Electric Terratrike Rover

[silverbear]

I believe it was in 1949 or perhaps 1950 that I was given a tricycle for Christmas. It was maroon, had chain drive from a bottom bracket and a step behind the seat for an additional small person to hitch a ride. It had a shiny bell on the handlebar and I put a lot of miles on that thing before graduating to a full sized 26” boys bike a few years later. I don’t ever recall seeing a child sized two wheeler when I was a boy… you went from a tricycle to a regular bicycle when you were big enough to reach the pedals with nothing in between. It was my first taste of freedom and the exileration of having the wind in my face. I became an addict, I’m afraid, satisfying my lust for pedal power with a number of bicycles through the years and more recently in the past decade with gas motored conversions. Some of you know me from activities on this forum. Now, at 77 I have another tricycle. Truly I am “the boy who never grew up”.

My new to me tricycle is a good bit different from the maroon one. It has two wheels up front instead of in back and a low seat, quite comfortable and a whole lot more stable. It is called a Rover and is no longer made by Terratrike which has moved on to newer and improved models. The Rover, however, was made for a decade or so and was the first experience of a recumbent tadpole trike for a whole lot of riders, many of whom were older and had given up riding two wheelers, deeming it unsafe or too hard and something for younger people. The advent of recumbent tadpoles has changed all that. No more trouble swinging ones leg over the seat of a men’s bike or the very real prospect of broken bones slow to heal from a fall. The Rover had additional appeal in having a little higher seat than other tadpoles, making it easier for an elder to sit down and get back up without assistance. It also had a very strong frame capable of supporting riders up to 400 pounds, perhaps looking to get some exercise and losing some weight. So it sold well and there are lots of them out there in good used condition. The Rover came with different gearing options from none to an internal 3 speed and internal 8 speed. Standard internal gearing was with a Sturmey Archer rear hub in either 3 or 8 speeds and an additional upgrade to a Shimano Nexus 8 speed and a Nuvinci 360 constant velocity hub. I don’t believe a derailleur setup was offered. In spite of the gearing options for many elders, especially ones recovering from heart ailments, cancer and all the other problems common to elders, pedaling any distance, especially in hilly country can be intimidating if not impossible.

Electric assist comes to the rescue and for the Rover the most common conversion is with a mid drive motor built into the bottom bracket allowing one to use the internal gearing in most Rover rear hubs. After a number of brushes with the “never mind” in my long life… (shall I count the ways? ) Back in 1945 at 2 1/2 I drowned in Ojibwa Lake north of Ely Minnesota. Passing over is my first deeply embedded memory and I am happy to report that after being pulled from the bottom I started breathing again which is still a mystery to me. A head on collision in my forties was followed by a traumatic brain injury through a lightning strike to my head In my fifties. Then Guillane Barre Syndrome (like polio) and I had my first heart attack in my sixties and the second one in my seventies followed by two rounds of stage four cancer more recently, first thyroid and then lymphoma. So, I’m lucky to still be waking up in the morning cancer free and happy to have projects to work on… particularly my “new” tricycle. I’m still a pretty strong old fart and intend to stay that way with regular fun exercise and right thinking (still working on what that might mean).

So there’s a picture below which shows two Rovers in their current state of development, looking a good bit different now than when work started on them this fall. One is for me and the other for my partner in crime Sue. They are close to being done and have proven to be a whole lot of fun. But I’m getting ahead of myself and need to back up, which is the purpose of this thread and long introduction. I had never before ridden a recumbent and had no experience with a mid drive electric motor. Never even considered making my own lithium batteries. I invite you to join me in recounting this elder adventure. Who knows? You might decide to get your own tadpole when you grow up and come along for a ride… woohoo!
SB

 

[Greg58]

I’m here to watch.

 

[Russell]

I believe it was in 1949 or perhaps 1950 that I was given a tricycle for Christmas. It was maroon, had chain drive from a bottom bracket and a step behind the seat for an additional small person to hitch a ride. It had a shiny bell on the handlebar and I put a lot of miles on that thing before graduating to a full sized 26” boys bike a few years later. I don’t ever recall seeing a child sized two wheeler when I was a boy… you went from a tricycle to a regular bicycle when you were big enough to reach the pedals with nothing in between. It was my first taste of freedom and the exileration of having the wind in my face. I became an addict, I’m afraid, satisfying my lust for pedal power with a number of bicycles through the years and more recently in the past decade with gas motored conversions. Some of you know me from activities on this forum. Now, at 77 I have another tricycle. Truly I am “the boy who never grew up”.

