48 Roller wheel bike


Characteristics


Jann Tosh's wheel bike

Jann Tosh's wheel bike

The 48 Roller was essentially a single large wheel, with its motor and seats contained within its circumference.

A variant of the type seen in the early years of the Empire had a pair of outrigger pods on either side, each with three seats, the central seat on each side being raised higher for a pilot and equipped with handlebars.

However, the normal capacity of the type is stated as just one pilot and one passenger, with the pilot sitting within the wheel, and steering using a combination of handlebars and shifting body weight. Wheel bikes were fully maneuverable with just one hand and a small touch pad, moving fingers along the pad in the direction the pilot wanted the bike to move.

History


Jann Tosh owned a 48 Roller on Tyne's Horky, a mining world where such vehicles were popular.

The bi-wheeled Tsmeu-6 personal wheel bike General used by Grievous during the Clone Wars was noted as being similar in design to the uniwheel 48 Roller.

Some insurgent groups created armed versions of the 48 Roller by fitting them with blasters.

Gallis-Tech also produced a two-seater wheelbike type with somewhat differing characteristics, which was modified into the single-seat Scout Wheelbike used by some COMPNOR Regiments in place of speeder bikes.

Behind the scenes


The real-life counterpart to the wheel bike is the monowheel.

The original depiction of the 48 Roller differs considerably fron the more recent descriptions in sourcebooks, which appear to be influenced by the Scout Wheelbike, although enough differences of detail remain to confirm the distinction between the two types.

Sources


Appearances

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