Trucktent Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 I will be bringing one of my electric unicycles to Burning Man this year. I've been 8 times but I have never actually seen one there. I know that there are a few that have made it to Black Rock city. Looking for some first hand experience on how it worked out for you. I'm am most interested in how they do toward the end of the week when the dust gets deep. Did you keep riding or did you give up? Any lasting effects with the dust. Be glad to meet anyone out there for a ride. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trucktent Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share Posted August 18, 2017 This is Burning Man. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_fuel Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 To fit in there I think you would need to ride a normal unicycle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddylaz Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 5 hours ago, Trucktent said: I will be bringing one of my electric unicycles to Burning Man this year. I've been 8 times but I have never actually seen one there. I know that there are a few that have made it to Black Rock city. Looking for some first hand experience on how it worked out for you. I'm am most interested in how they do toward the end of the week when the dust gets deep. Did you keep riding or did you give up? Any lasting effects with the dust. Be glad to meet anyone out there for a ride. Nevada Desert in August, better research whether the heat might be a problem too! Excellent idea though, what a great way to get around there. Would love to go to B.M one day though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jag_Rip Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 (edited) Been there, done that, but didnt have a EUC back then. Heat is definitely a issue on longer strolls. At night though, when you really want to be out and about, the LED show would be awesome In hindsight I also thought it would be a fun (but maybe not a good) idea. Just be aware the dust there (and you know it going for the 9th time) will get in everywhere, the IP55 Protection wont help a bit. The best that could happen is it still works and needs a thorough cleaning, worst, you got a bricked EUC that cant be repaired because of all the dust. I know of several people that lost 3000+$ cameras to the dust Charging could be another issue unless you have a generator going for a few hours every day. We brought a Golfcart with us and it was rather problematic to keep it fueled and running. Then there are some spots of playa dust where you suddenly sink in, not a problem on a bike, but it could be on one wheel. Another problemzone could be the speedlimit of 5mph and/or you might need to register it as a mutant vehicle beforehand. That was our Ride back in 2012 Edited August 18, 2017 by Jag_Rip 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Was your ride the one on the left or the one on the right of the picture? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Gimlet said: Was your ride the one on the left or the one on the right of the picture? I had never heard of burning man. Having now sat through an hour of youtube with my mouth gaping and people spouting words I'm sure they were making up as they went along it does look like the answer to @Gimlet's question could be "both" ?. In fact if @Hunka Hunka Burning LoveWent with his EUC it definitely wouldn't survive, he'd be crashing into things left, right and centre due to being distracted by all the flesh on show. One video said: don't take anything you want or treasure with you the dust gets everywhere and seems to be 10 times as hard to get out as it seems to be to get in. Sounds like a secondhand Airwheel or other cheap wheel might be the answer. I must confess though that with the sort of LED show the Inmotion V8 has got it looks like it would be really at home there. One thing is sure, with all that heat, dust and iffy surfaces it looks like a brilliant testing ground for EUC's, if it will survive there it will survive anywhere - now there is a thought @Trucktent, if you could get a manufacturer to allow you to test their wheel's survivability you'd be on to a winner - well except for the "no commercialism" bit! Edited August 18, 2017 by Keith 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 This event is Hunka Hunka Burning Man approved! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbfrese Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 I do believe that @Playariderhas ridden his 9bot1 at Burning Man, but I haven't seen him on the forum for months. @Playarider, where are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trucktent Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share Posted August 18, 2017 That dust is truly bad news and I've had bikes ruin their bearings after only a week. I'll be taking my KS14C 640WH wheel. A bit small but lots of range. It's my extra wheel that I just rebuilt. Crossing my fingers that it makes it. Should be a good playa year with smooth surface most places. I don't expect overheating to be a problem. Temps in the 80s mostly and no hill climbing. Personal mobility devices have always been allowed. Historically they've been the tiny chainsaw scooters. No, I don't ride slow. I always wanted to learn to ride a manual unicycle. To damn hard though. Circus camp gives lessons all week, maybe it's time. As far as being distracted, it's only for a couple days. After Tuesday you stop noticing the naked yoga classes across the road. My camp is running a generator. They won't miss a couple amps. Charging shouldn't be a problem. I'll come back with a report on how it went, if I survive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trucktent Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 I am back and both the wheel and I are alive. Well aged, but alive. First a couple of observations. This was an amazing year for playa conditions. The surface was smooth almost everywhere. Even the dust berms where only as bad as freshly shifted flour. Anything with wheels had no problem going most anywhere. Another observation, one wheels dominated the electric wheel count. Not surprising since they market for soft and dusty conditions. The big fat wheel is not the way to go though. It's a dust plow and I have seen plenty of them nose down and toss the rider. As far as the number of electric unicycles present, very, very, few. I only saw one ninebot once around a plug and play camp in the city. There were a few various brands around the airport. In my mind I can't imagine getting around burning man on a bike anymore. I went down every street a couple of times and all over the deep playa. It was a hot year and the wheel did great. I wouldn't think any wheel would overheat because it's so flat. Here are my thoughts for future years for typical conditions: A 14 inch wheel is probably to small. Rutty roads need a bigger wheel. 