[Pil-pc-oceania] bike crash

[Robyn Francis]

On 8/4/08 9:32 PM, "mossmans" <mossmans at internode.on.net> wrote:

> Please also consider who can crash, young children and people like me who
> are abit unstable on the road, we also need more innovative bikes which I
> rarely see here eg a three wheeler, but I would love as I tend to wobble or
> go off course

Hi Sue
A friend and cyclist who used to cycle all over Sydney often complained of
rude or thoughtless motorists, and the dangerous practice of cars speeding
past bicycles with less than a meter clearance, often the wind generated is
enough to throw one's balance. Anyway, he found the safest way to cycle was
to wobble a bit every now and then so cars would give him a wide berth - it
definitely made for safer cycling but increased the verbal abuse and horn
honking factor considerably!
Legally a bicycle has right a full traffic lane but most motorists either
don't know or don't respect this.

I invested in a motor-assisted trike last year, mainly chose the trike cos
it can carry much more than a bike and thus would reduce a lot more of my
motor vehicle use. The tray can carry up to 200kg, bulk is the main limiting
factor. I find I can do most of my local business using the trike and the
van only for longer trips or larger loads. It's cut my MV use by 80% in
terms of number of trips and nearly 50% in terms of kilometers (excluding
the Sydney journey for APC9).

The Rotary trikes http://www.rotarybike.com are made in Burleigh Heads (Gold
Coast), very well built. Picked mine up direct from the workshop, which was
a considerable cost saving.  I love my trike and it's generated a lot of
interest - see more things like this being the way of the future for
personal mobility.

Re - my trike, I'm pretty happy with how it performs, it's very different to
riding a bike. I have the electric motor version and am considering
increasing the battery capacity so I can do slightly longer trips - the
existing batteries start to lose power after 3 or 4 km. Would like to get a
24v solar charger for the batteries so it's completely "green". The petrol
motor version will do 80-100km on 1 litre of fuel.

Have attached a low res pic

Ciao
Robyn

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