Bike made from car to escape from desert

[40X40]

IDK if this is on the level or not... but it is an interesting story nonetheless.


http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/23/man-stranded-in-desert-builds-motorcycle-out-of-his-broken-car/

Bill

 

[greengeeker]

Interesting. I don't buy that he made it in the desert but I'll give him props for finding something cool to do with a Citroen

Can one of our brothers to the north translate the captions?

 

[whitedog]

One reason given for not walking out is that he wouldn't be able to take his gear out. So why would he build this if he can't get his gear on it?

And what's up with that second to the last picture on that link? Was that really needed?

 

[Lug_Nut]

The chassis has been split down the center line. The fore and aft extensions [swing arms?] have been [reversed? flipped over? in order to put the wheels closer to the center line of the remaining chassis].
The brake drum presses directly on the rear tire, the direction of rotation requires it to rotate backward, at a limit of 20 kph. [had to run in reverse gear to get this rotation, single speed and thus the reason for the 12 mph limit]
The saddle has been built on the end of a (something) and padded with (something else), then wrapped in orange adhesive tape to stunning effect.
The right brake drum is blocked so that the differential distributes all the power to that on the left.
The front steer wheel is the only one to benefit from suspension.

 

[snakeye]

Stranded in a desert and he has time and energy to build one of these before running out of food and water? Seems legit.

 

[MrMopar]

These guys aren't impressed.

 

[Lug_Nut]

I am impressed that someone else knows how to use a slide rule!

 

[White Crow]

Guess he took it apart then decided he could not eat it and made a bike. The 2CV is probably the simplest car ever made so I guess it's some thing that could be made with a hand full of tools. Don't quite understand why he didn't just fix the car maybe some thing actually snapped off that would require welding.

 

[Yblocker]

"A few tens of kilometers" out. So... maybe 30 or 40 miles? I'd have walked out in 2 nights and saved myself the trouble.

 

[whitedog]

"A few tens of kilometers" out. So... maybe 30 or 40 miles? I'd have walked out in 2 nights and saved myself the trouble.

I hear ya. It's a good story, but it's little stuff like this that makes the BS flag fly.