For most outsiders the Netherlands is a country of picturesque cities, windmills, tulips, and maybe those famous coffee shops. Head away from the coast though and you enter the country’s rural hinterland, farming country with lush green fields, dairy cattle, and farm lads doing what they do best, which is hacking old machinery to do crazy things under those wide skies. [Plodno] are based on a farm somewhere in the eastern Netherlands, and the latest of these lads’ creations is a motorised picnic table (Dutch language, you’ll need YouTube translated subtitles).
This is farm hacking at its best, with a scrap FIAT hatchback donating its running gear to a welded tubular frame, with a chain drive to a small single-cylinder engine. There’s no suspension save for the air in the tyres, the steering column is vertical, and the brake is a single inboard disk on the rear axle. Perhaps it’s fortunate that the intended beating heart, a Kawasaki motorycle engine, was misfiring, as it would have been truly lethal with that much power. We’re not too convinced at the legality of taking such a contraption on the public road in the Netherlands, but they seem to get away with it. Take a look at the build in the video below the break.
Here at Hackaday we like a good hacky farm build, even though sometimes they’re not so well-assembled.
For some reason, I’m envisioning those darn bars on wheels popular in college towns where the students peddle around town while drinking
I’d need some Dutch courage to be that thing at over 10MPH. Don’t see any suspension besides the tire sidewalls.
Looks like the guy on the front far side has control of the rudder.
I’m sure the rear axle flexes some… The steering and braking arrangements do leave something to be desired though
It doesn’t have suspension. Probably explains why the tire broke off at the end.
No, have seen lots of equipment without suspension that ran fine. I suspect the wheel broke off because it was mounted backwards, so the wheel studs were unable to centre the rims.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn3in_mx6TQ
Actually, this is illegal to build in EU since common law on IMD (individual mobility devices – ebikes, scooters etc.) says that only electric motors are allowed and their max power is 250W. IIRC gasoline Loncin engine used in this thing has about 6 kW – so it’s a crime to use it on road without registration, homologation, insurance and license plates. If you had a crash and someone died you will go to prison for 10-25 years.
Who cares? Nobody stopped them lol.
Obviously for fast food.
This is an old (Dutch) concept called the bar bike, or bar on wheels. This way (without an engine), it is legal to drive.
https://verhuurdenham.nl/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/IMG_0150-1080×720-1-600×600.jpg
The difference with what you are showing is that this is equiped with an engine while the one in your image needs pedalling.
It´s a plague. Most of the guests of such engine are fully drunk and scream out loud, you hear them half a mile away.