New to the forum with a project

bluesrocks

bluesrocks

10 W
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Messages
81
Location
Lansing
Hello,
I love designing things, and I come up with what I think is a very cool design for a trike that rides like a bike. Maybe better than a bike. I've seen vids of motorcycles that have put two wheels up front and they handle extremely well, they say it's better than a bike configuration. Some inspiration for my project comes from Jetrike from youtube.

It's a tadpole with independent lean and steer, has both recumbent and upright seating positions, returns to upright automatically, and uses all wheel steering with most of it done up front, which helps me have a more narrow track at 26" using 20" wheels. The design favors a somewhat taller seating position (in recumbent) for better visibility and has a 48" wheelbase. Anyway, I'm interested in power assist for the trike, but so far it's just in concept stage.
 
Sounds cool. Do you have pictures or drawings of the suspension?

If you're asking a question, I didn't see it. If you're telling us about your awesome idea, lets see it!

We have some leaning trike aficionados, I'm sure they'd be interested in discussing your ideas.

Katou
 
Yes, we would. ;) I'm still working on a delta trike first because I have a kit for that part, but am workign out a tilting mechanism for it since it didnt' work out well in turns. :) Got a thread started on a tadpole FS cargo trike but am still working out how to build it with the stuff I already have, and still do what I want (and not enough time to really do much with it recently).

Would definiltey like to see what you have come up with to see if I can adapt any of it to my own cargo trike, as I use these things as my only real day-to-day transportation. Love the way bikes ride, but I'm not so great with holding them up when heavily loaded anymore, with my wearing-out knees and stuff; the trike will help that but it doesn't ride well unless it also leans into turns.
 
Alright, and thanks much for the interest. I'll see what I can do about submitting some pics, I have some but at the same time, I'm sorta wondering what parts I should keep secret in case I want to patent later. Any pointers? But I'm sure I will present something soon.

I just thought I'd introduce myself and that I have a project, that's why I didn't yet ask specific questions, and I'm just getting used to how this forum works and all. Didn't want to go against the grain, if you will.

Graphic file question
What graphic file formats work best here, and what size (ratio), etc. I usually use 1024x768 screen res, but within forums, they use different max size graphics, or do the pics link for download instead of display?

I have electronics questions (sorry if this isn't in the right location, I suppose I should go to a better subforum too) (Q1)Whats the best sort of sources to find decent electric motors on the cheap? I'm hoping for efficient brushless (BLDC). So far I'm hoping to put two motors at the front of my tadpole design for front wheel drive, and leave the rear for pedal power.
(Q2)I'm also thinking of using all wheel power and pedal into a dc generator. So my second question would be, whats the best type of dc generator/alternator for this sort of application. I'm hoping to run around 48+volts and use likely 4 12vlt (sla or deep cycle) batteries.
(Q3)Also, what's the best small lead acid battery that is also deep cycle?

Thanks much, and looking forward to more involvement here. I saw a youtube video over a guy who liked small electronic transports like scooters and such, and may have seen another positive reference to this site as well.

blues rocks! ;)
 
I usually format my pictures to be 800 pixels wide so that they show in the post, rather than as a link.

Q1: what rpm motor? What voltage? Hard to help without that. In general, I'd suggest looking a the cheap scooter motors that McDesign has for sale in the for sale section, at least until you decide a bit more what you want.

Q2: There are examples of this already out there. Google will provide. You will need a battery regardless, and my utility company provides electricity at about 12c per kwh. Why do you want do do this? I just don't see the benefit.

Q3: I don't know. However, I would go a bit further and ask why you want a block of stone on your bike when you could have 2 or 3 handfuls of gravel? I'd opt for a lighter battery chemistry.

Good luck.

For patents, perhaps start a separate thread with Patent in the title.

Katou
 
katou said:
I usually format my pictures to be 800 pixels wide so that they show in the post, rather than as a link.

Q1: what rpm motor? What voltage? Hard to help without that. In general, I'd suggest looking a the cheap scooter motors that McDesign has for sale in the for sale section, at least until you decide a bit more what you want.

Q2: There are examples of this already out there. Google will provide. You will need a battery regardless, and my utility company provides electricity at about 12c per kwh. Why do you want do do this? I just don't see the benefit.

Q3: I don't know. However, I would go a bit further and ask why you want a block of stone on your bike when you could have 2 or 3 handfuls of gravel? I'd opt for a lighter battery chemistry.

Good luck.

For patents, perhaps start a separate thread with Patent in the title.

Katou
Click to expand...

katou,
Thanks for the response, much appreciated.
A1-I am in design stage so I don't know what voltage etc, just basic preferences for now. I'll check out your tip. 8)

A2-I feel that a chainless drive system is a cool idea for several reasons, especially if you are already planning on power assist, and I am. It should also be very low impact. I have back problems, so this is a factor.

A3-I am money strapped, so lead acid seem somewhat the main option. I am hoping to build a somewhat robust three wheeler that has independent lean and steer, auto upright tendency,,,, well, I hope to post a drawing presently. See that for more details about my design. I'd much prefer smaller and lighter, but the cost just seems to be a problem.
 
Lets see if I can get this graphic to work. :shock:
I still need to design:
  • suspension
    steering
    frame
but I really am enjoying the project process so far.

I've removed the independent steer and lean, which also has the auto upright tendency removed with it as well. I will post about that in a patent post as suggested when time permits.

I hope you enjoy and welcome comments and suggestions. :D
 

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If you want the lean-trike mavens to ring in, I'd suggest that you start a new thread with "leaning trike" in the title for this drawing, that will get the attention that I think you want.

Katou
 
sk8norcal said:
Hey BluesRocks,

looks cool,
interesting AWSteering..

