American Deluxe hybrid trike

OK SB you have enticed me to build a trike with this thread! Am collecting parts now and will post the build in the trike section. Gonna be a bit unsual. Was all I could do not to include my last Maytag twin. Am using the 1953 Schwinn "Step Thru". Really hate to molest it as its in decent/nice original paint with its original decals. But gotta do what you gotta do!
 
Excellent! Be sure to give me the link so we can post it here. The more information people have and alternative approaches, the better. You've been doing a lot of electric lately. What will the trike be? Your 53 will make a great trike. I'm giving Fasteddy my 52 to take back to Vancouver with him as he is making plans in his head for a truck model, like a van with the roof extending out in front over the rider. Heavy duty electric I think he's planning.

Yours will probably be done before mine will. Motor Bicycle Summer Camp (for boys who never grew up) will be over pretty soon now and I don't know how much will get done over the winter. I'll be able to look at your build for ideas for mine. That's good!
SB
 
CB2,
Maytag twin, you said? I'd like to see that... it would be nice with electric assist, don't you think? Hint...

I agree with Curt; you always do such nice work. I'm anxious to see what you come up with. I think maybe we're going to be seeing more trikes around the forum. That's good!
SB
 
Curt,
As I recall you had a cool old trike in your treasury of stuff. Once you get your two wheeler done, maybe it's time to put a motor on that trike, eh?

By the way, my friend... I want to thank you again for your part in my build. You and Fasteddy first put the idea of a riding mower differential axle in my head. I didn't even know what a differential axle was. And it was you and Intrepid Wheel Woman who pointed me toward the Atomic Zombie site for ideas on making your own trike wheel hubs. Between the hubs and the differential axle, two killer ideas will lead to a new generation of motored trikes. I think so. Bullet proof geezer trikes! My part in all this is in asking the right people for advice. You, Fasteddy, IWW and Cannonball2 (Mr. Electric) will have had a big hand in my delta hybrid by the time it is rolling. I thank you all.
SB
 
Thanks for the kind comments! The trike will be electric with a vintage style. Will actually be a match to my Maytag bike. I could really see the Maytag sitting between the rear wheels! Depending on how this one turns out the Maytag might get a similar home. This build took about two days of parts searching and building in my head. Hope I haven't backed my self into an unseen corner!
 
cb2,
Very much look forward to seeing your new build. If it is even remotely similar to your Maytag build it will be a winner.

A bit of progress on the trike. I'm in the process of painting the side panels which cradle the engine, clutch and roller shaft (now jack shaft) ,becoming the same
Ford gray as the bike frame. Parts which are now black will remain so. As soon as the paint is dry I'll start putting it all back together minus what is no longer needed for the mower's new life as a motor trike, hoping to get it's sprockets and chains functional again before I forget how it is all supposed to go. (If I haven't already forgotten.)

I ordered a 15 tooth sprocket for the jack shaft today for $13.00 shipped off of ebay. It is to use #40 chain, same as the differential sprocket takes. Question: will #41 chain work with that? I have a good bit of 41 around.

Curtis, I did count teeth on the three options in differential sprockets. Smallest is 40 tooth and about 6 1/2" in diameter at the base of the teeth. Next bigger is 45 tooth and about 7" in diameter. Largest is 53 tooth and 8" in diameter. I measured the roller which had propelled the mower forward and it is 7 1/2" in diameter. I'm guessing either the 45 or 53 will be close to working out.

I also ordered the freewheel adapter from Staton for about $18.00 shipped. I figured since there is just one source for it that I'm aware of, get it while it is available. I have yet to find the Shimano donor freewheel it is to adapt, but will before it is needed.

Once the Atco assembly is back together it should make it easier to determine the dimensions of the rear triangle front to back, side to side and vertically. We'd like to get the engine as low as possible, but the jack shaft sprocket will have a say in the matter.

