Single-track Vehicle
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A single-track vehicle is a
vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...
that leaves a single ground track as it moves forward. Single-track vehicles usually have little or no lateral stability when stationary but develop it when moving forward or controlled. In the case of wheeled vehicles, the front and rear wheel usually follow slightly different paths when turning or when out of alignment. Single-track vehicles have unique dynamics that, in the case of wheeled vehicles, are discussed at length in
bicycle and motorcycle dynamics Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics is the science of the motion of bicycles and motorcycles and their components, due to the forces acting on them. Dynamics falls under a branch of physics known as classical mechanics. Bike motions of interest in ...
, that usually require leaning into a turn, and that usually include
countersteering Countersteering is used by single-track vehicle operators, such as cyclists and motorcyclists, to initiate a turn toward a given direction by momentarily steering counter to the desired direction ("steer left to turn right"). To negotiate a turn s ...
. Single-track vehicles can roll on wheels, slide, float, or hydroplane.


Wheeled

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bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...
,
tandem bicycle A tandem bicycle or twin is a form of bicycle (occasionally a tricycle) designed to be ridden by more than one person. The term tandem refers to the seating arrangement (fore to aft, not side by side), not the number of riders. Patents relat ...
,
tall bike A tall bike is an unusually tall bicycle often constructed by hobbyists from spare parts. Typically, two conventional bicycle frames are connected, by welding, brazing, or other means, one atop the other. The drive train is reconfigured to connec ...
, and
recumbent bicycle A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position. Most recumbent riders choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons: the rider's weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, supported by ba ...
*
motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
, scooter, and
feet forwards motorcycle A feet first (FF) motorcycle is a class of motorcycle design which positions the rider with their feet ahead, like a car, rather than below and astride, as with conventional bikes. As there are other types of motorcycle (e.g. choppers) that have a ...
*
gyrocar A gyrocar is a two-wheeled automobile. The difference between a bicycle or motorcycle and a gyrocar is that in a bike, dynamic balance is provided by the rider, and in some cases by the geometry and mass distribution of the bike itself, and the g ...
and
gyro monorail The gyro monorail, gyroscopic monorail, gyro-stabilized monorail, or gyrocar are terms for a single rail land vehicle that uses the gyroscopic action of a spinning wheel to overcome the inherent instability of balancing on top of a single rail. ...
*
kick scooter A kick scooter (also referred to as a push-scooter or scooter) is a human-powered street vehicle with a handlebar, deck, and wheels propelled by a rider pushing off the ground with their leg. Today the most common scooters are made of aluminum, ...
*
unicycle A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a bicycle frame, frame with a bicycle saddle, saddle, and has a human-powered vehicle, pedal-driven direct-drive mechanism, direct-drive. A two spee ...
,
self-balancing unicycle An electric unicycle (often initialized as EUC or acronymized yuke or Uni) is a self-balancing personal transporter with a single wheel. The rider controls speed by leaning forwards or backwards, and steers by twisting or tilting the unit side to ...
,
Uno (dicycle) The Uno is a novel self-balancing electric motorcycle using two wheels side by side (the configuration used by dicycles). The Uno III adds a third wheel that allows it to transform into a tricycle. Description The original Uno is controlled in ...
, and
monowheel A monowheel, or uniwheel, is a one-wheeled single-track vehicle similar to a unicycle. Hand-cranked and pedal-powered monowheels were patented and built in the late 19th century; most built in the 20th and 21st century have been motorized. ...
*
inline skate Inline skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates typically have two to five wheels arranged in a single line. Some, especially those for recreation, ha ...
and
roller ski Roller skiing is an off-snow equivalent to cross-country skiing. Roller skis have wheels on their ends and are used on a hard surface, to emulate .Bryhn, Rolf and Knut Are Tvedt (eds.): ''Kunnskapsforlagets idrettsleksikon''. (Norwegian Encyclop ...
(when only one is in contact with the ground or when the second follows behind the first)


Sliding

*the
snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...
and
monoski A monoski is a single wide ski used for skiing on snow. The same boots, bindings, and poles are used as in alpine skiing. Unlike in snowboarding, both feet face forward, rather than sideways to the direction of travel. Similar equipment inclu ...
*the
skirider A Skirider is a kind of scooter designed to work on snow in 2002 by 2004 British inventor of the year Andrew Hubert winning Platinum for design and Gold leisure. It was invented to make the slopes more accessible to people whose physical limitations ...
*the
ice skate Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with leather straps. These skates ...
(when only one is in contact with the ice or when the second follows behind the first)


Intermittent contact

*the
pogo stick A pogo stick is a device for jumping off the ground in a standing position, through the aid of a spring, or new high performance technologies, often used as a toy, exercise equipment or extreme sports instrument. It led to an extreme sport named ...
*the bipedal robot


Hydroplaning

*the slalom water ski *the wakeboard


Narrow-track vehicle

A vehicle is approximately single-track when the
axle track In automobiles (and other wheeled vehicles which have two wheels on an axle), the axle track is the distance between the hub flanges on an axle. Wheel track, track width or simply track refers to the distance between the centerline of two wheels ...
is small enough with respect to the
center of mass In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force may ...
height to require leaning into a turn. Countersteering may or may not be required.{{Citation needed, date=October 2015 *the
skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboarde ...
and all its varieties, such as the
snakeboard A Snakeboard, also known as streetboard, or pivotboard is a board that was invented in South Africa in 1989 by James Fisher, Simon King and Oliver Macleod Smith. The concept was to fuse the original skateboard with elements of snowboarding and s ...
*the
surfboard A surfboard is a narrow plank used in surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding an ocean wave. They were invented in ancient Hawaii, where they were known as ''papa he'e ...
*the
caster board A caster board, vigorboard or waveboard is a two-wheeled, human-powered land vehicle. Other names are J-board and RipStik (sometimes written ripstick or rip stick), both of which are derived from commercial brands. A caster board has two narrow ...
(when the rear wheel closely follows the front wheel) *the
Uno dicycle The Uno is a novel self-balancing electric motorcycle using two wheels side by side (the configuration used by dicycles). The Uno III adds a third wheel that allows it to transform into a tricycle. Description The original Uno is controlled in ...


See also

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Dicycle A dicycle () (also known as a diwheel) is a vehicle with two parallel wheels, side by side, unlike single-track vehicles such as motorcycles and bicycles, which have two wheels inline. Originally used to refer to devices with large wheels and peda ...
*
List of land vehicles types by number of wheels List of land vehicles types by number of wheels 0 *Bumper car *Horse *Ice skates *Litter (vehicle) *Ski *Sled *Snowboard *Space hopper *Tank *Tracked vehicle *Travois 1 *Unicycle * Self-balancing unicycle *Monowheel *Wheelbarrow ** Wooden ox/Chi ...
Vehicles by type