Velocars and other interesting vehicles.

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Hello Steve. Living as I do with a disability that can affect my mobility adversely from time to time I'm also in the position of having to consider three wheelers over two wheelers as my mode of transport. When I'm well I still can ride a two wheeler, but having seen the writing on the wall I know it would be wise to prepare for the future; - the fun must still go on afterall

I have numerous bits I have hoarded which would be useful to build a velocar once I actually make up my mind as to the design format. It has to look old though, - like you I'm fussy on that point.
So you owned a Morgan briefly? I'm amazed that you could bear to part with it, - but then again having not so long ago sold my much loved 1954 Series II Morris Minor I can very much understand how it is that these things happen.

Just this week I discovered a trader here in New Zealand who sells Chinese made 50cc quad bikes for around $NZ350.00 and I thought I would save my pocket money to get one. Rather than try and buy the parts I might need individually for a velocar which could prove expensive, I thought that stripping down one of these quads for useful parts would be the better way to go. Afterall all the parts for the electrics, brakes, steering etc etc would all be there just waiting to be unbolted

 

[Ibedayank]

cheap price=cheap parts


if you design and build it yourself then you will know exactly what it takes not if it breaks but when

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

cheap price=cheap parts


if you design and build it yourself then you will know exactly what it takes not if it breaks but when

True enough in a way.

This is the quad bike. I'm sure there would be more here that would be useful and serviceable on a HPV build than not.......

 

[Ibedayank]

ahh a 4wheeler but extreemly heavy compared to bike part builds
wont be easy to adapt bike wheels to it

problem with the 4wheeler is the solid rear axle and trying to turn it
not a problem in dirt/sand but REAL problem being human powered and on pavement
and not having the power to spin the rear wheels

 

[fasteddy]

The Morgan story unfolded with me going to see another young lad in the neighbourhood that raced motorcycles mostly a J.A.P. powered sidecar rig. While I was there talking to him another racer came in and said that he knew of a fella that had a car with a J.A.P. motor on it.
It was declined and offered to me since it was well known that if the price was right I was a buyer. Could also be looked at also as the fact that the Sap would buy anything.
I asked if it had three wheels and I was told it did indeed and off we went.

It was out in the country a bit and arriving there we were shown to an old shed with the story that it had quit a few years ago and was towed home and push into it's final resting place and for the ungodly sum of $250 I could be the proud new owner. Well the current owner didn't really care if I was proud or not just so long as I has $250 in cash.

We settled up and took it down off the blocks it was on and pushed it out into the daylight. It was in very good condition given the age which I can't remember now but I'm sure 1920's. I bought it in 1963.

Towed it home and the chap behind us was a major auto trader and far more knowledgeble that I was and was very quick to offer $450 and it was gone. He had it running in a day and we took it out for a ride and then it was sold to a newer owner.

Of all the cars that I owned it rates up there with the 1953 Porche convertible {drop head coupe} that my brother and I owned as a "Wish we had it now".
Of course the Francis Barnett and James motorcycles as well as the D.O.T. scrambler rate up there too. Oh, and the two 1939 Triunph motorcycles that we bought for $150 along with the $125 Porche.

I'm sure you see the pattern but in those days they were just old cars and not collectable cars. Of course my brother and nephew are carrying the tradition on but now it's just bicycles for me.

Steve.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Oh no I wouldn't use it how it is; - far too Star Wars looking for me! No I would take it apart into a million bits and completely remake the whole thing with vintage bicycle and go kart parts until it looked properly respectable. The quad would only be a parts donor and would end up being totally unrecognisable by the time I'd finished.

 

[fasteddy]

My thoughts were if I were to build a gas powered velocar I'd use a moped donor. Engine and back wheel are already set up with a not great pedal set up but it would qualify for licencing purposes and if you were to plan on using it you make the pedal section better.
Two moped front wheels for brakes and you would be away.

