Alt Bike Culture - steam powered bike

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pattle/nacc/arc0373a.jpg
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pattle/nacc/arc0373.htm

courtesy of cap'n ifun! (credit where credit is due and all that...)

You can ride and make tea!

heh, I just got it from over here in the "buddy" thread.

You can ride and make tea!

Nothing like a good cuppa! I am curious about how hot the steam is when it is discharged from the exhaust.

East Hill

Looks cool, but wouldn't you get scalded by steam in your face?

Looks cool, but wouldn't you get scalded by steam in your face?

Steam is discharged down by the front wheel. Could keep your feet toasty warm depending on the temperature of the discharge.

East Hill

Take a look at this one.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/img/media/xl/605.jpg

Made in 1869! That was 25 years before Daimler's which is usually thought to be the first self-propelled vehicle.

Sylvester Roper was one amazing guy.

Roper's Steam Velocipede (http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_271.html)
http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/themes/story_54_1.html

He was killed 27 years later testing out another steam motorcycle.

This one was on ebay for 8K$ about a year or two ago:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/55_3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/47_3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/04_3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/66_3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/68_3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/89_3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/9a_3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/a9_3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/de_3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/f0_3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/f8_3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/b1_3.jpg


From memory, the add claimed a top speed of 40km/h and that it was able to go 7km at 30km/h before needing to be re-stoked.

This one was on ebay for 8K$ about a year or two ago:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/200164259/89_3.jpg

Fueled by...ROAD APPLES?

:roflmao:

Recycling at it's finest!

East Hill

http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/img/media/xl/605.jpg
.

The Museum I volunteer at is actually building a replica of this one... here it is in person...

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n305/MUSTASKWIFE/OHTM/Steam.jpg

Aaron

The Museum I volunteer at is actually building a replica of this one... here it is in person...

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n305/MUSTASKWIFE/OHTM/Steam.jpg

Aaron

That's sooo hot! I saw the original in the Smithsonian years ago. Maybe they'll let you ride it. What is the museum?

www.ohtm.org is it's website. The Owl's Head Transportation Museum in Owl's Head, Maine.

Check out the nerdy steam about this over heres:

http://www.zoobomb.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=23266

Check out the nerdy steam about this over heres:

http://www.zoobomb.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=23266

Cool, both threads link to each other.

Steampunk.

I guess "Wild Wild West" deserves the credit for starting that. Or is it Jules Verne? And by coincidence, the next DVD I have set to play is "Steamboy". The whole universe is connected. ;)

Steampunked Model M:

http://steampunkworkshop.com/keyboard.shtml

Model M's have an awesome sound and feel that can't really be put into words, bucking spring action. They weigh a ton and certainly fit the steampunk philosophy super well. Mine is 25 years old, still works flawlessly.

TYPE HARD OR GO HOME (http://modelm.org/)

Mine died when it was only eighteen years old and I'm still trying to find an inexpensive replacement, like one cheaper than what clickykeyboards.com sells them for.

Take a look at this one.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/img/media/xl/605.jpg



You wouldn't want to sit back too far, - I would think that chimney gets pretty darn warm ;)

I guess "Wild Wild West" deserves the credit for starting that. Or is it Jules Verne? And by coincidence, the next DVD I have set to play is "Steamboy". The whole universe is connected. ;)

Thanks for steering me on to "Steamboy". I watched it last night. It was a trip unlocking the boy mechanic trapped in this aging body.
As for steam; having been born down by the rail yards there in Little Rock when steam was still in use I guess it is not surprising that I am fascinated with it.
Jules Verne along with the "Tom Swift" books fueled my fantasies more than anything later and my dad encouraged it. His statement when the first men landed on the moon was "what took us so long?.":)

...along with the "Tom Swift" books fueled my fantasies more than anything later...

Tom Swift books...been many a year since I've read one of those, or even thought about them, for that matter.

East Hill

Thanks for steering me on to "Steamboy". I watched it last night. It was a trip unlocking the boy mechanic trapped in this aging body.
As for steam; having been born down by the rail yards there in Little Rock when steam was still in use I guess it is not surprising that I am fascinated with it.
Jules Verne along with the "Tom Swift" books fueled my fantasies more than anything later and my dad encouraged it. His statement when the first men landed on the moon was "what took us so long?.":)


Haven't seen any steam trains there lately, but the rail yards are going strong. I grew up in Florida, so everything there was "space age" in the early '60s. It was a mark of learning when as a kid you knew the difference betweeen NASA and Nassau. Trains kind of took short shrift there. Though Horne's Cars of Yesterday had a great minature Steam Engine out front. Perfect for kids to climb on.

