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Sea Hawg
Recumbent hydrofoil, by Harley-Davidson | |
Long, dual front forks curve rakishly from the handlebar pommel through the surface of the water. From between and above the cylinders of the exposed air-cooled V-Twin, the teardrop shaped storage comparment segues down to the bottom of the engine where the hinged stern drive assembly branches off,
then curving to the rear and slightly up to form the frame holding the shark-leather wrapped seat, behind which the second seat is flanked by sealable leather saddlebags - "Easy Waterstrider".
The Sea Hawg turns into a nimble ocean cruiser once it's up on its foils: the main waterfoil includes the propeller/waterjet and rear-rudder; the front canard, attached to the forks, controls pitch attitude.
To the standard "autopilot" functions - steering, power and stability locks, an active sonar device, housed in the canard, warns of obstructions at low speed and can steer around same at higher speeds if selected, shielding or retracting the running gear to avoid damage, if unavoidable.
Included with purchase, one black leather lifejacket with optional chaps, and a pair of pressure-equalizing WWI style aviator goggles.
Finish options on the water chopper include chrome, nickel or galvanized. The "sissy-bar" backrests can be ordered with or without snorkel functionality, for both engine and rider; kickstand available as single or dual.
Please state whether you want transverse or longitudinal engine mounting, and provide projected driver + passenger weights, for the default trim settings.
Sport rider doing a proppy
http://mikeshouts.c...ersonal-watercraft/
(not a wheelie) [normzone, May 20 2015]
"Speed, alcohol, and limited visibility...were contributing factors"
http://bangordailyn...t-into-docked-boat/
[normzone, May 20 2015]
"since these changes have not been tested, they may increase the risk..."
https://seadooonboa...-wf-3-of-a-kind.jpg
[normzone, May 20 2015]
Prototype development
http://s89.photobuc...neckjetski.jpg.html
On time and within budget - looks like a halfbaker's work [normzone, May 20 2015]
" the world's oldest personal watercraft..."
http://www.britbike...wflat&Number=339773
[normzone, May 20 2015]
Redneck pontoon boat
http://www.petersen...ntoon-picnic-table/
[normzone, May 20 2015]
Another redneck pontoon boat
https://www.pintere.../23362491792088329/
[normzone, May 20 2015]
For those who prefer to ride whilst squashing their crotches.
http://s3images.cor...1tOSg0_gAbHFQ84.jpg
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, May 20 2015]
[link]
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Great. Now we're going to have Baby-Seal-Leather wearing roving gangs of watercraft pirate gangs, a la Waterworld. Or Somalia... |
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Not that far off already with the "personal watercraft" offerings in the marketplace today. |
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//Baby Seal leather// I had walrus in mind, but whatever floats your boat. [edit: thanks, for some reason I couldn't think of anything but cow leather] |
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//not that far off// The only similarities to existing personal watercraft is that it's a personal watercraft. |
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Jetskis, the most common, are full-hulled boatlets, their flotation is due to a fibreglass-wrapped styrofoam core, and they're driven in a stress-inducing position for short distances. They're scooters... quadcycles at best. Nifty toys, but face it, you could paint one flat black and mount a couple of .50cals on it... and it would still look like it was unloaded from the back of a minivan with a promise to the driver to be home for dinner or call. |
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The Seahawg is a hydrofoil meant, like the chopper of the 1960's I've subtly tried to emulate, for highway (open lake, sea) cruising, above the waves. The driving position is recumbent, even moreso than a roadgoing hawg: the engine's pretty much in the driver's lap. Legs are stretched out under the V-cylinder heads, and the driver is sitting (not straddling) comfortably, leaning back on the sissybar (or passenger). |
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Of course, like the roadgoing chopper, its trawling-speed performance leaves a bit to be desired: the front and rear storage compartments are the only flotation devices, so it's mostly submerged while the engine's idling. |
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Cool, and those negatives are all fixable.
Give it dual tail pipes and make one of them a fake snorkel intake which can point upwards while at rest so that the engine can continue to run while partially submerged.
If you simply want it to 'look' like a chopper then I'd lose the gasoline and go full on electric with dual opposed flywheels housed in the gas tank to keep the craft upright even when cruising at the lowest speeds. |
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The regular air intake is a scoop on top of the teardrop (which is really a storage compartment). Had no real special place to put the exhaust, but automatically closing flaps, in case of dunking (and spit valves in case they don't close fast enough) are de rigeur. |
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The sissybar (seat backrest on what looks like a vertical trombone slide) can double as a snorkel for both engine and humans. |
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The filler cap is in the same place as a bike: on top of the teardrop, but the gas tank is under the seat, for better weight distribution. |
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//E-Sea Rider// Electric's fine for the short haul, but I'm thinking a few hundred miles' range. |
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Well, what happens if the engine conks out and now it's top-heavy? Do the floatation devices keep it upright?
Far more energy can be stored in flywheels than in a tank of gas or a battery. If the flywheels were magnetic then bringing copper brushes within range would produce electricity to charge a battery. |
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Guess I'm a bit against gas and oil being used to power watercraft and unfailingly ending up contaminating the water when I know it does not need to be that way. |
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Don't get me wrong, I love the idea. |
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The teardrop and saddlebags are what keeps it afloat when it's not running on the planes (the saddlebags are hard-skinned compartments, not satchels). The machine is mostly steel, aluminium and leather. The seals (lids) are above the resting waterline but if a wave crashes in then while they're open... bloop. |
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It's not top heavy. The "teardrop" is larger than on a landbike and extends in front of the engine. Say about 4 cubic feet total, since it extends backwards as well, down between driver and engine, then forming the tubular mounting for seats, et cetera. The saddlebags kick in another 3 cu ft, so that's about 450lb of flotation, and if you include the displacement of the engine et cetera, that comes to almost 600lb of lift. The bike is projected to be about 400lb so there's plenty of wiggle room. |
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I hear ya on the gasoline issue, but until fuel cells kick in I'm pretty stickly on internal combustion, for the proper weight, power and range (okay, maybe a turbine, but they're gas hogs). Feel free to imagine CNG, LNG or even H2 as the primary fuel, but then long trips have to be _very_ carefully mapped out in advance, for refueling. |
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I was more concerned about obstacles, since an aquaplane doesn't have the curved tips that a ski does, but working sonar would take care of that (and you can point it slightly downwards at low speeds to find fish), even if a purely mechanical method wouldn't suffice. |
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