speed a lot.

This got me thinking. How about an EUC on a racetrack. An EUC that can go 150 km/h and with 25kw of peak power. Just imagine how fun that would be. On a smooth track where you can just lean forward and accelerate hard without worrying.

Edited December 14, 2020 by UniGrad

[mike_bike_kite]

1 hour ago, UniGrad said:

How about an EUC on a racetrack. An EUC that can go 150 km/h and with 25kw of peak power. Just imagine how fun that would be. On a smooth track where you can just lean forward and accelerate hard without worrying.

I suspect you'd never get to that speed on an EUC just because of wind resistance. The weight of such a powerful wheel would be prohibitive also. I think EUC racing would be exciting to watch even at more "real" speeds but including kerbs, perhaps a stair climb and maybe even a water barrier to really test the wheels? That might encourage manufactures to produce better wheels that are closer to what most folk need.

 

[Circuitmage]

In a way, yes; I personally sold my MC to get more into EUC's.

In a way no; I'm sure any dirt bike rider would argue their machine is better, just for taking on the banks, hills and getting air.

As casual transportation overall I agree with those ideas. But an EUC is just a different machine, for different uses and depends a lot on preference. There are plenty of people that don't even want to try an EUC.

[DPowell]

I totally get what you mean Unigrad.  I have all three and a electric scooter.  My truck is for work.  My motorcycle is purely recreational, but can be used to get me to work.  My electric scooter is purely recreational and just used when I'm not riding my bicycle.   Its just a reason for me to get outside and do something. 

Then my EUC (well I'm new to EUC, and am currently waiting on my replacement) it will replace my electric scooter, because its just a reason to get outside.  More portable that my 131lb electric scooter and more satisfying to ride since I suffered some minor bruising during the learning process.  the scooter was quite easy to learn, but has way more power than I need to enjoy myself and is hard to move around my place. 

The little time I spent on the Gotway RS, really made me appreciate the different way to control movement.  Can't wait to resume my practice of riding it.  It reminds me of this old game called Basewars on the Nintendo.  One of the robots had one wheel similar to the way we ride EUC's

[UniGrad]

7 hours ago, mike_bike_kite said:

I suspect you'd never get to that speed on an EUC just because of wind resistance. The weight of such a powerful wheel would be prohibitive also. I think EUC racing would be exciting to watch even at more "real" speeds but including kerbs, perhaps a stair climb and maybe even a water barrier to really test the wheels? That might encourage manufactures to produce better wheels that are closer to what most folk need.

That's a good point. I am talking about in the future though when enough advances have been made so that it wouldn't need to be prohibitively heavy.

But your point about the wind resistance is spot on. The faster you want to go, the further you need to lean forward. And further you lean forward, the less "normal friction component" you have available to lay down more horizontal power to keep accelerating. It's like fighting 2 battles at once. But I estimate you could reach about 110km/h maybe a bit more. And this would already be super crazy fun if you had a safe and smooth track.

As a mechanical engineer I thought I'd give a simplified explanation to the limiting factors here since it's kind of interesting albeit kind of complex.
As you increase your speed, the total wind force acting on your body+EUC increases exponentially to the power of 2. So if you double your speed you have 4x the total wind force. Triple your speed, 9x the wind force and so on. In order to counteract that wind force one must be leaning forward for 2 reasons.
1. To prompt the EUC to deliver torque such that you are laying down enough power to match the counteracting wind force which is present at the current speed.
2. So that you remain in angular (rotational) equilibrium whereby the "gravitational torque moment" that the forward lean creates (due to the centre of mass being shifted infront of the vehicle) is equal to the counteracting torque moment that the wind creates on your body+EUC. Note that during forward lean, gravity wants to tip (rotate) you forward while the wind wants to tip you backward. When these forces (torques actually) are in equilibrium, your lean angle remains steady. The point of rotation is of course at the wheel axle.
Now it's a little more complex than this since you also have the motor torque but it's possible to omit this from our analysis because it just offsets the total amount of torque on the system. Note that the motor torque is constantly making rapid fine adjustments in order to keep the system in equilibrium. That's actually the ONLY thing an EUC does.

From the above points 1 & 2, point 2 is what the EUC electronics are actively trying to do. It's in fact the only goal of the system. Point 1 is merely the resultant outcome. In other words the current speed of the EUC is a result of the EUC torque and the wind resistance. The EUC torque depends on the lean angle. The lean angle depends on the wind resistance. And the wind resistance depends on the speed. Great little physics problem 
The wind resistance also depends on the rider body stance, body shape and body surface material. But let's not complicate things too much. Having said that we do have to consider that a low down stance will increase the total speed we can achieve.

