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posted by hubie on Thursday September 22 2022, @01:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the and-you-thought-Hogs-were-loud dept.

Hoverbike Makes Its US Debut at Detroit Auto Show - ExtremeTech:

XTURISMO is the latest development out of AERWINS, a Japanese air mobility startup. While the hoverbike's center indeed looks like a street bike, it's surrounded by large fans, lending the vehicle the overall appearance of a massive, rideable drone. The 300-kilogram (661-pound) hoverbike is powered by both an internal combustion engine and a battery, which together lend XTURISMO its 40-kilometer (24.8-mile) cruising range. XTURISMO can zip around at speeds up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour while carrying payloads (AKA drivers) up to 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds.

[...] Though XTURISMO's range and speed are undoubtedly lower than some aspirational hoverbike drivers would hope for, the technology has to start somewhere, and mild freeway speeds aren't a terrible place to start. Of course, none of that matters if you're turned off by XTURISMO's $777,000 price tag...and its lack of availability in the US. Because Japan doesn't consider XTURISMO to be a type of aircraft, special licenses aren't required to drive it there, and Japanese residents can begin buying and driving the hoverbike as soon as they wish.

Action video


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 22 2022, @01:28AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 22 2022, @01:28AM (#1272924)

    First, because it's dumb, a flying veg-o-matic, a very loud one

    Second, the seat should be a nice recliner... Not some "stick your butt out like your waiting for a..." well, you know

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 22 2022, @01:50AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 22 2022, @01:50AM (#1272930)

      You can use them in your cyberpunk dystopian film and edit the leafblower noise out.

      • (Score: 4, Touché) by The Vocal Minority on Thursday September 22 2022, @04:58AM (1 child)

        by The Vocal Minority (2765) on Thursday September 22 2022, @04:58AM (#1272944) Journal

        My first though was "Hover bike, cool!". Then I watched the video...

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 23 2022, @05:52AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 23 2022, @05:52AM (#1273104)

          I muted my speakers, and I could still hear the damn thing! Insane! Modern airliners aren't as loud, and they produce a more pleasant sound when passing overhead

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by RamiK on Thursday September 22 2022, @01:00PM

    by RamiK (1813) on Thursday September 22 2022, @01:00PM (#1272980)

    How did we get to the point where the Japanese are building crappy Star-Wars inspired hoverbikes that takes a Jedi master's level reflexes not to get your face planted in a tree while there's a guy in Vancouver that's been lane-splitting in his Akira inspired recumbent ebike? https://www.electrom.ca/electrom-blog/ [electrom.ca]

    --
    compiling...
  • (Score: 2) by stretch611 on Thursday September 22 2022, @07:56PM

    by stretch611 (6199) on Thursday September 22 2022, @07:56PM (#1273046)

    At only 100kg max, it could not even lift off the ground with me on the seat. Not to mention not even having the room for groceries from the store. (And TBH, how is it going to sell without the ability to "pick up chicks"?)

    It sounds like a lawnmower. Only the most die hard rednecks will race those.

    3/4 million dollars for something that looks like a moped with fans.... good luck selling that.

    Also odd is how something that can't be sold in the US has all those US flag stickers on the bike.

    COMPLETE FAIL

    --
    Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 23 2022, @05:17PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday September 23 2022, @05:17PM (#1273214) Journal

    Props for the effort, but to me a motorcycle seems the wrong modality for a hoverbike. It's too easy to fall off. I'd much rather be in a pod like this [stuff.co.nz] that could pop out a coterie of air bags a la the Mars Pathfinder [nasa.gov] to cushion the fall should it lose power.

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    Washington DC delenda est.
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