For those who know mid drives, or trikes, or whom are smarter than me.. so Yeah, all of ya.

[DaLanMan]

I am now the proud owner of a Schwinn S4002 Meridian Adult Tricycle.

I am converting this bad boy, kind of sorta on spec, I know a guy that they want to keep mobile after his joint surgery, doc said a mobility scooter and a stationary bike, guy said they could all pound sand about the scooter, ("I am 40 bloody 2, I am NOT fat and I ain't buying a Wal Mart express") so, my name came up being old and fat and totally willing to ride a scooter.. or because I have like 10 bike builds kinda clottering up the side access to my garage. In any case, yeah. I have a budget so money is less important than just building it, and he does not want this for fun or riding, it is to get him mobile around the 50 acre lot he manages stuff on (I have never seen it, but trucks drive around and he has to do stuff out of desk every 15-20 minutes and is on "no more than 3 walkies a day" time.

In any case, the above beasty, and my ever wonderful welding god, some spare bits and he will make whatever stupidity I do a working frame.

Then I have to do all the electric bits...

I *REALLY* want to do this:

Vevor option 1 (fun)

But honestly this is probably much more safe and sane
Vevor option 2 (for the smarts)

Or I could go for safe and sane
Luna Cycles option

I have a $1200 budget, most expensive battery I would need will run me about $130 cost I got the base bike for under 150 delivered to me casa, so I have plenty of room to pay, and lets face it, if I am paid with 3 magic beans and a pack of gum, I am probably overpaid, by like 3 magic beans. Cost on the mods will be
"gimme a hundo and bring Barbecue" so I am looking at all in costs wise about 500 ish so far, inevitable power creep and the need to buy more meat will probably run about 200 more at a guess... So in the money not a problem.

Any feed back? thoughts? Extra magic beans? if I get enough it is magic Chili night.

 

[Papa]

Strike 1
It's a granny trike = narrow track, short WB, and dangerously high CoG.
Strike 2
I see no rear brakes, or any easy bolt-on fix if you ditch or bypass the mid-mounted hub
Strike 3
Aluminum frame. Any welding of structural members is strongly discouraged.

Over the last 15 years or so, I've been approached numerous times to electrify their 'granny'... Not done a single one... and NO plans to change. Just way to risky for the owner... and I don't need the legal complications when the blood starts to flow.

 

[raylo32]

Just get the BBS, if it will fit the bottom bracket of that bike. As mentioned, you don't want to be messing around that frame with any kind of welder. BBS conversion should be easy peasy and get him around just fine. If you want "more power" get the BBSHD... but that might be too fast to be safe because, as mentioned, it looks narrow and top heavy. Only caveat is that if there is a lot of dirt or mud involved those tires may not be wide enough.

 

[Chalo]

Strike 1
It's a granny trike = narrow track, short WB, and dangerously high CoG.
Strike 2
I see no rear brakes, or any easy bolt-on fix if you ditch or bypass the mid-mounted hub
Strike 3
Aluminum frame. Any welding of structural members is strongly discouraged.

Strike 4: 28 spoke rear wheels that fold in half if you criticize them. There are plenty of good strong 28 hole MTB rims available now, but building new wheels on those hubs isn't easy or cheap (because the drive wheel doesn't fit in a truing stand, and the axle doesn't run true enough to do a good job of it).

Over the last 15 years or so, I've been approached numerous times to electrify their 'granny'... Not done a single one... and NO plans to change. Just way to risky for the owner... and I don't need the legal complications when the blood starts to flow.

I've done a couple as parade support vehicles for my band. But they're hokey, and they must be speed restricted unless you widen the rear axle. Most folks don't have the technical chops to make an e-bike kit (efficiently) slow enough, nor the discipline to limit themselves to appropriate speeds.

I have a Worksman trike that I converted with ATV wheels and a chopper fork. When I electrified it, it was suddenly capable of 20mph on 48v, which was terrifying. But then when I flipped the offset of the ATV wheels so the rear track was about 3 inches wider, it became much more competent at speed-- not to say especially competent, but workable.


(I still wouldn't go nearly that fast with the trailer attached.)

 

[PaPaSteve]

BBSO2 is an easy bolt on conversion, bearing in mind, it takes special tools to properly remove the original tricycle crank spindle and a different special tool to tighten the crank lock nut on the motor.

As already pointed out . . . even though it's a trike it doesn't mean it won't tip over.
But then . . . typical gas powered offroad ranch quads are known to tip over and harm people.

Would a front wheel hub motor suffice ?

 

[DaLanMan]

It is one of them complex things. I was asked a question, I answered with "yep, can be done' then ended up in a discussion of various frames available, and the nice folks decided that the frame of choice is a Schwinn because... schwinn (old geezers are like that) in any case, Frame is purchased, it is gonna happen. I am currently getting a buddy who owes me a favor or three million (see notes about me supporting Cancer boy in Chemo, he is my resident computer programmer relieving me of the hassle) to look over the code for the controller and see if we can't diddle it about to cap the speed it allows.

