Friday, May 9, 2008

Scooter-geek's dream ride: Yamaha Vino scooter, fully farkled


Though it's usually the adventure touring crowd that excels at turning their motorcycles into rolling technology test-beds, we've recently run across a Yamaha Vino scooter that has been fully farkled. Featuring an on-board computer based around a VIA mini ITX form factor motherboard that's cleverly been hidden under the stock Vino's seat, this rolling geek-mobile packs in WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, GPS, FM radio, a TV tuner and a front-mounted camera in its diminutive frame. With the full-spec computer, pretty much anything should be possible right from the road using this scooter. While this is certainly a cool project, we have a few questions regarding its durability. How long will the acrylic plate that makes the structure for the computer hold up? Perhaps most importantly, how long will the scooter's battery be able to power all this technology? In the name of science, of course, we graciously offer our services for a road trip on the machine to find the answer to these all-important questions. Thanks for the tip, jared!

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