Watch Those Pontoons

[Jeff Miller]

Another observation from my introduction to sidecar rigs.

When I took my first ride piloting the sidecar rig I noticed that I kept falling into habits of being aware of where my body was with respect to the road and how this on two occasions brought the sidecar precariously close to obstructions I wasn't even paying attention to.

I witnessed this again when the novice sidecar rider in front of me did a natural motorcycle positioning to stagger himself from the rider in front of him. This in turn resulted in his sidecar being in the other lane.

As we look forward to driving our elios I wonder how many of us will fall into our normal car driving position and drift to the left of our lane so that we will feel as we do when driving a normal car. If we do, that left pontoon will be in the other lane, shoulder, or off the road. I doubt it will take long to adapt but it is something to think about once you get behind the wheel of your elio.

 

[Rickb]

I look forward to that first test drive. Since we sit dead center in the narrow Elio it seems we should be able to maintain a center lane position without a problem. I wondered about being able to view the fenders so as not to scrape side objects when driving or turning into tight or narrow spaces like this: Fenders do look low and not in the drivers line of sight.

 

[zelio]

Another observation from my introduction to sidecar rigs.

When I took my first ride piloting the sidecar rig I noticed that I kept falling into habits of being aware of where my body was with respect to the road and how this on two occasions brought the sidecar precariously close to obstructions I wasn't even paying attention to.

I witnessed this again when the novice sidecar rider in front of me did a natural motorcycle positioning to stagger himself from the rider in front of him. This in turn resulted in his sidecar being in the other lane.

As we look forward to driving our elios I wonder how many of us will fall into our normal car driving position and drift to the left of our lane so that we will feel as we do when driving a normal car. If we do, that left pontoon will be in the other lane, shoulder, or off the road. I doubt it will take long to adapt but it is something to think about once you get behind the wheel of your elio.

A driver in one of the early videos mentioned that it was much easier to adjust to the Elio driver location than it was to go back to the normal driver position. I'll be curious to hear how people handle that. Once I have my Elio, it will be my only vehicle so I won't have to worry about the adjustment. There are some advantages to being low income. LOL :-) Z

 

[Rickb]

Never mind!

 

[WAYNE]

Another observation from my introduction to sidecar rigs.

When I took my first ride piloting the sidecar rig I noticed that I kept falling into habits of being aware of where my body was with respect to the road and how this on two occasions brought the sidecar precariously close to obstructions I wasn't even paying attention to.

I witnessed this again when the novice sidecar rider in front of me did a natural motorcycle positioning to stagger himself from the rider in front of him. This in turn resulted in his sidecar being in the other lane.

As we look forward to driving our elios I wonder how many of us will fall into our normal car driving position and drift to the left of our lane so that we will feel as we do when driving a normal car. If we do, that left pontoon will be in the other lane, shoulder, or off the road. I doubt it will take long to adapt but it is something to think about once you get behind the wheel of your elio.

I had the same problem when I transitioned from Cabover trucj to Conventional cab. When I was in the

Another observation from my introduction to sidecar rigs.

When I took my first ride piloting the sidecar rig I noticed that I kept falling into habits of being aware of where my body was with respect to the road and how this on two occasions brought the sidecar precariously close to obstructions I wasn't even paying attention to.

I witnessed this again when the novice sidecar rider in front of me did a natural motorcycle positioning to stagger himself from the rider in front of him. This in turn resulted in his sidecar being in the other lane.

As we look forward to driving our elios I wonder how many of us will fall into our normal car driving position and drift to the left of our lane so that we will feel as we do when driving a normal car. If we do, that left pontoon will be in the other lane, shoulder, or off the road. I doubt it will take long to adapt but it is something to think about once you get behind the wheel of your elio.

Had the same problem transitioning from COE truck to conventional cab. In the COE we sit over the Left wheel lane, but in a conventional cab you sit over the center of the lane. If you sit over the left wheel lane you would be riding the yellow line.

 

[Roberto Benitez]

I was watching something on a similar topic a while back--optics/image processing. Doctors fitted basketball players(good ones) with special goggles that shifted their vision. Right after being fitted, they missed every shot by a new inches--almost exactly the same amount every time. But they (their brains) adapted quickly, and when the goggles were removed they started missing shots--by exactly the amount they were compensating. But soon they were back to normal--no more compensating.

I image we will adapt quickly. It may take a few laps around an empty parking lot. It should be interesting to note that reaction to switch back and forth between the Elio and cars with typical configuration. Especially for me, switching between the Elio and a (very large) truck.

 

[Edward]

I drive a dualie at work. I've never had any trouble remembering that there is a good foot of vehicle to my left when I'm in it or remembering that there isn't even I get back into my personal car

 

[ecdriver711]

Maybe it's just me, since I have been on the forum. Sometimes I find myself sitting in the middle of the lane while driving and of course my car is not.

 

[Ty]

Maybe it's just me, since I have been on the forum. Sometimes I find myself sitting in the middle of the lane while driving and of course my car is not.

LOL.. I drove over a dead something and thought... My Elio is SO going to bounce over dead crap.

 

[Jeff Miller]

I was watching something on a similar topic a while back--optics/image processing. Doctors fitted basketball players(good ones) with special goggles that shifted their vision. Right after being fitted, they missed every shot by a new inches--almost exactly the same amount every time. But they (their brains) adapted quickly, and when the goggles were removed they started missing shots--by exactly the amount they were compensating. But soon they were back to normal--no more compensating.

I image we will adapt quickly. It may take a few laps around an empty parking lot. It should be interesting to note that reaction to switch back and forth between the Elio and cars with typical configuration. Especially for me, switching between the Elio and a (very large) truck.

I agree that we should adapt quickly. There are several studies about the brain adapting to vision changes and certainly anybody that gets new eyeglasses has also experience this to some extent. I think the pontoon is slightly different but still believe that with practice and a few rude reminders we will adapt. Perhaps going to a country that has the steering on the "wrong" side of the car and being able to drive is perhaps a closer example to what it will be like driving the elio.

LOL.. I drove over a dead something and thought... My Elio is SO going to bounce over dead crap.

Yup, that center wheel is going to probably be another big thing to learn to deal with. We are used to straddling things with our cars but it will be more challenging with the rear wheel in the middle. I suspect a few good bounces will help us remember.