The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike

[silverbear]

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

Thanks for the tips. I especially liked Caravan Palace.
Yesterday I had lunch with old friends (been friends a long time and they're old) and talked a bit about your build, the video & the new take on old music. They asked for the link...

http://youtu.be/bNLTLRx8sTI

And this morning ya got a review...

"That was terrific. Looked like so much fun but where to ride --- not 169. Lois"

Our local hwy 169 is a mess of potholes getting worse every year. If'n I had yer bike I'd ride from my place five miles to Bearhead State Park on virtually untraveled up down and around perfect asphalt through towering pines, past freshwater lakes with nice banked turns. A dreamy ride there on your Cosmic tadpole with a little Django playing... oh boy. Makes me anxious to get my Indian-Hiawatha tri car done this summer so I can do just that on my own dream machine.

Thanks again for the great video.
SB

 

[Dan]

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

You are amazing BA.

 

[BarelyAWake]

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

heh, thanks again for your appreciation - wish we all weren't so scattered far & wide, it'd be great to have a get together & roll out

They asked for the link...

http://youtu.be/bNLTLRx8sTI

And this morning ya got a review...

"That was terrific. Looked like so much fun but where to ride --- not 169. Lois"

Our local hwy 169 is a mess of potholes getting worse every year...

Yea, all the roads around here are degrading badly & when they do repave they've been doing a shoddy job of it, even skipping the shoulders entirely... if there were any shoulders to begin with lol

That was what I had in mind when I designed the taddy tho, knowing this isn't exactly a "bike friendly" area to ride it's one of the main reasons I went fully suspended - not that it's a monster off-roader or anything, it's very much a street machine but nevertheless the suspension does an amazing job of taking the rough & I haven't even dialed it in for that, it's still all cranked up tight like for track use.

At some point or another I'll hafta sort out the "sweet spot" between firm handling and smooth riding on rough terrain *shrug*

Speaking of handling characteristics, here's a snippet that didn't make it into the vid above as I didn't wanna make folks dizzy while they were watchin' that 'un heh - it's one of those small aspects that oft goes unnoticed until ya need it, the turning radius;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoQoBblWobU

I wanted to be dang sure I could maneuver a tight u-turn on a small two lane road lacking shoulders, for rather obvious safety reasons. A tricky trade off as with the limited amount the controls have to move, the tighter the radius the more sensitive the steering, the twitchier it would be at speed - not to mention the Ackermann compensation was a one shot deal, I really didn't wanna rebuild my spindles from scratch should any of the lengths be off.

Fortune smiled on me it seems as it all came together as I wanted it to, it was a bit of a shot in the dark as I've an atypical steering setup due to space constraints, the suspension & my own personal preference - in the first turn there's a bit of a squeak, that's not the tires but a touch of the new brake pads, the compensation geometry seems to be dead on... not sure how that happened but I'll take it lol

...and joy of joys, I can ride the thing no-hands for as long as I want at any speed (even hitting bumps as there's no "kick"), the camber, caster and toe all seem to be on the money... well, I should prolly adjust the toe-in just a hair more but as that's the one adjustable parameter I ain't nothin' but relieved

 

[paul]

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

now that looks fun ba. you did one heck of a job building your hybrid bicycle. i am just amazed every time i look at it.

 

[MaxPower]

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

http://www.gizmag.com/outrider-electric-recumbent-tricycles/27105/

 

[BarelyAWake]

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

Those are defo sweet, thanks for the link MaxPower!

...expect to pay US$7,995 for the 311 Solo, $9,995 for the 411 Hyperlite, and $11,995 for the 422 Alpha

ooph... >.<

 

[BarelyAWake]

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

Been a bit busy lately, but I've been tinkerin' away the little stuff & riding when I can - it's all down to detail work & fine tuning now, stuff like making this spring loaded chain tensioner out of some scrap aluminum, a chunk of StarBoard (fancy name for cutting board plastic) & a spring stolen out of a squeeze clamp.