My new to me tricycle is a good bit different from the maroon one. It has two wheels up front instead of in back and a low seat, quite comfortable and a whole lot more stable. It is called a Rover and is no longer made by Terratrike which has moved on to newer and improved models. The Rover, however, was made for a decade or so and was the first experience of a recumbent tadpole trike for a whole lot of riders, many of whom were older and had given up riding two wheelers, deeming it unsafe or too hard and something for younger people. The advent of recumbent tadpoles has changed all that. No more trouble swinging ones leg over the seat of a men’s bike or the very real prospect of broken bones slow to heal from a fall. The Rover had additional appeal in having a little higher seat than other tadpoles, making it easier for an elder to sit down and get back up without assistance. It also had a very strong frame capable of supporting riders up to 400 pounds, perhaps looking to get some exercise and losing some weight. So it sold well and there are lots of them out there in good used condition. The Rover came with different gearing options from none to an internal 3 speed and internal 8 speed. Standard internal gearing was with a Sturmey Archer rear hub in either 3 or 8 speeds and an additional upgrade to a Shimano Nexus 8 speed and a Nuvinci 360 constant velocity hub. I don’t believe a derailleur setup was offered. In spite of the gearing options for many elders, especially ones recovering from heart ailments, cancer and all the other problems common to elders, pedaling any distance, especially in hilly country can be intimidating if not impossible.

Electric assist comes to the rescue and for the Rover the most common conversion is with a mid drive motor built into the bottom bracket allowing one to use the internal gearing in most Rover rear hubs. After a number of brushes with the “never mind” in my long life… (shall I count the ways? ) Back in 1945 at 2 1/2 I drowned in Ojibwa Lake north of Ely Minnesota. Passing over is my first deeply embedded memory and I am happy to report that after being pulled from the bottom I started breathing again which is still a mystery to me. A head on collision in my forties was followed by a traumatic brain injury through a lightning strike to my head In my fifties. Then Guillane Barre Syndrome (like polio) and I had my first heart attack in my sixties and the second one in my seventies followed by two rounds of stage four cancer more recently, first thyroid and then lymphoma. So, I’m lucky to still be waking up in the morning cancer free and happy to have projects to work on… particularly my “new” tricycle. I’m still a pretty strong old fart and intend to stay that way with regular fun exercise and right thinking (still working on what that might mean).

So there’s a picture below which shows two Rovers in their current state of development, looking a good bit different now than when work started on them this fall. One is for me and the other for my partner in crime Sue. They are close to being done and have proven to be a whole lot of fun. But I’m getting ahead of myself and need to back up, which is the purpose of this thread and long introduction. I had never before ridden a recumbent and had no experience with a mid drive electric motor. Never even considered making my own lithium batteries. I invite you to join me in recounting this elder adventure. Who knows? You might decide to get your own tadpole when you grow up and come along for a ride… woohoo!
SB


View attachment 109241

WILL BE WATCHING!

 

[curtisfox]

I be watching..........Curt

 

[silverbear]

I’m back and unsure of where to begin. I think what most prompted this project was actually the completion of an amazing bike trail passing by our summer cabin At Eagles Nest Lake near Ely Minnesota just south of the Canadian border.The trail ends at Ely and passes through the Superior National Forest going south for a total of around 130 miles. At our end the landscape is a wonder, passing by clear water lakes and a wilderness forest teeming with wildlife from Moose and white tailed deer to timber wolves black bears and lynx… a long list of north country animals call our forest home. We are the invasive species in their domain. So, it is special and passes by lakes I have never seen before in spite of over 7 decades of exposure. Our section of the trail was just finished and if I want to see this new to me woodland I’ll need to bike it. And no gas bikes permitted. But electric are! So that was what started all this. The new trail is 10 feet wide and paved and in the photo below runs next to the road near our cabin

I looked around at my gas bikes stowed away, some more or less in running order and a couple others abandoned mid stream. What would be a good candidate? And what do I know about electric bikes? Just about nothing, although I had fooled around with a 36V Golden Motor which had the motor as the hub in the front wheel. It was interesting, but lugging 3 12 volt lead acid batteries around on the rear rack was not so cool as the balance with all that weight high up was precarious. I put it away. But now they have these lithium batteries which are lots lighter, so that wheel and electronics got dusted off. I also had another promising candidate which had been given to me by Sue’s brother… a 1980’s electric assist recumbent quadricycle with derailleur gearing. I’d never ridden a recumbent and also never used a derailleur, so while four wheels had appeal I was reluctant. It had a 24 volt brushed motor and utilized two 12 volt lead acid batteries. I figured I could use the light lithium batteries instead.