Frame went to the Master welder and genius of all things metal and has been measured, This lead to a discussion about various things including width of the rear axle (he says he has a solution if/when it comes up) the strength of the metal and ability to weld "I will just fab around what is there, it is doable) and whether I should put extra pressure on the sprocket or a mount plate, he points out he is converting the entire arse end of the bike into a framework for the mounted motor... So, I have ordered the sane version from Vevor, and a bbso2. If the separate motor works out, it stays, if not it goes into the things to play with later bin.

If the intended recipient was gonna go all hawg wild and ripping around the yard on this thing I would be a lot more cautious, it is however for a pretty sane individual, and I will have the talk with him about stability. He is an avid mt biker and probably knows more about this than I actually do. Also, I already said I would do the bloody thing and unfortunately when i went back to the folks providing the funding, they wanted nothing to do with all them interweb folks and their fancy knowledge, and I shit you not "Everyone knows Schwinns are the best bikes" Uhm.. ok.

The trike portion of this build is *not* to make it able to ride cross wild country, it is because he is having a joint replaced and having had numerous knee surgeries, I would have preferred a bike that did not occasionally require quickly tossing down a foot, It is more to work as a padding, not a crutch.

This may be a total disaster requiring me to re-build from scratch, in which case I can loan him 2 dogs and a wagon with pneumatic tires, Which will be fun if for nothing else to see the look on his face. Either way, I have told the paying party if that frame is a failure they are paying for a smarter one, they agree'd that being it is their choice that made sense.

See this is why I hate doing engineering shit without you know, any engineering skills. I have put a lot of effort into teaching my son to never worry about it being "only for experts" because that mentality is idiotic. My daughter was a black belt at 12 and by 15 was the best swordswoman in the western US. She regularly was seen beating the snot out of people in the SCA who secretly thought that a girl with a rattan sword was not terrifying. By 17 she was just teaching because no one with a brain would jump in the ring with her (including me). I don't believe in artificial limits, I do however believe to play in the world of engineering without the prior training is done by many people, mainly in failure mode...

::mutters about getting off his lawn and wanders off::

 

[Papa]

Had you posted empty-handed instead hastily buying shit, (including the frame), the talent here could've easily helped craft your dream-machine.... a helloflot sweeter, likely cheaper, and mucho safer.

Mobility scooter?

Here's a rig I whittle-out for my 90 YO Father some years back: I fabbed the tube front half and installed 10" wires on the rear - front is 16" (305), seat height is 'kitchen chair' height near 18", and powered by two 28V Milwaukee drill packs). It still separates mid-frame for transporting. The OEM drive assy was used as-is. I paid $50 for the scooter.

 

[DaLanMan]

Brother I hear ya, but I assure you, it ain't the first time I have suffered from a sudden rush of shit to the brain. If I had asked before I had the discussion about frames and options, it would not have included a Schwinn aluminum frame I assure ya. But here we are. Good news is I have a backup and a fab god that is always willing to help bail out my idiocy. Also I stuffed in a "your design ideas are dumber than mine, if it screws the pooch you are on the hook for unscrewing it" clause.

 

[Papa]

Yo Bro... I lied to ya. I did, in fact, build a 'granny'... Well, sorta.

Based on an vintage, discarded 'granny' trike rear axle - Originally a pair of SLA's, then 2x 28V DeWalt packs, then 2x 28V Milwaukees, then 2x 40V 4Ah Craftsman packs - 4 motor replacements - 6 sets of tires over two decades. Was intended to be a proto, but rode so sweet I just couldn't let it die. To this day, it still resides in my possession.


B

 

[DaLanMan]

looks sweet, would be a wee bit afraid around where I live, you want high visibility, possibly your own police escort on country roads...

 

[Papa]

.....would be a wee bit afraid around where I live, you want high visibility, possibly your own police escort on country roads...

You apparently harbor the illusion that conventional 'bicycles' (and/or granny trikes) are safer,... than the trikes I ride on public asphalt? In my state, from 2009 to 2018, 30 bicyclists were killed:

California was worse (yes, greater population):

Bad news for California cyclists — the state landed at fourth deadliest in the U.S. Data shows California experienced 10,578 total road collision fatalities between 2017 to 2021. Of these, 712, or 6.73%, were cyclists, placing the Golden State in the top.

California among deadliest states for cyclists: data

Taking your bicycle out for a cruise could be dangerous for those in the Golden State.

fox5sandiego.com

 

[raylo32]

It doesn't sound like the person getting this rig would be riding on the road, just around this "50 acre lot" that has some sort of industrial use.

 

[DaLanMan]

I am not sure which side of this you are on, yep cali is scurry, which is why I go with caution...

It isn't about the height of the bike brother, it is about the blindness of the drivers... And despite your viterol I am fair certain there is no research saying low visibility is better... well in the army it is but... yeah redcoats and all..