Indian Hiawatha
- Thread starter silverbear
- Start date
meowy, Good to hear from you!
I wish I could say that it is ready to roll, but it is not. Had fasteddy been able to come to motor bicycle camp here this summer there would be a lot to report, but it has been a strange summer. Most significant was the illness of his aged mother (102 this winter) who spent some time in the hospital where she picked up that terrible infection hospitals sometimes give their patients, leaving them in worse condition than when they came in... some kind of staff infection She was back and forth with that and at her age no one thought she would make it. Happily she did and is home again playing cards every week with her elderly friends. Good genes of longevity in that family! By the time this was all done with so was summer.
So, no road trip for Steve and the front end parts he made for my Hiawatha while he was making the same for his Camelback Indian remain in Vancouver. He will be sending me a set of hubs for building the tri-car wheels up front and which I will lace up into set of old Schwinn rims I have, but that won't happen until winter.
I did pick up a wicker seat which I thought could serve as the front seat for the tri-car. When I sent the photos of the seat to Steve he felt it wouldn't be strong enough and because of the large Oriental population in Vancouver thinks that his chances of finding just the right thing used is very good. So we will leave it at that. I could no doubt reinforce the inside of the one I bought, but if we can find something more period correct and inherently strong that would be better.
Over the course of the winter Steve will be making up a few of the steering parts and I'm planning to get the front fender mounted for Curt's leaf spring fork (used only in two wheeled motorcycle mode), but it is the kind of progress which will not show up on the bike until next spring/summer. A week ago I wheeled the Hiawatha to my brother's cabin for safe keeping through the long winter. So it has been removed from the back burner and is not even on the stove... but come summer it will be the central focus of attention, trying to catch up to where Steve will be on his Camel-back...done! We'd like to take them with us on our road trip to the east coast and possibly to the Blackhawk Motorcycle show in Iowa at summer's end. That would be sweet to ride around the fair grounds looking at all the old motorcycles and showing off a little on our tri-cars. What projects these have been...
In the mean time I'm keeping myself busy with a different build ("kindalikeawhizzer") which is my first belt drive, trying to finish up an AMF/Tomos/Roadmaster to give to my son, fiddling with a hybrid trike for when I'm really old and tracking down a carburetor for the 1934 Elgin "Velocipede" 3 speed. Some of this and some of that, a little at a time. The Indian Hiawatha tri-car remains an itch that needs serious scratching. It will be a grand day when it is finished and rides off into the sunset with that sweet old Sachs engine (1934) pushing Aaniimoosh The Wonder Dog and the old bear into the twilight time of "all done".
SB
I wish I could say that it is ready to roll, but it is not. Had fasteddy been able to come to motor bicycle camp here this summer there would be a lot to report, but it has been a strange summer. Most significant was the illness of his aged mother (102 this winter) who spent some time in the hospital where she picked up that terrible infection hospitals sometimes give their patients, leaving them in worse condition than when they came in... some kind of staff infection She was back and forth with that and at her age no one thought she would make it. Happily she did and is home again playing cards every week with her elderly friends. Good genes of longevity in that family! By the time this was all done with so was summer.
So, no road trip for Steve and the front end parts he made for my Hiawatha while he was making the same for his Camelback Indian remain in Vancouver. He will be sending me a set of hubs for building the tri-car wheels up front and which I will lace up into set of old Schwinn rims I have, but that won't happen until winter.
I did pick up a wicker seat which I thought could serve as the front seat for the tri-car. When I sent the photos of the seat to Steve he felt it wouldn't be strong enough and because of the large Oriental population in Vancouver thinks that his chances of finding just the right thing used is very good. So we will leave it at that. I could no doubt reinforce the inside of the one I bought, but if we can find something more period correct and inherently strong that would be better.
