The Clockwork Motorcycle Project

[akumabito]

That thing is bad ass!

[Johnny Payphone]

Watch online:

http://www.videozer.com/video/42IYDo

[Johnny Payphone]

[bicyclebuilder]

Wonderfull machine. I can imagine the enviroment would be cleaner when all vehicles are clockwork powered. 

[53Bash]

Looks like the bike cam off pretty well!

I wonder if maybe it would work better without an escapement and instead using a nuvinchi hub or a scooter derived CVT.  You would put it in e very high gear before releasing the spring, so the launch would not be TO hard, and then reduce the gear as the spring wound down.  Obvious drawback is - no ticking.

I'd be sorely tempted to weld a bolt head to the end of those spring axles and wind them up with an impact wrench or other mechanical power source...

I have to ask, how the HELL did NG end up picking you?  Kinda sounded like it was "out of the blue", but I'm guessing there is a back story...

Wonderfull machine. I can imagine the enviroment would be cleaner when all vehicles are clockwork powered. 

The winding power still has to come from somewhere, so unless that somewhere is a clean source, no.  And for a given amount of stored energy, a spring weighs more that pretty much any other method of storing energy, meaning your clockwork vehicles use more power to get anywhere, burn up more brake pads, kick up more dust, need more space on the road to transport the same number of people, etc.

Fun idea, but only useful on a toy scale.  Some folks just build bigger toys than others. 

[Narsil]

The problem with using any kind of CVT to regulate spring output is that instantaneous power of a spring is not linear with extension. All any kind of gear/pully/cone transmission can do is change the ratio of torque to rpm, it can't do much to moderate the rate of energy release. So whatever gear ratios you use you still have the problem that you have a lot of power when the spring is fully wound and the power gradually decreases as it is unwinds.

This isn't to say that a CVT might not be a useful addition but I'm not sure that it would work as a replacement for an escapement of some sort.

An escapement works very much like an electrical inverter in that it moderates power by converting it to a series of pulses. In itself this is potentially very efficient since you're not actually dissipating any of the output, just interrupting it. Of course the real world efficiency depends a lot on the design of the escapement.

One way around this is by using constant rate springs.

[53Bash]

How about a governor on the spring output shaft that cranked up the CVT ratio when the output shaft spun faster.  That would alter the resistance the spring felt, somewhat moderating the power release (be producing more vehicle movement for less spring movement).  That's pretty much what I was aiming at, without the governor (just the rider changing the ratio as they want more / less torque on the drive wheel).

Your right; the energy release would not be steady.  I was thinking in terms of a spring powered drag racer, not a vehicle for cruising around on.  All you need for a drag racer is to avoid breaking the rear wheel loose; you otherwise pretty much WANT to use all your power ASAP. 

[dj_nme]

Watch online:

http://www.videozer.com/video/42IYDo

The video seems to be gone

[bicyclebuilder]

You could also divide the spring into multiple springs, as I explained here.

About the spring propelled bike: With the springs, why not divide and concour. Make a battery of springs in boxes. Have each boxed spring seperetly winded by a group of people. (I don't know if the clockwork bike is going to be a preformence artists bike, but this way you can connect with the public) Put the boxes in the bike and have them connected with gears. This also divides the tourgue of one giant spring into several smaller springs.
Imagine this chainsaw bike with the chainsaws replaced by springs.

As akumabito mentioned: you have to put power in, before you can extract the power. Plus you have to drag along all the weight, and add extra power for friction bitween the gears. Either way, if you're going for the spring or air power, the best way to put power in is by dividing amongst a group of people.

[Loclif]

You Sir are a credit to Inventors and Tinkerers everywhere. Superb work!

[Lokis_Tyro]

All-in-all this is a very cool project. Mad props to the mad man behind it!

I like the idea of multiple springs with some sort of clutch on each one. A clutch designed to not completely "drain" the spring of it's energy would make rewinding a little less tedious. If it were possible to used each spring individually until power was low that would be a good idea? Sorry if all of this has been covered before but I can't watch videos in my current location and I at times get lost in the seas of jargon.