My partner Sue got interested and called dibs on the quad. Okay, I’d use the hub motor on a step through frame.

And when Sue’s sister got wind of what we were planning to do she offered her retired Terratrike Rover tadpole if we’d pay the shipping. You bet we would!

It was dismantled by a bike shop in Florida and shipped Fedex. And in short order Sue’s brother in law followed suit and offered us his retired Rover which was then shipped north to us. The quad and step through got put on the back burner and now we had two used Rovers to play with! Now all I had to do was reassemble them and convert them to electric assist. That’s all. All I needed to do was learn how…
SB

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

Anxiously waiting for your next installment SB.
Having access to unfound lakes via the new bike trail will be great til the berry pickers find them.

Tom

 

[silverbear]

The first berry pickers on the scene will be the black bears who have first rights. I’m okay with that.
SB

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

Berry Picker = city folks as Yoopers call them .
Never argue with the natives. Bears either.

Tom

 

[fasteddy]

Looked at trikes and the lowest I can get into one for is $1,600 Canadian. We have year around bike riding if the rain doesn't bother you.

Steve.

 

[Greg58]

Berry Picker = city folks as Yoopers call them .
Never argue with the natives. Bears either.

Tom

Thats funny, in the south we call them "tree huggers".

 

[silverbear]

Looked at trikes and the lowest I can get into one for is $1,600 Canadian. We have year around bike riding if the rain doesn't bother you.

Steve.

I hear you on what tadpole trikes cost. I could never afford a new one and wouldn’t be working on these Rovers had they not fallen into our laps. Plus I knew nothing about them. Even used tadpoles are pricey and both new and used can be hard to find. I’ve heard of long waits involved after making a purchase on a new one. Supply chain blues and all that. Both price and availability suggest finding a used one. They are out there and worth looking on Craigs List and such rather than trike user groups. We looked for friends who liked ours and found several Roversin Duluth and Minneapolis all asking around a thousand for them. Our neighbors scored theirs with offers of $800.00 each. The one looked like it had never been ridden and the other had been upgraded with the NuVinci 360 constant velocity hub… which is pricey all by itself. Good deals, both.

 

[silverbear]

When Sue’s tadpole arrived in a regular bike box it took some ”creative staring” to get it put back together. The only damage in transit was one of the disc brake rotors being bent. Disc brakes are something else new to me and I tried to straighten it out without success. Finding a replacement on line and doing a little disc brake research remedied the situation and now I know about mechanical disc brakes. Easy peasy. This was the time to do a lot of looking and imagining. I knew it was going to have an electric motor and asked my friend Steve what he suggested and also spent some time wandering around in cyberspace… and eventually settled on a mid drive electric motor which replaces the pedals, pedal cranks and bottom bracket assembly with the kit motor and cranks. You use your own pedals. I found good reviews and the best price for what I wanted was with a 750 watt Bafang kit which we purchased through Luna cycles out of California. The kit is Chinese, of course. More on that later. I had to figure out where the battery was going to go and knew I wanted a rear rack of some sort for transporting things and preferred fenders. Hmmm…and more hmmm…a cup of coffee…a can of beer….hmmm…. I purchased some new old stock 20” fenders without braces. Nice heavy metal black Wald fenders from a bike shop going out of business. Three sets in a bundle and I purchased two bundles, enough for both trikes and some rear fenders to repurpose on the quad later on. I had no idea how they were going to be mounted so set one in place on the wheel and did some more staring to see if the trike would tell me what to do.

