Doing some drawing, I came up with this layout:
Central piece is (like on the monobike) the huge wheel, with a big steamengine in the front. Some nice exhausts and the rider sitting in the back. Eventhough this would be more "art noir" than steampunk I gave it a try.
So I whipped some pieces together from plasticcard. You can see the central wheel, the "boiler" for the engine and the nose with grill.
Still kind of sleek looking.
The central wheel and its profile.
And this is a view of the mechanism driving the wheel (and holding it in place). The light colored wheel would be the powered wheel.
Eventough nice looking and a (IMHO) good design, I think it is way too massive for the role of courier and rough rider. I won't be able to use it that way...*sigh*
Back to the drawing board.
I can still use the wheel if I end up with the monobike idea, and I may still use the "nose" I created for some other project...maybe a flyer...? Who knows :)
Cheers
Klaus
