E-Trike Project

1000w said:
Excellent donor bikes Aussie. And I like the price.
Cheers,
Matt.
Click to expand...

Indeed they are Matt ;) I have another 2 coming along with some assorted size rims... You know where to come now when you run out of frame bitz Matt ;)


I just bought this rear shocky from eBay for the rear suspension setup too, hopefully be good enough to take my weight LoL

Kim
 
Over the long weekend I messed about bending tube cut from the old mountain bike frames experimenting with different angles/lengths etc ... then yesterday I purchased some 33mm OD pipe ( 2mm wall thickness) 6 meters for $27 (also grabbed some 22mm and some 12 mm solid bar...all up 70 odd dollars) to begin the frame construction proper. Heres the frame bent and tacked together to show you fellas the design i'm going for-->

Frame_construction_series_pic_1.jpg

(note* the wheel is in pic only for size comparison...finished trike will have 20inch front wheel)

I photo chopped the (second) pic to make it a lil easier to see how it will be when all the tubes are cut to correct size and joined etc..still a few minor alterartions to come, i wanted to leave ample excess tubing as there is ALOT of shaping of the ends of the tube prior to welding them together..

Shall report back with another update tomorrowz...

Kim
 
Ben said:
Wow, it's a lot bigger than I imagined.

If that's a 26" it's going to look figgin' huge with a 20" on it.
Click to expand...

no its not a 26 measures 22inchs actually :-S As said it still has some grinding to come on the end tubes before joining so the whole thing will 'shrink' somewhat...
 
1000w said:
Looking good! I love the shape you are creating.
Cheers,
Matt.
Click to expand...


Cheerz Matt ;) appreciate the visit and input also and of course those 20in wheels you bought up for me ;) I think the 24 on the front might be the go now i have seen it with the 20 in front of the frame...shall keep them for the rear only ;)

Back with more soon...off to do some grinding and welding now

Kim


EDIT:
IMG_0689.JPG
 
Made a little more progress on the frame last evening with the help of a good mate of mine (he also happens to be a qualified boiler maker) so his help was most welcomed ...we bent another front down tube and played around with a few different head angles before settling on what is seen in the below pics-->

trike_frame_construction_pics_series.jpg


I have decided not to 'flare' the lower tubes outwards instead leaving them straight with the rear struts bent to meet. The forks on the frame in pic along with the 26in tire are there only for alignment purposes and will not be used on completed bike...

Hopefully have the frame completely welded by days end ready to move onto the rear trailing arm/suspension. Things are moving a little slower than originally planned, i guess better to go slower and get things right than rush it and get it wrong... I have also got the electric from TNC Scooters sorted and paid for after much stress and emails so hopefully they will be on their way soon.


Kim
 
Apologies for the lack of updates fellas I haven't been too well the last few days, feeling better now and got a little more done to the rear of the frame today.

Frame_construction_series_pic_2.jpg


I picked up some more tubing today also...yes i have gone through 6 meters already LoL... wont show you the pile of tubing that didnt make it to the frame in pic :-S Shall finish bending the two 'struts' for the rear section tomorrow then fully weld the frame (currently its tacked) I'm tossing up whether to make the swing arm from round or square tubing too...shall sleep on that possibly get a start on it tomorrow also. I have still to pick up bearings for the swing arm 'pivot' joint will do that before the weekend, I'm thinking ~20mm OD 10-12mm ID sealed bearings for the swing arm joint with a high tensile steel bolt through them....more on that at a later date anywayz...

Kim
 
Have made some more progress on my frame. Positioning the frame to weld all the joins has been somewhat more difficult and time consuming than I had anticipated before embarking on this project, sitting in a wheelchair balancing a frame of this size upside down on my lap whilst trying to weld it is an art in itself i think, I've had to weld left and right handed at times :-S Anywayz I have managed to weld 99% of the front frame to my satisfaction, still some bracing to be done ...all tubing has been profiled to fit flush prior to welding, I then gave the welds some 'love' with a die grinder to pretty them up, i shall smear JB Weld over all welds when i am prepping the frame for paint :)

This morning I managed to finish bending the seat tubing and welding it to the frame this morning, turned out well i thinking. Few happy snaps--->

Frame_construction_series_pic_4.jpg


that rear swing arm can now finally get underway ;-|

More pics to come soon for those interested :)

Thanks for looking

Kim
 
1000w said:
Good work Kim. The frame has some great looking bends and curves.
Cheers,
Matt.
Click to expand...

Thanks Matt :) And thanks again for bumping my build up an extra 300 odd dollars :p Matt dropped by my garage today and bought with him his latest assortment of "goodies" from Chopperus ::druuuuel:: PLUS a fantastic shifter lever he fabricated from 6mm? ali plate TOP JOB Matt ;) and of course his much welcomed knowledge and input ;)
OK then some may recall from OP I had planned on a springer front fork 'system' for my trike, i had planned on building these myself using the plans I listed in OP... after seeing Matts new forks....damn they are just soooooo nice and soooo well made... Matt allowed me to pop them onto the frame to see how they would look (obviously will need a couple inches cut from them but DAMN... how sweet are they :-| Pictures reeeally don't do them justice IRL they are simply superb craftsmanship and quite honestly IMHO unless you had a milling machine at your disposal you couldn't possibly make these for the price...Here's a few snaps of Matts new springer forks on my trike frame

custom_frame_with_matts_springer_forks.jpg


Matt... i have also decided to scrap the square tubing i was using for the swing arm, I have a 6m length of rectangular (RHS) i had laying about out back, its same size as 2x square tube on top of each other and same wall thickness...shall reshape the RHS on the pivot end basically cut 'wedge' shapes' to reduce the width so as it is flush fitting with the 33mm O.D tubing that will house the 28mm OD 12mm ID sealed bearings <--soz if i explained this badly, shall have progress shots tomorrow...

