40 year old factory Electric Trike-Original

[trappermike]

Someone donated an old electric trike to our shop recently. Amazingly it's all original and complete. I'm going to tear it down and restore it,I don't think it will cost anything,just clean up and refurbish what is there,polish the chrome etc.
Original name decal on the front says "Pedal Power Electric",Mfg. by General Engines Co.,Sewell N.J. 609-468-0270 .
Owner figures it was bought in the 70's,used little and stored inside. It's going to be fun to see it run again...

I'm trying to post the photos of this thing,not too sure how yet so if no photos here,I'll try again,it's really quite interesting.

 

[trappermike]

 

[trappermike]

 

[trappermike]

 

[trappermike]

 

[trappermike]

 

[liveforphysics]

That thing is screaming for lipo.

 

[Lock]

Cool trappermike... lovin' the Fwd-Reverse contactor(?) ball thingee... From the daze when NA built to last
LoCk

 

[trappermike]

Sure,Li-po batteries and a supercharged 426 Hemi! :lol:
Seriously I'm just going to make it bone stock new looking and the shop will use for display and the annual parade.
I'm interested in taking it apart and see the components,how it works...
I'm not sure if all the seat is original yet,had no time to look at it.
I'm also going to see if I can find out anything about the manufacturer on the internet.
I'm also curious to drive it!

 

[Lessss]

No pedals therefore a motor vehicle, longer wider and heavier than allowed for a mobility vehicle. Sorry against the law to use it. Drop trow and bend over SLAVE!

 

[trappermike]

I believe that here it is under the class of Mobilty Scooter,those are the things we repair,loan and sell for older or disabled people where I work. Same thing,24v batteries, 3 or 4 wheels,no different,just not as glossy as the new ones. Down the sidewalks,in stores...
It's all legal here anyways,almost anything is for now,you should see some of the home-made contraptions on the road here,amazingly not bothered anyone yet.
But as for the old trike it's a "Mobility Scooter" legally if you want to ride it around everywhere here.
I like it's unrefined brutishness,just needs some polish and shine.

 

[trappermike]

Might be hard to see in the last photo but it has an AMF speedo,same company that owned Harley Davidson for a few years.

 

[Gordo]

No pedals therefore a motor vehicle, longer wider and heavier than allowed for a mobility vehicle. Sorry against the law to use it. Drop trow and bend over SLAVE!

For gosh sakes Lesss get you head out of your ass. The operator doesn't even needs legs never mind pedals.
IT IS A MOBILITY SCOOTER FOR THE PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED!

 

[Lessss]

Well slave your local bureaucrats and cops will have something else to say about that. I agree it should be legal, but it isn't in most of NA.

Look at this crap by UK.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1347133/Disabled-man-banned-using-road-tank-wheelchair-killjoy-DVLA-chiefs.html

 

[Gordo]

I believe that here it is under the class of Mobilty Scooter,those are the things we repair,loan and sell for older or disabled people where I work. Same thing,24v batteries, 3 or 4 wheels,no different,just not as glossy as the new ones. Down the sidewalks,in stores...
It's all legal here anyways,almost anything is for now,you should see some of the home-made contraptions on the road here,amazingly not bothered anyone yet.
But as for the old trike it's a "Mobility Scooter" legally if you want to ride it around everywhere here.
I like it's unrefined brutishness,just needs some polish and shine.

Mike;
It is a thing of beauty. Thanks for the pictures and please post some more when you finish polishing it up. A little earlier I had been looking a Mike Fairbanks trike and dreaming of what a stealthy grocery getting I could make out of that with 30 X 100Ah TS cells and two 5KW hub motors. Some wheelie bars and a parachute might be required. I love the tadpole trikes but they are too unique looking for their own good. Especially at 60kph.

