The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Remember these thingies?



Yea, the lil test idler dealies I threw together... Well, not only did I end up makin' more than I needed - as it turns out they bear too much of a resemblance to erector set bits to survive for long lol, got to lookin' at them & realized they were my front brake splitter waiting to happen. So, I grabbed a chunk of an old aluminum yard stick and scribbled a bit w/the trusty sharpie, planning just a "rough draft" dual pull setup. I could ofc just get a dual pull brake lever for my front brakes... but not only do I need a switched lever for brake light/regenerative charging, none of the dual pull levers match my rear brake lever... and that jus' won't do heh

Turns out my "wild guesstimates" were far better than I dared hope, hookin' up both my front brakes & the lever - I gave it some testing and much to my surprise it works jus' ducky! As all it really needs is some clean up & lube (that stuff waits till all's done ofc) I figured what the heck & stuck it where it belongs w/a 'nother thing ticked off the "to do" list;

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

and... I figure I outa be honest w/ya'll - ya know how my bench always looks nice & clean like this?

It's a lie of course - doesn't matter how small a project I've got goin' on, I've an irresistible compulsion to grab every tool, every bolt, every single chunk of scrap metal except the ones I actually need and strew them everywhere like I'm late for work & lookin' for my other sock If it wasn't for ya'll and the need to hide mine slovenly shame, my taddy would be buried in a drift of busted bike bits, bad 'nuff I always end up searching for a sharpie when there's four of 'em that were just right there a second ago...

So yea, after jus' this morning's tinkerings, my bench looked like this;

I blame gremlins ofc o.o

 

[Dan]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

I have those same tool buckets BA!

(red ones, front left)

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

orly?

I puts mine name on thems b'cause of ppl like you o.o

 

[fasteddy]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

How long do you think it will be before you start producing trike kits?

Steve.

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

To my surprise, I've been asked this a coupla times - while flattering indeed... there's some... problems w/the idea.

The major one is ofc me, but that aside lol I don't think there's enough of a market in the price range it'd hafta have, then there's the problem of it's a srs frankenstein abomination - to market it all of the chassis components would hafta be fabricated instead of scrounged... which would drive the price up even more ofc.

It's... conceivable, I've figured out a coupla "shortcuts" to reduce assembly time & price but another factor not to be overlooked is it's an "experimental prototype" untested & conceived by an... um... "eccentric" so... prolly best ta wait and see ifn it's ocsuly a doomsday device of some sort lol

Still, thanks for the complement

 

[fasteddy]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

I'm thinking minor teething problems like every thing new but nothing major.

The only real problem I can see that you'll have is going anywhere with people stopping you everywhere wanting to know all the details. Forty minute gas fill up's and hour long coffee stops.

Steve.

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

lol that's a "problem" I'm sure we're all familiar with - I considered fending folks off by various tactics such as maniacal cackles and the ol' crazy eye... but as I do that anyway and it doesn't seem to work, I've long ago resorted to these instead: http://motorbicycling.com/f15/bike-cards-12390.html

...Then they ask where can I get one? and I've no choice but to fling a pile of motorbicycling.com bike cards up in the air as my ninja style distraction and frantically vroom off in a desperate escape attempt...

 

[Dan]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

orly?

I puts mine name on thems b'cause of ppl like you o.o

After seeing your pics, I went out to the shop to make sure mine didn't migrate north.

(Snork)

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

OMG the slander I told you mine are CLEARLY labeled w/mine name!

 

[Dan]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

LOL, snork, snicker.

 

[2door]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

A little off-topic, I know, but I can't figure out how to enlarge a Photobucket picture. I can copy and paste it into Photoshop and view it bigger but that's a pain.
Whenever a member posts a picture from Photobucket it isn't much bigger, if at all, than the thumbnail in his post. What am I missing?
Tom

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

All of the thumbnail pics I post should redirect to the photobucket album if left-clicked, where another click will bring up the 720x540 @ 72dpi version, which should display/print at 10x7.5 inches. If it doesn't - there may be an issue w/your display settings/PS/etc. as I use a couple of different 'puters and haven't had a problem...

