What happens when a car stalls in traffic on a busy highway? Instant traffic jam, naturally, but how does the tow truck get to the car if the highway is filled with cars? Suppose you had a small agile vehicle like a motorcycle that could also tow the car from where it was stuck? Enter The Retriever. It's a Honda Goldwing with a foldable towing rig that rides through traffic like a normal motorcycle, splitting lanes and weaving through the jam until it arrives at the scene. Then it unfolds the towing rig, loads up the car and rolls away.
The Retriever's towing rig carries the weight of the car on three wheels so the motorcycle can still be ridden normally. Since the motorcycle is only providing the torque necessary for towing and doesn't have to carry extra weight, the vehicle is easily moved and a six cylinder Goldwing has all of the power you need. The Retriver can tow cars up to 5500 pounds.
The Retriever is the product of a Swedish company, Coming Through, that took something like 5 years to perfect the product. The designer got the idea when he was stuck in a traffic jam and saw a motorcycle ride by and he wondered if a motorcycle could tow a car to relieve the congestion. That is great thinking combined with no small amount of follow through. I like this a lot.
You need to watch the video to see how well this really works. There are several on the site as well as one from the Discovery Channel.
Thanks, Eric, for the pointer.