Written by Peg Fong Thursday, 05 June 2008 UnoCycle  It’s not on the market yet, but when Popular Science Magazine has the UnoCycle on the cover as one of its top 10 inventions of the year, this machine is one to watch.
The UnoCycle was developed by 19-year-old inventor Ben Gulak of Toronto who inherited his grandfather’s machine shop, and has been a tinkerer for years. A trip to China two years ago got Gulak thinking about the environmental damage done by internal combustion engines. Determined to figure out a better solution, he came up with the Uno, a two-wheel electric motorcycle that’s smaller than the real thing. The all-electric vehicle emits zero emissions. While not the first electric motorcycle, it gets big props for unique design.
It works kind of like the Segway where the rider shifts position on the vehicle to accelerate or brake. Moving forward and backward is as simple as pushing forward in the seat or leaning back. When the rider turns, the wheels adjust for stability by keeping both inside and outside wheel on the ground at the same time.
Gulak has already spent about $50,000 on the prototype and hopes to be able to sell the Uno for about $6,000 - highly affordable for this knid of head-turning transportation. Business interest is definitely piqued, as he has already fielded interest from one motorcycle enthusiast, and producers at the Tonight Show on behalf of Jay Leno called recently to ask about the zippy Uno. Gulak came up with the name Uno, which means One, because it sounds European and from certain angles the two-wheeled motorcycle looks like it only has one wheel.
Via Popular Science and Motocycle Mojo
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