The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

I'm going to have to have a proper read back through this thread to catch up on all the details of your build, but let me say that I am amazed at how much work and clever innovation you've put into your trike. The day when you're finally able to wheel your trike out into the sunlight for its first test ride is going to be a real red letter day. Make sure you've got a video camera all tuned up with batteries freshly charged at the event because that is going to be an event a whole lot of us on the forum will want to see.

 

[2door]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Ditto:
Get the video camera ready. We've all been waiting a long time for this. You owe us for our patients.
Any firm estimate of when it will see sunlight?

Tom

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Sorry Silver, we've talked about this before...no capes - fasteddy, a real friend would be up at 3am helping it's true... the first time no problem, the second third & forth doubtlessly the same, the umpteen billionth time? ...might be straining the relationship a bit lol & Intrepid Wheelwoman, a video camera all tuned up with batteries freshly charged? You've jinxed me b'dangit as tonight's attempt was the first I ever had a battery die midvid heh, good thing I've a spare & no estimate Tom, I don't build on a timetable as not only are there "real life" considerations, the second a hobby becomes a chore it's no longer a hobby... what happens, happens - whenever it may.


Plodding right along, the tale of the 79¢ bit of mystery... for so very long all I needed to be able to pedal the thing was to cut a coupla keys for the jackshaft (three actually, three sprockets ofc) & finagle a coupla spacers, except there was so many other things to attend to... and ofc I seem to have misplaced the key stock. No worries I thought to myself, I'll just buy another & for the past coupla weeks I've been patiently waiting for my local hardware store to restock so I could do just that. Finally, lil bit of metal in hand I was able to finish the jackshaft for good, except ofc it'd rusted quite a bit in the meantime, cleaned & keyed it'll get painted when everything else is too.



and as vids seem to be in demand, here's the best I can do in the meantime lol: http://youtu.be/U10xLqTekOw ...well, it amused me anyway *shrug*

 

[2door]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Man I hear ya there. Building on a schedule takes all the fun out of it. It's the biggest reason, that and the liability issues, that I don't build bikes for people. I don't want to feel pressured. When I want to work on a project, I work on it. If I feel like taking a few days, or weeks off, I do it. And I don't have to answer to anyone.
Wasn't rushing you, Geoff. Just anxious to see that thing on the road.

Tom

 

[fasteddy]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Okay, umteenth billion time "you" have to supply the beer because a real good friend would bring a 12 pack with him when he came over.

Steve.

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Just anxious to see that thing on the road.

You & me both, particularly give the dodads I just finished... dang good thing I "tricked" myself by waiting a bit till the roads were as evil as they are now, else I'd be pedaling around trailing wires like gutted entrails lol

fasteddy, we've more a tech exchange than beer - he's got a 'ped & TBH it's a relief helping with something so simple for a change. He's a competent mechanic w/o a doubt, but lacks the patience for finding shinys & detail stuff so I clicky research widgets from treatland or wherever (hop-up kit etc), header-wrapping the new expansion chamber system was another example.

Prolly better that way, if it was beer - my taddy build would be however as sideways as I got building it


& speakin' of detail stuff, I got a couple more of the nearly endless list of minor things done, I picked up some (more) cabling (gaw, there's so much of it) & finally managed to dig up some hex set screws to replace & complete my front brake cable splitter, finding to my dismay that particular hex size was ofc the one I'm missing from my set, so I picked up a new hex set as well as it was no doubt sacrificed to the gremlin when I cleaned the shop heh

I dunno why I was surprised that it worked so well, it's a simple enough dealie *shrug* but one of the things I made sure of when I was making it was accounting for the possibility of cable breakage (w/a large slider area). There's nothing to be done if the single cable from the lever to the splitter snaps ofc (& that's more likely) and it'd be sketch to only have one functioning front brake, but better one than none... and during testing that seemed to work too, so good 'nuff I figure.

Moving right along I rigged up the rear derailleur cable & dialed in the shifter & started on the front...

...to find a small oversight on my part heh - there's no cable seat/saddle thingie for the front cable to go into... um... yea, oops >.<

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Not to be deterred by a mere technicality, I though about resorting to the internet to find a clamp-on, but I feared that given the square tubing and the orientation I'd be wasting my time even looking. I could be wrong, but I also had no desire to wait two weeks for shipping, particularly as soon as the roads clear I'll be vroomin' on over to the welding shop and zottin' one on there (along w/a coupla of other lil things), so I just cobbed a clamp-on myself.

