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Cars are just terrible for the environment, and road congestion. Motorcycles are a much more efficient way of moving one person from place to place, but there are many reasons why people choose cars instead. One of them is the comfort of a car - who wants to ride a motorcycle in the rain? Or when
it's cold? Or when it's hot?
Maybe more people would get a two wheeled vehicle if they could buy, at reasonable cost, a garment which would offer the same environmental comfort as a car. Heated, cooled, waterproof, with premium Bose speakers in the helmet? Like a space suit but for motorcycles. You could even throw in some foam and kevlar for added safety. The whole thing could be worn over regular clothes then packed up and left with the bike when parked.
Motorcyle Air Conditioner
http://entrosys.com/
If your motorcycle doesn't have enough horsepower to run this... [DIYMatt, Nov 09 2010]
[link]
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[+] but where's the cup holder? |
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Isn't this called a SMART Car? |
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No, Smart cars offer a lower level of comfort and protection. |
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FACT: air conditioning is optional on "Smart" cars. |
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I see them as airconditioned motoring clothing, with wheels. |
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Too hot? Sweat.
Too cold? Wear a heated suit.
Raining? Get wet.
Want to listen to Bose®-quality tunes? Buy Bose® headphones.
If these tawdry inconveniences keep you from riding, buy a car. Period. [-] |
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// I see them as airconditioned motoring clothing, with wheels. // |
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We see them as the roadgoing equivalent of clay pidgeons ... |
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Do you mean pigeons? I think that shooting clay pigeons is a waste of perfectly good clay. |
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This is an old idea and this post has added no new ideas or a path to a solution. I wore a heated suit + gloves on a motorcycle to commute to Syracuse in winter in 1985 and I think it was old then. As for AC, where is there space on a bike for an AC system? 5-10 HP to run the system is nothing on a large car, annoying on a small car but would be BRUTAL on a motorcycle. I guess you could do the cool suit and cooler system like in NASCAR. If you want to stay dry in ANY weather, wear a drysuit. |
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Accept this fishbone till you come back with some meat for the idea. (-) |
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I ride with waterproofs and appropriate clothing. Speakers in the helmet are a bad idea, as is anything else which detracts from the riders perception of the world in general. |
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// 5-10 HP to run the system // [MisterQED] |
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But would you even need that much? Consider, the car AC has to cool the volume of air inside a car, whereas this has only to cool the volume of air between the suit skin and the wearer - a couple of litres, say. |
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This doesn't strike me as an inherently bad idea at all, as long as the suit costs less than a small car. |
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// cool suit and cooler system like in NASCAR. // |
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Does that use water circulating through lines in the suit? |
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//Consider, the car AC has to cool the volume of air inside a car, whereas this has only to cool the volume of air between the suit skin and the wearer - a couple of litres, say.// |
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That was exactly my reason for posting this idea. Normally to have all the comforts of a car requires a lot of energy because it is so inefficient to cool a large volume of air and move a large mass of metal just to keep someone dry. Even "Smart" cars suffer from this. |
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Now, if there are any doubters, see the link for a possible cooling source. |
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[DIYMatt], per your link, you are right this is
baked. My guess is it still pulls down a ton of juice
or does very little, though I guess just having the
air moving would be nice. I think you'd do better
with an air scoop and an arrangement to keep the
rain out. My bet is if you put this on anything but
a full dresser, then you'd overtax your electrical
system. |
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The problem with heating or cooling is not the air
mass, it is convection and to a lesser extent the
thermal mass of the stuff in the vehicle. The air is
not the tough thing to cool, it is doing it as the
environment works against you. Any realistic suit
is going to have lots of surface exposed to the
wind and sun. You could insulate it but then you'd
look like the Michelin Man. |
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// lots of surface exposed to the wind and sun // More than a ~car~?? No. |
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// see the link // Nice, but I would definitely want the matching undershorts. |
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// // lots of surface exposed to the wind and sun // More
than a ~car~?? No. // |
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In relative terms, yes. Surface area increases with the
square of size, whereas volume increases cubically. So
for objects of similar proportions, the smaller one has
significantly more surface area exposed relative to the
amount of air. The problem is made even worse when
you take into account the arms and legs of the suit, which
increase surface area without any increase in air volume.
Subtract the volume of the rider, and you're dealing with
an enormous surface area for a tiny amount of air. And
considering that the air is exposed to a heat source not
only from the environment, but also the rider, it's going
to be next to impossible to keep the air any cooler than
body temperature, let alone ambient temperature. |
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Regardless, I don't think the comfort factor is what stops
most people from riding. Riding a motorcycle is
dangerous and requires more skill, attention, and even
physical effort than driving a car. I ride ATGATT (all the
gear all the time) and to be honest, figuring out what to
do with all that stuff once you get to your destination can
be a hassle--not to mention that you need a second set of
gear to carry a passenger. And even on touring bikes,
cargo capacity is laughable compared to a subcompact. |
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Anyway, a lot of these comfort features are already
available either as an aftermarket accessory such as
heated clothing and music capable intercom systems, or
incorporated into the largest tourers like the Honda
Goldwing (affectionately known as a "rolling couch") or
the BMW K1200LT (the "LT" stands for "light truck").
Afraid I'm gonna have to give this a [-]. |
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