Over the course of the winter Steve will be making up a few of the steering parts and I'm planning to get the front fender mounted for Curt's leaf spring fork (used only in two wheeled motorcycle mode), but it is the kind of progress which will not show up on the bike until next spring/summer. A week ago I wheeled the Hiawatha to my brother's cabin for safe keeping through the long winter. So it has been removed from the back burner and is not even on the stove... but come summer it will be the central focus of attention, trying to catch up to where Steve will be on his Camel-back...done! We'd like to take them with us on our road trip to the east coast and possibly to the Blackhawk Motorcycle show in Iowa at summer's end. That would be sweet to ride around the fair grounds looking at all the old motorcycles and showing off a little on our tri-cars. What projects these have been...
In the mean time I'm keeping myself busy with a different build ("kindalikeawhizzer") which is my first belt drive, trying to finish up an AMF/Tomos/Roadmaster to give to my son, fiddling with a hybrid trike for when I'm really old and tracking down a carburetor for the 1934 Elgin "Velocipede" 3 speed. Some of this and some of that, a little at a time. The Indian Hiawatha tri-car remains an itch that needs serious scratching. It will be a grand day when it is finished and rides off into the sunset with that sweet old Sachs engine (1934) pushing Aaniimoosh The Wonder Dog and the old bear into the twilight time of "all done".
SB
"Good to hear from you"? That means you still remember me even though I haven't been a frequent visitor on the board, well, come to think of it ever since your truck fire? That's pretty good memory for a "silver-bear" of your age. 
heh heh heh j/k
I'm surprised you mentioned your Hiawatha being put away for safe keeping for the winter already because here in Thunder Bay, Ont we've been having a very nice August and September so far (in the high 70s to mid 80s). I hope the winter doesn't come too soon because I still have a little to go to get my bike finished and I'd like to get a few rides on it before the snow flies.
I don't blame Steve for not showing up this summer under the circumstances. Vancouver is quite a distance from Minnesota. If he lived in my neck of the woods he'd probably be at your place every weekend.
As far as the wicker basket, you're right, lots of Oriental people in the Vancouver area. But I got a better idea. With winter coming and all maybe you can take a 'basket weaving' night course. That way you can make your own wicked wicker basket side car for you and Aaniimoosh.
Again, I'm just teasing ya.
heh heh heh j/k I'm surprised you mentioned your Hiawatha being put away for safe keeping for the winter already because here in Thunder Bay, Ont we've been having a very nice August and September so far (in the high 70s to mid 80s). I hope the winter doesn't come too soon because I still have a little to go to get my bike finished and I'd like to get a few rides on it before the snow flies.
I don't blame Steve for not showing up this summer under the circumstances. Vancouver is quite a distance from Minnesota. If he lived in my neck of the woods he'd probably be at your place every weekend.
As far as the wicker basket, you're right, lots of Oriental people in the Vancouver area. But I got a better idea. With winter coming and all maybe you can take a 'basket weaving' night course. That way you can make your own wicked wicker basket side car for you and Aaniimoosh.
Again, I'm just teasing ya.
Yes, I do remember you in spite of all that I forget. You were kind to me then in the aftermath of the truck fire and I also made note of your location in Thunder Bay, Ontario. There are so few motor bicycles in our part of the world that you count as a pretty close neighbor... what, I'd guess less than 200 miles maybe. It would be nice someday to do a motor bike rally up at Grand Portage or Grand Marais which wouldn't be too far from you. That would be fun, eh?
This is the best time of year for bike riding in my opinion and my favorite time of year. I still have a bike to ride, a 50 Schwinn "American Flyer" with a sidecar made from a Grumman canoe. It is also time to finish putting away firewood in the wood sheds and button up my old trailer for the long cold winter coming. First real snow dump used to be around October 8, but not so soon in recent years. Here's to hoping for lots of Indian summer yet to come. Are you riding a gas bike and getting away with it? Or did you have to go electric?