I've only put about twenty miles on the tensioner but it seems to be working out well, I may replace the ramp with a wheel at some point just because I can hear it "ticking" as the links pass over it *shrug* then again I might just get used to it lol

I also made an inner heat shield for the right side saddlebag, as that's the side with the exhaust system. It was a gamble but it's also the only place I can really put any cargo carrying so I had to give it a shot. Putting a metal guard over the pipe was easy, but it wouldn't be enough so a took a bit of heavy fiberglass mat, trimmed it 1/2" smaller than the back of the bag & stuck it to a sheet of self-adhesive heat guard material (auto parts), sticking the thing to the saddlebag I then sealed the edges with vinyl sealant to make sure it stays put, adding tie downs to the bottom of the bags while I was at it.

I worried it'd not be enough to protect the bag & it's contents from the hot exhaust pipe, which other than that metal guard it's in direct contact with. Yet as it turns out the inside of the bag doesn't even get to body temperature no matter if it's sitting there idling or screaming around near redline, it worked out far better than expected, a relief as a bag on fire would be bad news lol;

 

[BarelyAWake]

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

...& more testing, this time the main reason why I built the thing.

I was planning to build myself a custom trailer, but time's pressing with spring finally here & I'll save that lil project for another time. So, I just bought a cheap one instead: http://www.amazon.com/Aosom-Wanderer-Bicycle-Luggage-Trailer/dp/B0083JHEG8

...which may have been a mistake as it's a total piece of junk. The welds are shoddy, the tubing insanely thin, the wheels were a bad joke & the offset on the hitch arm was way too long putting the trailer offset, out in traffic naturally. The whole thing is so poorly designed with no thought given to any actual use, even aside from it's low quality it's just silly with a ton of wasted space for the "convenience" of being able to fold it up to not much smaller at all - needless to say I don't recommend it.

Anyway, it gave me something to work with & after a couple of sessions in the shop I've fixed some of the issues and it'll do well enough for now. The first test run with it was with Mongo the ebike & the weekly bachelor chow run. Pulling it empty is exciting to say the least - unsuspended it bounces all over the place with every little bump & pothole, but it does seem inclined to stay upright, even so I'll prolly relocate the axles to lower the center of mass as it just seems sketchy.

I hadn't ever had or used a bike trailer before and it's dang odd but laden with a week's worth of munchies it was far better behaved, trundling along behind the ebike like it's supposed to... interestingly it doesn't have that much an effect on the ebike's preformance, about the same as the difference between knobby tires & semi-slicks (3mph), even with it's load of foodstuffs I only lost 4mph on the flats - not bad at all really, I expected worse.

That's not why I got it though, heck I've been getting groceries with motorized bikes rain, snow or shine for years now and I've never needed or wanted a trailer for such mundane tasks as that - nope, I need a trailer for far more interesting stuff, namely the long-distance wanderabouts & camping trips I built the taddy for.

With that in mind I loaded up the trailer with a bunch of random heavy stuff & my honkin' big tent - bigger than I wanted but it was on sale, it's tall enough for me to stand up in & best yet, the screened section is just big enough to park the taddy in, keepin' it safe from the elements & lookie-loos... so I ended up with a "two room cabin w/an attached garage" instead of the little pup tent I meant to get lol;



http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-WeatherMaster-Screened-6-Tent/dp/B001TS6WWC

Anyhoo, the taddy pulled it with ease - so much so it's a bit freaky as I can't even tell it's there, no matter the fact it was overloaded for testing with a lot of heavy tools I'd never need to bring, a bag of books & a bunch of stuff that was just in it for the weight. I chose a rough, pothole riddled dirt road nearby to see if I could break it - I didn't go crazy as the taddy itself is a street machine but it went quite well. I stripped an axle nut, but I'd done that earlier when attaching the hitch and it only served to remind me to replace the cheesium alloy with some quality marine grade fasteners I had but forgot about lol;