I recently rode the Zuumer, and it had a bit of rear steer action and return to center spring.

still waiting to test ride a MP3.

check out my tilting site for some ideas...
Click to expand...
Cool deal, thanks!

I will definitely check out your links. I have been helped by others who have an open sharing mentality, so I feel awkward not sharing what I have done. At the same time, I would feel real bad if my ideas are worth something and I just let someone else take it so that I can't benefit from it financially. I'm currently going thru a very tough phase in life financially for several reasons (seeking disability on an arguably marginal claim, and just lost funding for a homeless vet housing program). I really like what I saw from jetrike at his sight and from youtube.

I found an outstanding video on half width transportation that is fascinating and inspiring. I have it on my flash drive, but I don't remember how I got it right now. I bet some on this forum would like to see it. Yamaha has a 4 wheel motorcycle, which has a serious wow :shock: factor to it. The idea is to avoid the next world wide transportation crisis, we need to turn to single person width transports. Honda is said to have the L1 car for production in the next year or two, and Nissan has a 4wheel tilting (single track or half width) car with videos of it going thru a driving course, showing off it's 17 degrees of tilt. It looks wild and (IMHO) sorta points us in a new and interesting direction.

Here's an 800x600, but it was sorta hard to get the fonts to look decent. To get 800x600, I set my computer's resolution down to 600x800 and then saved the file as a jpeg. I wonder if there is a better way, like converting a better looking pic which was made at like 1024x768 (which is the lowest I (normally) use), and then perhaps open that pic in a graphics program that lets you adjust the resolution before saving the file. Suggestions?

Maybe this time the pic will be displayed.

By the way, if I don't hear from you guys soon, being so close to christmas and all,
everyone,
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
:D
 

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bluesrocks said:
Here's an 800x600, but it was sorta hard to get the fonts to look decent. To get 800x600, I set my computer's resolution down to 600x800 and then saved the file as a jpeg. I wonder if there is a better way, like converting a better looking pic which was made at like 1024x768 (which is the lowest I (normally) use), and then perhaps open that pic in a graphics program that lets you adjust the resolution before saving the file. Suggestions?

Maybe this time the pic will be displayed.

By the way, if I don't hear from you guys soon, being so close to christmas and all,
everyone,
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
:D
Click to expand...

Just google "jpeg resizer" and you'll come up with a bunch of hits, many of them free.

Cameron
 
use the IMG button,

file.php
 
sk8norcal said:
Hey BluesRocks,

looks cool,
interesting AWSteering..

I recently rode the Zuumer, and it had a bit of rear steer action and return to center spring.

still waiting to test ride a MP3.

check out my tilting site for some ideas...
Click to expand...
Whats the MP3? Couldn't find and google hits for it. Ya, mine is basically spring loaded return to center. I thought I could use leveraging, but I since figured that wouldn't work. So far I'm leaning toward 66.66/33.33% (twice as much front than rear) and shying away from the nearby 60/40% ratio. I believe I've heard these figures mentioned around all wheel steering as preferred over 50/50 (too much tail swing into play when cornering at speed). So to avoid tail spin-out or flip-out, I'm relying heavily on the fronts doing most of the steering.

have a great christmas!
 
amberwolf said:
Yes, we would. ;) I'm still working on a delta trike first because I have a kit for that part, but am workign out a tilting mechanism for it since it didnt' work out well in turns. :) Got a thread started on a tadpole FS cargo trike but am still working out how to build it with the stuff I already have, and still do what I want (and not enough time to really do much with it recently).

Would definiltey like to see what you have come up with to see if I can adapt any of it to my own cargo trike, as I use these things as my only real day-to-day transportation. Love the way bikes ride, but I'm not so great with holding them up when heavily loaded anymore, with my wearing-out knees and stuff; the trike will help that but it doesn't ride well unless it also leans into turns.
Click to expand...
amberwolf
I will see about making a new thread very soon, and I expect I should be able to post some mechanical pics including leaning mechanism and upright tendency, etc. I will be interested in hearing your experiences with leaning and what works and what doesn't. I hope your project is doing well and that I'm not too late to share ideas, let me know how it is coming along. Sounds like it's important to tilt, but also important that it auto uprights too. I figure spring loaded should work, but may need shock absorbing too.
blues
 
sk8norcal said:
I am suprised you haven't heard of the MP3,
it's the only tilting motorcycle in mass production that I know of... (with all tilting wheels)
it inspired a lot of interests in tilting vehicles..

I would love to test ride one,
I see them on the road off and on...
Click to expand...
I think I've seen it, but I'm not very familiar with it. I may have seen one in person as I saw one in traffic one day. It looked like a big moped with two front wheels. Just got a quick glimpse of it though. I recently saw a nearly half hour length video (gizmag?) about half width and tilting video featuring nissan land glider, volkswagon L1 and a few others. But that was my recent (5 weeks ago) main introduction to tilting vehicles. That video is definitely worth a look over. Have you seen it? Also features yamaha's 4 wheel motorcycle teseract (spl?), a very cool advanced looking leaning vehicle.

I will have to check out the mp3 website as I'm interested in learning it's overall width, as well as how it maintains an upright position. I think it should be actively supported like via spring and shock or similar. But if the return to upright tendency force is too great, after a full tilt, the front end would want to fight to return to upright while the back could care less about returning upright,, potentially putting the cycle into a bit of a sour handling situation. The return to upright tendency may be a touchy one.
 
Yep, that's the one. Holy cow, I didn't even know you had more links like this! I dig that wesll suspension, excellent video's. It went slow and fast thru those speed bumps (looked more like parking curbs!) like it was nothing.

You must have the best collection of tilting info, on the net!!!!
 
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