SB
This is the best time of year for bike riding in my opinion and my favorite time of year. I still have a bike to ride, a 50 Schwinn "American Flyer" with a sidecar made from a Grumman canoe. It is also time to finish putting away firewood in the wood sheds and button up my old trailer for the long cold winter coming. First real snow dump used to be around October 8, but not so soon in recent years. Here's to hoping for lots of Indian summer yet to come. Are you riding a gas bike and getting away with it? Or did you have to go electric?
SB
Wow, that brings a smile to my face. Thank you. My kindness was small but I could tell you're a fine person and so it was my pleasure to help out in a tiny way and I would hope my fellow motor-bicyclists would help me too if I found myself in dire straits like you did that time. Which I'm sure they would. But enough of that, main thing is you weren't hurt and I hope you are back on your feet so to speak.
Anyways, don't wanna hijack your thread with personal ramblings but ya, Grand Portage or Grand Marais would be a perfect location. Not only because of the proximity but because it's simply beautiful there in the summer and especially in the fall. Maybe we can pop over for some Sven and Ole's pizza.
It's amazing about the snow because here in thunder Bay (probably because of the lake effect) we usually don't get our first serious snow fall til about a week after Halloween but I have noticed every year it gets later and later (global warming caused by our HT motors maybe? heh heh).
As far as my bike goes I am ashamed to say that I have yet to complete it. I've been "working" on it for at least the last two years. It has to be one of the longest builds in history.LOL I always keep saying it'll be done in a week or two but that never happens so I won't even put a deadline on it this time. But in my defense I also work full time and had a recent breakup which actually has allowed me to do more on it this summer than I have in the last 2 years, so maybe if all goes well I'll be posting my build post before the Indian summer is over.
But the idea of using it during the spring/summer/fall as my transport to work and such may be not very realistic and I might have to go electric if I want to use some sort of a powered bicycle for transportation. Three or four years ago there used to be tons of guys here in Thunder Bay scooting around on the HT-powered bikes (seeing them is what turned me onto motorized bicycles in the first place) but alas the boys in blue have really cracked down over the last 2 summers and now this summer so far I've only seen 2 guys on them. I spoke to one and he says he got harassed constantly by the boys in blue. They asked him if he had a motorcycle or moped license and insurance and ticketed him (the no insurance tickets here in Ontario can be up to $5000). Well he went to court and apparently won so he avoided the ticket but was still told that he can't ride it again because it can't be insured as a vehicle. So in a nutshell, the future looks grim and I think I'll only be able to ride my motorized bicycle out in the country and not in the city proper which is a damn shame because you can ride electric bicycles without insurance and without license here in Ontario so I don't know what a gas motor changes as far as safety, etc. The only answer is obviously the environmental considerations which are the main motive and even that doesn't make sense because you can't honestly tell me that say 50 guys (just an estimate of how many there probably were a few years ago) in a small city like Thunder Bay running small 2 strokes on their bicycles put out more pollutants than say all those guys driving their diesels or even the army of housewives/husbands/homeowners/businesses cutting their lawns every few days with their 2 stroke lawnmowers. But then again whoever said governmental regulations or many laws for that matter are at all logical and without some other hidden agenda or bias. Anyways, enough of my rant.
You have a wonderful day. When are you planning to go for your winter migration? I'll actually be passing through Grand Marais/Grand Portage and all that good country tomorrow and again on Sunday as I'm doing a trip to Chicago and back this weekend.
God bless.
Thank you. My kindness was small but I could tell you're a fine person and so it was my pleasure to help out in a tiny way and I would hope my fellow motor-bicyclists would help me too if I found myself in dire straits like you did that time. Which I'm sure they would. But enough of that, main thing is you weren't hurt and I hope you are back on your feet so to speak.Anyways, don't wanna hijack your thread with personal ramblings but ya, Grand Portage or Grand Marais would be a perfect location. Not only because of the proximity but because it's simply beautiful there in the summer and especially in the fall. Maybe we can pop over for some Sven and Ole's pizza.