I use thumbnails & resize the original to reduce bandwidth consumption as I'm a bit of a pic junkie... as you may have noticed lol - given I usually post the maximum number of pics allowed per post (5) if I were to use full resolution originals, the east coast would suffer brownouts every time one of my threads/albums was viewed

If you or anyone else would like a higher resolution pic - I'd be both happy and flattered to provide it

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Well, I done went and ordered a bunch more cra... erm... needful bits n'stuff, which to the best of my knowledge should be the last of the things I absolutely can't do without... except the chain tube... which I forgot until just now ofc

E-thirteen SRS Idler Pulley, black Quantity: 4 @ $16.00ea

5/8" ID Adaptor for freewheel sprocket 13, 14 & 15 tooth 30mm x 1.0 OD $12.30

13 Tooth Freewheel Sprocket 1/2" x 3/32" Flip Flop $16.64

puch maxi moped pedal chain tensioner $15.00

Western Power Sports cast aluminum anodized finger throttles, black Quantity: 2 @ $28.12 ea

Not that any of these items are bolt'ngo... the idlers need mounts made, the freewheel sprocket is prolly too thick (BMX vs multispeed) & may need to be lathed, and I ordered the Puch tensioner simply b'cause I wanted to see if I can actually cheat and not hafta make one frm scratch... but ofc it will still need to be bolted to something, somthin' I'll need to make ofc lol

Then there's these;

Yep, two of 'em. After months of futile fussin' & figurin' I've come to the conclusion that two even remotely matching thumb throttles is an impossible quest, let alone a left handed one. Sure, I can make something work but it'd be gommey at best... to make matters even more interesting, I don't even like thumb throttles TBH - I jus' didn't think I had much choice as the throttle choices for the electric hub are thumb or twist & twist jus' isn't gonna work with this setup.

So... instead I've decided I'm gonna mod one of the two supplied electric throttles to take a cable & hide the poor chopped up thing ...somewhere I've not quite figured yet lol - the only "disadvantage" I can think of is there's battery level indicator lights on the stock throttles, I could desolder the LEDs out of the board & put them anywhere I like, but I don't think I like lol... I don't think I'll need or want them, not "all up in my face" anyway - I do love flashy lights, gauges and other doodads, but not if they insist on blinding me at night heh - I'll most likely be gettin' a Cycle Analyst at some point in any case.

What's far more important is tryin' to keep the controls as neat, comfy and organized as possible - no small task when yer trying to combine three different motive systems and all the associated accessories onto just two hand grips... we'll see how that works out fer me when the blasted brown truck gets here heh

.../waits o.o

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

...and whilst I'm waitin' on the BBT (Blasted Brown Truck ofc) I threw together one remote actuated ethrottle cable conversion dealie... thing...

Ahh... w/e ya wanna call it, I unno why I was so reluctant to do this, why I spent so much time searching for a matching thumb throttle for the ICE, particularly as I'm not fond of thumbers anyway, or more precisely - my thumbs aren't fond of 'em lol, in any case it went together so easy & quick I was left standing there wonderin' what I mighta forgot.

Jus' a chunk of aluminum seat post (thankee spare schwinn muhahaha), a bit o'aluminum angle and a sec spent zottin', drillin' & tappin' & it's all done... save figurin' where I'm gonna put it ofc *shrug* I only hadta drill one tiny lil hole in the throttle itself, so minor that if I ever wanna swap it out to another bike it'd be unnoticeable, not that it matters much as they're cheap in any case heh: Thumb Throttle

As I mentioned b'fore, I don't much care ifn I can see the battery level indicator lights, it's just a "full/half/empty" approximation anyway. No doubt I'll be lured into gettin' the ubergroovy 'Cycle Analyst' as that's got waaay more info than I could possibly comprehend FTW

There's the red button too, but much as I dearly love red buttons - that'un is just for "lights" if yer using the 'Pie's controller for such... which I may or may not do. Doesn't really matter as such a lil button could easily go anywheres;

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Three outa four of mine orders came in... ofc the one order I was really lookin' forward to was the one that's backordered, thus I can't haz it yet - the groovy trigger throttles b'dangit o.o

Ah well, prolly Monday *shrug* In a way it's a good thing as it "forced" me to work on some other stuff lol

The 13t freewheel sprocket I'd gotten was for a BMX & as single speed chain is wider than multispeed the teeth are thicker (pitch/spacing is the same ofc), which means my chain won't fit. I knew this, didn't care tho as I've access to a lathe (w00t!) & BMX freewheels are both commonplace and cheap... I did search for a mutispeed single cog 11-13t freewheel, didn't find anythin' amongst the thousands of blargnotwhutIwaslookinfer returns and said ta keck w/it.

