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devvdude

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As most of you know I am a novice, having had my wheel a little over a week now. I have been having issues mounting without the training wheels as some of you may know. I believe I have solved this problem however. I am in the process of modifying a generic bicycle kick stand for the unicycle.

The way I will have it set up is so it is spring loaded, and will help keep the one side balanced when I mount, It will be on a very sensitive spring loaded system, and so as soon as the unicycle begins to move forward it will kick the kickstand out from under the pedal and the spring will catch pushing the kickstand flat against the bottom of the pedal.

In theory this should eliminate the need for the wheels to mount, and also eliminate the need to do the one foot push off technique in the video you all posted for me the other day.

 

Has anyone ever tried this? Why have the unicycle companies not thought of this? or have they thought of this and just not been able to make it work properly?

 

Anyone know?

 

I am going to buy the parts for it today and should have a working model by the end of this weekend.

 

If I do get the design perfected I will be sure to share with everyone.

 

The goal will be for the kickstand to be multi purpose, to keep the unit from falling over when not in use, and to help people like myself mount the unicycle without the assistance of wheels/a wall/fence/sign what ever.

 

Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Devv

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Interesting idea to use it as a mounting aid! There have been a few EUCs that included a kickstand but all that I have seen were the lean-to-one-side type. The Firewheel had a kickstand originally built into one of the pedals, but I think it had some problems so they took it off last year before I got mine. The Dolphin F-Wheel has a kickstand, you can see it here: http://www.fwheel.cc/Product-Self-Balancing-Electric-Unicycle/dolphine-one-f-wheel.html

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interesting. The design I am looking at is a single Post, not a double like the one pictured on those units. Also, not sure if the kick stand will end up being able to function as an actual kick stand, or simply as a mounting aid. I will try and draw up a very basic concept drawing for what I am trying to do. another option would be to have two kick stands, one on each side. This would make the kick stands actually keep the unit upright, as well as provide for a perfectly balanced mount nearly every time.

 

I feel the hardest part of accomplishing this is going to be to find the perfect length and resistance for the spring that will push the kick stand up under the pedals once the unit begins to move forward.

 

0806151054.jpg

Edited by devvdude
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I agree it would be cool to have a stand for the wheel, but not as a starting help.

You can technically sit on a motorcycle while on its stand, start the engine and drive away hopping over the kickstand, but how many people actually do this on a regular basis because they cannot balance the thing during start... Other analogy, it took everyone a good while to learn how to mount a bicycle, but  everybody that rides bikes nowadays has mastered it.

I feel that you just move the problem on to the next tool instead of tackling it head on for a few days of hurt and then be good for all the future. B) You can do it, I am absolutely sure, dont give up. And you'll be proud of it afterwards, like we all are :)

But back to the kickstand, there are spring loaded kickstands available for Vespas that retract as soon as you straighten up the motorcycle like in this pic:
http://s13.photobucket.com/user/psssniper/media/IMG_1126-1.jpg.html (dont know the guy, its just a google image search result) but as you state, the spring needs to be finetuned to the weight of the EUC not to push it over to the other side.

NineBot has a stand available but I have heard its not better than no stand at all stabilitywise speaking. So I'd like one similar to the available one but retractable (just dont ask yet how to accomplish that, I havent thought of it yet)
 

Also, have you checked those out yet, maybe you dont need to build one yourself? PassionGadgets kick stands

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This sounds like an interesting idea. I would suggest to make it symmetrical, most eWheels don't have a defined forward/backward sense. AFAICS this seem feasible to me from an engineering aspect. One "concern" is strength: it must be much stronger than usual kick stands, because it must be able to withstand large parts of a drivers weight on a regular basis.  

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Thanks for the advice all. After looking up,many starting and mounting videos, I am just going to let my shins take one for the team , and keep at it until I can figure it out.

 

Also although my EU can be ridden both directions...no front or back, I have LED headlights installed, SO I USUALLY only ride it one direction. That being said though, I might add a kick stand later on but I agree that adding a kick stand as a mounting assistance is just going to prolong the time it takes me to learn to start off without the helper tools.

 

Thanks again, and I will be sure to post an update when I finally figure this mounting thing out. The videos I have watched do make a lot of sense though. I was trying g to keep it up right with the strap and one foot, then kick the other foot on...needless to say this didint work. Going to try the newly discovered techniques tonight and will update tonorow, tha,ks again all

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I agree it would be cool to have a stand for the wheel, but not as a starting help.