I live with my brother and sister in law when I'm not travelling and he's behind me at this moment saying your kidding right? Your not going to build one are you?
He is now living in fear. Yaaaa Haaaa Haaa. Every time I leave the house he'll be worrying that a load of parts are coming back with me.

I would have to either sell the tricar or the sidecar to make room in the trailer so the velocar is probably a dream but one never knows.

I have some angle iron bed rails and then there is some square tubing left over from the 1st sidecar frame and then there's the 98cc Villiers engine with the kick start which would go with the rear wheel with Manic Mechanic adapter that was going on the tricar that may get a Sportscar Pat rear wheel and then, well I have to go out to the garage and do a little measuring and I'll be right back.

Steve.

 

[fasteddy]

An Introduction to CycleKarting

Here is a site that has a lot of good ideas. Wish we could put these cars on the road.
Maybe as three wheelers.

Steve.

 

[GearNut]

If anybody in California is interested in making one of these little gems (like I am ) the following may interest you:
V C Section 39000 Bicycle Defined

Please pay special attention to the last 6 words in the definition.

Here is a pdf that you can print out and carry with you if a local revenue maker tries to tell you their interpretation of the law. Just print the portion that applies to your vehicle.

 

[fasteddy]

Look up, Cyclecar Madness-Montley Autodrome Heritage Fest 2010 on youtube.
Lots of three and four wheel cyclecars running and getting ready to go around the track.

Steve.

 

[Ibedayank]

no cycle cars allowed on public streets here the tinstars would have a field day with their ticket books. TN law states only 3 wheels or less are bicycles

 

[fasteddy]

When you are on the main page of Cyclekarts go to the Gallery of Photos and click on it and then click on Oct.03. This will show you how they form the foam and glass it over.

Steve.

 

[silverbear]

I need to go back and pour over the links, but did want to comment on the moped as donor idea which I think is a very good one. Steve worked on mounting up a Tomos A35 two speed, pedal start engine to a frame from an AMF Roadmaster project this past summer. I'm still working on it ( this weekend welding the dropout extensions for a 26" rear wheel) and will hopefully have it running this winter. I can see how a tri car front end could turn it into a very interesting machine and a good candidate for a velocar project. I love the looks of that Morgan 3 wheeler. I used to have MGTDs as a young man and can visualize that front end scaled down as the inspiration. A 40 Ford inspired front end would be killer, too. Ah man, now there's something else to think about in the middle of the night... Since the engine is 50cc and it has pedals, it should be legal, yes? I hadn't even thought of the Orphan moped as a tri-car, but now it seems a natural.
SB

 

[BarelyAWake]

...Just this week I discovered a trader here in New Zealand who sells Chinese made 50cc quad bikes for around $NZ350.00 and I thought I would save my pocket money to get one. Rather than try and buy the parts I might need individually for a velocar which could prove expensive, I thought that stripping down one of these quads for useful parts would be the better way to go. Afterall all the parts for the electrics, brakes, steering etc etc would all be there just waiting to be unbolted.

ahh a 4wheeler but extreemly heavy compared to bike part builds
wont be easy to adapt bike wheels to it

problem with the 4wheeler is the solid rear axle and trying to turn it
not a problem in dirt/sand but REAL problem being human powered and on pavement
and not having the power to spin the rear wheels

You're right with the issues you've brought up Ibedayank, if ofc you simply tried to bolt bicycle wheels to a four wheeler - but "stripping down one of these quads for useful parts" as Intrepid suggested can be a very economically wise decision. TBH in retrospect I regret not buying a new "Chinese made 50cc quad" for my own tadpole project, there's far too many useful bits for it to be anything other than a practical purchase - provided ofc you're planning on using it's engine for the build.

Many of the child sized quads come with the Chinese made, horizontal 50cc four stroke Honda CRF50 clones, which is actually quite a good, reliable power plant with a plethora of aftermarket parts (Lifan for best compatibility w/Honda BTW), yet if purchased separately - will cost nearly that of buying an entire quad. Having an electrical harness that perfectly matches your particular engine & charging system is also no small matter as the aftermarket replacements all seem to be "one size fits none".