In review, it seems the thought of a four stroke/electric hybrid for torque was exactly what's needed - I could have built a much faster two smoker, but it's plenty fast enough & far better yet, consistent. It seems no matter the hill or trailer weight, it just keeps truckin' along - crazy steep incline from a dead stop? Trailer with a hundred pounds of crap? NP - drop a gear range & away we go just to see what's around the next bend

 

[paul]

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

thats amazing you cannot tell the trailer is back their because you have it over flowing and its not a small trailer. motorized bicycles rule. so much fun. you have the ultimate camping set up ba

 

[Dan]

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

The ultimate get-away vehicle. (great for post apocalyptic zombie incursion, too)

LOL BA, only you would have a tent with a garage! Awesome.

 

[fasteddy]

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

I'm thinking, Oh, the places he'll go and the things he'll see.
To bad the trailer wasn't better built but I would imagine that there isn't a lot of trailers available that aren't priced north of the $500 line that are made for what you need.

I can picture the one you build with independent suspension and an added power source to charge batteries ect.

Thank you for taking us along on your journey via the video. A most delightful trip.

Steve.

 

[BarelyAWake]

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

Thanks Paul, it'd better pull the trailer without complaint lol - it is after all the point of the thing. Fortunately I seem to have managed to get the gear ranging just right, a small miracle as I half guessed & half just used whatever I had kicking around... that shouldn't have worked but it did *shrug*

Well Dan, "post apocalyptic" mebbe, but it'd not help at all in a "zombie incursion" w/the thin nylon walls & the taddy open to the world - I'd hafta boat her on out to one of the islands, zombies can't swim fer beans lol, but here's some pics of the so-called garage... I've got the trailer in it too & while it's nice that it also fits, while testing the tent setup I realized it'd be better to fold in the hitch & bring it inside the main section as it also makes a perfect desk... maybe even a better desk then trailer heh

Speaking of - fasteddy, yea bike trailers come in all shapes, sizes and prices... none of them really what I'm interested in & the prices for those few that'd do get insane. Funny you should mention " independent suspension and an added power source to charge batteries ect." as that's just what I had in mind, but that'll hafta wait as there's just too much to do & the sunny season too blasted short to waste away in the shop.

On the other hand, I've enough trinkets I've picked up along the way to finagle something with this trailer - a small example is this lil setup I threw together just to jam out while setting up the tent;



...I've two of the solar panels & I figure two of those SLAs could be mounted under the trailer deck (lowering center of mass), I'd like to match the taddy's electric drive voltage just in case of an emergency & I've enough SLAs, but they're just too heavy & there's no way the little panels could hope to make a dent in the taddy's consumption - but for basic LED lighting & tunes while camping, recharging the unphone & the assorted AA, D & camera batteries (I've the 12v chargers for that) it's perfect, the tiny inverter is handy for things I haven't a 12v charger for but like all inverters it's hungry too lol



...aand some shots of the tent itself, it isn't as big as it looks in the pics ofc but it's tall enough to stand in & plenty big enough for an extended stay wherever the urge strikes;

 

[paul]

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

that is friggen awesome ba. i really like the music set up. tunes is a must for me when i am riding and when camping. you really do have the ultimate set up. gas, electric, tunes and a tent that is more like a condo. love it

 

[silverbear]

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

Brings a smile looking at the pictures, remembering some great camping excursions of my own and imagining how your well thought out rig would be in actual use. What great fun! The places you can go and spending little money along the way, meeting people (one's who are not yet zombies).
Would bear spray work on the walking dead? Just a thought.
SB

 

[Goat Herder]

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

Congratulations on hard work paying off! One does not often realize the amount of fretting, planning and re-planning A project like this can endeavor. This is of course half the fun. Put a ton of work in this one and it absolutely shows.