Pictures for show and tell will follow when there's something to show.
SB
 
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The Atco assembly is going back together, newly painted and minus some parts. It looks smaller with more gone. Still a lot more to assemble and some will wait until the jack shaft sprocket has arrived, else I just have to turn around and disassemble. It is together enough to sit it in place on the frame to get an idea of how much room it will want and how to design the rear triangle accordingly.
SB
 

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SB I think you need to star with the 53 and then if it's to slow you can change to the 45. I don't think I will have a bigger one will check later in the week when I get home.
41&40 chain have the same pitch but the 40 is wider,I may have some erases laying around will look when I get home.....Curt
 
Thanks, Curt. No hurry. I ordered a pack of 10 3/4" collars for about $13.00 shipped which I thought was reasonable. Napa will have the #40 chain I imagine. Probably around $18.00 for 10 feet, same as #41.I was thinking the 41 might be too snug a fit... good to know.
SB
 
SB I was wondering where this was going but the more I look at the more I'm thinking it is going to turn out alright. I thought that at first it look kind of heavy for such a small motor, but the more I see you doing the more I thing It will work. The only thing is it's going to start getting cold pretty soon. So we might have to wait till next year to is it done.
 
Ron,
Much as I wish things had gone differently this past month with a delayed trip to the east coast, much time and energy lost to Steve's camper electrical issues and my own Silverado giving up the ghost at the same time... it has not gone exactly as planned! Ha!

But as the Irish say, "It is what it is", and we can cry about it or make the best of it and move on. It looks like the camper will live again and soon and the trip east is still a go. I have a nice 81 F-100 I'm closing on which has 26,000 original miles on it and looks like new. Pretty soon I'll head down to Iowa to pick it up, so that's something to look forward to.

I had hoped the trike conversion would be to the point of having the frame together and it being a roller with pretty much just refinements to make over the course of the winter, tinkering with the electric front wheel and figuring out how to give it a disc brake, making up a battery pack from used laptop batteries under the tutelage of cannonball2, figuring out the gear ratio for the differential axle and so forth and having it together for spring of 2015.

Kind of looks doubtful I'll be that far along, but so what really? I wanted to build this as my geezer trike anticipating a day when I am perhaps less mobile and need an ultimate "mobility scooter". Lots of time yet before I'm that old. Besides, I like building and this way I get to stretch out the pleasure of talking it over with friends, staring at it until it reveals what it wants to be and how it wants to look. This and the Indian Hiawatha tri-car are ambitious undertakings and are to be savored. It gives me another summer to look forward to for Motor Bicycle Summer Camp (for boys who never grew up).

As for the Villiars Midget having enough power for the trike, I think it will. It has a good bit of grunt and is 98cc in displacement. These have a reputation of pretty much running forever. Also it will be geared low enough to keep the top speed down to the range of maybe 25mph tops on a straightaway. Trikes can be tricky to keep upright, so I suspect that most of the time I'd be riding along at 15 mph or so. In addition there is the electric front wheel which will be running 36 volts. That could be upped to 48 if it is needed. I believe it is enough by itself to power the trike, so it will be more than adequate to assist the Villiars in starting out from a dead stop even up a hill. I don't believe having enough power will be an issue, but we'll see.

We're also coming up with a plan for Steve to make up two rear triangle assemblies in his shop this winter. One would be for this trike and the other would be for the 52 Schwinn frame he is taking back to Vancouver with him and which will become a vintage "van truck trike". When mine is welded up with it modified to plug in the Atco mower cradle, pillow block bearings for the differential axle and whatever else is needed he will ship it down here to Minnesota to be joined to my 63 bike frame. We've discussed where my chain stays will be cut and how much of the upper supports coming back from the seat post will remain so that the new section can be fused to the old. Initially it can be pinned together so that assembly can continue. Eventually it can be welded and become one unit. That's the plan anyway. Winters seem endless when viewed from their beginning, but then spring thaw comes finally and we discover we didn't have quite enough time to get everything done after all. Maybe that's good, always having things to look forward to. I can't imagine just sitting in a chair staring at a television, doing nothing day after day. As I think about it, I don't want to be "done".
SB
 
SB, I hope you got the email I sent you. Here are the pictures I was going to send of the disk brake and my electric trike. Ron



