Hi Annie,
I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling poorly. Better days will come. I think it is important especially when we have become elders to be respectful both of the wish to do and make and be active and also to pay attention to the need to wait and rest and heal. It is sometimes a delicate balance, I think. I wish you all good things, my friend. And I'm looking forward to your trike progress reports, with photos of course.
It does feel good to see some real progress on the trike and to know that more will come in bits and dribbles through the course of a long, cold and dark winter in the north country. First dump of snow usually arrives around the 8th or ninth of October, but for now we have what is called "Indian Summer", warmish days which feel like a gift from mother nature. It is a sin of sorts to not revel and luxuriate in such gifts, so I go about with a smile tinkering as I can and working in a few bike rides with Aaniimoosh.
As the trike comes together I can better visualize other things which now come into sharper focus and which will be the subject of much creative staring, working out the what and how of things. Where to put the batteries? 36V or 48V? Should the controller go on the bottom side of the banana seat or vertically on the seat post? How can I run the pedal chain so the chain doesn't run into anything between the crank and axle? How can I alter the original hardware for engaging/disengaging the dog clutch? You will notice two sprockets on the axle, one on each side of the differential. One will be for powering the rear wheels and the other will be used as a disc brake rotor for stopping this heavy machine. I don't know yet which will be which as it is beyond me to figure out the gearing since there are a number of sprockets and short chains under the cover on the left side of the engine housing. I do recall that in it's life as a reel mower it would move along smartly at higher throttle. I'm guessing the smaller of the two final drive sprockets will be about right with an anticipated top speed of 25mph or so, not that I intend to go that fast. With the engine at mid rpms it would be nice to cruise at 15mph or so. I have a couple more sprockets to fit in case I need to go smaller yet. Once the goldilocks sprocket is found (the one that's just right) then the rotor can be chosen and a suitable mount fabricated for the caliper. I found a source for one which accepts a sprocket thickness (1/4") rotor, so it seems natural enough to use the differential to hold the rotor and also gives one less thing to buy. This is the fun stuff on a build, figuring things out and seeing them actually work.
A day will come when I take this trike out for a first ride. Winter will have come and gone and I'll have had another birthday, #71, which sounds really old but isn't so bad really. I never guessed I'd be having this kind of fun as a geezer. Beats sitting in a rocking chair watching game shows or soap operas on a television (I'd as soon be dead). This is going to be one heck of a mobility scooter!
SB