In addition to Tom Swift and Jules Verne, a favorite of mine was Mike Mars, especially "Mike Mars Flys the Dyna-soar (http://thethunderchild.com/Books/MikeMars/MikeMars.html)."

http://www.geocities.com/stauntonsystem/ThunderChild/Photos/Marsbooks/Marsdynasaur.JPG

Popular Mechanics, Popular Science and a series of books on building projects in the Sarasota Public Library were also important influences. Popular Mechanics perhaps the most important. That's where I discovered the "Groundhugger" recumbent bicycle. My first alt bike.

http://www.rqriley.com/images/bike-1.jpg

Now where would you put a steam engine on that?

Just in case anyone is interested, the first 25 Tom Swift books can be downloaded for free here:

http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/a#a267

From Project Gutenburg.

East Hill

http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/classics_a/images/Dalifol.jpg
Don't forget the Dalifol!

Mine died when it was only eighteen years old and I'm still trying to find an inexpensive replacement, like one cheaper than what clickykeyboards.com sells them for.
Used Model M's turn up on ebay pretty cheap now and then. I've never looked myself, as I've gone ergo and ain't going back to flat keyboards, ever.

http://www.pckeyboard.com/ makes some buckling-spring models but with different options.
~

Just in case anyone is interested, the first 25 Tom Swift books can be downloaded for free here:

http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/a#a267

From Project Gutenburg.

East Hill
Thanks.
What a nice find. Tom Swift books were scarce in the '50's when I was a dry sponge and really wanted them. I found some in my favorite used book store in Moss Landing, Ca back in the '90's but I was on a budget. They were really written for young budding juveniles back when radios had tubes, boys carried pocket knives and cigarettes were good for you. I have started "Tom Swift and his Electric Locomotive" but I'm afraid that the sparkle and excitement of discovery that I felt as a preteen is lost. Pity.:( But on the bright side, in my quest for those kinds of Tom Swift adventures, I discovered and enjoyed many other sources to stimulate my imagination. :)

Just in case anyone is interested, the first 25 Tom Swift books can be downloaded for free here:

http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/a#a267

From Project Gutenburg.

East Hill

That was great. I sent it on to my Dad. I was raised on the Tom Swift Jr. series. It was all the rage in the '60s.

http://www.writingfix.com/images/tom_swift.jpg

http://www.tomswift.info/homepage/

[...]Popular Mechanics, Popular Science and a series of books on building projects in the Sarasota Public Library were also important influences. Popular Mechanics perhaps the most important. That's where I discovered the "Groundhugger" recumbent bicycle. My first alt bike.

http://www.rqriley.com/images/bike-1.jpg

Now where would you put a steam engine on that?

Holy cow does that thing ever have beautiful lines!

Do you know how the front steering linkage thing is made?

That was great. I sent it on to my Dad. I was raised on the Tom Swift Jr. series. It was all the rage in the '60s.

http://www.writingfix.com/images/tom_swift.jpg

http://www.tomswift.info/homepage/

The really odd thing is that my local library had the ORIGINAL Tom Swift books--I don't think I ever read the Tom Swift series books from the 1960s.

Same with Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew--I read the original versions, not the versions which were revised starting in 1959 [both the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books were revised starting in 1959].

East Hill

Holy cow does that thing ever have beautiful lines!

Do you know how the front steering linkage thing is made?


As I recall it was a universal joint from a socket wrench set.

Back about 1970 Popular Mechanics magazine had an innovative article on a modern "steam" automobile. One of the big concerns about steam cars and also steam bikes is what happens when there is a crash and human skin could come into contact with hot metal or hot steam. The car was a retro-fitted Mazda station wagon. Oblong condensor coils were located under the car and formed a sort of air scoop. The engine was a rotary type air compressor. The gas was not water vapor, but freon. That avoided the very hot temperatures. A propane flame provided the heat. One vane in the air compressor provided high torque at low speed. The other provided high speed.

