My solar-assisted custom tricycle FOLLIES

[Sancho's Horse]

ddk,

My son (2 1/2 years) saw your trike and said, "mean motor scooter!" I built a balance bike for him out of some scrap wood. He has been getting a grip on balance and the dreaded "wheel flop," although he is nowhere near as brazen with his experimentation as you are.

I am not going to conspire to get more tubing on the thing. However, if you put a little section of plate covering the welds on either side, it would do a lot to "gusset-up" the trike. I have some extra cb radios which would go very nicely there. Oh, no...You may have caught me conspiring to add a cb...10-4.

 

[Sancho's Horse]

I have been thinking about trailer braking also. I have been putting together a system so there is a slight delay between when the braking begins (in the trailer) and the rest of the bike begins braking. I am even considering putting regen on the trailer, as well as disk. Just a slight delay, but hopefully enough so that the compression you are talking about doesn't lead to any squirrelly behavior.

I have even considered stagecoach braking for inspiration. Just cram a log between the outside of the spinning wheel and some solid part of the trailer frame...whoa!!!

 

[etriker]

[/quote]

When one considers replacing an automobile with an e-powered contraption, trikes are the only sensible solution imo.

[/quote]

I think so too. I see mine as a small pickup etruck.

Nice trike !

 

[ddk]

I sure am seeing lots of tadpole motortrikes lately and at a ratio approaching one out of thirty motorcycles.
Still see the very occasional delta motortrike.

...Ya trailer braking, have been letting my subconscious play with trailer breaking ideas for a while, n the thing I want to try to impliment eventually once my brain stops playing, is somewhat similar to some cage-based (aus motorcycle term for cars) heavy trailer braking system, IE a way of actuating the brakes using the trailer's weight when the towing vehicle decelerates...

here in 'murica that was a popular system for trailers until the 80's-90's when electromagnetic-actuated mechanical brakes supplanted them. The system is still used as an emergency disconnect brake on trailers.

Also regarding running two cables to brakes on seperate two wheels of trailer... saw an episode of monster garage a whiles back where they had two brake levers mounted opposite each other, (imagine if you had break levers on each end of handlebars, you chop handlebars in half and line up brake levers so pivots are facing each other), so if you had something between em you could push one way to activate one brake, and pull the other way to activate the other. Then, with a pivoting rod between 'em that pivoted on a 90 degree axis to the way the brake levers would be pulled you put a trianglur shaped block at the same level as the brake levers, pointy end between the levers and wide end just touching the outer ends of both levers. If you move the rod towards the Brake lever pivots, the triangular block compresses each lever at the same time, thus applying braking force to both cables and onto the trailer wheels...

I built that type of system for my previous trailer so I only had to hook up one cable between the trike and the trailer. I unfortunately used three brake levers, making it a clumsy system to operate.

I have been thinking about trailer braking also. I have been putting together a system so there is a slight delay between when the braking begins (in the trailer) and the rest of the bike begins braking. I am even considering putting regen on the trailer, as well as disk. Just a slight delay, but hopefully enough so that the compression you are talking about doesn't lead to any squirrelly behavior.

I intend to use the trailer brakes simply as a "drag" brake to be used on long downhill descents where normal brakes quickly overheat. (included rim, disc and band brakes)
Where I live and play I negotiate up to 30% grades... although most grades are below 6% -it's the reason I use two motors and a drag brake is a necessity (which I currently don't have, so I get to smell burning rubber on MT#1 at times)
Once upon a time there was a drum brake manufactured for tandem bicycles that made an excellent drag brake but it's no longer manufactured and all previous stocks have been depleted. Perhaps the 200-something disc brakes are an alternative but the 160mm disc brake I have certainly isn't. (tektro IO)
Anyways, it occurred to me that (big DD) motors would make an excellent drag brake where I can use my battery packs as the power sinks (regen) without resorting to large external power sinks such as resistors, space heaters or active devices.
So i came up with a simple two-buss charge-discharge system that allows me to manually select which battery pack is on what buss: one buss dedicated to the regen and bulk charger and the other buss dedicated to the solar-powered charging system.
Motor controllers and battery packs switchable between the two busses.
-Really it's just a handful of DPDT power switches.

