Parady Cabin Helix, Florida
This Honda Helix-based machine was built in 1989 by Steve Parady of Saint Cloud, Florida and he displayed it at a motorcycle safety conference in Florida in 1990, which is where Tom Waterer of the MCIA took this photo. I devoted a whole page of the No.17 Best Feet Forward magazine to the machine in Spring 2000. The bodywork was constructed of sheets of polycarbonate plastic attached to an aluminium frame. The acrylic bubble canopy came from a kit airplane but was unfortunately cracked when Steve dropped the machine making a U-turn. It had a car-style seat fitted in the 'U' of the original frame.
Compare and contrast with Craig Vetter's Helix-based streamliner elsewhere on this site. Paul Blezard
Photo by Tom Waterer.
Design observations - Cabin Helix bodywork
Craig Vetter, designer
www.craigvetter.com
This presents a great opportunity to see the problems we face. This thing represents a lot of work. but in the end, it is not streamlined. Air hates to smack into the front wheel stuff. Air should slip by but is grabbed into the great scoops for the rider's legs. I doubt that this bodywork does much for enhancing performance. To that end, bodywork adds up quickly in weight. So, maybe this is to stay dry in the Florida rain. But major problems happen when we totally enclose ourselves to stay dry. In the rain, the inside and outside of our windshields get wet and fogged over. We cannot see. So, we cannot drive in the rain. In my Windjammer days, we would advise riders to keep their windshield just below the horizon, so they could peek over to see where they were going. How does this guy deal with this? How does anybody deal with this?
Reply to Craig Vetter's Cabin Helix bodywork observations
Craig said:
CV: "This presents a great opportunity to see the problems we face. This thing represents a lot of work. but in the end, it is not streamlined."
PNB: I am sure it's far from perfect, but I'm equally certain that it is far better streamlined than a standard Helix!
CV: " Air hates to smack into the front wheel stuff. Air should slip by but is grabbed into the great scoops for the rider's legs".
PNB: I agree. But I'm sure it could be dramatically improved with hinged 'flaps' which the rider's feet could push though.
CV: "I doubt that this bodywork does much for enhancing performance".
PNB: My recollection of my correspondence with the machine's creator is that it did actually have a significant positive effect on performance, but he didn't ˜push it to the max".
CV: To that end, bodywork adds up quickly in weight. So, maybe this is to stay dry in the Florida rain. But major problems happen when we totally enclose ourselves to stay dry. In the rain, the inside and outside of our windshields get wet and fogged over. We cannot see. So, we cannot drive in the rain. In my Windjammer days, we would advise riders to keep their windshield just below the horizon, so they could peek over to see where they were going. How does this guy deal with this? How does anybody deal with this?
PNB: For a conventional bike I agree with your solutions. I do the same. An adjustable screen, especially one whose height can be adjusted at the push of a button, is ideal. All bikes should have them, not just BMWs, Pan Euros and Burger King Executives.
I also use fog-free visors, some of which really do work.
For a fully enclosed machine like the Cabin Helix or an Ecomobile (of which I have driven many, over thousands of miles since 1988) a de-mister is essential, and the de-misting is helped by a roof-vent.
See elsewhere on this website, here, for example:
http://www.bikeweb.com/node/1197
PNB