It didn’t have much to say at that point and it knew that this was going to be a problem to be pondered again and again. Walking away is good. Sometimes the answer comes in the middle of the night while one should be sleeping or it comes in stages… or not at all. In the meantime it gets moved to the back burner and another part of the build gets attention. I had some plate aluminum from a boat dock which my brother and I made from recycled high school bleachers offered at auction by a local township. But that’s another story. A fresh look at some of the leftovers suggested using aluminum plate for the rear rack. The trike uses something like seat stays for setting the recline/upright position and has holes on each stay for setting it. I used all thread rod to go from one side to the other with locknuts and ran the rod through a section of old copper water pipe painted black to match the rest of the seat support. Then connected the plate to the rod with rubber insulated clamps I guess you call them which I purchased at Harbor Freight… these clamps have been useful elsewhere on the build and economical, don’t scratch or make noise. So now the plate is attached at the seat stays, but needs something underneath to support it. At this point I didn’t know what that would be, but I was please with the rack itself. I’d figure something out.

SB
(To be continued…)

 

[silverbear]

Further pondering on how to mount the front fenders led to part of the solution. On a two wheeler it would be held from above by a bolt going into the front fork. On the trike there is no front fork so something else would need to do the lift. The vertical handlebar was the only thing available, but was both on an angle and offset to the side. I’d need something to bridge the gap. I looked through my trove of stuff and took a second look at a copper water pipe fitting which was a T reducer from 3/4” to 1/2” (or was it to 3/8”…I’ll check later). I put the reducer T into the vice and used my side grinder with a cutting wheel to slice it in two. A hack saw would also work. Then clean up the cut with a file.

Using hose clamps the sliced 3/4 part of the T sandwiches the upright handlebar so the reduced part of the T sticks out over the wheel.

So now I have something to attach the fender to from above. Not sure yet how to make the attachment, but making progress.
SB (to be cont,)

 

[silverbear]

I was working on both trikes on the work table at the same time so the one above is my trike and is a little further along than Sue’s. The connection between fender and T fitting is with one of those rubber cushioned clamps which I think are used in electrical work. The bolt has a rubber washer where the clamp contacts the fender. Nylock nut on the upper side

Now the fender is securely lifted, but the bolt also provides a pivot point so something is needed at the lower rear part of the fender to hold it steady. On a two wheeler the fender bracket would attach to each end of the wheel axle. But this is a trike and on the outside the axle is recessed and on the inside there is no bolt to thread a nut to. So, I cut off half of the fender bracket and went to the inside of the wheel searching for an attachment point.

I found it at the front wheels steering connecting rod. After cutting the fender bracket to length I flattened it with a hammer and then bent it 45 degrees, then drilled a hole for the bolt to pass through. Not great, but better than nothing. It is not as secure as it would be on a two wheeler, but doesn’t rattle and will stay in place. Ignor the extra hole in the bracket above. It was the first attempt and a second version followed.

I’m not entirely happy with the rear support, but for now I’ll move on to other things and keep thinking about it. Maybe something better will present itself.
SB
(to be cont.)

 

[Tony01]

Electric assist comes to the rescue and for the Rover the most common conversion is with a mid drive motor built into the bottom bracket allowing one to use the internal gearing in most Rover rear hubs. After a number of brushes with the “never mind” in my long life… (shall I count the ways? ) Back in 1945 at 2 1/2 I drowned in Ojibwa Lake north of Ely Minnesota. Passing over is my first deeply embedded memory and I am happy to report that after being pulled from the bottom I started breathing again which is still a mystery to me. A head on collision in my forties was followed by a traumatic brain injury through a lightning strike to my head In my fifties. Then Guillane Barre Syndrome (like polio) and I had my first heart attack in my sixties and the second one in my seventies followed by two rounds of stage four cancer more recently, first thyroid and then lymphoma. So, I’m lucky to still be waking up in the morning cancer free and happy to have projects to work on… particularly my “new” tricycle. I’m still a pretty strong old fart and intend to stay that way with regular fun exercise and right thinking (still working on what that might mean).

You know that some $hit, actually got me thinking. When I think about how lucky I am it’s usually only one of the most recent episodes. But I had a near miss at 4yo as well. I didn’t get as close as that but pretty close. And I forgot about it for a moment. I’ve been lucky myself, sometimes I forget how lucky and how much I got to be thankful for. Thank you for your post.