It's amazing about the snow because here in thunder Bay (probably because of the lake effect) we usually don't get our first serious snow fall til about a week after Halloween but I have noticed every year it gets later and later (global warming caused by our HT motors maybe? heh heh).
As far as my bike goes I am ashamed to say that I have yet to complete it. I've been "working" on it for at least the last two years. It has to be one of the longest builds in history.LOL I always keep saying it'll be done in a week or two but that never happens so I won't even put a deadline on it this time. But in my defense I also work full time and had a recent breakup which actually has allowed me to do more on it this summer than I have in the last 2 years, so maybe if all goes well I'll be posting my build post before the Indian summer is over.
But the idea of using it during the spring/summer/fall as my transport to work and such may be not very realistic and I might have to go electric if I want to use some sort of a powered bicycle for transportation. Three or four years ago there used to be tons of guys here in Thunder Bay scooting around on the HT-powered bikes (seeing them is what turned me onto motorized bicycles in the first place) but alas the boys in blue have really cracked down over the last 2 summers and now this summer so far I've only seen 2 guys on them. I spoke to one and he says he got harassed constantly by the boys in blue. They asked him if he had a motorcycle or moped license and insurance and ticketed him (the no insurance tickets here in Ontario can be up to $5000). Well he went to court and apparently won so he avoided the ticket but was still told that he can't ride it again because it can't be insured as a vehicle. So in a nutshell, the future looks grim and I think I'll only be able to ride my motorized bicycle out in the country and not in the city proper which is a damn shame because you can ride electric bicycles without insurance and without license here in Ontario so I don't know what a gas motor changes as far as safety, etc. The only answer is obviously the environmental considerations which are the main motive and even that doesn't make sense because you can't honestly tell me that say 50 guys (just an estimate of how many there probably were a few years ago) in a small city like Thunder Bay running small 2 strokes on their bicycles put out more pollutants than say all those guys driving their diesels or even the army of housewives/husbands/homeowners/businesses cutting their lawns every few days with their 2 stroke lawnmowers. But then again whoever said governmental regulations or many laws for that matter are at all logical and without some other hidden agenda or bias. Anyways, enough of my rant.
You have a wonderful day. When are you planning to go for your winter migration? I'll actually be passing through Grand Marais/Grand Portage and all that good country tomorrow and again on Sunday as I'm doing a trip to Chicago and back this weekend.
God bless.
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I don't forget who my friends are or take kindness and generosity lightly.
Your country's policy on gas bikes is hard to understand with approximately 1.5 baziilion chainsaws going at any one time as opposed to a few hundred motor bicycles with wee little motors. And considering the short riding season due to the climate... well, it is just silly and then to have such draconian consequences you would think that riding a motorbike was a crime against humanity. Ah well. Perhaps use your gas bike for rallies south of the border and then do an electric version. Too bad the batteries are so expensive, but there's some cool stuff out there now and they are no doubt reliable and fun.
No more winter migrations for me. I missed the quiet and beauty of the forest in winter so stayed here last winter. Most of my neighbors have either four legs or feathers, much preferable to the hordes of humans on the east coast... too many people and not enough bears. Ha!
SB
Your country's policy on gas bikes is hard to understand with approximately 1.5 baziilion chainsaws going at any one time as opposed to a few hundred motor bicycles with wee little motors. And considering the short riding season due to the climate... well, it is just silly and then to have such draconian consequences you would think that riding a motorbike was a crime against humanity. Ah well. Perhaps use your gas bike for rallies south of the border and then do an electric version. Too bad the batteries are so expensive, but there's some cool stuff out there now and they are no doubt reliable and fun.
No more winter migrations for me. I missed the quiet and beauty of the forest in winter so stayed here last winter. Most of my neighbors have either four legs or feathers, much preferable to the hordes of humans on the east coast... too many people and not enough bears. Ha!
SB
Hi Meowy 84,
I've wondered what happened to you. I've seen your old postings off and on and wondered where you went.
