Youtube Video - KMX Trike w/clear roof (rain protection)

[MitchJi]

Hi,

I really like the idea of a Trike with rain protection.

The last 20 seconds of the first video and first 20 seconds of the second give a complete idea of how it functions:
[youtube]MDvKlppxT-o[/youtube]
[youtube]l8wKbmedwjs[/youtube]

 

[The Journey Guy]

Well done, you obviously put a lot of time and thought into the final product. I will ask the obvious, however.... What keeps the rain from entering into the front during a rain storm?

 

[MitchJi]

:wink: Hi,

Well done, you obviously put a lot of time and thought into the final product. I will ask the obvious, however.... What keeps the rain from entering into the front during a rain storm?

Its not my Trike. I stumbled on it and I really like the idea of rain protection. The rain entering in front could be addressed if he added a piece on the front or slanted forward or….

Maybe this will inspire someone on ES to come up with a better solution :wink:

 

[docnjoj]

That looks like it really has potential for us tadpolers. A couple of things perhaps worth mentioning:
1. That spaceframe looks quite complex and not so easy to weld. That will definitely push up the cost.
2. To cover the foot area he could extend a tab out and then just bend it around. It wont be perfect but much better sealed than it is.
3. Whoever is on that KMX should really strap or clip in his feet. One leg drop and you will be lucky just to be a leg fracture case. Leg suck on Tadpoles is really dangerous.
4. That Currie sounds like a deranged bumblebee! I guess they havent solved the noise problem!
otherDoc

 

[MitchJi]

Hi Doc,

That looks like it really has potential for us tadpolers.

I think a similar solution makes a lot more sense than a Velomobile. If its done correctly a big percent of the weather protection for a very small percent of the labor and materials.

A couple of things perhaps worth mentioning:
1. That spaceframe looks quite complex and not so easy to weld. That will definitely push up the cost.

Youtube question with his response (sounds like no welding was involved) :

Youtube question:
what is the cost of your roof ?

Youtube response:
40.00 quid for 2 metres x 1 metres of clear poly carbonate plasic 70.00 total with delivery
15 mm round pvc frame 20.00

2. To cover the foot area he could extend a tab out and then just bend it around. It wont be perfect but much better sealed than it is.

I agree that the implementation can and should be improved but I think the basic concept is excellent.

 

[DCB-BLDC]

Would not like to be the person you run into with all that metal over your head. When I was a child me and my best friend built a go kart with a similar setup. While going down a very steep hill I lost control and hit curb which brought the frame immediately to a stop and I when through all the framing we had just installed in front of me. Be careful with that on the streets eh. Nice build.

 

[vanilla ice]

Its pvc tubing. Maybe less dangerous to crash than metal.

 

[docnjoj]

Ah ha Plastic pipe! Eureka! Very light and easy to work with. Probably offers some crash protection, but let's face it. If you crash with a car nuttin is gonna help! That design tooks better and better!
otherDoc

 

[MitchJi]

Hi,

I think it might offer better rain protection if instead of the arch being from side to side if the arch was front to back, something like this:

 

[DarthSensate]

Nice idea. The PVC space frame looks like WAY over kill.

I should think one hoop at the front and one over the seat/rider with rails from the base of each side hoop should be sufficient structure to hold the canopy without all that structure mucking up your view and would probably halve the weight of the assembly.

The poly-sheet should be rigid enough without all the internal supports. You might not even need the hoops at the front and rear for structure, especially if you taper the front and rear ends of the sheet together and rivet the edges together. You would need a bit more sheet to make the taper and still be able to pedal.

 

[DarthSensate]

Here's an example of something similar. Although this guy made a number of cuts to his poly sheeting to form a rounded nose.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Method-for-making-3D-shapes-used-to-make-a-bike-f/

I suggest using a single PVC hoop, instead of sections of pipe and joints, at the rear and one at the front and no cuts to the sheet.

 

[docnjoj]

Thanks Mitch and Darth. Both kool ideas and one easy one that is quite useful to me comes from the Instructable. Usung the PVC and hose clamps to attach mirrors and my meter is great!
otherDoc

 

[DarthSensate]

I did some real quick research on PolyCarbonate, aka Lexan,etc., and found that welding/work face shields are made of 1mm thick PC. At that thickness the PC weighs ~1/4lb per square foot. Wind screens for motorcycles appear to be 3mm-6mm think PC. So a 8'x4'x1mm sheet of PC would weigh ~8lbs.