I have even considered stagecoach braking for inspiration. Just cram a log between the outside of the spinning wheel and some solid part of the trailer frame...whoa!!!

You might also consider a boat anchor ala "Popeye" :lol:
...hmmm. Maybe if I used the solar panels as a parachute/reverse sail
***rubs his hairy chin***

 

[ddk]

-got the trike back from welder-fella
We agreed to say this only cost 1 BILLION dollars (with little finger placed just so next to mouth)
I realized last night welder-fella's head piece was much better than what I wanted made so no regrets on this:

View attachment 6


Towing a trike with a trike gets many, uh... stares, pointing and general frivolity.
Welder-fella also mentioned said people were stopping by his shop, pointing, laughing and otherwise finding MT#2 mighty entertaining.






The structure is fashioned from 3/4 inch square tubing with side supports near the seat to keep me from sliding off said seat during faster turning maneuvers.
The trike would throw me off the seat before it could tip over

 

[winkinatcha]

mmmm Magic

Love a bot of Trike on trike action :lol:

Joe

 

[ddk]

after picking up the trike I headed over to the LBS to forage some cable sheathing and a longer brake cable for the stretched MT#2.
View attachment 12
On my way back to the shop I got distracted by raptors doing their raptor thing.

View attachment 10
whenever there's a raptor feeding a brood there's usually a mate close by. (but not always)



This bit caused me to go into 'play mode' forsaking any progress on MT#2.


Instead I did a quick recharge on bat#1 and headed south to California.


Halfway to my assumed destination I spied the area across the bay I was headed towards.

The part of this trip I really dislike: crossing this bridge with no shoulder room for the trike



There's something magical about this sign that causes pretty girls to stand underneath it whilst others take pictures of, what I'm assuming to be, the sign.
View attachment 5

brb.



Stopped at a little restaurant to watch the pelicans dive-bomb the ocean
-no pics... bizzy repasting.


Dinner decided I wanted to head home, as did the long shadows.

 

[ddk]

dude... that's an Osprey


(idiot)

 

[ddk]

...and the LBS didn't have longer 1.1mm control cable in stock.

Control cable "A" was cut ~300mm shorter than the control "B" for 'easy' identification, making the "A" cable exactly 150mm too short for MT#2's *much* closer than the rear dropouts, jackshaft position.
Failbrook must have never heard about recumbents, or tricycles, or longer handlebars or...
-elitist bicyclists should get out of the supply/manufacture business. Their personal blinders apparently cut off the blood supply to their brains.

 

[ddk]

-I didn't point out that the first thing I did today was put foam pipe insulation over the square tubing to protect me from me

View attachment 4

Made a contraption for an un-tensioned idler chain guide thingy to route the chain over the trike's tubing.View attachment 3
I guessed I would have at least a half-link adjustment.
I guessed wrong.

Putting the ol' worn-down brain synapses to werk I came up with this beauty.
A fail in the making

Put the pedals on


manually adjusted the NuVinci for the low gear and found out it ain't low enough.
I'm already using a 33-tooth chain ring to a 16-tooth freewheel on the pedal chain.
Apparently I'm gonna have to modify or replace the axle's gear cage with probably a 44-tooth 'fixed' gear. I'm currently using the 15-tooth gear on the gear cage mainly because it lined up with the NuVinci 44-tooth hub-mounted final drive gear.

 

[ddk]

btw the nuvinci has lots of slippage until it catches- I guessed it might do this.
People actually used these things on bicycles? (I'm also guessing the past tense is apropos)

(this statement is worthy of a separate post)

 

[ddk]

It's that time of the year again

where I get to 'share' the road (shoulder) with deer and elk.

-because of blackberry
(possibly rutting season haz sum effect)

 

[ddk]

why I decided solar panels over 200W might be too big


-although it would produce a large amount of shade...

