Two wheels, yes, but what the heck is that?

September 4, 5:27 PMMotorcycle ExaminerKen Bingenheimer

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Ben Gulak on his electric-powered Uno

A wheel in front and a wheel in back. A wheel in back and two in front. Two wheels in back and one in front. Motorcycle designers have tried all of these approaches. Are you ready for two wheels side by side?

That's what 19-year-old Ben Gulak has come up with here for his Uno. It's only in prototype at this time but you may be seeing these on the road in a couple years.

Obviously Ben is no ordinary 19 year old. His grandfather had a well-equipped shop and Ben loved learning how to make stuff. When his grandfather died he willed his shop to Ben.

As the engineering whiz he obviously is, Ben was participating in an international science fair in Beijing and, seeing the horrible smog in that city, he decided an electric vehicle would be the way to go.

After working out the basic design on his own, Ben turned to Trevor Blackwell, the inventor of the Eunicycle, a single-wheeled gyro-stabilized vehicle, for further development assistance. Together they came up with what you see here. The top speed is only 15 mph but Ben feels certain that can be raised to 40 mph and they continue to perfect the stability.

How does it work? You lean forward to go forward, and the further you lean the faster it goes. Lean left to go left, and lean right to go right. Very much like Dean Kamen's Segway.

What was it that the head of the U.S. Patent Office said about 100 years ago about everything that could be invented already had been?