What is this?

[pistonpopper]

I was given this earlier this week, but does anyone know what it's called?







Does anyone know who made them? I seem to remember them being on Tomorrows World back in the late seventies or early eighties. Does anyone have any information about them at all, or better yet, does anyone have one?

[comfortablynumb]

Yeah looks like a quick trip to casualty to me!

[luckyseven]

Just add batteries

[Darkspeed]

Most would call it a silly idea!

[MiataMark]

I think it looks fun, but yes I'd wear a helmet. Ask @johnnybravo or MrSpeedy if they could fit an engine to it...

[Mercdan68]

I seem to have a vague memory of these from the 70s??
Looks like a right giggle to me!!

[Darkspeed]

Similar ended up kite powered - never quite got them myself - preferred three wheels on mine - XXRacer

[pistonpopper]

Yep, I'd pretty much made up my mind that a helmet is the way forward, and I think it may well be my motorcycle helmet as opposed to my bicycle helmet! I might even wear my motorcycle clothing! My uncle won the thing in a competition in the early eighties I think. Anyway he tried it once, and decided that it was too dangerous to use then put it in his garage until yesterday when my aunty asked me if i would like it. Didn't offer it to her own children or even grandchildren, straight to me, because, and I quote, "It looks like your kind of thing!" Just what the heck is that supposed to mean? Anyway, I've shown it to my children, and by the seem of things its their kind of thing too... Not shown it to Mrs Pistonpopper yet, as I'm pretty sure it won't be her kind of thing, and if i'm not careful, that will mean that it isn't our kind of thing either! But it does look like a bit of a laugh, and I'm going to give it a go, as it's big enough for an adult, even a fat one like me! I'd just like to know a bit more about it, i've tried searching on google, but without knowing what it's called i'm pretty much just wandering in the dark... I kinda hoped that one of you maniacs out there might have one too!

[Midas]

Oct 11, 2017 16:20:03 GMT Mercdan68 said:

I seem to have a vague memory of these from the 70s??

Ditto, but can't for the life of me remember the context.

[Del]

The wheels are from James Dyson's Ballbarrow, I'd bet:
deconstructingproductdesign.com/dyson-ballbarrow/

But how does this go-kart thing work?

[pistonpopper]

Oct 11, 2017 17:30:47 GMT Del said:

The wheels are from James Dyson's Ballbarrow, I'd bet:
deconstructingproductdesign.com/dyson-ballbarrow/

But how does this go-kart thing work?

Yep, I'd say those are the wheels alright, as for how it works, well, it's very simple. You park your bum in the orange plastic seat whilst the thing is parked at the top of a hill. Then you take hold of the two levers, which ever lever you pull towards you, turns the front wheel in that direction. Then you squeeze the brake lever, this releases the back brake, and you're off... Into the great unknown!

[Stiff]

I'd restore that to 'as new' condition. It's a fantastically quirky piece and might be worth a bob or two. (If not now, certainly in a few years).

Gulf colours too, ftw!

[jiminwatford]

Oct 11, 2017 16:14:09 GMT MiataMark said:

I think it looks fun, but yes I'd wear a helmet. Ask @johnnybravo or MrSpeedy if they could fit an engine to it...

Yeh!



www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2015/december/mcn-plus---picture-story-how-well-ride-in-the-future-according-to-the-past/

[metalshapes]

Looks like it comes apart in the middle.

That must be so you can put the engine in.

Should be a lot of fun after that...

[pistonpopper]

It does come apart in the middle, I'm presuming thats so it's easier to put it in your car for transporting it to your hill of choice.

[bmcnut]

That thing looks like it would turn me into about 5 pieces. Awesomly.

[pistonpopper]

I really could do with finding out what it's called, i've been doing various google image searches trying names that i think it may be called, and i'm getting some very questionable results...



and incase thats not enough...



Erm... ok... Funny, when I was a kid my Space Hopper only had two handles!

[Del]

Oct 11, 2017 17:38:11 GMT pistonpopper said:

Yep, I'd say those are the wheels alright, as for how it works, well, it's very simple. You park your bum in the orange plastic seat whilst the thing is parked at the top of a hill. Then you take hold of the two levers, which ever lever you pull towards you, turns the front wheel in that direction. Then you squeeze the brake lever, this releases the back brake, and you're off... Into the great unknown!

So 'toboggan' or 'sled' is obviously not bringing anything up. Could it be some sort of bobsleigh trainer maybe?

[Mercdan68]

funniest thread of the year award to you SIR!!
That space hopper ain’t for me tho

[pistonpopper]

Thanks Mercdan68 , If you decide the space hopper is for you, then they're just $24.99 on amazon! I've not tried bobsleigh trainer yet, thanks Del ! You've got to be so careful what you search for on Google when you've got it searching for images, I was once trying to work out how to spell "amateur" I'd written it in one of my threads but it just didn't look right, so I copied it and just popped it into Google images, figuring that i'd search, then change it to the web pages to bring up some online dictionary... That was an eye opener I can tell you!