 

[ddk]

THE DAMMED MOTOR FREEWHEEL DOESN'T.
-just taken to the cleaners once again

No wonder it was so damned hard to pedal, powering the MY1018

back to changing the rear gear

 

[ddk]

-for that matter, the NuVinci isn't changing ratios as far as I can tell

this totally sucks
Thanks for nothing, Failbrook/Staton-INC

 

[Rassy]

DDK, tell me how you are testing the slippage and gearing on your NuVinci. I'll put mine in my truing apparatus and do the same tests manually and give you the results.

I've been working with an Oregon based Fallbrook "Strategic Marketing Representative" on my noise issue, and he alluded to them still having the $150.00 developers kits available. I haven't confirmed this yet, but will after hearing from him again.

Anyway, I really prefer the auto shift version over the manual shift one. Maybe you can return yours to Staton and get the auto shift.

 

[ddk]

@Rassy...just turning the worm gear by hand, turning the pedals by hand (very difficult since I'm also turning the motor etc) noting no change between either of the freewheels and the final drive.
-The Motor Freewheel doesn't freewheel so that's a misnomer.
The 'third' freewheel is always 1 to 1 with the final drive (hub flange).
The 'motor' freewheel is at a fixed ratio that doesn't change when the worm gear is either advanced or retarded.

 

[ddk]

baring the nuvinci crap- back to the trike

The roof structure makes an excellent trike stand that's "built-in"


I had to personally visit LBS to get the control cable ordered so one more dirty martini...
On the way back to la casa I noticed the Ospreys have two kids. Both the kids look to be male which is good, since if there's a male and a female the female generally kills off the male.

but back to reality.
I'm currently preparing to remove the NuVinci so I can tear down the freewheels.
I ordered a bare geared-hub motor/controller from Highertekbikes.com and a couple of 5/8" mini-hubs and a 48-tooth sprocket from affordablegokarts.com to attach to the geared-hub motor's disc brake attachment. In this way if I can't fix the 2nd freewheel on the NuVinci I still won't have to turn the motor via the pedals.
-and more importantly the sprocket mounted on the geared-hub motor gives me the option of completely bypassing the NuVinci, resorting to the derailleur.

 

[Rassy]

I set my manual shift NuVinci (which I purchased from Staton last winter) in my truing stand. I put a track cog on the freewheel adaptor and a piece of yellow tape on one of the cogs. Then I manually turned the shift rod all the way counter clockwise for full underdrive. It took approximately two full turns of the cog to turn the wheel one full turn. Next I manually turned the shift rod all the way clockwise. In roughly one half turn of the cog the wheel made a full turn.

As far as internal slippage in the NuVinci, I could not feel any at the cog after first spinning the wheel while holding the cog still. Of course I am just using my bare hands to do this.

I'm sure you have this figured out, but you have to screw the axle nut on over the shift rod before you can make it change the gear ratios.

You better get this figured out or I might just have to bring some NuVinci stuff down there tomorrow so I can watch you work and you can buy me lunch again.

 

[ddk]

no luck on the freewheel so far

I set my manual shift NuVinci (which I purchased from Staton last winter) in my truing stand. I put a track cog on the freewheel adaptor and a piece of yellow tape on one of the cogs. Then I manually turned the shift rod all the way counter clockwise for full underdrive. It took approximately two full turns of the cog to turn the wheel one full turn. Next I manually turned the shift rod all the way clockwise. In roughly one half turn of the cog the wheel made a full turn.

As far as internal slippage in the NuVinci, I could not feel any at the cog after first spinning the wheel while holding the cog still. Of course I am just using my bare hands to do this.

I'm sure you have this figured out, but you have to screw the axle nut on over the shift rod before you can make it change the gear ratios.

yes... as in no, my hub fails this test

You better get this figured out or I might just have to bring some NuVinci stuff down there tomorrow so I can watch you work and you can buy me lunch again.

... and I found a much better place that has quasi fast food (as in: it's not fast food nor is it especially fast)

 

[ddk]

I take that back
with the motor chain disconnected the nuvinci works

 

[ddk]

it's official
I have too many tools

spent the last several hours searching for all my freewheel tools (besides the dicta pin-type) to no avail.
I haz too many bags me thinks

Unlike Rassy, The Shadow that Hangs over me includes: "never let a good deed go unpunished" meaning I probably dropped the other two freewheel tools at someone's abode where they likely mistook it for an unused/part of the shipping crate, bicycle part.
-it's this anti-mojo thang I gotz go in on baby.