It's not the prettiest or most professional (220 Miller MIG was a touch overkill lol), but it suffices to get the job done, I added the shrink wrap to prevent scratching the already scratched to heck pant heh

Anyhoo - both front & rear derailleurs are now completely functional & as I managed to sort the jackshaft keys last time, it's completely pedal-able, added a touch of cable & chain lube and it's far smoother & w/less drag than I thought given the sheer length & number of chains & their routing, another relief lol;

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

I use a hose clamp to keep chain tension on 6000 watts, I think your solution is great and will work!

I've paid mind to your approach of building, this last spring when my occ was a happy time bike I would scramble all night to tinker it to a running state just to get a ride in the next day. The gravity of the consequences of the more advance builds have me thinking, better take it easy and have plenty of time to plan out everything safely.

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Thanks 16v, yea there's not much pressure needed for just a front derailleur, I figured I'd zot a cable seat on the pedal boom more to tidy things up than anything else, I'm trying my best to keep the hose clamps, cable ties & whatnot to a minimum... it's not always possible ofc, but I'm trying lol

Speakin' of "scramble(ing) all night to tinker" & "consequences" - I was muckin' about tonight just trying to get more cable work done, cuttin' new ones for the throttle set & scared the heck outa myself when I went to test the electric... it's a damn foolish thing I know, but I haven't a proper plug going from the battery pack to the controller just yet & in a hurry I reversed polarity to the controller, naturally resulting in a zap of impressive intensity & what now seemed to be a completely unresponsive controller, no output, no lights, de nada.

Freaked and more than a little irritated with my stupid self, I checked the BMS to see if the battery was still puttin' out (yep), checked the plugs & wires for continuity (yep) & started to seriously worry I'd fried stuff as I was gettin' nothing other'n nothing at all... and then noticed that unlike my 'Pie hub (internal), this controller has an off switch, which a smarter self had ofc turned off last time I was done tinkerin' with it.

Whew - saved by happenstance, I quintuple checked polarity & flicked the switch, to my profound relief all the lights came on & a twitch of the throttle showed no harm, no foul... this time. Lucky indeed as this is a generic controller I doubt it's much in the way of protection from morons, it might have a breaker, it might have polarity protection... I suspect not though & better not test that luck again heh

Other'n that lil bit of humbling excitement, the rest went together like legos - as it outa as I've done this particular task before & already sorted the issues out. It's a different thumb throttle for the electric ('Pie stolen by Mongo), but that only required drilling a hole for the cable to pass through to utilize it as a remote cable actuated dealie for the trigger throttle (spring added for safety/throttle return).

...and yea, I might have spent too long w/the taddy on it's stand vrooming the electric drive "testing" it lol

I also redid the carburetor's throttle cable & it works well enough, I do think I'm gonna get another "springy" brake noodle (same as on the tops of the two trigger throttles) to replace the solid one I used on the carb - while it works, the inner sleeve diameter/bend is just a hair too tight & it drags a bit. I upgraded the slide return spring to a beefier one (safety/throttle return again) so it always returns, but it requires a bit too much pull for comfort & it's defo that noodle. Ah well, I needed 'nother excuse to visit my LBS right? heh

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

On the other hand, seems I've gravely underestimated the power of pedals lol doh >.<

So, yesterday afternoon I was feelin' a bit adventurous, mayhaps jus' a bit silly - whichever it may have actually been I sorted the main power plug for the electric (no more accidental zots thanks) & temp tidied things a bit as I'd decided to "test ride" the thing as much as I could w/both the electric drive & pedal drive systems...

Insofar as the 3 or 4 feet forward & "wheelchairing" it back again counts as a "test ride" heh, whatever - I've not much room in my shop & even so I made meself giggle like a schoolgirl & learned a few things. First being (fortunately) my front braking system works quite well FTW, second being the electric drive functions under load, third being...

...I need to repair/redesign my rear pedal chain idler mount as it collapsed under load - the load being trying to pedal in the lowest gear with the front brakes locked, which in my own defense was exactly why I was doing such a silly thing, to see what would break & where.