Unless someone towed the UK across and connected it to N.B. last night, you should enjoy this jewel unmolested. Just in case wear a fullface helmet with a goalie mask as the jackboots seem to be targeting the handicapped in B.C. these days. :lol:

 

[trappermike]

I'm looking forward to getting a closer look at this thing,it's got some interesting components but I haven't had a chance to look at it yet,still catching up on other work.What pleases me is it is complete,nothing appears missing and nothing is wrecked,the basket doesn't even have dent after so many years.It looks like a really easy job to tear it down,clean and repair and reassemble. I think it's a lucky find for a shop like ours.We are just a community service providing this equipment to people who need it,we are all volunteers.
I was hoping when I posted this with the manufacturers name and origin,that someone may recall something about the company. I'll search the net later.
It looks like it holds 2 big hefty batteries and the speedo makes me wonder how fast this thing goes,or how much brute pulling power it has. Maybe not too much or it would wrench the spokes out...I dunno until it runs. :?
Anyways those are "Before" photos,it should look nicer later but I'm going to try to leave it all original looking,but more like new again. A couple other guys will be helping me too.

 

[trappermike]

I'm not really worried about the Gestapo here,the Law is pretty laid back in this small community,don't make any trouble or noise and no one will bother you. I've been expecting to get pulled over on my e-bike for 6 years so I can say "HA,it's an electric bicycle,I'm ok,thanks for checking." but it just hasn't happened,not to anyone I know.
I know some other places are strictly to the letter of the law.

 

[zenon]

Nice, I like the tractor style head lamps, and the electronics that will survive EMP blast


Zenon

 

[trappermike]

Zenon-The trike in your photo,is that a recumbent? Is it electric and legal where you live?

 

[zenon]

Zenon-The trike in your photo,is that a recumbent? Is it electric and legal where you live?

Hi trappermike,

Yes it's a tadpole recumbent trike, it is electric and that my second design, been riding it around here with no problem after a few thousand km. It is legal under electric bicycle BC act.

Here's our electric bike group in Vancouver if you around the area, your welcome to join us http://www.meetup.com/vancouver-electric-vehicles/

Zenon

 

[fechter]

I'd be interested to see what it has for a controller. They didn't have good FETs back then. The ones I've seen from that vintage used a big bipolar transistor for PWM with a relay contact across it for full speed.

 

[trappermike]

Zenon,we've got some kind of tricycle like that in the back of our shop,kind of a complicated looking thing,but I really haven't looked at it closely yet,so I'm curious about it now. I'll let you know what it is, maybe you can tell me something about it.
This afternoon I had my first chance to start working on the old trike,so I started at the front end,took the front wheel and forks off and started to clean them up.As I hoped the rust came off easily,revealing some nice chrome on the forks and fender!
When I get to the electric drive I'll take photos of the components and let you know what I find,I'm curious to know how this thing was designed too.

 

[zenon]

Trappermike, can you take pics of the trike?

I can only guess myself what it got for a motor and control.
When I used to work in the marine autopilot industry, I see some shunt field motor being used from that era. My guess is it's a 24v shunt field motor not a permanent magnet.

Zenon

 

[trappermike]

I looked at the tricycle contraption today and got the name of it etc. from it.I can't get any photos right now because last week
I was peaved that it was laying in my way,and I don't know why we're storing it,so I hauled it up on top of some high storage shelves to get it out of the way,so it's kinda hard to get to or take photos...
But I climbed up and looked it over; it's a 3-wheeled thing with 1 wheel front,2 rear,and you pedal with your hands,it's got a 18 speed front gearsets. It's name is Shadow, Mach 3,made by Advanced Mobility Products from what I could see. For disabled people without use of their legs I guess...

 

[zenon]

I have seen those hand driven delta style trike in Stanley Park sea wall bike path in Vancouver. The two rear wheel has a huge negative camber for fast cornering. It look something like this http://www.missioncycles.co.uk/disdetail.asp?Products_Action=Find%28%27ProductID%27,%27198%27%29&Products_Position=FIL%3ACategory%3D%27Disabled%27ORD%3AABS%3A15KEY%3A198PAR%3A

Zenon