New member: Building my own Trike

[DaveJ98092]

Isaiah, we have opened up the posting of pictures again.

But if you could, maybe try signing up for a ImgSafe.org account and then you can post as many pictures as needed, more than 3 per post too.

[captainamerica]

My sway bar is junk. Not thought out at all, I think its using a 1" x .125 wall thickness tube, with a spread of like 7". Its much to stiff and the overall design isn't very good at that. I will update it at some point, sorry to not be much help here, sway bars for vehicles of these sizes need to be pretty light. It depends on the width between the lever arms but I would say a 1/2" tube with 065 wall would be a good place to start. If you can design a blade type system you will be that much the better and you can make it cockpit adjustable, which is really unnecessary for our type of vehicles but it would be good for testing.

-Andrew

imgur.com is still my go to for posting pictures, simple, they give you the links to for dropping into posts automatically and their is no login required.

[isaiahcrem]

Hey everyone, I've been very busy since my last post. Travel every single week the past two months. Between travel for work and Army training I feel like I haven't spent any time at home. Motivation to work on the trike was low because I just want to enjoy it while the warm weather is here. I've been driving it around A LOT and making small bits of progress when I feel motivated to do so. Here are a few update photos. Sorry if its not much.

Auxilliary battery and mounting. I plan to install a stereo and didn't want that pulling too much power from the motorcycle battery. This is a run of the mill lawn and garden battery but should do the trick.



Body Panels- The current body panels are 1/4 in. plywood that will be primed and painted to remove the wood grain. I'm installing them with drilled/tapped then welded mounting tabs. The bolts are Phillips head m6 zinc coated. I have all of them cut and fitted besides the ones meant to go under the front shocks. Haven't figured out how I'm going to tackle those yet.







Windscreen Installed- I got a piece of 1/8 in. acrylic for cheap at a local sale so decided to try that to start. I cut to 5 in. height and riveted to some mounting tabs I welded onto the frame. I then heated the end and bent around the sides of my pillars. With the angle of attack, the air is directed above my head instead of directly in my face.

I don't have any good pictures just yet and I'm out of town for work this week.

Air ducting to radiator- I built a proof of concept out of cardboard drove around town for a bit. Then decided to make the final version from metal. Its galvanized sheet, like whats used in HVAC applications, that I cut and shaped into the duct you see in the photos. The "scoop" on the bottom of the frame is an air vent typically seen on the outside of a house for an air dump usually coming from a stove hood. I removed the damper because it is meant for flow in the opposite direction.

[isaiahcrem]

Oct 4, 2018 13:50:07 GMT -5 TomyJ said:

I like it, so far so good, I hope you are going to expose those shocks by paneling around/under them?

That's the plan, I think it looks super cool having them exposed. Have gotten lots of comments that the suspension is of one the best parts. I just need to find a good material suited to curve around the bottom of the shocks and fit into that awkwardly shaped area. I'm actually thinking of using a mudflap for a semi truck. I've seen some that are fiber reinforced which should prove to be plenty of strength for my application. 

[Liteway]

You can dissect a length of schedule 20 5" dia. pvc pipe, or if you are fussy, use some schedule 40 as a form to round some .040 aluminum.

[DaveJ98092]

Aluminum is easily bent if you Anneal it first. There are Youtube vids on how to do this. You can bend it with your fingers. In about two days it will start to age harden.

I have a sand bag and plastic faced hammers to shape metal and annealed aluminum can be made into complex bends and shapes. Stretching is easy, shrinking not as easy for me.

[TomyJ]

Isaiah, Can you tell me/us about your front bellcranks, They do not look home made, I have been all over search to purchase some to no avail...

[isaiahcrem]

TomyJ
Those bellcranks are actually the rear shock linkage for the 2008 generation of the Yamaha R1. Which is what my front shocks are from. I'm loading them improperly, but plan to make new ones with proper thrust and axial bearings in the future. For now, I am using them as a tester for ratios; These are approximately 2:3 about the pivot. In my application, it turned out that was a good ratio for the weight and spring rate.

[TomyJ]

Oct 15, 2018 15:53:56 GMT -5 isaiahcrem said:

TomyJ
Those bellcranks are actually the rear shock linkage for the 2008 generation of the Yamaha R1. Which is what my front shocks are from. I'm loading them improperly, but plan to make new ones with proper thrust and axial bearings in the future. For now, I am using them as a tester for ratios; These are approximately 2:3 about the pivot. In my application, it turned out that was a good ratio for the weight and spring rate.

Thank You, Just ordered one for $16. and another for $13. from eBay, just the (bellcranks).

[isaiahcrem]

TomyJ

Make sure the bushings are present for the pivot point. It has needle bearings that need a bushing to work as it should, the bolts will go though the bushing. Also, clean and lube the bearings while they are easily accessible.

I forgot to mention in my last post, but since the two attachment points for my pushrod and the shock are not at 90 degree angle from each other, the action of the bellcrank is progressive. Meaning that the shock gains mechanical advantage as the suspension is loaded. Resulting in a stiffer suspension the further it is compressed.

Hope that makes sense.

Isaiah