A Feet First (FF) Motorcycle is a class of motorcycle design that seeks to look at the two-wheeled concept afresh, and create a wholly 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. Imme R 100,Germany, 1948/1949 Contemporary racing motorcycle A 125 cc motorcycle, the Italian-manufactured Cagiva Planet. ... Imme R 100,Germany, 1948/1949 Contemporary racing motorcycle A 125 cc motorcycle, the Italian-manufactured Cagiva Planet. ... Chopper refers to a particular type of motorcycle that was radically customized to meet the owners needs and desires, archetypical examples of which being the Harley-Davidsons as seen in the 1969 movie Easy Rider. ...

To be classed as an FF the originators of the 'modern' FF - Malcolm Newell and Royce Creasey - came up with the definition that:

• an FF would have a seat base less than 20" (500mm) 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

The thinking behind FF motorcycles is that essentially modern motorcycles are simply well-developed motorized bicycles, and as such have many drawbacks. Chief among these are: This racing bicycle is built using lightweight, shaped aluminium tubing and carbon fiber stays and forks. ...

• 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 inclement weather.
• Convenience - conventional motorcycle riders need to wear special clothing such as a helmet and leathers.
• Dynamics - motorcycles have a relatively high centre of gravity that erodes stability, and reduces aerodynamic performance.
• Skill - motorcycles riders need good training and practice to become skilled at riding.

Likewise, in dense urban environments, the car has a number of drawbacks: A motorcycle helmet is a type of protective headgear used by motorcycle riders. ... An automobile is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own motor. ...

• Road occupancy - a car takes up vastly more space than a single person, and most cars usually carry only one person. Similarly the area occupied when not in use (parking) consumes a vast amount of space that could be better utilized.
• Environment - a car uses a lot 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 recognisable 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. 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. More recently, Dan Gurney's All American Racers has produced a limited run of Alligator FF models. The 1920s were a decade sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...

To date a number of FF concepts have been tried, but so far nobody has managed to come up with a commercially successful design. In recent times there has been a considerable 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. Whether the remaining evolutionary step to true FF takes place remains to be seen. A typical mid 1980s twist and go scooter. ...

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. Finally, it's worth noting that 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 overall 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, and since there are so few examples in practice, a definitive design has yet to be realised. Cabin cycle is a form of land vehicle that has a hull that wraps around the basic bicycle or motorcycle design. ... For other uses, see Honda (disambiguation). ... A tilting three wheeler is a vehicle whose body and or wheels tilt in the direction of the turn. ...

CLEVER

While hitherto the FF has been either produced in very low volumes (e.g. the Quasar) or else been built by back-yard enthusiasts with limited resources, a new initiative by the Centre for Power Transmission and Motion Control at the University of Bath appears to be promising, with substantial industry funding, an EU grant, and an approach unhampered by some of the received wisdom of the past. Dubbed CLEVER (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport - not quite an acronym), the design has been developed to prototype form with ongoing productionisation work. The design utilises the tilting three wheeler concept with computer controlled actuators which tilt the main body for cornering. The vehicle is 1m wide, with a full length two seater tandem seating arrangement. More information can be read at these links:[1][2][3] The University of Bath is a campus university located near Bath, England at 51°22. ... Clever is an Australian television series hosted by Georgie Parker. ... Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial letter or letters of words, such as NATO and XHTML, and are pronounced in a way that is distinct from the full pronunciation of what the letters stand for. ... Productionisation is the process of turning a prototype of a design into a version that can be more easily mass produced. ... A tilting three wheeler is a vehicle whose body and or wheels tilt in the direction of the turn. ...

External links

• Bikeweb A site dedicated to FFs
• Hitech Royce Creasy's Feet First website
• Voyager03
• Quasar World
• The Neracar