It's easy enough to fix & in retrospect obvious it needs a gusset, still it was a lil surprising how easily it folded given it's 3/16" aluminum angle & jus' me legs... I suppose it shows a bias that I undervalue human torque so, after all I motorize for a reason

It served to teach me to not underestimate anything on this build & I spent the rest of yesterday going back over the entire taddy looking for anything else that may be underbuilt or overlooked - another example was the pedal chain tensioner, which is just a bit of a rear derailleur cut up & reversed, which as it's reversed doesn't have a chain retainer so when the chain came out of alignment it came off the cog, scraping up the arm & bound. Perhaps not an issue if the mount didn't fail... then again who knows what might happen should I be idly backpedaling up a hill (as is my wont whilst passing pedalers cause I'm evil) & hit a bump or something, so I need tinker a lil tab retainer for that as well *shrug*

Other'n that it was an educational and fun afternoon, not that I can be sure of much with a whopping 4 foot test track - but I found if I made a hard right turn I could get almost a whole 5 feet of run lol, and that the steering & turning radius seems to be about right as well...

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Sounds like you're getting closer to the big day

 

[killercanuck]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Nothing the fear of "OMG I Fried Something!" to get the adrenalin up and get back in gear, heh heh.

 

[2door]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

This is a little known fact: All things electrical are powered by smoke.

Whatever you do, Geoff, don't let the smoke leak out of the wires. If the smoke leaks out none of your electrical stuff will ever work again. The bigger the wire, the more smoke it contains. Battery cables are the worst. They'll leak a lot of smoke and then everything quits.

Tom

 

[Dan]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

LOL, ayup. Just can't get the smoke back in.

Don't ask me how I know.

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)



I'm pretty sure you put the smoke in with a soldering gun, the tricky bit being you can just as easily let it out that way lol


Work has been madness of late, I'll spare ya'll the insanity if for no other reason than it's very, very boring insanity heh, the entire point of a hobby is escapism after all, except in this instance it interfered w/my progress as I needed the welder, but needed to flee the workplace even more... I really should get my own b'danged MIG >.<

Anyhoo, it only took a moment to straighten the bent mount, cut a gusset on my bandsaw and bring it in for the two tiny stitch welds needed. After I got it home again I looked at it & thought I should have prolly welded both sides of the gusset, but I was worried about fastener clearance & I don't think it'll be an issue after more "testing" - that being trying to pedal in it's lowest gear with the brakes fully locked (no damage), then just for the lulz standing in front of the taddy and stomping a pedal, which presumably was to test shock load - but in actuality more because it leaves the cutest lil baby burn outs on the ply...

I never claimed to be mature

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

phew... I've no idea why but I had quite the productive weekend lol, I started by adjusting & tightening about umpteen billion fasteners that were just finger tight, just sorta there to keep things in check - the entire front end assembly for example, the handlebar controls for another, then moved on to more critical tasks such as dealing with some of the blasted wires hangin' out all over the place... but to do that I needed to make sure they all had something to go to, which ofc meant digging up more connectors, fasteners and even the occasional bit of forgotten hardware - like the horn, which I hadn't even found a place to mount the thing and possibly offended by this neglect, had hidden itself away in my 'puter parts drawer of all places

Anyway, skipping over the befuddled confusion & questing for misplaced widgets, trying to find the right color bit of wire to splice in, another b'danged connector half, the hours of sitting in a haze of burnt solder resin & other such repetitive banalities - turns out I had little to dread as again, a wiser self had taken great care to label each and every wire as well as full color coded schematics. So once the additional parts were found it all went together pretty easily.

This isn't the end of the wiring ofc, but it's the beginning of the end & it's a relief to have at least most of it sorted. All the handlebar controls are complete now (except ICE start/run & rear brake) which may not sound like much... but included front and rear derailleurs, ICE & electric throttles, front brakes, horn, taillight, brake light, low & high beams, blinkers and ofc their corresponding indicators on the Vapor dash if applicable (blinkers, high beam, etc).

What's left for wiring is tidying up the electric drive components (wiring cut down to fit) and the ICE wiring (ignition) and what sending units are left for the Vapor (tach, temp, speed, neutral indicator)... it's true I don't have front blinkers yet, but as I have no fenders mounted I've no place to mount them lol, but that's easy enough and low priority, it won't get it's full fenders till after some test runs anyway.