 

[winkinatcha]

Arrr P'raps it is the day for anti-mojo in... world wide or summink... have repeatedly lost tools over the last hour, only to find I have set them down in some rid ick You Louse place... grr... and wots more spent nigh on fourteen hours trying to bring forth from idea to actuality with only semi-partial success power ATTENUATION via (manually) switchable shunt mods...

A thread shall arise soon on same, but first I must devour this cheap roast chicken, that sits beside me, hot n greasy straight from the Supermarket warmer, Mightily discounted (50%!!) coz ... it would appear, there is not a huge demand for hot roast chickens late on a saturday night in rainy windswept Melbourne, at least in the part wherin I dwell. Hah! Your Loss, chickenless citizens!


Still tis good to see I am not alone in e-bike frustration land, and the ramblings of your good self are strangely heart warming unto me at this time...

Cheers (*waves chicken leg at screen in famished salute)

Joe

 

[amberwolf]

I, too, suffer from the wanderings of tools as they seek shelter from my abuse.

Not a day goes by where I must carefully stalk them in their lairs so I might fix something, and often must use whichever tool I manage to actually catch to do the job of another that has escaped my clutches.

Generally the sledgehammer is easiest to catch, as it is too heavy to run very fast.

 

[ddk]

reverse karma today ! ya
@ the LBS, as I was waiting for the shop guy to finish with a customer the counter guy asked the shop guy about a way to turn on a brake light via the handlebars.
I traded two e-brake levers for having the shop guy disassemble the nuvinci, since he didn't have the freewheel tool I needed in stock.
This only leaves me with, uhm... *counts on fingers* only 5 pair of e-brake levers.
I hope I have enough...

Arrr P'raps it is the day for anti-mojo in... world wide or summink... have repeatedly lost tools over the last hour, only to find I have set them down in some rid ick You Louse place... grr... and wots more spent nigh on fourteen hours trying to bring forth from idea to actuality with only semi-partial success power ATTENUATION via (manually) switchable shunt mods...

I live in a tiny motorhome where you'd think it would be impossible to lose anything... But somehow I manage.
- Eventually everything hiding pops out of their hiding places -

A thread shall arise soon on same, but first I must devour this cheap roast chicken, that sits beside me, hot n greasy straight from the Supermarket warmer, Mightily discounted (50%!!) coz ... it would appear, there is not a huge demand for hot roast chickens late on a saturday night in rainy windswept Melbourne, at least in the part wherin I dwell. Hah! Your Loss, chickenless citizens!


Still tis good to see I am not alone in e-bike frustration land, and the ramblings of your good self are strangely heart warming unto me at this time...

Cheers (*waves chicken leg at screen in famished salute)

Joe

'tis not exclusive to e-bikes, as frustration arises from doing most anything in my old age. (except sleeping and eating, normally)

I accidentally discovered one of our local food marts discounts their prepared foods at 7:00PM every night.
I've yet to take advantage of this opportunity but I'm sure that some day (night) I will.
Until that time frozen foods are my mainstay. *munches on microwaved bean burrito*

I, too, suffer from the wanderings of tools as they seek shelter from my abuse.

Not a day goes by where I must carefully stalk them in their lairs so I might fix something, and often must use whichever tool I manage to actually catch to do the job of another that has escaped my clutches.

Generally the sledgehammer is easiest to catch, as it is too heavy to run very fast.

My 15" crescent wrench refuses to run. It also makes a pretty good substitute for a sledge hammer.
...must be hammer time, everywarez.

After all these years of misplacing tools I'm pretty anal about returning each tool to it's designated tool bag/holder/whatever.
I actually take a tool from it's place, use the tool, then return it to it's place unless I'm using it (or them- they sometimes accumulate) within minutes.
-And It Only took me over thirty years to learn this technique.