Rear-drive trike (budget building) *update*

[dequinox]

I'll be starting a scrap-together build to see what I can do with limited parts and Dollas. So far I have picked up the following items:

-Bike frame, several wheels, and a trike adapter kit (bolts onto a normal bike frame, has a basket.)
-a scrapped electric scooter with your typical china-brush motor (~300 watt I think) on it and some neat electronic components (battery monitor, blinker switch, throttle, horn, etc.)
-18ah 24v SLA. The scooter was 24v so this pack which I already have will come in handy for it.

The trike kit is very similar to this:

I have paid a total of $12 in cash for this so far...the bike was on a trade so I don't consider that an expense...just good barter.

I will include photos shortly (probably tomorrow afternoon), and in the coming weeks I'll put together an analysis of what needs to be done to it. I think I've got some frame improvements ahead of me...the dropouts on the "kit" are fairly weak-ass.

Stay tuned!

 

[StudEbiker]

I've been thinking about trying something similar except I was thinking about using two swing arms of of two Wal-Mart bikes fro the back and doing something like this in the front:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Front_Wheel_Drive_Center_Steer_Semi_Recumbent_Bicy/

I will be following this to see how you do. Good luck.

 

[dequinox]

This is what I have so far. I'm thinking I might use the rear wheel off the scooter to drive the front wheel of the trike. Yes it's bulky and ridiculous but it's also creative and cheap! I'm trying to find an alternative to using a jackshaft and another freewheel kit like I used on my original bike. I will be considering some kind of rear drive as well...right wheel would get the motor and the left would get the pedal drive.

 

[dequinox]

Ok I've recently dug this project out of it's hole...now that I am working with afternoons off I have a little relax-and-do-some-fun-project time on my hands. I will be assessing the condition of the bike part of the trike and welding the adapter assembly in place on the dropouts. I don't want this rickety thing coming apart. I'll post some photos and make an update this weekend most likely.

 

[amberwolf]

Rickety stuff NEVER comes apart. Well, except when you're on the road i heavy traffic 30 miles from home. :lol:

I wouldn't know about that, of course.

 

[dequinox]

Another update on this project:

Well my drive wheel's hub has some components that are all torn up so I'm rebuilding a wheel for the first time ever!
This should be an interesting experience... Coaster hubs are new to me too so I'll be learning that as well.

In the meantime I've decided on using the other rear wheel as a drive instead of the front. I don't want to mess around with the really narrow space in the dropouts of the current fork...and don't want to buy another one.

 

[def215]

Rickety stuff NEVER comes apart. Well, except when you're on the road i heavy traffic 30 miles from home. :lol:

I wouldn't know about that, of course.

hehe. i know that pretty well, well except for being 30 miles from home, for me its sorta like a 5 mile radius for me

a trike sounds like it can be fun. the 300 watt motor seems like it should have decent power to cruise with. id like to see what the finished product will be.
hey dequinox, when will you be building an ebike for the wife? :wink:

 

[dequinox]

hey dequinox, when will you be building an ebike for the wife? :wink:

I think this is the ebike for the wife :lol: Seriously though, she has a nice little hybrid cruiser that I'm probably just going to put a "frock" kit on. Frock is AJ's term for hub motor right?

 

[dequinox]

I successfully strung a wheel up and took it to a bike shop for the final truing. It turned out almost perfectly dead nutz straight...which is nearly unheard of for an old steel wheel.

Price update:

Ok so $12 so far, add $10 for a new coaster hub from a junk bike co-op, and $12.50 for a wheel truing.

 

[dequinox]

Okay this one I'll admit is going slow, but it's sort of being built along with more improvements on my original bike along with repairing a trailer I picked up for $20 that I intend to use as a cargo trailer. My controller and charger are in the mail (thanks fizzit!), and all I need to get now is the freewheel sprocket for the motor. I'm curious about the compatibility on this one...I may end up cutting up the wheel it's on and using it as a freehub or something. I'm trying to kludge this together as cheaply as possible.

Cost so far:

$12 - Old scooter
$22.50 - rebuilding old wheel with new coaster hub
$15 - Controller/charger
=====================
$49.50

Items left are the drive sprocket on the motor, the batteries, and a few more odds and ends to fix the stability of the trike a little.