I was talking to a old buddy about the corsa project and we were reminsing on how damn cool the thing was and how much fun it was to ride. Now the bike market is allways problematic in that your selling somethng that is pretty complex but dont demand a real high value. The conversation drifted off into doing a new version either as a hybrid (human/electic with re gen braking) or a motorcycle version with about 500cc power to the rear wheel. The motorcycle version with some improvements (suspension, braking, tires, wheels, wheelbase, possiably as a leaner) and about 30% larger with eye level about the same as a lotus elise. Both might have a intresting market nitches, the motor version would command a much higher price point. My question to you is do either of these concepts resonate?
I could see that working well as an electric vehicle more so than with the gas engine. The design now seems to have a lot of room towards the bottom that could be used to carry battery packs and still keep the center of gravity very low, along with the weight and size.
My uncles been doing a bunch of stuff lately with lithium polymer batteries, retrofitting them into an ultralight trike (www.electraflyer.com) and has had good sucess with them. The packs he’s using are definately a lot larger (meant to power an aircraft for up to 90 minutes) than you’d need for something staying on the ground, but even then they’re still pretty compact.
Looks like it’d be fun though…almost like street luge except on flat terrain.
Thanks for your imput, a “motorcycle” version would be about 2x the size but keeping with in the same theme. The hybrid has some advatages in that ALL recumbent cycles just dont climb for shit, but with 350 watts of go in a battery and motor thats no longer a issue.
Theses products look great.
I can imagine the kind of experience you will get while driving them.
You can actually see your surrounding in different perspective (vista)…great!!
But I have few doubts about their position in current market scenario.
I believe they will fit in the recreation category.
You need to take them out ….allow few people to use them… take their feedback regarding experience, if this concept is produced (manual / motorized) how much they can pay for it.
How much time one person comfortably can spend on them?
(Develop good questionnaire…)
Can they become playful product like Go-karting?
I think you need to provide neck support & front nose protection (leg protection)
May be with option of transparent enclosure.
Another thing … for motorized option …you must give emphasis to occupant safety……
Area where you can sell?
Category1: Huge garden, Beach
Category2: Recreational Park, Small racing track (Go-karting)
they were in production for years, and faried very well for a lon time they were the best selling recumbent ever. people loved them the hybrid would just allow for longer range use.
neither resonates for me, simply because as an hpv it would seem more awkward & cumbersome than a normal bicycle, as an motorized vehicle there are better options in both recreational & streetable transportation. it would not appear to offer any significant advantage over what currently exist in those realms especially if it were at a premium price…
Along the lines of cg’s comments, I see two things that I would want to test out on the Corsa:
It seems like the user has to hold their head up all the time. I would be worried that I would get tired after 5 minutes.
The low position of the Corsa is what makes it look cool to me, especially versus the typical recumbent bike that CG posted (they do look dorky). However, I would be worried that if I rode the Corsa on a street, people may not be able to see me. Especially since I live in Montreal, where people already hit bikes all the time, that would be a concern. If I move to Suburbia, I wouldn’t think of that though.
It’s definitely worth considering resurrecting, especially considering the number of recumbent bikes I see in Montreal. They are pretty popular for not being widely available (read: at Wal-Mart).
We hipped all corsa’s with a flag that had a strobe mounted on top of it, easy now with LED tech. The head position was not tireing became pretty natural after a while however a higher head rest would be in order. In the redesign a few things would be done, 20" rear, 16" front (apposed to the16" and 12") for better rolling resistance. A hoop type upper head rest with the flashing LED’s built into it. Front disk brake, these suckers were FAST down hill and the single rear brake was not up to the task. It has long been discussed that a 'bent would be the ultimate moped and with the motor/battery systems we have now its would be a super way to make this a exclent touring beast, bents dont climb hills well but with 350-750 watts…your have more hp than lance armstrong. One thing that was not explained, you steered by leaning the side sticks from left to right, the brakes were when you pushed the sticks ahead and the triggers for the gear boxes were mounted on them too.
