recumbent trike build

[fixedfixer]

Good thinking on finishing the tweaks prior to painting. Some very good ideas here especially the underseat storage. As for electric assist you might like to check out Atomic Zombie forum. Someone who goes by the forum name Twinkle (based in UK) has been doing a lot of experiments with electric assist on their home built trike. Maybe able to help with specs etc

 

[fixedfixer]

This thread
http://forum.atomiczombie.com/showthread.php/8615-Lean-mean-and-definately-GREEN

 

[Dogtrousers]

@kimble has posted elsewhere about an electric assist trike build

 

[stuee147]

Electric wheelchair motor considered?

yes i did think of going that way but i think it would be awkward trying to fit it around the rear suspension without it catching or affecting the suspension. im considering using wheel chair motors on MK1 there is plenty of room for motors ect behind the seat and no suspension to worry about.
also i do quite like the clean lines of the hub motors on the kits they look clean and solid looking

This thread
http://forum.atomiczombie.com/showthread.php/8615-Lean-mean-and-definately-GREEN

just been reading some of there posts thats just the sort of thing im thinking of even her frame is similar design to my trike so hopefully i can save myself some trial and error always better to let others try it first just in case it goes pear shaped

and i learnt with MK1 that painting to early only leads to more work thats why with MK2 im playing it safe i have a couple of cans of red oxide primer so each time i do something i can give it a quick spray of primer so i dont end up with rust spots before final paint, if you look closely at MK1 you can see where i have had to sand and repaint sections luckily the paint i have is quite good at blending in touched up sections but its still not ideal to have the hassle.

as long as i get the main paint done before the bad winter weather sets in ill be happy although i think i may have missed the summer lol

stuee

 

[classic33]

The Atomic Zombie book* shows how to build an electric assisted trike. I'm assuming their site will have similar details.

*Its where the wheelchair motor idea was got.

 

[stuee147]

there is a few electric bikes on there iv looked at one has a great range per charge but then it dose use 3 or 4 full size leisure batteries they must make it heavier than a motor bike lol.
there is some good ideas on another site i go on http://www.instructables.com/index its a good site some stuff is just pure rubish but there are some things on there that are really quite ingeanius. iv got a lot of my ideas from things iv seen on there most of them iv had to fettle with to get to work for me, but the basic ideas on there are good. iv been looking at lithium batteries there is several instructions for making your own battery pack for an e-bike which is quite interesting.

iv seen one home made bike that used a motor from a milk float and some huge batteries i can only imagine that it weighed almost the same as a small car lol
stuee

 

[classic33]

You have your panniers for the battery storage!

 

[stuee147]

You have your panniers for the battery storage!

yea iv been thinking that myself i measured the panniers and 2 small 12v batteries would fit snugly in the bottom of each side pannier, the draw back is that it would take almost half of the space by the time iv fitted a cover on the batteries. i have around 11" ground clearance along the main frame and iv been thinking if i get a lithium battery it would fit nicely underslung on the frame if i use lead acid batteries i would need 4 so i was thinking of either fitting a rack either side of the main frame just behind the seat and having 2 batteries on either side. or possibly (depending on hight of batteries ) under sling the 4 batteries in a line under the main boom or even 2 under each of the front wheel booms.
if i fit any batteries under the frame i was thinking of useing some 8mm round bar i have to make a cage which i would then cover the bottom of the frame with some 0.6mm sheet steel to protect the batteries from stones sticks and anything else that might get thrown up from the road.

stuee

 

[Archie_tect]

This thread is fantastic Stuee... once you have it finished it the way you want it I'm sure you will get loads of enquiries to build them for other people... if you want you could be onto a real winner!

 

[stuee147]

This thread is fantastic Stuee... once you have it finished it the way you want it I'm sure you will get loads of enquiries to build them for other people... if you want you could be onto a real winner!

thanks archie_tect im glad you enjoy reading my posts as much as i enjoy posting them

and when its finished ???? i didnt know i had to finish it lol i dont think i will ever completely finish it there will always be something i want to change, try or add lol

iv had a couple of people say about making trike for people and i do enjoy making things but to be honest i like doing it for fun if i do it for money i think it loses a lot of its enjoyment especially if your trying to work to dead lines ect. iv told a couple of people i know if they want one im more than happy to help them build it if they buy the bits im more than happy to help them put it all together even using my tools. so far the people who have asked have been to lazy to help lol

stuee

 

[Archie_tect]

In that case what you could do is take the completed trike to a local engineering company and suggest they go into a partnership with you so that you get to provide the tinkering fun/ development part and and they build them up to order.... then you get the best of both worlds!

 

[stuee147]

In that case what you could do is take the completed trike to a local engineering company and suggest they go into a partnership with you so that you get to provide the tinkering fun/ development part and and they build them up to order.... then you get the best of both worlds!

yea i love the design stage where i can let my imagination run wild unfortunately reality has to come into it so most things stay in my mind lol. iv had little jobs in the past making things for people it was petrol gokarts in the late 90s and the thing iv always missed when making things for other people is when i get an idea half way threw i like to just run with it and see but when building for someone else you lose a lot of that freedom.
i have been thinking about how quick i could build one and i think if i had all the bits and the weather was with me (remember i dont have a workshop or garage everything is done on the patio in the garden) i could quite easily using MK2 as a guide have a basic trike with rear suspension all up and running just needing paint in 2 days (8hrs a day) then add another couple of days for paint and waiting for it to dry then the rebuild i think i could turn a basic rear suspension trike out in a week on my own but then when do we ever have a week of good weather lol

stuee

 

[numbnuts]

Barry Smith from KMX Carts built one for his son and now he exports all over the world

 

[stuee147]

i must admit i have done a bit of research and playing with numbers and wat not, and i can see there is a lot of potential for profit around here and not just this area the whole of the uk. i know there are some very good shops in the uk that do recumbents around but they are quite few and far between. and its mainly new imported trikes they seem to sell big names but at big prices. and i honestly think that is why recumbents haven't taken off as much in the uk as they seem to in other places us and sweden seem to be very big lovers of recumbents, i think that if there was more of a budget version (when i say budget i mean more around the price of a half decent upright ) that you would see a lot more recumbents in the uk, iv worked it out roughly and just with looking around at parts suppliers i could turn out a basic tadpole trike 26" rear wheel with disk brakes and 20" front wheels with calliper brakes. with 21 or 18 speed and rear suspension. mesh seat with adjustable back all for around £200 for all new parts then add say £100 for consumables (cutting disks, welding rods paint ect ) then its just labour and profit to add. this would bring the selling price to around £400 to £500 for a basic model compared to the £1200 to £2000 for the models on the market at the moment.
the biggest issue would be the legal/ moral side of it. would you give a guarantee to your workmanship, what if something fails and causes someone injury or worse would the builder be liable. yes i could add a sold as seen clause that might cover me if a part or weld was to fail but it would still be a worry that someone could be doing 30+mph down a hill (iv done several times with ease ) and something that i have done fails i may be protected legally but i would still feel like s@!t knowing it was in a way my fault if you know what i mean.
having said that i have been considering selling MK1 on ebay or gumtree and maybe even make the odd one or two just to sell for the money. but who knows MK1 might be gutted to make MK3 yet lol

stuee

 

[classic33]

MKIII could be the the electric assist version of either of the previous two versions.
Still waiting to see the trailer though!