Possible Motorized Trike?

B

BA_Alpha

New Member
I have the below pictured trike that i bought for burning man. Due to a recent personal injury I am looking into motorizing it. Unfortionatly its frame build does not fit the current expected form for fitting the engine. Does anybody know if there is a way for me to do it?





Here are a couple of shots, let me know what you all think and thanks!
 
The simplest way to motorize the trike would be to attach a friction drive motor to the front wheel, If you live in a dry climate, like SoCal. Not as good in wet climates.
You could also go with an electric hub motor front wheel but it would cost more.
I agree that mounting a China girl motor in that from would be a hassle.
 
Not THAT big of a hassle Wheelbender, Just mount it to the seatpost as usual, Then weld in a front "braced" mount. Then all thats really left is to attach a rear sprocket to a locking axle collar.
I've only built this type on a mens cruiser frame, so I kinda know whats involved, And it ain't real easy, but it's doable.
fatdaddy.
 

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fatdaddy said:
Not THAT big of a hassle Wheelbender, Just mount it to the seatpost as usual, Then weld in a front "braced" mount. Then all thats really left is to attach a rear sprocket to a locking axle collar.
I've only built this type on a mens cruiser frame, so I kinda know whats involved, And it ain't real easy, but it's doable.
fatdaddy.
Click to expand...

I like your trike. Did you do a build thread on that? I'd like to look at it if you did. Thanks,
SB
 
Hi BA Alpha,
Welcome to the forum and I hope your health is better soon.

What are you planning to do with your trike? If you could tell us things like, how far you plan to go in a day and where, hills involved? Does the trike have gears? This will help people tailor answers to your needs.

Steve.
 
Hi Fasteddy!

My trike will be taking me over flat ground and no hills, what it will encounter is patches of sand like substance ( it will be finer then sand but will bog a bike down like sand) which will last usually 4-5 feet at the most but not a consistent thing , maybe every 2 miles at the most. It will be used to take me around the festival which will probably will amount to 4-20 miles a day over a 6 day period. I will not need top end speed because the speed limit is 5 miles per hour. The trike will be carrying me and maybe 40 pounds of ice tops. It is funny you ask that because my next question was going to be is the engine big enough for my needs.
 
Hi BA Alpha,

I'm more an ebike guy so the other fellas here are better able to answer your questions about engines. If your using it at Burning Man you will have miles of smiles going.
Have you looked through the other threads where they have discussed mounting engines and if you go to the top of the page and type something into google like "gas engines in trikes" you may get some hits there as well from long buried posts.

I have some ideas about electric motor types but it is an expensive proposition unless you use it a lot. Look at what the fellas have suggested and more people will stop in over the next few days I'm sure.
When your putting it together give us a running photo shoot, please. We love to cheer on other peoples successes.

Steve.
 
silverbear said:
I like your trike. Did you do a build thread on that? I'd like to look at it if you did. Thanks,
SB
Click to expand...

No thread on it SB, Just a lot of pics. I called it Widowmaker. I built it before I was a forum member. When I first got it together I had it geared all wrong. A PITA to get started, but once the clutch quit slipping at about 30mph and the engine caught up the thing was hitting 60mph or better. Well, Thats as fast as I wanted to take it anyway, I still had throttle left. I re-geared it (try to make sure nobody would die on it,) and sold it. That's one I wish I woulda kept. A BLAST to ride and it got A LOT of attention.
And (BA ALPHA, Welcome to the forum,) An engine on the front wheel causes all kinds of steering and balance problems. An electric front wheel drive hub would work great, but a heavy engine, even just a few pounds, on the front wheel, throws off your steering and control abilities. Thats why the front drive Bike Bug kit isn't very popular.
http://www.bikebug.net/all_models.html
fatdaddy.
 
If I am motoring around at no more then 5-10 miles per hour will I have those issues? It is not permitted to go any faster then that as it is.
 
At those speeds it shouldn't be a problem but I can't say for sure.

From the looks of that rear end I'm going to assume your limited to front wheel drive or jackshaft to the stock rear end and sprocket?

I would say the best bet to achieve your goal would be front friction drive. I would use a harbor freight 79cc with and 11 tooth clutch bell ran to a 22 tooth sprocket driving a 1.5 inch roller. This would give you a top speed of about 8mph with the governor still connected and cost less than $250 if you can build it yourself.
 
Would the kit I linked earlier get me close to that? It's a smaller engine and different sprocket but with some self control I am hoping I can make it work. On my budget I was also thinking I could maybe mount a China engine behind the seat and run a chain up from the rear sprocket/axle. My biggest concern is that I am going in for knee surgery soon so I want to settle on a project that will not require a massive amount of tinkering to make it work. My other option it seems is to drop $800 on electric system it seems to me.
 
BA Alpha,
Here is an electric motor that will work for what you want. It is a separate electric motor that mounts on the seat post with a clamp. The kit comes with a replacement crank set that has 2 chain rings. One chain ring on the outside that runs to the rear as normal and an inside chain ring that is run by the motor.

When you power the motor you can just keep your feet on the pedals and ride or pedal along and save on the battery power. If you choose to just pedal, the motor and the inside chain ring free wheels so there is no drag.

If you look on the front page of the forum where the ads are go to Sick Bike Parts and send them a message. They have them but not advertised and Paul said he had some 24v models on sale. He may still have some and they were at a price that was very reasonable as I recall. Not sure how many watts but since you aren't looking for a power house they would be great.

I have two of them. One is a 24v for my trike and a 48v for the sidecar. I haven't installed them as yet since the Indian Tricar is in the work area so no personal report but those that have one, rave about them. You get to use the rear wheels on the trike and any gears it has as well.

Look up Cyclone Bike Motors on Google and it will show you what they look like and how they work.

Steve.
 
Ya! I forgot the ads are always there. F%$& old age. Hope your knee surgery goes well. I've had both knees replaced. Do the exercises no matter what.

Steve.
 
BA_Alpha said:
If I am motoring around at no more then 5-10 miles per hour will I have those issues? It is not permitted to go any faster then that as it is.
Click to expand...

Hey BA, Noticed you're in California, And California motorized bicycle law allows gas bikes a top speed of 30mph. Electric bikes are limited to 20mph, (kinda.) If ya want I'll shoot ya the V.C. and DMV sections. You can start with C.V.C., DMV sec. 406.a and 406.b.
fatdaddy.
 
fatdaddy said:
Hey BA, Noticed you're in California, And California motorized bicycle law allows gas bikes a top speed of 30mph. Electric bikes are limited to 20mph, (kinda.) If ya want I'll shoot ya the V.C. and DMV sections. You can start with C.V.C., DMV sec. 406.a and 406.b.
fatdaddy.
Click to expand...

Fatdaddy,

I am planning on building this for the festival Burning Man, the only way around the massive tent city are bikes and with a bum knee that is going to be hard for me. I can motorize my bike but the rules there limit me to 5 MPH.,
 
BA_Alpha said:
Due to a recent personal injury I am looking into motorizing it.
Click to expand...
Motorize it as is, or rebuild the whole thing from the ground up?
I don't think I would trust that trike as is pedal powered let alone with any motor help.
 
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