I'll admit I didn't look very hard heh, for $13 and "having" to play w/the lathe again? I'll takes it!

There was the "I guess I'll find out" question of if it could be lathed... tho I've used the thing a couple few times at this point to make needful deailies, that was all pretty simple and basic use - this was different however, not only was I guessing I'd have something to grab w/the chuck, the bit would be hitting the sprocket's teeth as it spun - all I could do was hope if I fed it slowly enough it'd refrain from derploding all over the place.

I did ask the shop foreman before I smashed up company equipment... I'd love to say it's 'cause I'm concerned about the shop tools & the right way to do things, but that'd be an untruth as not only was it mostly 'cause I just didn't wanna hurt myself and look the fool - no one in the shop cares anyway, so regardless of the "lol, it'll be fine" response, I already knew dang well "safety & proper tool use" wasn't gonna be included in the answer lol ...TBH I only asked on the off chance they'd scream "OMGNO don't do it man, the world will implode!!1!" *shrug* 'figured I could always turn it down usin' a file anyway if I ended up diggin' the sprocket outa the wall amongst the shotgun blast of carbide chunks...

Naturally, not only did the lathe not care - it went so easy as to make me suspect my concerns were all n00bish delusions & cowardice... I did stand well clear of any potential shrapnel should Murphy choose to remind me why I tend to be so 'noid 'bout using the unfamiliar power tools heh

The first pic has an 11t multispeed sprocket next to the 13t freewheel to show the difference in the teeth, I didn't take it down quite that far as those were a lil on the thin side, I fit it to the chain instead & tho I didn't bother to take a pic, I wasn't quite lazy 'nuff to jus' do one side, I did turn both down to keep the beveled tips of the teeth centered

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Next ticked off the tado list was two of the chain path idler mounts, I'd used aluminum bar to make mock ups, but not only would using aluminum force me to clamp them to the steel frame, TBH I've concerns about if my idler designs are going to be strong enough for the power side of the pedal chain at all - let alone with aluminum...

As I've bemoaned b'fore - I've very little room amongst the labyrinth of bars, pipes, linkages, n'other whatsits & while I can use larger idlers made for the application, the price to pay is ground clearance and that's been a long bloody battle from day one, I ain't gonna give up a fraction of an inch w/o a fight and I found those irresistible lil ittybitty sealed bearing cogs... had ta get 'em, hafta try heh

No... I would never sit there for a while spinnin' them and gigglin' to myself... that'd be jus' foolish right?

*cough* anyhoo, the test mounts worked out so well I figured I'd jus' replicate 'em outa steel & weld 'em there - the bigger question is if the fasteners will take the sheer loading... while I found some sweet allen heads that fit so perfectly they "click" into place as a press fit, I really just can't guess if they'll be strong enough. I guess we'll find out tho lol

I had cut up a buncha 1/2" strips of sheet steel to make lil chain guide/keeper dohickies (wordfail I kno lol), but as I was fighting with 'em I happened to notice the brake cable mounts on my ol' Shwinn & wouldn't ya know it - with a lil bit of modification they're perfect, so I stripped a couple ofn some parts bikes instead - "recycling" is good, right?

