Feet forwards motorcycle

A Feet First (FF) Motorcycle is a class of motorcycle design that seeks to look at the two-wheeled concept afresh, and create a new form of practical personal transport. The name "feet first" (also referred to as "feet forward") was first used by Royce Creasey in the Hi-tech column in Bike Magazine in December 1979 and refers to the rider's seating position, with feet ahead in a position (like a car), rather than below and astride, as with conventional bikes. As there are other types of motorcycle (e.g. choppers) that have a 'feet forward' position, an alternative term sometimes used is Single Track Vehicle.

To be classed as an FF the originators of the 'modern' FF - Malcolm Newell and Royce Creasey - came up with the definition that:cite web
url = http://www.hightech.clara.net/feetfirs.htm#feet%20first
title = feet first two wheelers (FFs)
month= January | year= 2003
accessdate = 2007-01-16]

* "an FF would have a seat base less than 20 in (500 mm) from the ground, at normal ride height"

In practice this is not strictly adhered to, and this has developed into:

* "an FF two-wheeler is defined as a single track vehicle where the rider(s) sit in tandem in much the same attitude and at much the same height as car passengers. The seat provided is similar, and sometimes identical, to a car seat"

and that:

* "a feet first two-wheeler has a low-mounted seat and seat back like a car"

Rationale

Modern motorcycles are simply well-developed motorized bicycles, and as such have drawbacks. Chief among these are:

* Safety - riders involved in an accident are at significantly higher risk of injury or death compared with car drivers.
* Weather - motorcycles do not offer the advantages of an enclosed car in poor weather.
* Convenience - conventional motorcycle riders need to wear a helmet and protective clothing.
* Efficiency - motorcycles have a relatively tall profile that reduces aerodynamic performance.
* Skill - motorcycles riders need training and practice to become skilled at riding.

Likewise, in dense urban environments, the car has a number of drawbacks:

* Road occupancy - a car takes up much more space than a single person, and most cars transport only one person. Similarly the area occupied when parked consumes considerable space.
* Environment - a car uses more fuel than a motorcycle for the same journey. It is also more expensive in terms of resources to build in the first place.
* Journey times - a car is generally a lot slower than a motorcycle for city journeys due to congestion.

The FF motorcycle is an attempt to marry the advantages of bikes and cars, while avoiding the drawbacks of either. In addressing these issues, most FF designs arrive at a low-slung faired body, with the rider in a reclining position.

The first FF design was the Ner-a Car, built in the 1920s. It had a feet-forward riding position but in most other respects was similar to a motorcycle.cite web
url = http://www.neracar.com/main.htm
title = Ner-a-car
accessdate = 2007-01-16] The first recognisably modern design was the 1975 Quasar, built by Malcolm Newell and Ken Leaman. The design was not a commercial success - just 22 examples were sold - but it generated a great deal of interest, and started others thinking about the FF concept.cite web
url = http://www.quasarworld.plus.com/history.htm
title = Quasar
accessdate = 2007-01-16] More recently, Dan Gurney's All American Racers has produced a limited run of Alligator models.

A number of FF concepts have been tried, but so far a commercially successful design has not appeared. There has been a revival of interest in the motor scooter as a means of personal transportation, and in some respects these vehicles have features in common with FF motorcycles, the BMW C1 being a good example of this convergence. Whether the remaining evolutionary step to true FF takes place remains to be seen. vague|date=March 2008

Problems faced

The problems faced by the designer or marketer of an FF motorcycle are many. While to some the advantages of such a design are self-evident, there are a number of problems to be overcome. Some of these are perceptual - existing motorcyclists tend to be resistant to the idea, arguing that it's not a "proper" bike, and there is nothing wrong with the standard form of motorcycle. To car drivers, many of the disadvantages of the car are either not recognised or simply put up with and the overall convenience is hard to give up. Many car drivers would not consider a conventional motorcycle or scooter as an alternative, seeing it as a far less convenient and less safe option. To these people, an FF motorcycle needs to be seen (and hence marketed) as a two-wheeled car rather than an enclosed motorcycle. As the FF design moves the rider from upright posture (as in a scooter) to a recumbent posture (as in Dan Gurney's Alligator), the machine becomes lower and may make it harder to see in traffic.

There are some engineering issues too, though experimental designs so far built show that these can be overcome. Chief among these is the problem of stability when stationary. Designs such as the Quasar require the rider/driver to use one foot to stabilise the machine when stationary, by putting his foot out of the open side onto the road. This approach precludes the use of a fully enclosed body. Some modern attempts use automatic or rider-deployed stabiliser wheels, which pop out when the machine's speed falls to a low value. (See Cabin cycle) Another approach, patented by Honda, is to use a narrow tricycle arrangement, where there are a pair of rear wheels, which are connected to the body in such a manner as to permit this to tilt into corners as a normal bike does. At very low speed, the trike unit locks upright to the body, stabilizing it and holding it upright. This approach seems promising, but there are question marks about what happens if there is a sudden strong gust of wind from the side when in the locked position. However a trike arrangement is no longer a two-wheeler and has become a 'Tilting three wheeler'. It remains to be seen which approach is likely to succeed.

References

ee also

*Cabin cycle
*BMW C1 motorcycle

External links

* [http://www.bikeweb.com/ Bikeweb] FF site
* [http://www.hightech.clara.net/ Hitech] Feet First website
* [http://www.voyager03.co.uk/ Voyager03]
* [http://www.quasarworld.plus.com/index.htm Quasar World]
* [http://www.btinternet.com/~jhpart/bkencl3.htm J. Partridge's JP7 design]
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~miatav9/] FF Honda Helix minor redesign