cross-posted from: https://piefed.ca/c/[email protected]/p/873245/green-machine-1976
Like a Big Wheel, but cooler.
Loved my green machine! Rode it around the neighborhood until the front wheel finally came apart.
They were so much fun! I wore out the back wheels sliding.
To be clear, this is powered by pedaling the front wheel, and is steered by differential braking on the rear wheels by way of the two “stick shift” controls? That’s wild!
I want one now lol
The sticks aren’t brakes: they rotate the rear wheels by changing the angle of the entire rear axle. As I recall you can propel the thing pretty well by moving the sticks back and forth to get a sort of snake-like motion
Oh wow, it’s like they designed it backwards: steering on the rear and propulsion in front haha. I’d love to see one in-person, or if the general idea could be revived.
It looks like Huffy still makes them. Must have bought the naming rights I guess? The newer ones look rather different, tube frame construction now, but it appears the basic idea of RW steering + FW pedal drive still holds. From the photo, looks like the modern ones have a hand brake for the FW, too.
That’s also got a rubber tube front wheel instead of plastic.
The plastics “tires” were what made the green machine so fun. You get up some stopped in a staring line then slam the levers forward and backward and spin out for a 180° then zoom back down the driveway on increasingly lumpy wheels from all the flat spots.
Same with the big wheels with hand brakes, which weren’t as cool.
The rears are still plastic. The front tire on this new one is rubber , which gives you better traction so that you can get up to speed better.
How does it work? Do you drive / pedal the front wheel, and steer the rear axle with those levers?
You jam the levers so the rear end slides out, and it was Kawasaki green. A warning to neighbors with daughters.
So, just like a bobby car, except for the color and the age range.
I had one of these. Of course I lived in the country miles away from pavement.
Marx was right
I had the General Lee.
Fuck yeah it was cooler. It was designed for drifting.
This instantly triggered the wild wacky action bike “theme” in my brain
Bought one at a garage sale when I was around 14. I barely fit in it, but it was awesome.
So this is the image the slop machine trained on…
No, this is a big wheel but cooler.