Okay actually screw this..............

That's too complex for a simple explanation. Here's another way to look at it. Imagine riding your EUC in a vacuum. Zero wind resistance so you can go as fast as you like (supposedly below light speed). If you're leaning forward even a tiny little bit, then you will keep gaining more speed as the EUC accelerates to try and "catch you".
Even if you're already going a million miles an hour. Because there's no wind resistance to resist your forward acceleration.
Now introduce the wind resistance. When you lean forward, the EUC will still increase the torque to try to catch you, but because the wind is there you will reach a limiting speed called "terminal velocity". That is when the forward force on the rider+EUC is equal to the counteracting wind force. Total horizontal forces of zero means zero horizontal acceleration hence a constant speed. And note that the forward horizontal component of the forces are coming from the tyre grip. As the wheel applies torque it creates a forward force through friction. And note that the wheel torque is also acting to keep the rider upright by accounting for the lean angle induced torque moment and the wind force induced torque moment. In fact this is the ONLY goal of the EUCs electronics. To catch the rider by applying the right amount of torque, in the right direction, at the right time.

Edited December 15, 2020 by UniGrad

[UniGrad]

6 hours ago, Circuitmage said:

In a way, yes; I personally sold my MC to get more into EUC's.

In a way no; I'm sure any dirt bike rider would argue their machine is better, just for taking on the banks, hills and getting air.

As casual transportation overall I agree with those ideas. But an EUC is just a different machine, for different uses and depends a lot on preference.

Yeah it definitely comes down to preference in the end. Motorcycles are much more powerful so if raw power is what you prefer then that's the way to go. But as I mentioned before, for me no amount of brute force or speed can make up for the things an EUC brings. That extra dimension being the forward to backward lean angle.

6 hours ago, Circuitmage said:

There are plenty of people that don't even want to try an EUC.

That's funny. I was one of them. I have known about EUCs practically before they existed. When I was studying mechanical engineering in around 2010 we were working with self balancing systems and I was obsessed with the technology. We were making gyroscopically controlled inverted pendulums and it also segways into drone technology. And segways lol

Anyway I saw EUCs come out in about 2012 and I looked at them the same way I now look at hoverboards. Never had any interest in buying or trying one. I stepped on a hoverboard 1 time at a pawn shop just for the hell of it. It felt super stupid. Couldn't stand up so I was like "meh these things suck".

Okay so when I started to see these crazy EUC specs coming out, it got my attention but I still had no interest in getting one. They're expensive, dangerous looking mysterious items. You have absolutely no idea what will become of your purchase experience should you fork out the thousands of dollars to buy one. Will you really be able to use it to commute? Will it just be a toy? Will you regret buying it. What the hell really is this thing???

That's the mindset of most people. I slowly made my way towards EUCs by first getting into fast escooters, then eskates for commuting. I loved my first escooter so much. So damn much. Then loved my eskates even more. And now that I have finally taken the plunge into the world of EUCs. I can honestly say that I love EUCs about 100x more than either. But I didn't love them immediately. I learned to ride my EUC in about an hour and thought "meh this is okay but nothing special". Even after a week of riding I wasn't very enthusiastic about it and still preferred my eskates. But after about a month, the floodgates to heaven began to open.

I guess my point is that many of those people who don't even want to try an EUC, may end up loving them if they actually gave them a chance. But most never will.
I mean think about it. When you do something amazing with your EUC like launching up a slippery slope so steep that it almost defies logic. People are nearly always like "wow what is that thing". They obviously find it to be very desirable but at the same time they're thinking "I bet that thing costs a fortune" or "I bet that's really hard to balance on" which leads to "I bet that thing is super dangerous".

EUCs are just that strange.

Ironically they are actually very safe once you've had about a month of riding experience. The thing that makes them dangerous is the fact that they are so fun, coupled with the fact that they are super powerful and the fact that they handle amazingly well on and off road.
So it's very hard to resist the temptation to do crazy things like fast jumps or riding fast around corners on slippery surfaces and things like that.
I'm learning to take it easy now after some recent accidents.

Edited December 15, 2020 by UniGrad

[UniGrad]

6 hours ago, DPowell said:

I totally get what you mean Unigrad.  I have all three and a electric scooter.  My truck is for work.  My motorcycle is purely recreational, but can be used to get me to work.  My electric scooter is purely recreational and just used when I'm not riding my bicycle.   Its just a reason for me to get outside and do something. 

