Electric tricycle for a disabled person. Needs ideas!

[Gordo]

I spent a few months in a chair, so have some experience. If you have good upper body strength as you BIL does, getting in and out of a tadpole is very simple. You need a "dock" at the height of the tadpole seat, and/or an overhead bar that you park the tadpole under. I remember well the physio expecting me to take 3-6 months, while in hospital, building my strength so I could "qualify for a wheel chair." I did 10 one handed pull-ups on the overhead bar of my bed and told her to go get me a chair. 10 days and I was home. My buddies built a frame I could drive the pickup under, with ropes hanging down. I stowed my chair behind the seat. A ramp to get in the house and the living room furniture raised on blocks to the same height at the chair seat. I think you need to consult your BIL a little to find out things from a gimps point of view? A tadpole trike with a pole loop from the front of the BB TUBE, over his head, connecting to the back of the seat, makes getting on and off a snap. Parking brakes on the 2 front wheels.

a note on the trikes:
your BIL would have to back into a tadpole trike, which is a difficult proposition for a challenged person
vs. pulling their leg over the bar of a delta trike. which can also be difficult but likely easier for BIL to do, since he can stand
(I might have intimately known one or two people who were confined to wheelchair use)

 

[SamTexas]

A tadpole trike with a pole loop from the front of the BB TUBE, over his head, connecting to the back of the seat, makes getting on and off a snap.

Thanks. Unfortunately I couldn't visualize the above description.

 

[ddk]

hi gordo
you're absolutely right abought installing a trapeze above the trike for mounting/dismounting

I was thinking along the lines of what would the person do if their destination was somewhere besides 'home'

SamTexas:
does the term "trapeze" help you to visualize what your BIL would require to get on or off a tadpole trike?
Likely BIL has one or two for other purposes. or should

think: above head grab bars
gordo installed one above the bottom bracket (pedal chainring contraption)

 

[Gordo]

A tadpole trike with a pole loop from the front of the BB TUBE, over his head, connecting to the back of the seat, makes getting on and off a snap.

Thanks. Unfortunately I couldn't visualize the above description.

Obviously I am no artist, but two bars would be better. One from either side of the back rest to a center point on the BB. Like roll bars on a dunebuggy.

 

[SamTexas]

Great! Thanks guys. It makes sense now.

 

[ddk]

@gordo- now that WOULD make a tadpole work out ok
great idea!

 

[Gordo]

Just a note for anyone reading this who has recently acquired gimp status. Don't listen to the medical community of "experts". Listen carefully and observe others, who have physical limitations. Use your own creativity to solve problems. We were given a list of equipment and supplies needed to function. For about a week, I was using the very essential, expensive, commode chair, which is a fancy name for a non-flushing shitter. Meanwhile, each day I was maneuvering from the wheelchair, to the closed toilet seat, to the tub and back to the wheelchair.
WTF Why am I using a commode chair that needs to be cleaned after every use, when I can get my dumb ass on and off the closed toilet seat Simply because I was taught, by and expert, that a gimp must use a commode.

 

[ddk]

well OK
let's get er ripped
I have to add:
the medical community (who gives themselves "newspeak" names that is soooo 1884)
stopped looking at their clients as individuals a long, long time ago.
The result is a person blindsided by a disability HAS to take control over their own situation
...and it is my humble opinion that physical exercise is possibly the very best thing one can do for themselves.
Even the somewhat passive exercise offered by an ebike/trike.
an ebike allows someone to:
-get outside (and play)
-the freedom to do things for themselves (you cannot believe how demeaning it is to have to rely on 'assistance' unless you've experienced it for yourselves)
...so many other reasons as you might well imagine, but I don't wanna write a book

@SamTexas- If the legs no longer function there ARE hand-crank bikes/trikes -although I gotta admit you get to pay much more for much less with a hand-crank setup- another example of the extortionist medical community (owned and operated by your favorite health insurance provider)
DIY: a hand-crank bike involves nothing more than moving the pedal mechanisms to the more suitable handlebar position, relocating the rear-drive wheel with the front (steering) wheel and unscrewing the pedals, screwing in replacement hand grips.
note: steering becomes problematic when trying to adapt an underseat steering (USS) system but examples exist
(you then get to re-name "bottom bracket shell " to "top bracket shell" :lol

 

[SamTexas]

What a coincidence. I have been looking at handcycles since yesterday. I want make sure I cover all possibilities/solutions before I get my hands dirty.