When my current tricycle breaks this is what I plan to build as a replacement. Using the 700 watt hub motor of course. This is an experimental model. I am considering using a mountain bike frame for the suspension.
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my own mobility scooter
- Thread starter deacon
- Start date
When my current tricycle breaks this is what I plan to build as a replacement. Using the 700 watt hub motor of course. This is an experimental model. I am considering using a mountain bike frame for the suspension.
the horn is a story all it's own. The bike was made from a sissy twenty inch frame and the horn was attached. I beeped it and it was loud and shrill. Much more so than my fifteen dollar bulb horn that sounds like a goose. I do need to shoot it black though lol
Believe it or not that design gets a lot more positive attention than the Miami sun trike I have the 750 watt hub motor on. That is the bike in my avitar before I switched to the hub motor.
Believe it or not that design gets a lot more positive attention than the Miami sun trike I have the 750 watt hub motor on. That is the bike in my avitar before I switched to the hub motor.
I doubt that anyone is interested but I moved the friction drive from the front to the rear. It seems to make the front a little hinkey. Not sure exactly why I will have to explore that tomorrow. I change out the front wheel for a larger axle assembly. and I set the friction drive up so the mount is less complicated.
I set up the tension adjustment with a turnbuckle, since the mount was much simpler than the one on the wheel. So I start out and the bike wont pull me at all. I got off and ran the tension up 3 full turns and started off again. I got to one of the bad hills and it just set there burning tires. I got off the trike on the hill and cranked it down three more full turns and tried again. It seemed to be almost perfect. It did slip a little so I found a shady spot climbed off the trike and cranked it down 1 and a half turns and it seemed to be about right. My problem now is the brake is crap but I can take off the almost break I had before and add a front wheel brake tomorrow.
Tomorrow is just another work day for a retired old man.
I set up the tension adjustment with a turnbuckle, since the mount was much simpler than the one on the wheel. So I start out and the bike wont pull me at all. I got off and ran the tension up 3 full turns and started off again. I got to one of the bad hills and it just set there burning tires. I got off the trike on the hill and cranked it down three more full turns and tried again. It seemed to be almost perfect. It did slip a little so I found a shady spot climbed off the trike and cranked it down 1 and a half turns and it seemed to be about right. My problem now is the brake is crap but I can take off the almost break I had before and add a front wheel brake tomorrow.
Tomorrow is just another work day for a retired old man.
Deacon, we're always interested in what you do. We learn thru your successes and failures.
Then here is my birthday story for you. When I put the motor on the rear it amounted to 30 pounds handing off the rear of an already unbalanced bike. It did work fine though. So I decided to get the little trike ready for the 24" hub motor when the Miami Sun bike goes to that giant junkyard in the sky.
I cut a 8" "L" bracket in half to make shackles for the front fork in order to accommodate the 24" wheel. Not the hub motor just now but a 24" wheel. Had to move the brakes and stuff but I finally got it done.
Now picture this... Hanging behind the rear wheels is the 20lb (more or less) motor. Then the seat is about 10 inches forward of the motor but since the front wheel is 24 inches and the rear wheels are 16 inches my 230 weight distribution is really funky. The angle of the seat post make my weight right over the rear wheels. Ad to that the three sla batteries just a few inches in front of the rear wheels and you have a recipe for disaster.
I rolled the bike out which rolls pretty darn good all thing considered. I get on it and set the throttle for creep to get to the end of my short drive way and the strangest thing happens. The bike slithers to the left like a snake. It was kind of a fish tail.
Now if I was 30 years old and full of my total brain power, I would have realized something wasn't right. At that point I would have at least put on the helmet sitting behind me. I was waiting till I got out of the driveway for it. Instead I increased power to compensate for the sideways movement.
That was the wrong thing to do. The bike went over backwards and fell on top of me. I hit my tail bone and jammed some ribs, but worst of all there was the sound like the one made by thumping of a watermelon. I check myself out and got myself and the bike righted.
I made another bad assumption. It wasn't an equipment fault it was simply operator error. I could compensate for it. So I put on the helmet and started out again. This time I leaned forward shifting my 230 pounds forward of what I now presumed to be the center of gravity.
On creep I was learning to control the bike, I thought. So around the block I headed leaning forward all the time. I made the left turn successfully which I erroneously thought was the most dangerous spot. I hit the uphill straight away and then I applied the brakes and the front wheel came up and the bike rolled over.
