Handicap Racing
05-30-2005, 08:26 PM
#1
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Handicap Racing
These Are Real Wheel-chairs.
HIS
HERS
AMA Life member Jerry Bowers figured that if his wife was going to have a wheelchair, it might as well have some power. And the end result was a couple of wheelchairs powered by motorcycle engines—including a dragster version good for 130 mph.
The whole thing started when Jerry’s wife, Bonnie, contracted Multiple Sclerosis. The electric wheelchair that she used to take to the store was so slow—the Bowers say it was dangerous.
“We live on the borderline of the country,” Jerry says, from their Manteca, California, home. “And she almost got run over because her old wheelchair would only do 7 mph.”
“You can imagine going over the overpasses,” Bonnie says about the lack of sidewalks in the area. “I didn’t have a way to get over them, and if you are in the street in a normal electric wheelchair, you’re just going to get run over.”
Solutions to adversity can come in many forms. In the case of Bonnie’s husband Jerry, an automotive air-conditioning technician, and self-described motor-head, the solution was more power.
“I used to race speedway bikes,” he says. “So I’m sort of a speed freak.”
When building Bonnie’s chair (right), Jerry says he started with an old Honda three-wheeler engine.
“I built it from the ground up,” Bowers says. “I put the wheelchair on the ground, the motor right behind it, and then I eyeballed it and put it all together,” he says. “It was only tack-welded when I rode it for the first time, and I loved it.”
That’s when Bowers decided to up the power ante.
“After having so much fun building her chair, I decided to build myself one,” he says.
His 130 mph wheelchair (left) comes with dragster slicks in the back.
“Right between your legs is the main power switch,” Jerry says. “On the right side of the steering wheel is a throttle thumb lever, like an ATV. On your left is the air shift button and the nitrous oxide button. One is black for air shift, nitrous is red. Two more switches activate the NOS and air. Two dead switches, one by your right thumb, kills everything and keeps it off until you reset the main switch.”
Jerry says he never takes his on public streets, though. “I know I’d get in trouble with mine,” he says.
Bonnie, on the other hand, uses hers daily.
“I love it,” she says. “It draws a crowd everywhere I go. It’s great to just keep up with traffic.”
What’s next for Jerry? What he’d really like to do is challenge Monster Garage star Jesse James to build his own chair with a Harley engine, for a race.
“I’m looking forward to see if he takes the challenge,” he says. “If not, I’ll just have to build one with a Harley myself!”
HIS
HERS
AMA Life member Jerry Bowers figured that if his wife was going to have a wheelchair, it might as well have some power. And the end result was a couple of wheelchairs powered by motorcycle engines—including a dragster version good for 130 mph.
The whole thing started when Jerry’s wife, Bonnie, contracted Multiple Sclerosis. The electric wheelchair that she used to take to the store was so slow—the Bowers say it was dangerous.
“We live on the borderline of the country,” Jerry says, from their Manteca, California, home. “And she almost got run over because her old wheelchair would only do 7 mph.”
“You can imagine going over the overpasses,” Bonnie says about the lack of sidewalks in the area. “I didn’t have a way to get over them, and if you are in the street in a normal electric wheelchair, you’re just going to get run over.”
Solutions to adversity can come in many forms. In the case of Bonnie’s husband Jerry, an automotive air-conditioning technician, and self-described motor-head, the solution was more power.
“I used to race speedway bikes,” he says. “So I’m sort of a speed freak.”
When building Bonnie’s chair (right), Jerry says he started with an old Honda three-wheeler engine.
“I built it from the ground up,” Bowers says. “I put the wheelchair on the ground, the motor right behind it, and then I eyeballed it and put it all together,” he says. “It was only tack-welded when I rode it for the first time, and I loved it.”
That’s when Bowers decided to up the power ante.
“After having so much fun building her chair, I decided to build myself one,” he says.
His 130 mph wheelchair (left) comes with dragster slicks in the back.
“Right between your legs is the main power switch,” Jerry says. “On the right side of the steering wheel is a throttle thumb lever, like an ATV. On your left is the air shift button and the nitrous oxide button. One is black for air shift, nitrous is red. Two more switches activate the NOS and air. Two dead switches, one by your right thumb, kills everything and keeps it off until you reset the main switch.”
Jerry says he never takes his on public streets, though. “I know I’d get in trouble with mine,” he says.
Bonnie, on the other hand, uses hers daily.
“I love it,” she says. “It draws a crowd everywhere I go. It’s great to just keep up with traffic.”
What’s next for Jerry? What he’d really like to do is challenge Monster Garage star Jesse James to build his own chair with a Harley engine, for a race.
“I’m looking forward to see if he takes the challenge,” he says. “If not, I’ll just have to build one with a Harley myself!”
05-30-2005, 11:30 PM
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Originally Posted by HandicapCivic
These Are Real Wheel-chairs.
His 130 mph wheelchair (left) comes with dragster slicks in the back.
“Right between your legs is the main power switch,” Jerry says. “On the right side of the steering wheel is a throttle thumb lever, like an ATV. On your left is the air shift button and the nitrous oxide button. One is black for air shift, nitrous is red. Two more switches activate the NOS and air.
His 130 mph wheelchair (left) comes with dragster slicks in the back.
“Right between your legs is the main power switch,” Jerry says. “On the right side of the steering wheel is a throttle thumb lever, like an ATV. On your left is the air shift button and the nitrous oxide button. One is black for air shift, nitrous is red. Two more switches activate the NOS and air.
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