How it began...
Hookah Art Car (top) & Bier Bike (Bottom)
Okay, we're Burning Man burners. We originally built an art car modeled after the Hookah Worm from Alice In Wonderland, (left) complete with hookah pipe in tow behind (not shown here). But there were issues (o: The Burning Man organization recognized that there were far too many art cars at BM (traffic jams and safety hazards), and were working seriously to cut back on the numbers. We barely got a license for Hookah, and were aware that restrictions were going to get tighter. In addition, Hookah was not without problems; he was based on a vintage '80s six passenger vehicle with a golf cart drive train, that, from the smell of things, was about to catch fire under overloaded conditions (o; So I put it back together and retired it to greener pastures.
The dilemma then was, what to build? Pedal power seemed to be the green, natural answer, and human powered vehicles are not required to have a permit at Burning Man. Soooo, what kind? I talked to many friends, and scoured the internet. Two appealing designs are the Conference Bike, a circular machine with riders facing inward in a circle and one person steering. It looked like a mechanical challenge, and wasn't quite what I was looking for. So then someone said, "Dude, check out the Pedal Pub on Youtube" (left). I saw that, and said "That's it!" I read up more on it, but it was a little larger than my interest, as they are bigger than a car which would make it difficult for me to move with my humble resources. I also read somewhere they were $20,000, so buying one was out of my range. Had ta build one! I contacted the company, hoping to buy drive train parts, but they explained that they only sold whole units (they did however ask me if I was interested in being a franchise outlet here in the U.S. for their Pubs). I already have a full-time job, and decided that wasn't for me.
And that's how it all started..... Gotta build one!
The dilemma then was, what to build? Pedal power seemed to be the green, natural answer, and human powered vehicles are not required to have a permit at Burning Man. Soooo, what kind? I talked to many friends, and scoured the internet. Two appealing designs are the Conference Bike, a circular machine with riders facing inward in a circle and one person steering. It looked like a mechanical challenge, and wasn't quite what I was looking for. So then someone said, "Dude, check out the Pedal Pub on Youtube" (left). I saw that, and said "That's it!" I read up more on it, but it was a little larger than my interest, as they are bigger than a car which would make it difficult for me to move with my humble resources. I also read somewhere they were $20,000, so buying one was out of my range. Had ta build one! I contacted the company, hoping to buy drive train parts, but they explained that they only sold whole units (they did however ask me if I was interested in being a franchise outlet here in the U.S. for their Pubs). I already have a full-time job, and decided that wasn't for me.
And that's how it all started..... Gotta build one!