 

[silverbear]

Thanks for your note, Tony. As I've become an elder more and more have I felt gratitude for my life. Some would say I've been unlucky, but I feel the opposite. It's good to be alive and brushing up against dying makes one appreciate being alive all the more. Not just the beautiful things or happy moments, but all of it. For me passing over was a gift.
SB

 

[biknut]

Run for it, that old fart is coming down the bike trail again

 

[wheelbender6]

Sorry about your health problems, SB.
I always enjoy your projects because you add those unique details,

 

[oldtimer54]

I believe it was in 1949 or perhaps 1950 that I was given a tricycle for Christmas. It was maroon, had chain drive from a bottom bracket and a step behind the seat for an additional small person to hitch a ride. It had a shiny bell on the handlebar and I put a lot of miles on that thing before graduating to a full sized 26” boys bike a few years later. I don’t ever recall seeing a child sized two wheeler when I was a boy… you went from a tricycle to a regular bicycle when you were big enough to reach the pedals with nothing in between. It was my first taste of freedom and the exileration of having the wind in my face. I became an addict, I’m afraid, satisfying my lust for pedal power with a number of bicycles through the years and more recently in the past decade with gas motored conversions. Some of you know me from activities on this forum. Now, at 77 I have another tricycle. Truly I am “the boy who never grew up”.

My new to me tricycle is a good bit different from the maroon one. It has two wheels up front instead of in back and a low seat, quite comfortable and a whole lot more stable. It is called a Rover and is no longer made by Terratrike which has moved on to newer and improved models. The Rover, however, was made for a decade or so and was the first experience of a recumbent tadpole trike for a whole lot of riders, many of whom were older and had given up riding two wheelers, deeming it unsafe or too hard and something for younger people. The advent of recumbent tadpoles has changed all that. No more trouble swinging ones leg over the seat of a men’s bike or the very real prospect of broken bones slow to heal from a fall. The Rover had additional appeal in having a little higher seat than other tadpoles, making it easier for an elder to sit down and get back up without assistance. It also had a very strong frame capable of supporting riders up to 400 pounds, perhaps looking to get some exercise and losing some weight. So it sold well and there are lots of them out there in good used condition. The Rover came with different gearing options from none to an internal 3 speed and internal 8 speed. Standard internal gearing was with a Sturmey Archer rear hub in either 3 or 8 speeds and an additional upgrade to a Shimano Nexus 8 speed and a Nuvinci 360 constant velocity hub. I don’t believe a derailleur setup was offered. In spite of the gearing options for many elders, especially ones recovering from heart ailments, cancer and all the other problems common to elders, pedaling any distance, especially in hilly country can be intimidating if not impossible.

Electric assist comes to the rescue and for the Rover the most common conversion is with a mid drive motor built into the bottom bracket allowing one to use the internal gearing in most Rover rear hubs. After a number of brushes with the “never mind” in my long life… (shall I count the ways? ) Back in 1945 at 2 1/2 I drowned in Ojibwa Lake north of Ely Minnesota. Passing over is my first deeply embedded memory and I am happy to report that after being pulled from the bottom I started breathing again which is still a mystery to me. A head on collision in my forties was followed by a traumatic brain injury through a lightning strike to my head In my fifties. Then Guillane Barre Syndrome (like polio) and I had my first heart attack in my sixties and the second one in my seventies followed by two rounds of stage four cancer more recently, first thyroid and then lymphoma. So, I’m lucky to still be waking up in the morning cancer free and happy to have projects to work on… particularly my “new” tricycle. I’m still a pretty strong old fart and intend to stay that way with regular fun exercise and right thinking (still working on what that might mean).

So there’s a picture below which shows two Rovers in their current state of development, looking a good bit different now than when work started on them this fall. One is for me and the other for my partner in crime Sue. They are close to being done and have proven to be a whole lot of fun. But I’m getting ahead of myself and need to back up, which is the purpose of this thread and long introduction. I had never before ridden a recumbent and had no experience with a mid drive electric motor. Never even considered making my own lithium batteries. I invite you to join me in recounting this elder adventure. Who knows? You might decide to get your own tadpole when you grow up and come along for a ride… woohoo!i
SB


View attachment 109241

Really glade to see your still kicking. (really glad Iam still kicking) I haven't been here for years but i thought Id come back and see if there where any of the oldtimers still posting here. Here's wishing you a great 2022.

 

[fasteddy]

Hello, Oldtimer54,
Great to see you back again. Still a bunch of us that have been here for a while. Are you still messing around with bikes?

Steve.