I find myself back on the ground with the bike laying on top of me. I banged my head but it was inside the polo player's helmet that time. I hit my butt again and put more pressure on those ribs I broke two years ago when the gasoline bike threw me on the ground and rolled on top of me. So much for the safer electric trike.
I got the trike up and sat on it for about fifteen minute waiting to see, if I was going to throw up. I sat there in a cold sweat while cars stopped to ask, if I needed an ambulance. I told them all no but thanks for the concern. I couldn't get it out that what I really needed was a new glass of common sense.
I got home by a combination of rolling the trike down the hill that tried to kill me. and creeping the trike along with me leaning forward like a racer. So now for some things learned.
1. If you don't sweat the little stuff (Front wheel drifting violently to the left) it will come back to haunt you and it won't take long. I should have known and I did know that the weight distribution was all wrong. I just thought I was too smart and too experienced to have made a drastic mistake like that. I felt sure I could compensate for it.
2. I think now that the difference between the size of the front wheel 24" and the two rear wheels at 16" was too great shifting my weight distribution from a neural center to a slight over balance to the rear. I am going to change the rear wheels to 20 inches and use a couple of the rear coaster wheels I have. I feel like they are a bit stronger than the front wheels i am using now. I think this might help since the different in wheel height was 4 inches before and I had no trouble. It was just when I went to 8" difference that it got dicey.
3. While I am at it I am going to double secure the shackles to the front forks. I just had them bolted through the axle holes with some 3/8" bolts and washers. Im going to go above the axle holes and put a 1/4 inch hole in the shackle and the fin welded to the fork and put a 1/4" bolt in there as well. That should make it dropout secure. Then I guess I will try my evil coneval imitation again.
4. I am either going to do away with the motor and just keep the trike as a spare or move the motor to the forward part of the rear deck. just under the seat.
The one thing I have promise my wife to do, which I am not going to do is stop building bikes.
I am going to make a photo of it in a few minutes just to record what a bad design look like.
I cut a 8" "L" bracket in half to make shackles for the front fork in order to accommodate the 24" wheel. Not the hub motor just now but a 24" wheel. Had to move the brakes and stuff but I finally got it done.
Now picture this... Hanging behind the rear wheels is the 20lb (more or less) motor. Then the seat is about 10 inches forward of the motor but since the front wheel is 24 inches and the rear wheels are 16 inches my 230 weight distribution is really funky. The angle of the seat post make my weight right over the rear wheels. Ad to that the three sla batteries just a few inches in front of the rear wheels and you have a recipe for disaster.
I rolled the bike out which rolls pretty darn good all thing considered. I get on it and set the throttle for creep to get to the end of my short drive way and the strangest thing happens. The bike slithers to the left like a snake. It was kind of a fish tail.
Now if I was 30 years old and full of my total brain power, I would have realized something wasn't right. At that point I would have at least put on the helmet sitting behind me. I was waiting till I got out of the driveway for it. Instead I increased power to compensate for the sideways movement.
That was the wrong thing to do. The bike went over backwards and fell on top of me. I hit my tail bone and jammed some ribs, but worst of all there was the sound like the one made by thumping of a watermelon. I check myself out and got myself and the bike righted.
I made another bad assumption. It wasn't an equipment fault it was simply operator error. I could compensate for it. So I put on the helmet and started out again. This time I leaned forward shifting my 230 pounds forward of what I now presumed to be the center of gravity.
On creep I was learning to control the bike, I thought. So around the block I headed leaning forward all the time. I made the left turn successfully which I erroneously thought was the most dangerous spot. I hit the uphill straight away and then I applied the brakes and the front wheel came up and the bike rolled over.
I find myself back on the ground with the bike laying on top of me. I banged my head but it was inside the polo player's helmet that time. I hit my butt again and put more pressure on those ribs I broke two years ago when the gasoline bike threw me on the ground and rolled on top of me. So much for the safer electric trike.
I got the trike up and sat on it for about fifteen minute waiting to see, if I was going to throw up. I sat there in a cold sweat while cars stopped to ask, if I needed an ambulance. I told them all no but thanks for the concern. I couldn't get it out that what I really needed was a new glass of common sense.