The suspension and its related tire geometry etc is truly outstanding. I like the way it sat still taking that hard corner. You have a amazing machine to enjoy.

 

[killercanuck]

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

"little bigger tent than the pup I went in there for", heh heh. Love the tent! Should keep some spiders from surprising you while you're cruising too

Good idea to load'er up heavy to see what's going to break. That's why fat people make great test riders.

 

[Cogswelln]

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

That is awesome. i am just awestruck at the shear awesomeness that i can explain it lol

 

[Yggdrasil]

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

Heck of a great read, and a mighty fine ride you made. Sure hope sometime i'm down in bath i see that thing cruising around. Can't ask for much better weather than we've been having to correspond with completion Gratz man, amazing build/thread/idea!

 

[BarelyAWake]

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

Thanks folks, I sorta wish I had more to babble about... but as I've really not had to do much other'n ride so I guess it's a good thing lol

After dealing with the usual teething pains any new build tends to have I've just been doing what you'd expect, going on longer & longer rides, learning how to ride the thing, adjusting some thingie or another and trying it again. The longest ride so far was only around fifty miles - which may not seem like much but felt like a quite momentous accomplishment to me as not only were the previous trips far less than that (if greater in number), but there was no failure of any of the myriad, semi-experimental systems on board, no issues with any of the modifications, alterations or repairs I'd previously done... in fact the thing I find most gratifying is while I've of course had to make any number of such "modifications, alterations & repairs" during this "testing phase" and that does get worrisome when planning the longer trips, no any one thing needed to be repaired or altered more than the once, which means it's all simply refinements, just fine tuning, the learning process continuing and while that can be somewhat frustrating at first it now seems I'm at the point where I'm starting to run out of things to fix & finish, now it seems I'm to the point I've longed for, now it seems my task is to just ride, ride & ride some more...

...and I ain't complaining about that lol, however it doesn't make for the most entertaining forum thread

There have been some small, notable events - for example at one point the right front tire got a sudden flat as I was cruising down the road, this was a concern of mine as we all know how much fun a front flat can be but as it turns out I didn't even notice until I looked and saw it, there was no instability or handling problems. Braking gently as to not spin the tire off the rim I pulled over and it became the easiest roadside flat repair I'd ever done, being a single sided mount I didn't even need remove the rim from the taddy - I just threw a new tube in, pumped a few pounds of air and took off for home.

There's been other stuff ofc but it's all minor, silly things like I've learned I can ride it for extended periods without a hand on the controls, provided the road is straight & downhill naturally as you can't lean turn a three wheeler and I haven't cruise control on this one (I don't think that'd be a good idea anyway). I added a baffle to the exhaust to reduce the noise, I can now hold a conversation without yelling at cruise speed, I've learned the taddy is so comfortable even on the longer rides that there's a very real danger of nodding off - if it wasn't so freakin' terrifying to ride it in traffic heh and I've done some really insignificant stuff like adding a 36-12v converter, battery maintainer & weatherproof 12v outlet so my LiFePO4s can help the lil 12v SLA with my camping needs... the list goes on *shrug*


There is one moment I'd like to share, if only because it happens so infrequently and I find it amusing as heck for some reason;




...and I ended up adding a fuel "gauge" (sight tube, two T fittings w/one at the top tube overflow & one at the petcock) because it so rarely needs fuel I'd never have the slightest idea how much it has otherwise and that would most likely get me in trouble sooner or later... then again as a "fill" (from not quite to reserve) costs a whopping $1.75 I've thrown a handful of spare change in one of the saddlebag's pockets, as it's a four smoker & doesn't need premix and I can just fill at the pump, as it's also a pedal-electric...

...well, I guess that's not really a big deal either lol




Now if ya'll excuse me I'm off for a lil early AM night ridin' FTW, gotta be sure everythin' right, right? heh... excuses lol, it's jus' fun ofc

 

[silverbear]

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

Thanks for the update and photos. That sure looks like fun!
SB