If you can picture what a spring does when you let it go, it lets all the energy loose at once. In a clock this release is governed by an escapement of some sort (which also serves the purpose of doling out the energy at a regular interval, but I'm not so concerned with that). Da Vinci's clockwork carriage used a simple metal flap. Music boxes use a fan.
In the 48 hour build, we got pressed for time and had to ditch the escapement. So when we fired up the bike, it released all its energy at once, spinning the tire, popping the chain, and actually bending the rear axle towards the middle of the bike! The bike spun its tire for 37 feet.
So now I've got to upgrade those three features. I'll gear down the ratio, add a fatter tire, and reinforce the rear triangle with something beefier than bike parts.
Sometimes you can find the episode "Worlds' Weirdest Bike" online, although recent events have made that more difficult. You can try to download this torrent:
http://www.clockworkmotorcycle.org/worl ... vi.torrent
But I've never seeded before and don't know if it will work. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until I get the rear end redone before I can post videos of my own.