It's not something easily shown, but all of the switch controls except the keyed main are easily operated with just the heel of the hand, which means that you need never release the handlebars to do anything - a seemingly minor consideration that took a surprising amount of effort, replaced & relocated, even customized parts... all because I don't like having to let go mid-turn to do whatever *shrug* picky I s'pose but I hate hard to reach controls heh

A lil vid of the flashy stuff in action, sorry for the quality but I shut down the spotlights as to show the indicators better - there's still a 60w light in the room, but digitals seem to hate "low light" vids (HD setting helps some);

http://youtu.be/wXC3vDpBfuw

 

[paul]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

i bet you are going crazy waiting for summer to get out on the taddy. that is one heck of a bike you are building ba. lots of detail and nice work. i got to get me a tail light like that

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Thanks Paul & yea, I'm going crazy for summer but it's more than just the taddy, tho it's true being this close to having it completed isn't helping lol - the taillight is ofc an aftermarket motorcycle "upgrade" & I can dig up the part number no problem... but TBH you may be better off searching "bright LED all-in-one replacement motorcycle taillight brake light blinkers" yourself as I chose this one specifically because it conforms to the taddy's seat back... sort of - catch being that means it's kinda huge, it'd stick out on a regular bicycle & being wider than a rack, catch on stuff. There's a ton out there to choose from though, it took me forever to just pick one.

It is however very bright & defo an attention-getter, so although it's a touch gommy even on the taddy, I figure it's a keeper as safety trumps looks lol


It has again "been awhile" since I last posted an update - this time however I've gotten a bunch of stuff done, thing is it's all insanely boring, repetitive & tedious crap that just needed to be attended to, very little of it being picture or note worthy... namely wiring, wiring, wiring & more wiring w/summore wiring on the side >.<

One of the little things I'm disproportionately proud of is in actuality quite simple, I dunno why it pleases me so much heh, but whatever - I modified the ebike controller with a remote activation, it's power switch still active the taddy's main relay bank now supersedes it, the key switch overriding so "off" is off no matter if the controller is switched on or not, turning the taddy's keyed main now activates/deactivates absolutely everything electrical on the thing, handy for both repairs & security, tho naturally it could still be pedaled.

Last of the connections for the ebike & lighting sorted, it was time to move on to the Lifan four stroke & it's wiring and plumbing needs, I grabbed some alcohol resistant fuel line (a disgusting yellow, but whadda gonna do lol) and a pair of fuel filters (lil one is a disposable for initial fill/flush) & after just a bit of fumbling got that easy bit sorted...

...& now comes the tough bit - there's five main wires comin' outa the engine, they ofc go to the CDI, coil & regulator but the tricky bit is even after more than a year of searching the interwebs, talking to repair shop techs and distributors, even the vendor that sold me the thing - no one could provide more than their "best guess" as to which wire did what, the colors meaningless & nonexistent in any available schematic or manual.

blarg

I hate guessing electricals as you'll very often not be allowed a second try, tendrils of smoke & spiky hair your reward for a mistake lol - fortunately the gas engine itself is a comparatively simple setup, not like it's a emissions regulated EFI or anythin' heh, so after some grumbling I carried on doing things backwards, wiring all the accessories & whatnot first, winnowing my way down to just the stuff I couldn't identify, then using the classic process of elimination to figure out the rest...

Somewhat surprisingly it worked, I only made one mistake and that was one the zot gods decided to forgive, oddly one that had little to do with the mystery wires and was just an error (wired the kill as a double kill instead of off/on);

 

[BarelyAWake]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

...and as of Friday 3:30am EST - IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE!!1!

Having checked for & gotten spark, I drizzled a bit of purloined two-stroke fuel (buddy's ped) into the cylinder & sure enough it fired right up w/a very satisfying four stroke rumble, resulting in a maniacal cackle from me & promptly doing it again lol, it speaks volumes for my upstairs neighbors that they came down to congratulate me on this milestone instead of (rightfully) complaining about the racket at almost 4am heh

Triumph indeed, nevertheless there's still a bunch to be done, lots and lots of little things, tidying up and adjustments, then some more readjustments. I got a good start on pulling together the harnesses, shortening excess wires, organizing the mayhem & rerouting things to prevent chafe, pinches, tugs & shorts, then adding conduit wrap to keep it all that way... but I've still heat guards & some mounts to make, there's still a bunch to be done but...

...without a shred of doubt I'll be riding this thing no later than this spring, sooner if the roads are dry and clean before then FTW;

 

[Dan]

Re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)

Truly awesome to read BA! Just made my morning.

Uber cool about the neighbors too.


dunno, just !!!!!!