Thanks again for your time and input Matt VERY much appreciated...

p.s Me mate rocked around with a 6 pack 20 minutes after you left so being
locked out of the room wasn't so bad hehehe....

p.ss put a 100watt in the chopper... you know i wont letz up till you give in ;-P
 
...small update and opinions welcomed. Yesterday i started work on the rear swing arm, i had originally planned using 30mm square tubing, upon finding a 6m length of 60mm rectangular RHS (with a 1.5mm wall thickness) i decided to possibly go in a different direction. I knocked this up this afternoon to get an idea how it might look-->

possible_swing_arm.JPG


Now bere in mind this is only tacked together and some more 'shaping' is required to reduce the size of the rear end of it to bring it down to ~33mm diameter (same as the front) so as the rear tubing that will house the axle will fit flush on the end. I like the look of it myself but would like some opinions from others. My only other alternative would be to use round tubing (same as the frame is constructed of) forming up long triangular shaped swing arm...much the same as i intended to do with the square tubing originally. OH...weight wise, the swing arm in picture is slightly lighter than the other alternatives but IMO would be stronger (*note- additional bracing for strengthening will also be added)

Thanks again fellas ;)

Kim
 
Hi Aussie,

The structure looks fine, a space-frame with round tubing would look more elegant, though. I'm more concerned about the pivot placement for the swing arm. The suspension will be most effective if the wheel moves upwards and backwards. If the axle is above the pivot it will move upwards and forwards. Is it too late to raise the pivot point?
 
Miles said:
Hi Aussie,

The structure looks fine, a space-frame with round tubing would look more elegant, though. I'm more concerned about the pivot placement for the swing arm. The suspension will be most effective if the wheel moves upwards and backwards. If the axle is above the pivot it will move upwards and forwards. Is it too late to raise the pivot point?
Click to expand...

Appreciate the input mate :) I understand what your getting at re: the pivot point, FYI..Nothing is welded in place as yet so moving the pivot point is a possibility however.... Hrmz... i think i'll have a lil scribble on some paper , the problem is the way the arm is in picture brings the axle placement to where it needs to be to keep the frame parallel with the ground (with 20in rims on back) The frame is to have 120mm clearance from lower tubing to ground, the centre of a 20in rim (hub) is ~250mm leaves me needing around 130mm additional gain in height to keep the clearance at a level im after. Now i'm faaaar from knowledgeable when it comes to suspension, with the setup i have in picture still be usable taking into consideration the largest bumps the trike will encounter are the cracks in the footpath? I will still have a little sketchup session this evening and see if i can raise the pivot point and still keep the clearance im wanting AND equally importantly keeping it looking 'good' Quick thought would be to 'chop' the corner of the frame where the pivot is now at a 45 degree angle, weld a tube across it and mount a plate for the pivot assemble slightly above the proposed axle height...shall be back with some sketches shortly to better explain the idea...Thanks again though mate very much appreciate the input ;)

Kim
 
Here's a couple of quick paintshop sketches of what I was trying to explain (albeit badly LoL) in above post regarding moving the pivot point

alternative_suspension_geometry_sketches.jpg


Shall sleep on it and see if I can come up with something more visually appealing...

Kim
 
I realise there's a lot to juggle with as the gear hub has to go there as well. I'm not sure how much difference it would make, in practice...... maybe someone else will chime in. Anyway, certainly something to bear in mind for Mk 2 :wink:
 
Miles said:
I realise there's a lot to juggle with as the gear hub has to go there as well. I'm not sure how much difference it would make, in practice...... maybe someone else will chime in. Anyway, certainly something to bear in mind for Mk 2 :wink:
Click to expand...


I have actually tossed the 3 speed hub idea in favor of a sprocket setup, will have 12 speed now, this will require even more space though which indeed is something that has to be considered, hopefully someone else might have some idea of how effective the original )[pictured) setup will be?
 
this project is looking way cool 8)
will be watching with interest!!

cheers


D
 
Hi Jester,

My first impression upon seeing the pix, was the mitre in the swingarm enduring constant tension and impact loads.

Raising the swingarm pivot to axle height and using a straight tube would resolve that issue and Miles' (as in your sketch).

Very nice work!

:mrgreen:
 
TylerDurden said:
Hi Jester,

My first impression upon seeing the pix, was the mitre in the swingarm enduring constant tension and impact loads.
Click to expand...


Once re-enforced the joint will be more than strong enough thats not a concern to me The question is whether the pivot point being lower than the axle will impact greatly on the suspension working adequately, do you have any idea about this at all ?
 
AussieJester said:
The question is whether the pivot point being lower than the axle will impact greatly on the suspension working adequately, do you have any idea about this at all ?
Click to expand...
If adequate is simply dealing with cracks in the footpath, I would say it's fine.
:mrgreen:
 
TylerDurden said:
If adequate is simply dealing with cracks in the footpath, I would say it's fine.
:mrgreen:
Click to expand...

Yeah i'm thinking it should be, if it was a downhill mountain bike obviously things would be different...i still have this niggle though, i like to do things right, now miles has bought this issue to my attention I can't seem to settle on what to do...off to bed now anyways, my best ideas often come to me as i lay in bed LoL...thanks TD ;)
 
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