Your right about me living in your neck of the woods. I would be down to see the Silverbear every chance I got. Last time I went through Frostbite Falls the U.S. Border people thought they had a bad one when they saw the B.C. plates and I was there for a couple of hours. They ran the dog through the camper van 6 times and looked in every crack and crevice as well as the gas tank but there was nothing to find of course.
Since British Columbia is the major drug port for cross border trade they were making sure that I was cleaner than a Safeway chitlin. The border folks were really professional though and kind of said they were sorry to hold me up without saying it. I would guess that an old man in an old camper set off the bells and whistles.
Now I cross at our local border crossing and save the gas money with the cheaper U.S. gas. Over a $1.50 a gallon compared to Vancouver prices.
I kept preaching about gas powered bike being illegal in Canada until I realized that nobody wanted to hear it and I wasn't paying the fines and it wasn't my license that the points were coming off and my license wasn't being taken away so I shut up.
Heard that the police said it was a "gray area" in the law. I kept thinking that the only gray area would be their faces when the Judge hit them with the maximum that he could.
As I've said before the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and Ford Motors who were pushing the Think electric vehicles were the two main players in pushing for the electric bikes. Then you add the spandex bicycle clubs and any other interested party (think green weenies) and the gas bikes were made illegal and the illegal electric bikes were made legal. There were tests done in a government testing lab and they decided that the electric bikes were the better deal.
The spandex crowd wanted the bike held to 250W and you had to pedal to make it work but the government wanted we old folks out there getting around on bikes so they went with 500W and 20 mph or 32 km top speed. Kind of gives you a warm all over feeling doesn't it, knowing that they cared about us that much.
My son broke up with a girl friend of ten years about 2 years ago and promptly rebuilt a trike with a china girl on it someone had given him and took it over to a buddies house to show him. First thing out of the guys mouth was, So this is what you can afford when your single.
See you next summer.
Steve.
I've wondered what happened to you. I've seen your old postings off and on and wondered where you went.
Your right about me living in your neck of the woods. I would be down to see the Silverbear every chance I got. Last time I went through Frostbite Falls the U.S. Border people thought they had a bad one when they saw the B.C. plates and I was there for a couple of hours. They ran the dog through the camper van 6 times and looked in every crack and crevice as well as the gas tank but there was nothing to find of course.
Since British Columbia is the major drug port for cross border trade they were making sure that I was cleaner than a Safeway chitlin. The border folks were really professional though and kind of said they were sorry to hold me up without saying it. I would guess that an old man in an old camper set off the bells and whistles.
Now I cross at our local border crossing and save the gas money with the cheaper U.S. gas. Over a $1.50 a gallon compared to Vancouver prices.
I kept preaching about gas powered bike being illegal in Canada until I realized that nobody wanted to hear it and I wasn't paying the fines and it wasn't my license that the points were coming off and my license wasn't being taken away so I shut up.
Heard that the police said it was a "gray area" in the law. I kept thinking that the only gray area would be their faces when the Judge hit them with the maximum that he could.
As I've said before the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and Ford Motors who were pushing the Think electric vehicles were the two main players in pushing for the electric bikes. Then you add the spandex bicycle clubs and any other interested party (think green weenies) and the gas bikes were made illegal and the illegal electric bikes were made legal. There were tests done in a government testing lab and they decided that the electric bikes were the better deal.
The spandex crowd wanted the bike held to 250W and you had to pedal to make it work but the government wanted we old folks out there getting around on bikes so they went with 500W and 20 mph or 32 km top speed. Kind of gives you a warm all over feeling doesn't it, knowing that they cared about us that much.
My son broke up with a girl friend of ten years about 2 years ago and promptly rebuilt a trike with a china girl on it someone had given him and took it over to a buddies house to show him. First thing out of the guys mouth was, So this is what you can afford when your single.
See you next summer.
Steve.
