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Sunday, October 30, 2011

The Hudspith Steam Bicycle

From the great tradition of tinkerers comes this steam-powered bicycle developed by Geoff Hudspith.

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The power source is an Optimus paraffin burner, which sounds to me a lot like a backpacking stove.

It looks unbalanced, but “The weight of the boiler is largely counterbalanced by the weight of the flywheel, transmission and water pump, etc, and the water tank on the rear right hand side when underway.  It is only ever a problem when lifting the machine up or down the stairs to my first floor council flat, single handed, when the front end tries to flop over to the left all the time. “

Cementing Geoff’s membership in the tinkerer’s group is this final comment.

“Such a machine is never truly finished, and most times I run it, I think of an improvement to make for next time.  After all, it has only taken me 30 years so far!”

In terms of why you would want to do this, I think “Because” is the only answer.

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  1. Anonymous8:18 PM

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