Motorized Pusher Skateboard

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lowracer

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Oct 17, 2008
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Charleston, SC
LOL...
I still have the front wheel & fork from that $10 kids bike I bought yesterday. I may have to come up with another project to put these parts to good use?
***Warning**
The pic you are about to view may cause unexpected ooohs & ahhhhs due to a hi level of extreme cuteness.
-Lowracer-
 

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Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
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Wall/Smith Autowheel, got to be the one.

As a spare and not very realistic thought, can you find a dished wheel and mount the engine inside and friction drive the inside of the rim? Or have 2 idler rollers on the inside of a rim and the 3rd is the friction drive?

I have to go now, I see the glass of red wine is now a glass that used to have red wine.
 

lowracer

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Oct 17, 2008
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mat man,
Thats a pretty cool contraption & unique method of motorizing.
I may need to play with that for my next contraption.
Heres a mock up of a friction drive idea I have for the other little wheel I got.
I have (2) 78mm clutch drivers that have 1/2" shafts. They fit perfectly into an old BMP 1.25" roller I have w/ two set screws. This way the opposite end is supported.
-Low-
 

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lowracer

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Oct 17, 2008
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Charleston, SC
Ludwig,
I really think that 1st pic of the motor trike is awesome.
Probably doesnt ride that nice, but cool anyhow.
I took my pushy on its maiden voyage today under gas power. It handled great and as long as you roll the gas on gradually, it hooks up & pushes. Since there isn't much weight back there, it can easily be overpowered right off the line and spin rubber.
One thing I had to address on each test spin was the chain flying off the pusher.
I suspect its due to a combination of me being lazy & setting up the motor mount by eye & the long chain length.
It was back in the garage, back to the drawing boards to get both better alignment, & shorter chain length. I used a long piece of angle aluminum vice gripped to both the rear cog & front cog to get exact alignment before drilling & bolting everything down.
Heres how it looks now.
I just got done (8pm) and its dark outside, so the 2nd test drive will have to take place tomorrow.
Hopefully the chain will stay on so I can venture off my block. I'll bring the rubber gloves just in case.
-Lowracer-
 

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d_gizzle

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May 29, 2012
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Lowracer the currie scooter mags have freewheel threads. I'm not sure exactly how wide the rear wheel is but the front wheel with disc rotor mount measures about 4" oln. Rhe rear wheel can be had with either freewheel/disc mount or freewheel/band brake. The band brake version is threaded on both sides,same as a freewheel thread. I bought my front wheels from electricscooterparts.com. Here's a link to some of their wheels.


http://www.electricscooterparts.com/electricscooterwheels.html


You can get the rear wheels at tncscooters.com as well. Might be a lil cheaper there.
 

lowracer

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Oct 17, 2008
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d gizzle,
Thanks for the info. If I need to make an upgrade, they got what I'll need.
Hopefully my chain doesnt fly off again tomorrow on test drive #2.
Fingers are crossed...
lol
-Lowracer-
 

mat_man

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Jan 29, 2011
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lowracer

New Member
Oct 17, 2008
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Charleston, SC
Motorized Pusher

Mat Man,
I've seen that video...Way too much for my intentions...
I had a early morning dream about adding a piece of steerer tube with flat sides to the mix to get perfect alignment. I woke up early to get in the garage & implement my new ideas.
Glad I'm on vacation all week & can work on the bike as much as I want (obsessive hobby we got here).
Here are some pics of how I altered the engine mounting to get proper alignment. I'm fueling up my body (breakfast), so I can take test drive #2 shortly.
Will post some conclusions in a little while...stay tuned
Here are them pics
-Lowracer-
 

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lowracer

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Oct 17, 2008
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Charleston, SC
OMG,
Let me start by saying,"I Hate Chain Drive"!
Ok, since that is out of the way now, I just spent the last 6 hrs getting my pusher chain from flying off during every attempted test drive.
The problem was my little singleator tensioner (pos).
I got an old Shimano LX derailleur from that Cannondale M500 frame I pilaged the other day & decided to make an attachment point onto the fork end using the rack braze on, a small piece of 1/4" aluminum bar & some thin bolts. I had to lengthen the chain a bit & reroute the chain to clear my engine mount.
Well I got it done & swore that if this didnt work at keeping the chain from flying off, I'd be done with chain drive once & for all & turn it into a friction drive pusher.
The freewheeling aspect of this chain drive is why I really wanted it to work correctly since I can pedal without any extra drag.
Mission Accomplished!
I ran it up & down & all around & couldn't get the chain to derail.
Now I gotta figure out how to get it to hook up better when applying throttle.
It likes to spin the tire under modest acceleration & when it spins it wants to jack a bit & get squirrely. I dont want to add weight back there but may need to look into a milk crate basket w/ 1 gallon full gas can in it?
Do you think the angle of the dangle could affect the issue during acceleration?
I'm not trying to spend any more time today in the garage.....but maybe tomorrow?
LOL
-Low-
 

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Ludwig II

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Jul 17, 2012
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It might be that there is a sweet spot between bouncing about at one extreme and trying to lever the bike over at the other. I think you'll end up experimenting with the height of the the attachment, in order to get the wheel to try (but not too hard) to drive the back of the bike upwards. Also, have you thought about moving the engine further back to put some actual weight on the wheel, even hanging it behind the wheel for more downward leverage?

Bear in mind I'm thinking on the fly here.

Does the fact it's hanging off the left have any effect on it, would it be better actually on the frame assembly and driving the right side of the wheel?

Like I say, I'm just thinking as i go along here.
 

lowracer

New Member
Oct 17, 2008
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Charleston, SC
Ludwig,
The engine is off center but the mount is also off center to balance out the trailer.
Problem is that the whole weight of the trailer w/engine & gas is not much.
There is nothing pushing the trailer into the pavement.
I took it out for an extended test drive today (just got back).
I probably only did 10 miles but when I got back, I noticed my drive tire is bald to the point of the threads showing. When I left I had knobs...lol
Back to the drawing boards I guess, but this push trailer idea is for the birds.
I gotta come up with a way to make the little wheel bear my weight to keep the tire from merrily spinning away my rubber...
-Lowracer-
 

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16v4nrbrgr

Active Member
Mar 17, 2012
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North Bay
Hey, maybe use some sort of mechanism so that the trailer is spring loaded down when you're on the bike, and when you lean back it applies more tractive force?
 

lowracer

New Member
Oct 17, 2008
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Charleston, SC
I got a better idea...Make it a trailer without an engine! ...LOL
Maybe thats why there are no motorcycles driven in this manner being sold today?
Wow...This is my third push trailer project & though this one handles well & feels good behind the bike, its still a turd.
I'm seriously considering either mounting this 'motorized fork' onto a stand up scooter or removing the engine & making a cute pull behind trailer to hold a crate for my 2 gallon gas can...Then I can get between 200-300 miles per trip depending on which bike I take.
...Doh!...
-Lowracer-
 

Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
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UK
There's still the autowheel concept to consider. Perhaps that worked because of a short distance between the contact patch and the frame pivot, there would be a positive downforce on the wheel as the engine tried to drive itself under the pivot point?