Hello from Frankston TX

[ouraydog]

I have thought about building a trike for years, but never came up with anything that inspired me enough to build.  Some recent life changes have me looking at trikes again since I can no longer ride motorcycles.

My donor bike is a 2008 Aprilia Shiver, and I plan on using as much of the bike as possible, off the shelf hardware when available, and fabricate custom parts as the last option.  The trike "Project Fini" that I am planning is actually closer to a street legal sporting wheelchair than a three wheel racing vehicle.  All of the controls will be motorcycle type, as I have limited use of my legs and feet.  Comfort and ease of ingress/egress are firm requirements.

I am doing the conceptual design using SolidWorks, with a heavy emphasis on simplicity since "time to build" has a very high priority.  Past projects have included cars, airplanes, motorcycles, and bicycles, so I do have some idea about the scope of the project I am undertaking.  As the design starts to firm up I will be making progress reports.

Regards,  Bill Barton

[skifffz1to3]

Welcome Bill,

We need to talk. Your physical requirements are a bit daunting...my son and I are committed to make it happen. A (really) bad motorcycle crash 02012014 has added me to the world of people who no longer ride due to physical restrictions. My throttle hand / wrist had to be fused (surgery # 7 of 9) and my grip strength (while still improving) is not such that I could manage handle bars, ie no more conventional motorcycles for me...just yet. (more on that later).

To that end, I chose to build a DIY kit from Australia TriPodCars. I am in my final stages of the build. Because of the many changes, custom engineering/modifications I have made...well, I haven't been showing pics/videos for good reason. Soon, very soon all will be made clear.


My build does not include wheel chair access, nor does it lend itself to convenient transfer either...but we are working thru those issues. Some colaberation in that area might be mutually beneficial via phone calls or private texts. Msg me if you are interested.

[skifffz1to3]

reversetrike.proboards.com/thread/767/australian-born-built-america-fusion

[DaveJ98092]

Bill, welcome to the forum. I too am limited in my mobility. I had a major motorcycle crash in 2010 and then again in 2015. The 2015 crash happened when a car tire flew off a car and hit me in my front wheel causing a tank slapper and sent me at a 45 degree angle into the concrete barrier at over 75 MPH. I crushed my left chest cavity and broke a lot of bones and ribs and a reacquiring head trauma migraine and vertigo. While I still ride two wheels, a Burgman 650 Scooter with hand controls and a CVT so no shifting. I can no longer flip my right leg over the seat so a step thru scooter works for me. I WAS a telephone repair tech for a large telecommunications company but I can no longer climb up over 15 feet before the vertigo hits, but before I could climb over 90 feet.

Check out the builds on here. The members will share info if they can. Some are getting ready to patent a design or are making a kit for sale so they can not share everything. But some will share even SolidWorks files for you to get inspired by their design.

So check out Captain America's build, Andrew has posted some very unique pictures.

There are some scissor lift designs for a recliner chair lift I bet could be copied and modified for a trike. It would be easier done on a single seater but if made wide enough I bet a side by side could be designed.