You can technically sit on a motorcycle while on its stand, start the engine and drive away hopping over the kickstand,

Have you been riding a motorbike ever? AFAIK, most modern motorcycles don't allow this, because it is dangerous. Either the engine won't even start while the kickstand is out or the kickstand retracts itself the moment you sit straight on the motorbike (and you want to sit straight the moment you drive away). 

The incentive would be also quite different, as mounting a motorbike isn't that difficult at all. Having said that, I believe to remember having seen people driving away from being on the center stand (where starting the machine while being on the stand is possible). In particular for small people on a bike with high seating position this is a useful (but not widely used) option. 

 

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@Niko As a matter of fact I have, but not anymore in the last 15 years. And I did this trick on my Vespa or the CBR several times (still not claiming its a good idea). 
Back in my day (read with old geezers voice) we didnt have ABS, saddle-heaters or other electronic safety gadgets on Motorcycles, you had to think for yourself and your safety. But it illustrates my point even more if its made impossible by today, its not a good way to start any device with wheels that way.

@devvdude thanks, I am an avid Futurama fan and that image just stuck with me when Fry saved the world from the giant flying brains using the Scooty Puff sr. to get away. :D

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NineBot has a stand available

but I have heard its not better than no stand at all stabilitywise speaking. So I'd like one similar to the available one but retractable (just dont ask yet how to accomplish that, I havent thought of it yet)


 

How about a stand that pivots into position?  So it starts out vertical and when you want to use it you pivot it 90 degrees.

Another idea would be if you had a trolley handle that was strong enough it could pivot to be a stand.  Then it would serve 2 purposes.

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How about a stand that pivots into position?  So it starts out vertical and when you want to use it you pivot it 90 degrees.

Another idea would be if you had a trolley handle that was strong enough it could pivot to be a stand.  Then it would serve 2 purposes.

Heh, like a shark fin at the back of the EUC that you flip to the side for park. Thats what you have in mind? :)

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Back in my day (read with old geezers voice) we didnt have ABS, saddle-heaters or other electronic safety gadgets on Motorcycles, you had to think for yourself and your safety. But it illustrates my point even more if its made impossible by today, its not a good way to start any device with wheels that way.

AFAICS, the danger is not so much the launching from the kickstand than to forget to fold in the kickstand and then drive a curve later, I have some vage memory that this happened to me once, which was pretty scary even at low speed, at least I managed to not fall off...

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interesting concept on the shark fin stand, might be easier to make a reality than my original design Idea. I am gong to make a trip to the local hardware store and see what I can put together. Either way I am not using the stand as a mounting helper any more, just gonna stick to good old fashioned practice until I can figure it out (or until I can't stand the pain in my shins ) and then try again.

 

 

I am stubborn as all hell and lucky for me I have a pretty high pain tolerance .

 

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to forget to fold in the kickstand and then drive a curve later, I have some vage memory that this happened to me once, which was pretty scary even at low speed, at least I managed to not fall off...

The spring on the Vespas kickstand wasnt the strongest anymore and that happened to me too :D

 

@devvdude another idea would be L-shaped and attached to the side of the bot to swivel out

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  • 8 months later...

It took a few weeks of holding onto things for starting and stopping, at some point my dominant foot stepped off for an abrupt stop, from there it was easy to start and stop without a handhold. Practice with a handrail mounting and dismounting, eventually you won't need the handrail.

The kickstand idea is marketable but most would use it to park or charge. You need 3 points of contact to be stable but it could be one kickstand with a spur off near the end. 

I was thinking of making a staff/ walking stick that hooks on to the EUC at one end to carry like a hobo sack on a stick over the shoulder. If that makes sense, you don't see as many traditional hobos any more.  But the staff would help with mounting and standing still on the EUC. added bonus of carrying a big stick most people will get out of your way quicker. 

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  • 3 years later...

its a cool concept, as in something to sit the euc on when its off... NOT as a handicap to make mounting it easier, just learn how to do it properly without any training gear and you will be much better off,, i mean if youre gonna use a mounting aid might as well just get the inmotion v3 with two wheels so you dont have to develop any skills :P

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1 hour ago, Rywokast said:

its a cool concept, as in something to sit the euc on when its off... NOT as a handicap to make mounting it easier, just learn how to do it properly without any training gear and you will be much better off,, i mean if youre gonna use a mounting aid might as well just get the inmotion v3 with two wheels so you dont have to develop any skills :P

Hmmm, it's not a mounting aid... It's just a way to place it while it's on for 5-10

Edited by Rotem Yakir
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7 hours ago, Rotem Yakir said:

Hmmm, it's not a mounting aid... It's just a way to place it while it's on for 5-10

he wants to use it as a mounting aid as he said multiple times in the op...

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