Happy to report that the Indian Hiawatha is in active build mode once more. Fasteddy arrived at Motor Bicycle Summer Camp (for boys who never grew up) a week ago. Vancouver is a long haul to northeastern Minnesota and camp was shut down last summer.
Steve brought with him a number of parts he had made for converting my Hiawatha build from two wheeler to a tri-car modeled after the early Indian tri-cars, Some of those parts are weld on and others are bolt on, so the welder has been making sparks and the hand tools are within easy reach. It is so great to see progress and to know that it will be basically together in a week or so.
The next post will have some progress photos to go with it.
SB
Steve brought with him a number of parts he had made for converting my Hiawatha build from two wheeler to a tri-car modeled after the early Indian tri-cars, Some of those parts are weld on and others are bolt on, so the welder has been making sparks and the hand tools are within easy reach. It is so great to see progress and to know that it will be basically together in a week or so.
The next post will have some progress photos to go with it.
SB
Yes, we will... that's the plan!
Some photos showing progress. While Steve worked on the front spindles I painted front wheel rims, got the first one trued and gave it a tube & tire. Second wheel is nearly true and will be finished up tomorrow. The hubs are specialty items Steve ordered from Britain. They were drilled for 12 gauge spokes so I used some old ones I had and laced them to a set of old Schwinn steel rims from the 1950's. Tires were from another build and need some serious cleaning up. Keeping cream tires clean is a royal pain, but I sure do like they way they look. The hubs have been drilled to receive disc brakes, so the tri-car should have good stopping power. Rear brake is a 1950's Bendix I took apart and cleaned up. Hub adapter is Manic Mechanic.
The spring Steve is cutting to shorten is from a porch swing.
Rain is forecast and may get in the way. Tomorrow we're off to town for beer, groceries, laundromat and Napa. Steve needs to pick up a tap and die for threading the tie rod for the steering. We're moving right along...
SB
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Some of the spokes needed to be ground down with the dremel tool since they poked up through the nipples a bit. Once flush I made rim tape from aluminum duct tape as used on furnace ducts. I cut it in half and then used two layers. I've found this to work well on other wheels. I would not use cloth duct tape as it deteriorates in time. The aluminum is good stuff.
SB
SB
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SB, that tadpole is going to turn heads! I've always been a sucker for the red & white color combination. I think I will wind up being deeply jealous of this cycle of yours. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for following along, you guys.
Progress continues. Yesterday Steve got the tie rod threaded and in place. I ordered the tie rod ends from one of the go kart suppliers, forget which one. I got the second wheel trued up and dressed in a new tube and dirty old tire, but did pick up some tire cleaner at Napa when we got the new die for threading the tie rod. Put the brake discs onto the wheels. I also finally solved a seat post issue involving the use of a vintage lucky 7 seat post in a larger and more modern seat post tube. No matter how I did the shimming it would not tighten enough to satisfy. I finally figured out the right approach and now it is solid!
Later in the day when the rain clears enough to get back to work Steve will continue with the steering which is close to done, then install the brake calipers and start running cables. While Steve is engaged with the tri-car I'll shift focus to making hubs for the other project, the American Deluxe hybrid delta trike. It has a 3/4" diameter differential type of axle salvaged from an old riding mower and given to me by Curtis Fox. Using cores from the mower wheels, I'll be making my own axles utilizing in part a method developed at Atomic Zombie. They have a great tutorial on making flanges for lacing up wheels using your own spokes and rims. Mine are 24" new Worksman, so they will have the great heavy duty rims and 11 gauge spokes with my home made hubs which will be keyed and removable (unlike the Atomic Zombie version which are welded directly to the axle). So the big project for the day will be in laying out and making the flange piece patterns, then transferring them to metal and in the near future laboriously making the discs as perfectly as I can. The discs will be drilled for 36 spokes and will be welded to the wheel cores from the original mower wheels. This is a big deal if (when) I pull it off, allowing one to use a heavy duty differential axle at low cost (or no cost) and making up your own wheels using parts from your standard bicycle wheels, again at low cost (or no cost) and a means of mounting those wheels to the axle in a very secure manner. (My brother is right; I am smarter than I look!) I'm excited about it, consider it a very big deal and will document the process on the trike thread.