Admittedly, freon could freeze skin, if escaping rapidly from a tube. Also, freon has become unavailable now. But, the idea was to find a gas that would develop power at lower, less dangerous temperatures.

http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/news/1999/05/19/images/keirin-pas2.jpg

This is an electric keirin pacer bike, most likely not NJS approved. But I think it's got a steampunk aura to it. Picture it with motor parts machined to look somewhat like an old steam engine made out of materials like brass, aged to give it a rich, deep patina. The two can motors are just crying out to be made to look like cylinders... Add to that wood wheels, an old fashion skip-toothed chain ring, leather bartape with a matching brooks. And the battery pack holder notch on the downtube can be nuked, lithium cells down the seattube would give it the capacity to pace a race between recharges. Or maybe the battery pack could be made to look like a sort of boiler.

I mean, holy cow would this thing ever look great or what? I'd go to the velodrome watch a paced race just for that drop dead beautiful motorcycle. Of course having it actually run on steam would be +20 cooler.

JeanCoutu, I think that would look absolutely beautiful :D

http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/news/1999/05/19/images/keirin-pas2.jpg

This is an electric keirin pacer bike, most likely not NJS approved.

The Keirin PAS! Is it still in use?

East Hill

Just in case anyone is interested, the first 25 Tom Swift books can be downloaded for free here:

http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/a#a267

From Project Gutenburg.

East Hill


I sent that link to my Dad. He loved it.

It reminded me of one talk he took me to when I was a teen. Bill Lear, the inventor of the Lear Jet was talking about the steam-powered bus that he was developing. It was one of several vehicles he was developing as a low emissions mode of transportation. He got a prototype made, but its fuel needs were too much. He also made a steam powered Chevy Monte Carlo.

A steam powered Monte Carlo? Any photos of it floating around?

I'm glad to hear that your dad enjoyed the link. I'm going to download some of them myself.

East Hill

"But, the idea was to find a gas that would develop power at lower, less dangerous temperatures."

Steam engines are most efficient with a large temperature difference between their incoming heat and outgoing heat. If you try to make a steam engine that operates at low "safe" temperatures, you come up with a very very inefficient steam engine.

"But, the idea was to find a gas that would develop power at lower, less dangerous temperatures."

Steam engines are most efficient with a large temperature difference between their incoming heat and outgoing heat. If you try to make a steam engine that operates at low "safe" temperatures, you come up with a very very inefficient steam engine.

True, when you're operating with actual steam from actual boiling water. But Freon would develop pressure at a much lower temperature, therefore the temperature difference would not have to be as great?

Although honestly I don't see what the point it - an internal combustion engine runs at temperature far higher than what you'd need for a small steam engine on a bike or car.

.............One of the big concerns about steam cars and also steam bikes is what happens when there is a crash and human skin could come into contact with hot metal or hot steam.
......... Also, freon has become unavailable now.

Yet no one seems the least bit concerned about the high temperatures of exhaust manifolds or catalytic converters.

Bye the way freon is still available, including freon12, just not as conveniently and very expensive.:)

Steam is discharged down by the front wheel. Could keep your feet toasty warm depending on the temperature of the discharge.

Could also get your feet all damp and make em freeze when you get off the bike!

It's like getting out of a hot shower into a cold house, but worse.

"But Freon would develop pressure at a much lower temperature, therefore the temperature difference would not have to be as great?"

It'd be the same issue with Freon.

Fueled by...ROAD APPLES?

:roflmao:

Recycling at it's finest!

East Hill

From what I remember the builder built it to run on road apples as a political statement :p

From what I remember the builder built it to run on road apples as a political statement :p


Still, for those who want to moan about the mess that horses leave in cities, this would be an excellent way of generating power whilst cleaning up the city, eh?

East Hill

these bikes are amazing

That groundhugger bike is from http://www.rqriley.com/xr2.htm, the carbon fiber version is just beautiful.

I made my steering joint for the trike out of two steering u-joints from a Honda car that I cut out and Mig'ed together. 1 u-joint by itself, multiplies the steering input by the angle to the fork. Very little steering input movements turn into large, fast fork turns. Somewhat OK for a trike, but deadly on a two wheel Bent. 2 u-joints 90 degrees together produce 1:1 steering again.

I checked out 1/2 inch tool type swivel joints, but they were way too sloppy.

True, when you're operating with actual steam from actual boiling water. But Freon would develop pressure at a much lower temperature, therefore the temperature difference would not have to be as great?

Although honestly I don't see what the point it - an internal combustion engine runs at temperature far higher than what you'd need for a small steam engine on a bike or car.

I seem to recall seeing some model "steam" engines that used the expanding gases from dry ice to drive the cylinders....

Solid fuel, cool exhaust, whats not to love?