Patent ID: 8251390

Claim:
A system for stabilizing a wheeled vehicle comprising: a flywheel mounted with respect to a steerable wheel of the wheeled vehicle that has a characteristic precession so that the steerable wheel is urged in a direction of an unintentional bank to provide recovery in the form of steering from the bank, the steerable wheel being mounted on a steerable wheel mount having an axle and an inner hub coaxial with the axle that allows the steerable wheel to rotate relative to the axle and a steerable fork, wherein the flywheel is rotatably mounted on the axle with a bearing structure therebetween to allow the flywheel to rotate freely with respect to the inner hub; a drive mechanism that is driven by an electric motor to thereby initiate rotation of the flywheel to a rotating state from a non-rotating state with respect to the inner hub while the inner hub and the steerable wheel are stationary and non-rotating; and at least one battery that is operatively connected to deliver power to the electric motor, wherein the battery, electric motor, drive mechanism, flywheel and a central portion of the axle are each enclosed within a shell that defines a rim supporting a tire.