There really is a surprising amount of "little things" that add up in a hurry, levers & controls (switches etc.), steering components, even suspension parts (A arms & bushings) and fuel tank - add even most of them up and it can be roughly 1/2 the overall cost to buy a complete quad & strip it for it's components, even sections of the chassis can be cut, dropped, raked & modded into the project, the motor mount/cage for example.

http://motorbicycling.com/f44/bent-zombie-tribrid-tadpole-trike-build-24210.html

 

[silverbear]

When you are on the main page of Cyclekarts go to the Gallery of Photos and click on it and then click on Oct.03. This will show you how they form the foam and glass it over.

Steve.

Here's the direct link to click on to see how the bodies are formed. Heavier than fabric construction, but so cool I can see a three wheeler in my future! A three speed Sachs or Hercules moped donor would be about right for engine/tranny and still be legal.
SB

 

[diceman2004]

I love anything to do with the ealy years of motorbikes , cars and airplanes .
The golden age of powered vehicles .
I'de like nothing better than too see a city with streets no wider than 20 feet and the only vehicles you see would have been built by the person driving it .

Todays cars are crazy ( ok this may offend some car buffs , but i was into done up cars when i was younger too ) .
Working vehicles like trucks and vans , ok i can understand a big motor . But really ? why are they still building passenger cars with over 5 liter displacement and upwards to 300 hp . ( you know ... like those dodge chargers that all the old folks around here seem to like . And when i say OLD ... I mean too old to be driving . ) Hence the OLD lady that drove her 5.something L 200 and something HP Charger through the front of a video store ( because she got startled and pressed the wrong pedal ) .

I want to see more small homebuilt vehicles , that don,t use up a lot of gas .
I want to see all forms of insurance abollished ( biggest scam ever invented along with credit ) .
I want the words ( THE RICH ) added to the police badge .
I want to see more mom and pop stores that serve all day breakfast

But mostly I wanna see some people building some of these velocars ( they are so cool )
but the have to have some kind of body ... not just a frame and wheels

 

[rustycase]

I hope the Deacon watches this Paul Elkins video.
...He'll see at 3:00 in the video how even a quad is tippy and lifts a wheel, abt to tumble even at the slow pedal speeds. The rear wheel set is narrower than the front track... why he did that, I just don't know!
Fun little pedal car, though... he sure seems to be enjoying it!
That corroplast it GREAT stuff ! ...comes in a number of thicknesses, and 4 x 8ft sheets.
It flies well!

Best
rc

 

[silverbear]

Here's the direct link to click on to see how the bodies are formed. Heavier than fabric construction, but so cool I can see a three wheeler in my future! A three speed Sachs or Hercules moped donor would be about right for engine/tranny and still be legal.
SB

Forgot to include the link...CycleKart Pictures

 

[Ibedayank]

silverbear
as long as the headtube you use if making a delta trike has a serial number and is street legal in the first place there will be no problem

 

[Tourezrick]

tourezrick's Channel - YouTube

This video logs my first attempt at a motorized delta trike/velocar. I started out with a Sun EZ3-AX delta trike, added a Wilderness energy 36v front hub motor (pedal first), added solar panels - first on a trailer, then used the solar panels as the roof on my velomobile. That was a great idea until I sold the WE hub, bought a C'lyte 36v 1400w hub laced to a 26" wheel (and a VERY strong steel fork) and 26" rear wheels. The C'lyte could move me and the trike, which, by now weighed about 150# at 35 mph. All was well until the mounts for the solar panel roof broke and dropped 3 panels on my head! ALWAYS wear a helmet if you have a load overhead. Sold the C'lyte rig and bought a friend's Cyclone 360w @ 24v chainline motor, which I traded to a friend for his Sun EZ3 - USX delta - very heavy, very strong and it should be very happy with it's new Staton drive with the 33.5 CC Robin engine. I'll post pics and vids when I get it all together.

Rick