Unix Motorcycle

unix motorcylce

some of you are probably rubbing your eyes, but you read it correctly. unix on a motorcycle.

a fellow by the name of ben installed a freebsd powered pc into his kawasaki z1000.  a webcam on his helmet connects to a video capture board in the pc, which he uses to record movies of trips to the burrito store.  his future plans are to have the freebsd box control his ipod, track gps data, and potentially interconnect with the bike’s ecu.

a kick ass case mod, a unix media center, and a cool extension of the car pc theme.  if i could last more than 10 seconds on a motorcycle in the best video game ever without ejecting over a parked car, i might consider trying this out myself.  until then, i think i’ll stick to walking.

thanks for the link, xfred.

15 thoughts on “Unix Motorcycle

  1. This is similar to what I’m putting together. I’m building a distributed network of 8bit microcontrollers however and using a Pocket PC to record the video. Additionally, I’m building my own ECU…Suzuki just makes it so hard to tamper with the OEM one.

  2. Now I can see life through the arrogant asshole motorcycle riders’ viewpoint! Good job overtaking that sedan on a left turn into a commercial site, you’re lucky he wasn’t doing a U-turn.

  3. Maybe if you took a moment to see life through the motorcycle rider’s viewpoint you wouldn’t threaten his life. I hope you get AIDS.

    This hack is awesome, but he needs to keep adding functionality. A bluetooth headset/mic built into the helmet, wireless NIC for transferring data or even to replace a Chatterbox, and some sort of capacitor/UPS/second battery to prevent the PC from rebooting when the bike is started. If it were me I’d use Windows so I could have an iPaq mounted up front as a display/front end for the GPS, but I’m sure you can do something similar with UNIX and more patience than I have.

    Also, I’d prefer the camera mounted to the triple tree facing forward, but to each his own.

  4. Actually, the dude riding the bike is just another reason why us car drivers hate riders. Not only does the ahole decide to cut off the 2 cars making the turn into the mall, he also cuts off the car in front. Why do they do this? Because they’re on a smaller vehicle, and they can. And if they screwup for some reason, we’re the ones who will get fingered by the cops for ‘following to closely’ or ‘not in control of your vehicle’.

    Seeing how some coworkers ride, and now this guy, I love hearing bikers whine about how they don’t get no respect on the road…

  5. As a motorcyclist, I could care less about whether or not you respect me, as far as what you think of what I do (pass you illegally, most likely). If I break laws, I do so at my own peril. if I make a mistake, it’s me that dies, not you. That’s why liability insurance for motorcycles is a fraction of the price it is for cars, despite the increased likelihood of an accident — if my bike t-boned your car at 40mph, you’d probably be just fine. If I screw up, it’s possible you might get blamed unfairly, but I might die! You’re more concerned about getting points on your license than you are with someone else’s life.. Which makes me sad and a little afraid. A friend of mine was killed last year by a car who failed to yield. I don’t want/need your respect, just don’t you fucking kill me, K?

  6. rubbersidedown, typical bikers response. Yeah, you might die, and so what? It’d be because of your own stupid decision, with nothing blameable on me. Yet I would get to catch hell from someone for not reading your mind, or reacting with superhero-like reflexes to your stupid risky decision. Its clear you don’t want or care for car driver’s respect. Thats an idiots gambit, and poor excuse for you to avoid dealing with the fact that most bikers get hurt because they’re pulling stupid stunts, or are used to breaking certain laws.
    Go ahead, its your skin.

  7. angrycarguy, not every motorcyclist rides around like a jackass. In fact, most of them don’t. I don’t cut people off, I don’t lane share (except with other riders, for obvious reasons), I don’t wheelie with cars around, etc. And yet, somehow, I’ve been hit TWICE by cars. Once the guy blew a red light and clipped me, and another decided to pass me on a single lane entrance to the highway – mind you the posted limit for the curve is 25, and I was doing about 50…. he should be passing me?

    Trust me, I understand… but realize there are many more asswipe drivers out there. Its the same asswipes who, on a bike, would do stupid shit right next to you, risking your life as well as their own. Most likely, no, you wouldn’t die – but trust me, it can happen. I’m also a firefighter, and have seen my fair share of accident scenes.

    Oh, and im not a cruiser owner, I have a sportbike, and the speed limit is a starting point. Doesn’t make me an unsafe rider, it simply means that you have to know yourself and your ride before going onto public roads, which alot, unfortunately, don’t. They become statistics, and make riders look bad. They also make us very upset, because we hate it when a brother rider dies – regardless of fault.

    Get it?

  8. reasonablebiker, I agree with most of what you’ve said. Except that I don’t think the majority of riders do as you do. I suspect more would if they had a job shoveling/squeegee’ing up people from the roadside as you have had to do.
    rubbersidedown’s comments just seemed to be pretty stupid is all.

  9. I agree that the majority of riders are responsible “adults”. I share the same viewpoints as reasonablebiker. It is a shame that those who ride as if “there is nothing to lose” gives the perception that all bikers are careless and reckeless. As a father of two young children, I ride as if everyone is trying to kill me. It goes a long way in minimizing the risk of riding a bike. I am also a private pilot. I take the same risk management decisions and apply them while in the air. If you here that a pilot was killed while buzzing houses at a low altitude, does that give you a perception that all pilots are daredevils and live life on the edge.

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