I got home by a combination of rolling the trike down the hill that tried to kill me. and creeping the trike along with me leaning forward like a racer. So now for some things learned.
1. If you don't sweat the little stuff (Front wheel drifting violently to the left) it will come back to haunt you and it won't take long. I should have known and I did know that the weight distribution was all wrong. I just thought I was too smart and too experienced to have made a drastic mistake like that. I felt sure I could compensate for it.
2. I think now that the difference between the size of the front wheel 24" and the two rear wheels at 16" was too great shifting my weight distribution from a neural center to a slight over balance to the rear. I am going to change the rear wheels to 20 inches and use a couple of the rear coaster wheels I have. I feel like they are a bit stronger than the front wheels i am using now. I think this might help since the different in wheel height was 4 inches before and I had no trouble. It was just when I went to 8" difference that it got dicey.
3. While I am at it I am going to double secure the shackles to the front forks. I just had them bolted through the axle holes with some 3/8" bolts and washers. Im going to go above the axle holes and put a 1/4 inch hole in the shackle and the fin welded to the fork and put a 1/4" bolt in there as well. That should make it dropout secure. Then I guess I will try my evil coneval imitation again.
4. I am either going to do away with the motor and just keep the trike as a spare or move the motor to the forward part of the rear deck. just under the seat.
The one thing I have promise my wife to do, which I am not going to do is stop building bikes.
I am going to make a photo of it in a few minutes just to record what a bad design look like.
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To be honest after my last fall I have decided there are Bicycles, Tricycles, and Killercycles. The bikes and the trikes are easy to recognize but the killercyles disguise themselves as one of the others. I think their soul purpose in life is to try to kill me before I rip them apart for parts.
Of course I could be wrong. sorry I have to go take some meds for delusions
Of course I could be wrong. sorry I have to go take some meds for delusions
Here is a set up I want to build one day when I get too old for two wheels. Recumbent trike with the two wheels up front. Center of the trike bottom bracket with a shiftkit. Rear wheel Shimano Nexus 3 speed hub with a Kilduff autoshifter.
sounds like a plan. I have some medical issues and I like to build. My Miami Sun with the 700 watt 36v hub will take me anywhere I want to go, but I just can't stay out of the shop. I rebuild the killer bike and hope I tamed it only time will tell.
Wife thinks I'm crazy to be limping and moving like the walking dead but still working in the shop. I tell her its just the way I roll.
Wife thinks I'm crazy to be limping and moving like the walking dead but still working in the shop. I tell her its just the way I roll.
I began work on the killer trike the next day after it threw me on my butt twice. I worked in pain this is the third day and as usual it's starting to lessen. So first I dumped the 24" front wheel and went to a 16" rear coaster brake wheel on front. Which is why I left the shackles on the front fork. Then I had to redo the brakes since the front brake is the only brake. It took some searching through all the brake parts I had to work out the design for a brake and then find the parts a cable to rig is up.
Next I moved the 36v 800 watt motor to the front of the rear wheel. that moved about thirty pounds to the front instead of the rear of the rear axle. Then I lowered the seat dropping my fat but lower to decrease it's top heavy thing. Anyway this is how it looks now.
Next I moved the 36v 800 watt motor to the front of the rear wheel. that moved about thirty pounds to the front instead of the rear of the rear axle. Then I lowered the seat dropping my fat but lower to decrease it's top heavy thing. Anyway this is how it looks now.
All the bikes I build are thrift store purchases. A hank of hair and piece of bone, mostly mine lately.
I hate to say this to all the gasoline guys, but when I got married again 25 years ago my dad gave me an old mower my brother had worn out mostly. I took that mower and did some turn up and used it till the case was so rusty I had to swap it out for a reject from a newer mower a guy gave me. I used it for several more years till I hit a root with it and bent the crank or something. A frankenmower and everyone called it that.
Now the last two mowers I bought lasted a combination of three years. So note the electric mower in the background. I gave up on gasoline. If I still drove a car I would be looking for an electric of some kind. Not that I could afford it.
I hate to say this to all the gasoline guys, but when I got married again 25 years ago my dad gave me an old mower my brother had worn out mostly. I took that mower and did some turn up and used it till the case was so rusty I had to swap it out for a reject from a newer mower a guy gave me. I used it for several more years till I hit a root with it and bent the crank or something. A frankenmower and everyone called it that.
