the segway and the uno work on two seperate gyros, one opposing the other, to turn one wheel stops moving slightly the other keeps turning, thus sending it around the corner, much like a skidsteer (bobcat). the one wheel gyro (as im sure you can imagine) would be a massive deal to hold up by it self around corners, due to the fact it doesnt have the opposing wheel creating the turn. its all lean and balance.
oh and the kwakas turn great these days
Actually I thought the Seg worked on the inverted pendulum principle! Anyways, turning on that one wheel fat tire would be simple... just bank the cycle and the gyro could lean causing a turn. Have you ever as a kid done a wheelie and turned corners etc...
Now if the wheel on the prototype at the top of the page was flattish like a car tyre it would be imossible to steer. But as it's curved it makes cornering easy. My guess is as the vehicle slows down the gyro slows too and would allow you to bank. At higher speed it would run faster making it more stable in a straight line.
Remember though the main principle in new technologies. If scientists prove it can't be done then invariably someone will figure it out. They proved beyond doubt that any aeroplane that went faster than the speed of sound would vibrate itself to bits because of the shock wave. Einstein proved that nothing could go faster than the speed of light. Both have now been proven to be false. This is why I really do think these monocycles WILL come about and actually be safer than normal motorbikes.
Oh and on the Ninj... I found there was one bike I had that turned like a dream... handling was great but suffered with torque and for the life of me I cannot remember the bloody name of it. All I can remember is it had a popup headlight and it's doing my head in... I think it was a Yamaha and the name was something like Genesis but it doesn't sound right...
My problem is I have had many bikes in my life... I used to buy neglected ones second hand, do them up, ride them for a while and then sell them on. There is still an engine block outline in my hallway where I blacked it up one day as the weather was crappy outside and I was doing it for a friend and she needed it for college. I was in a rush and forgot to put the papers down first. It was only when I lifted the carpet in the hall that I found the marks again and had a grin.
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