18" is ideal. A useful range of 20 miles between charges is plenty. A high top speed is not that important. Anything faster than 10 mph is frowned upon and not necessary. Think of it as riding around a busy city plaza with pedestrians and bikes everywhere. EUC's will ruin Burning Man next year. Pics coming soon. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Launchpad Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 It was great to meet you! I brought both a v5f and a V8. Both survived and the V8 was a big hit to ride around at night. I got lots of comments. The surface conditions were great except some of the radial streets had about 2 inches of very fine dust. Both wheels went through it easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjunlee Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 It's so good to hear that our EUCs can survive the playa dust! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Tepper Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 Will anyone else on this forum be coming to Burning Man this year? I'll have a Ninebot Z10 and (hopefully) a new Kingsong 16X with me. Last year I had an older Kingsong 16B (or maybe it was a 14B) with me and it worked beautifully. Stop by my camp, "Habitat for Insanity" at 4:30 and F and we'll ride! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjunlee Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 3 hours ago, Andrew Tepper said: Will anyone else on this forum be coming to Burning Man this year? I'll have a Ninebot Z10 and (hopefully) a new Kingsong 16X with me. Last year I had an older Kingsong 16B (or maybe it was a 14B) with me and it worked beautifully. Stop by my camp, "Habitat for Insanity" at 4:30 and F and we'll ride! I would love to go, but don't have a camp. I went several years ago with a friend, and basically decided a week prior - that was such an insane crutch to get everything ready XD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trucktent Posted July 17, 2019 Author Share Posted July 17, 2019 I’ll be going again. Last year electric unicycles were everywhere. Easily saw 70 to 80 every time I ventured out. Even a few meetups on the official program. One wheels all over too. Opened my wheel up for maintenance. The dust gets everywhere even on the board. Still going strong so not worried. About the 5th time hosing it off aggressively the brown playa stream finally ran clear. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trucktent Posted July 17, 2019 Author Share Posted July 17, 2019 Link to short video of riding at Burning Man. My girlfriend at the time only had a week of practice on my KS 14c, did pretty good in the wind. https://www.dropbox.com/s/iyvwxf0x971u2ow/20180826_122007.mp4?dl=0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjunlee Posted July 17, 2019 Share Posted July 17, 2019 8 hours ago, Trucktent said: I’ll be going again. Last year electric unicycles were everywhere. Easily saw 70 to 80 every time I ventured out. Even a few meetups on the official program. One wheels all over too. Opened my wheel up for maintenance. The dust gets everywhere even on the board. Still going strong so not worried. About the 5th time hosing it off aggressively the brown playa stream finally ran clear. That looks badass. Looking back over the shoulder in a casual pose and everything 😎 How did you guys go about charging? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esper Posted July 17, 2019 Share Posted July 17, 2019 3 hours ago, chrisjunlee said: That looks badass. Looking back over the shoulder in a casual pose and everything 😎 How did you guys go about charging? There is this cool invention that a lot of people down there use. It's called a generator. It consumes gasoline or diesel and converts it into watts. Some cars have lighter sockets that you can attach DC to AC power inverters. There is also another alternative that some cars have where they automatically have outlets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trucktent Posted July 18, 2019 Author Share Posted July 18, 2019 On 7/17/2019 at 10:01 AM, chrisjunlee said: That looks badass. Looking back over the shoulder in a casual pose and everything 😎 How did you guys go about charging? I found my new avatar. My camp had a generator. There are also a few solar camps that offer outlets if you are desperate. You would have to be real trusting to leave it unattended while it charged. Don't expect a car battery to give you any useful range using an inverter unless the car is running while charging. It will take much longer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlckRck2014 Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 I have taken a 4 different ninebot mini's and mini pro's. I have never had an issue with them during or after. Still going strong. I would love to take my InMotion v11, but with the new bearing design I'm worried there would be issues.... Anyone with a few years of taking their EUC to burning man comment on the the past-burn issues? Any at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlckRck2014 Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 Ping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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