We'll see... everythin' worked well 'nuff test pedalin' the thing by hand (key removed frm shaft to jus' free spin) so now they're all clamped an' ready ta zot in any case heh;



Odd thing... as ya prolly noticed the lil cogs are clear ...that's weird on a coupla levels... not only do I wonder who in the world would imagine they'd remain "clear" & lookin' "good" if used even once to actually help guide a greasy ol' bicycle chain, obviously given what I jus' typed - I ain't one of 'em heh

Not to mention I ordered black ones as I was given a "choice" or so I thought. As these are most decidedly not black, don't have black anywhere on them, weren't black to start with (they will be soon 'nuff lol) - but as they were labeled "black" on the package... I can only assume universalcycles.com may be in the habit of keepin' color blind drones in their employ. I've nufin' against the color blind ofc, drone or otherwise - they needta eat too lol, but it didn't bode well for their customer service department.

Disgruntled for a mo, I concluded I don't care what color they are (or aren't as the case may be) as they'll be hidden anyway... and then there's the not unimportant factor of finding sweet lil sealed bearings like this fer just $16 and well... that'll go a long way towards el'cheapo me bein' a lil color blind too FTW

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Well, the chain tensioner for the pedal chain has been givin' me fits grr... such a deceptively simple thing as a spring has managed to thwart mine efforts for the longest time... I'd gotten a Puch moped pedal chain tensioner - and promptly decided I didn't like it & chucked it in the "forget it" pile, it was worth a shot tho lol

So, I'm back to trying to modify a rear derailleur to suit my needs - yet an entire derailleur is gommy & has all kindsa superfluous wigglie bits, I really don't need or want it to be able to move laterally, there's no gears to shift back there b'dangit. Rippin' them apart has proved... interesting lol, it's but a small c-clip that holds the idler cage in place - yea, try getting to the silly thing on some of these >.<

I haz power tools, I aint askeered & the result is a pile of destroyed derailleurs YAY

Basically what the problem is amounts to once removed, the idler cage hasta be reversed so the shaft faces the stays, yet the return spring that's normally on that particular shaft is wound the "wrong" way, unwinding if preloaded to put tension on the chain... so... I went on a spring hunt... Anything with any kinda spring in, on, or even near it was now in imminent peril, squeeze clamps, the Puch tensioner, other people's crap at work and ofc other derailleurs all got poked, prodded, stretched & thunked about as I sought something that wouldn't be completely useless.

I'm gonna need some new squeeze clamps lol

Anyway, after all of that I did actually find one that had all the right stuff *whew* Somewhat unsurprisingly it came outa another rear derailleur - just off the upper shaft instead of the lower, wound the right way - it's a lil smaller than I'd hoped but works quite well jus' the same... problem is, tho I scored a buncha c... *cough* scrap derailleurs frm my local bike shop (thanks guys!) they're ALL short cage and naturally - I need a long cage >.<

Ah well, it was the spring & mount I needed to sort out & I've gotten those figured, findin' a long cage shouldn't be too much of a problem lol... right? (ssh, Murphy's listening)

|.o

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

On a lighter note, my groovy trigger throttles finally showed up

I s'pose I coulda used shorty brake levers and saved a coupla bucks... but after checking out the brake levers I've got - they don't seem to have quite enough travel to act as proper throttles... mebbe, but it'd be a close thing & it'd be annoying as all getout to only have like 90% throttle lol

Also, unlike brake levers the mounts for these lil guys are at an angle, raising the pivot point up & away from the grips and allowing jus' that much more throw and giving me jus' a hair more room for my big freakin' hands heh... they're also not plastic, which most trigger throttles frm weedeaters & whatnot seem to be.

So, I'm pretty stoked - they're comfy, the mounts are far smaller than thumb throttles (more room yay!) don't look completely stoopid & equally as important, don't interfere with the brake levers. I was a lil concerned that the cables wouldn't take that kinda bend, to be able to go inside the handlebars and down, but after installation I found that even dry - there's no excessive drag or binding & w/a lil lube outa be unnoticeable. The cables might wear out a lil faster... but they're cheap & easy to replace *shrug*

Those aren't the twist shifters I'll be using tho, chalk new ones up on the list of bike bits I forgot I needed heh & I'm thinkin' I'll put the ICE controls under the shifters, the on/off switches, lights & whatnot. I've a bunch of controls left over from the four wheelers I've brutalized, but they're all sun faded and busticated so... moar stuff to order >.<

 

[mbuna420]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

dude this thing is looking real nice