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Hubless Monster Motorcycle Rolls Without Spokes
jalopnik ^ | Mon Jan 26 2009 | Wes Siler

Posted on 01/27/2009 11:25:03 AM PST by martin_fierro

The biker boys at Amen Design have built a chopper based around Franco Sbarro’s hubless wheels. And it really rides!

Hubless wheels work by fixing the rotating parts (brake ring, bearings, hubless rim) onto the outer side of a non-rotating inner ring that attaches to the motorcycle’s swingarm or forks.

Advantages include decreased unsprung weight, reduced structural stress (no spokes to transmit forces through), increased braking leverage, more accurate steering, reduced vibration and a lower center of gravity. Hubless wheels also look bitchin’, which, we’re guessing is the main motivating factor in Amen’s decision to use them.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Hobbies; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: amen; hubless; motorcycles; sayyourprayers
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h/t to Constitution Day

1 posted on 01/27/2009 11:25:04 AM PST by martin_fierro
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To: Constitution Day; 230FMJ; 68 grunt; absolootezer0; AdamSelene235; AJMaXx; angry elephant; arbooz; ..

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2 posted on 01/27/2009 11:27:47 AM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: martin_fierro; Constitution Day

Look ma no spokes!


3 posted on 01/27/2009 11:30:22 AM PST by stainlessbanner
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Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: martin_fierro

Who’s going to be the first person to try to dive through the wheel while it’s moving?


5 posted on 01/27/2009 11:34:01 AM PST by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
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To: martin_fierro

“reduced structural stress (no spokes to transmit forces through)”

This is nonsense. The forks still see all the weight the whell sees - period.


6 posted on 01/27/2009 11:34:38 AM PST by Pessimist
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To: FrPR

I was thinking the same thing, I am positive Billy Lane was doing this years ago.


7 posted on 01/27/2009 11:35:53 AM PST by MatD
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To: martin_fierro
The back wheel looks cool, but the front just looks weird.


8 posted on 01/27/2009 11:36:39 AM PST by smokingfrog (T.A.R.P. = Viagra for politicians and you get screwed.)
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To: Pessimist

There is almost no stronger way to biuld a wheel than with spokes...What buffoons.


9 posted on 01/27/2009 11:36:40 AM PST by SENTINEL (Bxxxxx Box, Jxxx Box, Cxxxxxxxx Box, (Censored due to loss of 1st Amendment))
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To: smokingfrog
LOL! I thought the same thing when I read the thread...check this out:

http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/motorwhl/motowhl1.jpg

10 posted on 01/27/2009 11:38:30 AM PST by Constitution Day (Big Brotha Is Watching You)
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To: martin_fierro

wouldn’t setting the forks that close to the bottom of the wheel REALLY screw up the steering/ handling?


11 posted on 01/27/2009 11:40:25 AM PST by absolootezer0 (thank God for Chicago: makes Detroit look wholesome by comparison.)
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To: MatD
One of Billy's hubless bikes. OK, so it's just the rear, but hey, it's right.


12 posted on 01/27/2009 11:41:53 AM PST by P8riot (I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop.)
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To: martin_fierro

OK, how do you change the tire and how long will it take to change?


13 posted on 01/27/2009 11:42:23 AM PST by WellyP
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To: SENTINEL
There is almost no stronger way to biuld a wheel than with spokes...

Accept for all the other ways, right? Or are you talking about its strength versus its weight?

14 posted on 01/27/2009 11:44:18 AM PST by SampleMan (Community Organizer: What liberals do when they run out of college, before they run out of Marxism.)
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To: absolootezer0

“wouldn’t setting the forks that close to the bottom of the wheel REALLY screw up the steering/ handling?”

Not sure how the handling would be affected, but there’d be much greater danger from road debris. Imagine snagging the forks on rocks or potholes instead of just riding over the bumps like with a normal wheel. It looks pretty cool, but I’ll definitely defer to others to do the beta testing.


15 posted on 01/27/2009 11:45:37 AM PST by Texan Tory
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To: WellyP
OK, how do you change the tire and how long will it take to change?

In Obamaworld, it must be changed through Government, and with great haste.

16 posted on 01/27/2009 11:47:37 AM PST by theDentist (Qwerty ergo typo : I type, therefore I misspelll)
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To: martin_fierro

That rear tire is bizarre.


17 posted on 01/27/2009 11:47:53 AM PST by EggsAckley
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To: martin_fierro

There is still a hub but the hub is fatter and has a hole in it.


18 posted on 01/27/2009 11:48:23 AM PST by posterchild (Endowed by my Creator with certain inalienable rights.)
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To: Constitution Day
I would love to try one of those, but would not feel comfortable sitting that close to the ground.

McLean Monowheel

19 posted on 01/27/2009 11:51:26 AM PST by smokingfrog (T.A.R.P. = Viagra for politicians and you get screwed.)
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To: SampleMan
Spoked wheels most closely resemble "Perimeter Box" construction, which always results in the highest strength to weight ratios, materials being equal.

The spoked wheel is closest to a pure "tension / compression" stress loading with very small bending moments due to the left / right "overlap".

Even the "solid" fat boy type wheel design is not stronger, when matched for weight.

20 posted on 01/27/2009 11:54:18 AM PST by SENTINEL (Bxxxxx Box, Jxxx Box, Cxxxxxxxx Box, (Censored due to loss of 1st Amendment))
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