Anyway, busy day ahead for both of us, but on different projects. Hopefully in a few days we'll have the tri-car off the work trailer and onto the ground ready for final tweaking before attempting a long awaited first run... wohoo! Even if it doesn't run it will look impressive silently rolling down the hill attempting to bump start.
Then the delta trike will take it's place and involve some serious creative staring back and forth between the donor bicycle frame (1963 Schwinn American Deluxe step through) and the Atco reel mower assembly with Villiars Midget engine. Looks like we'll be removing almost all of the triangle behind the seat post and making up something entirely new. No dropouts for an axle kit. The axle will be mounted to a stout frame with pillow blocks. Have to figure in jack shafts for the engine driven sprocket and another for the pedal driven sprocket.
What fun projects! I do love Motor Bicycle Summer Camp (for boys who never grew up). I'll take some photos today for show and tell.
SB
Progress continues. Yesterday Steve got the tie rod threaded and in place. I ordered the tie rod ends from one of the go kart suppliers, forget which one. I got the second wheel trued up and dressed in a new tube and dirty old tire, but did pick up some tire cleaner at Napa when we got the new die for threading the tie rod. Put the brake discs onto the wheels. I also finally solved a seat post issue involving the use of a vintage lucky 7 seat post in a larger and more modern seat post tube. No matter how I did the shimming it would not tighten enough to satisfy. I finally figured out the right approach and now it is solid!
Later in the day when the rain clears enough to get back to work Steve will continue with the steering which is close to done, then install the brake calipers and start running cables. While Steve is engaged with the tri-car I'll shift focus to making hubs for the other project, the American Deluxe hybrid delta trike. It has a 3/4" diameter differential type of axle salvaged from an old riding mower and given to me by Curtis Fox. Using cores from the mower wheels, I'll be making my own axles utilizing in part a method developed at Atomic Zombie. They have a great tutorial on making flanges for lacing up wheels using your own spokes and rims. Mine are 24" new Worksman, so they will have the great heavy duty rims and 11 gauge spokes with my home made hubs which will be keyed and removable (unlike the Atomic Zombie version which are welded directly to the axle). So the big project for the day will be in laying out and making the flange piece patterns, then transferring them to metal and in the near future laboriously making the discs as perfectly as I can. The discs will be drilled for 36 spokes and will be welded to the wheel cores from the original mower wheels. This is a big deal if (when) I pull it off, allowing one to use a heavy duty differential axle at low cost (or no cost) and making up your own wheels using parts from your standard bicycle wheels, again at low cost (or no cost) and a means of mounting those wheels to the axle in a very secure manner. (My brother is right; I am smarter than I look!) I'm excited about it, consider it a very big deal and will document the process on the trike thread.
Anyway, busy day ahead for both of us, but on different projects. Hopefully in a few days we'll have the tri-car off the work trailer and onto the ground ready for final tweaking before attempting a long awaited first run... wohoo! Even if it doesn't run it will look impressive silently rolling down the hill attempting to bump start.
Then the delta trike will take it's place and involve some serious creative staring back and forth between the donor bicycle frame (1963 Schwinn American Deluxe step through) and the Atco reel mower assembly with Villiars Midget engine. Looks like we'll be removing almost all of the triangle behind the seat post and making up something entirely new. No dropouts for an axle kit. The axle will be mounted to a stout frame with pillow blocks. Have to figure in jack shafts for the engine driven sprocket and another for the pedal driven sprocket.
What fun projects! I do love Motor Bicycle Summer Camp (for boys who never grew up). I'll take some photos today for show and tell.
SB
