The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Subaru STi turbo ATV

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Remember the Crocodile Dundee movie where he says "That's not a knife, THIS is a knife," well those folks down under are at it again, only this time it would be, that's not an ATV, THIS is an ATV! The STI-ATV. You start with the turbo engine from a Subaru WRX STi, 227hp, you build a frame with a little bodywork, add 5 speeds and 4WD and the whole thing weighs in about 1200 … [Read more...]

Hubcap Creatures

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These sculptures are another example of scrap art that I find oddly fascinating. This fellow, Hubcap Creatures by Ptolemy, takes hubcaps found on the roadside and turns them into all sorts of creatures, lots of fish and aquatic life but some other stuff, too. I ran across this sometime in the last week or so and I can't remember where. I previously pointed out scrap art here … [Read more...]

Unix Motorcycle

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OK, I'm going out on a limb here, but I bet some of you not only ride motorcycles but, ... here goes, you like computers, too. I know, crazy idea but it's true. Don't feel bad, I fall into that category and so does this guy who built a PC into his Kawasaki Z1000. The PC runs Unix and currently is used to take the feed from his helmet camera. If you happen to feel the need to … [Read more...]

3D printers and Fab labs

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A while back I said easy access to advanced software made smaller shops capable of high level design and engineering and used the Motoczysz C1 and Hayabusa V8 as examples. Well, hold on to your hat, Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore. Some time ago I read a few brief articles on 3D printers and thought, hmm... interesting, after which I pretty much forgot about them. Seems a … [Read more...]

700 Horsepower Hayabusa

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Getting huge horsepower from a motorcycle engine is always an interesting blend of good old engine building, forced induction and a little black magic. The DynoJet Horsepower Challenge has just produced some totally insane results. Hank Booth of Great Falls, Montana put his 1999 Suzuki Hayabusa on the dyno and turned out 701.32 horsepower! There were others in the 400 and 500hp … [Read more...]

Jesse James and his flying car

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Another chapter is written in the annals of aviation history as Jesse James builds a flying Panoz Esperante. Say what? Yep, the aeronautical engineers of the Monster Garage managed to put wings on a car and fly for about 100ft at an altitude of 5 feet. Although this project has absolutely no value in a practical sense, it's kinda neat from a tool guy's perspective. He had … [Read more...]