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SB,It seems like your coming along pretty well considering all the set backs. I hope you can make it a roller before winter set in. This winter I hope to have a heater in my garage last winter I only had a small propane heater and it was cold. One morning I came out to shop and there was ice on the lathe. Hopefully by winter I'll have a 100,000 BTU heater out here.
I just made an adapter for disk brake on my trike using the rag joint sprocket it came out real nice. I'll try to post some pictures soon. I have been working on an electric trike it's going to be made from aluminum tubing. I had it mocked up for a while and just last week I weld it up. This was my first attempt at welding aluminum, it wasn't as hard as I thought. I picked up and old Miller gold star for 400 hundred dollars with everything.
Next on my list is figuring out the steering I want to make it a push pull steering then to the front suspension. The trike will have a magicpie3 hub motor and a 48v battery. this going to be a long term project well into next year.
I'll try to send some pictures soon I always have trouble send pictures.
 
Ron,
Wow, that's quite the machine you're putting together. Thank you for sharing your photos and feel free to talk about your trike and post photos here if you want. I can see why you are projecting it to take a good amount of time. It will be worth it, I'm sure.

What is the gas engine?

I'll look forward to hearing and seeing more. The push/pull steering sounds interesting!
SB
 
Thank You SB, I'm glad you like the pictures I thought you would like to see the brake on the motorized one. The motor is a skyhawk 66cc. I will keep you informed on the electric trikes progress.
 
Forum member and friend Curtis Fox stopped by for a visit today. He, wife and dogs were on a road trip to the north shore of Lake Superior to witness the fall colors at their peak. Great weather for a road trip!

I had to show him the Atco motor setup now that I have it put back together. For awhile there I was looking at sprockets and chains, wondering what went where. After studying the photos I took before dis-assembly I puzzled it out, glad now that I painted the housing to match the trike frame.

The Indian Hiawatha tri-car and the hybrid delta trike are put away for the winter which may be as little as two weeks away, but this Atco setup is going indoors to a spot next to the laptop as a kind of mancave home decoration, reminder of a building and riding season to come and an opportunity to do some cleaning up and polishing of engine bits and pieces while snow falls outside my window.

It is a temptation to leave the cover off to reveal the sprockets and chains in all their mechanical glory, reminding me of the inside of a clock with all the little parts ticking along with precision. None of these sprockets or chains move fast as the final gearing to the differential will determine revolution at the driven wheels. My little drive gear on what was the roller shaft is ready to get lined up with the rear axle differential largish sprocket... I have three different ones to choose from once it is ready for a road test, hopefully around this time next year.

I'm also using this time to study the electric part of this hybrid design. With the help of cannonball2 & Lungcookie I'm learning some of the ins and outs of ebike lore. Looks like small and powerful (and volatile) RC batteries are going to power the Golden motor front wheel, initially 36 volts at 10 amps. If need be I can increase the power to 48 volts, but will wait and see how 36 works for me. Their thread has been very helpful to me...
http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=56246

And I am reminded once more that it was Curtis Fox who gave me my differential axle and pointed me in the right direction in building my rear wheels. Thanks again, Bud. Real good to see you today!
Looks like the photo will follow later... have to resize it.
SB
 
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Hello SB,
A few nice things in your letter and attached photo!
Great to have such friends and even greatest to have them for a visit! That is one of the most important things about such forums: to find good and interesting persons and to keep them as friends. Of course, changing information about building our toys are important, but mostly they are as a glue between other good issues.

That is wonderful machine now, but it was nice from the beginning! Good enough to keep it in vitrine, but even better to have it working propelling your 3-wheeler.

Then, nice vitraij (stained glass) in window. I planed to build such things when quit my job 5 years ago, both for pleasure and for small profit if it was possible. But, life forced me to another path (to Swiss). Maybe one day, who knows?

That SINGER is wonderful part and quite practical stand for table or anything... My grandmother had similar PFFAF and my mother later used it as table for TV! When I got it, priorities changed and I gave it to my cousins that were refuges from Bosnia. They made a lot of cloths for family and some to sell (having nothing except they had on themselves when arrived in Serbia)...

Then, your smile show you as deeply happy and satisfied person: good for you and good for us to know that! Maybe too rare thing in this World and around us?

Enjoy in following Winter, we shall wait a month-two for that (both in Serbia and Swiss)
 
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