Then my EUC (well I'm new to EUC, and am currently waiting on my replacement) it will replace my electric scooter, because its just a reason to get outside.  More portable that my 131lb electric scooter and more satisfying to ride since I suffered some minor bruising during the learning process.  the scooter was quite easy to learn, but has way more power than I need to enjoy myself and is hard to move around my place. 

The little time I spent on the Gotway RS, really made me appreciate the different way to control movement.  Can't wait to resume my practice of riding it.  It reminds me of this old game called Basewars on the Nintendo.  One of the robots had one wheel similar to the way we ride EUC's

Lol that game is hilarious

As you get more riding practice, it's very likely you will start to enjoy the EUC a lot lot more. I mean a whole lot.
When you first start riding.... 
1. You will never get anywhere near using the full acceleration power of the machine. Assuming it's a powerful wheel these things have insane power.
2. You won't have the maneuverability for doing hard leans into fast corners, super sharp slow cornering, and spinning on a dime to change direction.

When you couple these 2 things together magic happens.
You start to feel like you're a character in a video game and you picked up the coolest power up.

After getting my EUC I wasn't that excited about it and I still preferred my eskate. But after about 500km of riding things started to change.
Trying to ride my $3000 electric skateboard started to feel like trying to ride on a drunken sleepy hungry goat.
The acceleration of a short slug and the turning circle of a long limousine. The top speed of a snail and the range of a sloth. And super dangerous to boot with those tiny hard wheels.

Looking back now I simply cannot believe that I used to ride that thing. I'm actually scared to ride one now because EUCs feel like 1000x safer with that massive motorcycle style tyre. Especially my Sherman tyre. Damn thing is a monster. But any EUC really.
I've literally sucked up a large pine cone into the spokes of my 16x and the thing chewed it to bits and spat the wood chips out the front of the wheel without even affecting balance. When I saw this happening I was like "what am I even looking at?" Then I saw the ground was covered in pine cones and put 2 and 2 together. The strangest part, and the confusing thing was the fact that I could barely feel it. I just heard the noise and saw a whole bunch of wood chips coming out the front. These things are monsters. A bicycle would certainly be in big trouble if a pine cone got caught in the spokes. Pine cones are practically as hard as rocks. EUCs are truly incredible machines. Even if someone were to jam a large stick into your spokes (like in cartoons), I'm certain that you'd just keep going like nothing happened. The super powerful motor compensates for disturbances so proficiently and so rapidly that it almost eliminates them before they even occur. It would just cut through the stick like it wasn't even there.

Edited December 15, 2020 by UniGrad

[Zopper]

Well, the reason I have a motorcycle is the long range and speed. I prefer EUC, but if I need to go more than 30 km or so, a motorcycle is kinda a must (or other form of transport, but they are not so fun). I could upgrade a bit, but even Sherman would not move the equation much, because it still can't go highway speeds and can't do a few hundred km a day.

I actually started to ride them after I had EUC and my instructor just couldn't get his head around me coming on an EUC for every lesson.

[UniGrad]

9 hours ago, Zopper said:

I actually started to ride them after I had EUC and my instructor just couldn't get his head around me coming on an EUC for every lesson.

This is hilarious. EUCs do tend to get funny reactions from people. And the situation you described has got to be the funniest thing ever.
It's like arriving at your car driving lessons in a 3 wheeler.

 

9 hours ago, Zopper said:

I could upgrade a bit, but even Sherman would not move the equation much, because it still can't go highway speeds and can't do a few hundred km a day.

Yeah highway speeds are a problem for EUCs. Even when EUCs are capable of doing well above highway speeds. It's not safe to ride at that speed, especially sustained, and especially among cars and trucks. In order to travel at such a high speed you will need to have a heavy forward lean angle to counteract the wind. So you will be much more vulnerable to being thrown off the front due to road imperfections. And couple that with the fact that the high speed will amplify the effect of any dips or bumps, you can see that these speeds are beyond what is sensible on an EUC. Only on a smooth racetrack would this be safe to do.

The Sherman can do 150km on a single charge so you could do 300km per day. But would anyone want to? I think not

But I'd still get the Sherman if I were you. It's like having a motorcycle under your toes. It's seriously next level stuff. My 16x feels like a plastic toy now.
But I still love my 16x and ride it all the time. It's a totally different experience.

Edited December 15, 2020 by UniGrad

[MetricUSA]

Euc is my choice, fun to ride until the day they start registration, licensing the euc, because there are people in this group that treat and ride it like a motorcycle....