The nice thing about the PC and NOT acrylic is that it is drillable and bendable at cold temperatures. No heat gun required to form the PC to the curvature you would desire to make your wind screen. If I understand correctly the PC can be bent to a curve and retain that curvature... "minimum bending radius" can 75-150 times the thickness of the sheet. Many hot-rodder sites and sailing sites still recommend using heat to bend the PC even though it is not absolutely necessary.

 

[torker]

Also you can make really nice bends in pvc pipe with a heatgun. At least the Carlon electrical pvc does. I know I've made alot doing underground elec.

 

[MitchJi]

Hi,

Info on DIY Fairing bubbles here:
http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/hom....htm#Recumbent Bike and HPV Building Projects
Particularly:
http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/hom....htm#Recumbent Bike and HPV Building Projects

How to make blown HPV fairings
Newly formed bubble
Once the bubble has cooled, you can remove it from the template, and trim the "tabs".

If you want to throw a little money at the problem:

Wind Screens made of shatter resistant polycarbonate plastic
Established 1976 - Over 27,000 made

http://zzipper.com/Products/prod_x.php

you want to design your very own Bubble? A forming template can BE made to your specifications for $200. with A 2-3 week lead time you will receive at least 2 workable bubbles.

 

[DarthSensate]

The vacuum forming requires molds and either an awfully large vacuum table and a large "oven" or lots of patience with a heat gun. I did this in high school but that was on small sheets of PC.

My wife doesn't like my collection of bikes and scooters and dune buggy on "my" side of the garage as it is!! :>

I would just a soon take a flat sheet of PC and bend it and trim it to suit than go that far. KISS

Plus, when you start deforming the sheet to conform to the mold, you run into issues with distortion in the optical quality of the medium.

One other thing that hasn't been mentioned is the acoustics inside the fairing. Basically you're creating a very large drum head, so some sort of foam tape for dampening might be useful. ??

 

[SpeedEBikes]

Here's a shot of a minimal roof on my electric trike. It's just a used coroplast campaign sign. I made an arch above the seat back with a piece thin wall 1/4" steel tubing and ran another piece of tubing from the bottom bracket to the seat arch on which the roof is mounted. Everything is held together with zip ties. It took about 2 hours to make very late one night before going to an event early the next morning in a thunderstorm. I liked it so much it's stayed on ever since. It flexes a bit much in high winds, but I've had it out is some serious storms with very high wind gusts and nothing has failed.

It usually keeps rain off my head and out of my face and often keeps my upper torso dry too. I use rain pants to keep my legs dry.

 

[methods]

Trike riders - please be aware that running a hall throttle can be very dangerous.
It is recommended that you run a Magura or thumb type throttle.

Hard riding + hall throttle could = uncontrollable trike

-methods

 

[SpeedEBikes]

Thanks for the heads up on the potential failure. I've got an easy to reach and pull power disconnect. My trike isn't as powerful as yours so in a full on throttle failure I expect I could pull the plug before it got exciting.

 

[methods]

I forgot to say - nice rig btw.
I am working on converting my princess trailer into a hauling trailer as we speak.

As if we dont already get enough weird looks - right?
Now its "a crazy guy in a motorcycle helmet going 40mph on an upside down bike pulling a refrigerator".

-methods

 

[SpeedEBikes]

I forgot to say - nice rig btw.
Now its "a crazy guy in a motorcycle helmet going 40mph on an upside down bike pulling a refrigerator".

-methods

I'd like to see a photo of that. Sounds painful.

 

[dequinox]

The vacuum forming requires molds and either an awfully large vacuum table and a large "oven".

I did a search and found this old thread that had some stuff about fairings in it, so I thought I would post a photo of a small vacuum former I am working on here instead of making a new thread over it. All that's left is a frame to place the sheet of plastic in and a shop vac :wink:

I am not making a fairing with it, but making a cover for my exposed jackshaft sprockets and the like.