Now the last two mowers I bought lasted a combination of three years. So note the electric mower in the background. I gave up on gasoline. If I still drove a car I would be looking for an electric of some kind. Not that I could afford it.
It stopped raining and I completed my 3wheel electric moped thingie. So I took it out to test. I don't care for the small 16" wheels much but it climbed a very steep hill that usually give me trouble at about five miles and hour. I was testing and didn't want to take it to speed. That hill is where the darn thing assaulted me last time.
It kept its nose down and mine clean as we sailed up the hill. It isn't light in the front or heavy in the rear. It seems to be balanced. So I'm going to pronounce it finished for now. I intend to test it to see if I can live with a moped scooter type design. If so I will build a larger one.
It kept its nose down and mine clean as we sailed up the hill. It isn't light in the front or heavy in the rear. It seems to be balanced. So I'm going to pronounce it finished for now. I intend to test it to see if I can live with a moped scooter type design. If so I will build a larger one.
I'm suffering again. My own fault of course. I rode the scooter two miles this morning after it stopped raining and it was fun but those 16" wheels were just to small. Frankly after it rolled on me I was terrified of the holes in the roads. I mean three inch deep breaks in the asphalt. The roads have really gone to the devil in a hand basket with all the budget problems.
So I came back home and started to switch the wheels for larger ones. Since it was a one of a kind build, I had to piece together a frame for the larger rear wheels. In the middle I stopped to cut the lawn before the next rainy spell.
So I worked hard in the back shop and cut the grass. I have no idea but my butt hurts almost as bad now and it did when I fell on it.
Nonetheless the scooter now had twenty inch rear wheels and a twenty four inch front wheel right now. I tried to see how the balance is but i cant tell. It does seem to be fine though. Getting on and off the bike might be a problem I will have to see how that goes.
I'm not working on the bike tomorrow. I might take the big red trike and go fishing tomorrow.
So I came back home and started to switch the wheels for larger ones. Since it was a one of a kind build, I had to piece together a frame for the larger rear wheels. In the middle I stopped to cut the lawn before the next rainy spell.
So I worked hard in the back shop and cut the grass. I have no idea but my butt hurts almost as bad now and it did when I fell on it.
Nonetheless the scooter now had twenty inch rear wheels and a twenty four inch front wheel right now. I tried to see how the balance is but i cant tell. It does seem to be fine though. Getting on and off the bike might be a problem I will have to see how that goes.
I'm not working on the bike tomorrow. I might take the big red trike and go fishing tomorrow.
Bmx foot pegs on the front and 3'' wide tires in the back might help. If you had them laying around. Your probably not wanting to spend any money on it just playing with spare parts I bet. Pretty cool spare parts mobile. You could hook a trailer up..use it around the house... beats walkin
I have the pegs on the front for my feet. I might come across some tire but I think I have the standard 2" girlie bike tires now.
I told my wife I wanted to get some sled dogs and have them pull me around. She didn't see the humor in it. She just started rattling off reasons it wouldn't work.
I think I am going to put the friction drive back on it on the front wheel. Miami Sun will take me where I need to go this one is just a pure moped. Engine only model but it could be fun nonetheless.
This has a 24" wheel on the front and 20" on the rear I don't know how bad the balance would be but I have room for a 26" on the font and a couple of them laying around. I might put one on just for the heck of it. Then again maybe not.
I told my wife I wanted to get some sled dogs and have them pull me around. She didn't see the humor in it. She just started rattling off reasons it wouldn't work.
I think I am going to put the friction drive back on it on the front wheel. Miami Sun will take me where I need to go this one is just a pure moped. Engine only model but it could be fun nonetheless.
This has a 24" wheel on the front and 20" on the rear I don't know how bad the balance would be but I have room for a 26" on the font and a couple of them laying around. I might put one on just for the heck of it. Then again maybe not.
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Someone mentioned one of those new age trikes and sure as heck I saw one today. Big muscular guy just booking down the road. Now one of those with a 300watt hub motor would be the cats meow. I have a bad heart and can pedal one of those as long as it isn't on a long steep hill but the small bit of assist would make it very doable, but alas I'm tied to Miami sun for now.
But man he was bookin with no motor.
But man he was bookin with no motor.