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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:45:15 GMT -5
Storx, I am looking into the google drive option currently at your suggestion. Need to get a good feel for it and for rights access to it before I start dropping all my work into it but it looks promising. The more I think about this the more I think I am going to release my work for free and create a company around supplying the parts to people who can't or don't want to build pieces themselves so that it can be a mix. As for the scorpion, I have definitely seen it (and driven it) I don't think you could get far in building a trike without looking around at what else is out there. I actually went to their shop a year ago and met the owner, Mark, and drove their test vehicle around the industrial complex they are located in. I was impressed with their design and fabrication work, I wouldn't say its over priced but you have to want it. I was just nearing the rolling chassis stage at that point and had never driven a trike before, the experience definitely motivated me to get a move on it. I would highly suggest not making a tube frame chassis from carbon, the loads seen in a vehicle chassis are far more significant then in a bike obviously, and more importantly its your life if you get hit by something made of steel (IE another vehicle), look into carbon monocoques. Steel can be made surprisingly light if done correctly (new chassis is just over 100lbs in CAD). Good luck with that though, I would be interested in seeing the result. Andrew As for the drawing releases and cad files, I plan to release files as .DXF, .PDF, or .SLDPRT files depending on what they are. I am still working towards the new chassis that is shown above and coming up with the tubing drawings so as of this current moment the first things I would probable let out are the uprights, spindles, engine and the base sketch for the chassis. Everything I design is meant to be built with very little shop knowledge, basic metal working welding, lathe and mill work will be required as well as access to a CNC waterjet and CNC laser/plasma cutter companies. I am trying to keep the overall parts price around 15k or less, shooting for 12k really but their is a reality to this. The build can be done with any 2003-2008 GSXR 600/750/1000, with an emphasis on the 07/08 GSXR 1000 because it comes with a hydraulic clutch which makes swapping to pedals easier. I will probably start a new thread with updates so people don't have to jump through my trike forum, admin advice on location of this thread would be appreciated in case I head this way. Anyone using CAD out there, I would like to poll the field as to who is using what around here, PM me if you have time and let me know. Thanks. |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:46:11 GMT -5
If you have not figured it out yet, this is a new way i came across on the forums that uses echo command to switch between all your google drive accounts that you setup a few times a second, basically it allows you to log in to multiple google drive accounts using the actual Google software, making the uploading and downloading much much faster and more responsive.. it took me a while to get it figured out at first but i figured it out eventually and got all my accounts online and showed up as a different drive on my computer. Step 1: Close all instances of Google Drive running on your computer and then download and install this application. After the application is installed, add C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Drive to your Windows Environment Variable. You can refer to this article to see how it’s done. Step 2: Having done that, open Notepad and copy paste the following line. Don’t forget to replace username@ domain.com with your Google username. Make note this is just your username, you are not putting your password in anything but the actual google drive software. @echo OFF SET USERNAME=username@ domain.com SET USERPROFILE=%~dp0%USERNAME% SET USERPROFILE=%~dp0%USERNAME% MD “%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming”>nul MD “%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Application Data”>nul MD “%USERPROFILE%\Application Data”>nul MD “%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data”>nul MD “%USERPROFILE%\My Documents”>nul MD “%USERPROFILE%\Documents”>nul START googledrivesync  Save the file as Account 1.bat to your desktop or another folder where you would like to sync the files. Don’t forget to select All Files as type in Notepad while saving the batch file. Step 3: Now run the batch file and wait for another instance of Google Drive to Start. The second instance of the application will ask you to sign in to a new account. Proceed normally, just remember to change the sync folder to the new folder that’s created using the batch files in the advanced option.    That’s all, you will now see two instances of Google Drive syncing side by side. The next time you want to sync files on the secondary account, run the batch file of that particular account. To add additional subsequent accounts, just make a new batch file, run it and configure the application just like before... I currently have 16 instances of Google Drive open in the bottom corner of my computer with all there drives available for me to access... I keep my main open all the time and when i add something to one of the others (Additional Storage) i just run the batch file and what it does is for a few seconds turns off the current connection and redirects it to the other account and when your done uploading just batch file back to your main and your main stays up all the time.. The benefit of this method over the previous method i had been using for a long time was that it no longer requires you to have multiple virtual windows instances open hogging some of your computers processing power.. the new way takes all of that away and leaves you with the normal google drive software only.. |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:48:22 GMT -5
Storx, I appreciate the tutorial on this but it seems above what I am trying to do from a technical aspect. I setup the folder tonight and have dropped a few things in it including a semi new chassis for people to look at, once I am happy with my final design I will drop the final updated chassis for others to view. All, If you (anyone on here) are interested in access to my CAD models and drawings, please PM me with a Gmail account and summary about yourself (where you are located, age, education) and your goals and so on for me to review I will give you a link to access the folder. At some point this will contain everything you need to have to build a similar trike to my own, preferably without the need to actually have a CAD program, just need all the DXFs and the documentation of how to put it together correctly. I cannot vouch for the perfectness of my reverse engineered parts, such as the engine, so those using CAD, use these at your own risk. You will need Google Drive to access the files, its free from Google. Liability Comment Here: Be AdvisedI may think of myself in high regard as a designer but I cannot vouch for the quality of the products that you make with my designs so if you ask for a link you are implying consent that you are using my designs at your own risk. I also obviously reserve the right to remove access to this information if I feel that you are abusing it in some way or using it for personal monetary gain. Andrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:49:42 GMT -5
Love this project. It just keeps on getting better with each bit added. Solid job on this one, Andrew. Your trike build is being featured in the BikeBuilds.net directory here: captainamerica’s Spartan Trike build. We’re currently displaying only a reduced-size photo (similar to what you’d find in Google Images). We'd like to ask for your permission to publish the original full-size image with your build listing. If anyone would like to have a build of their own listed, just shoot me a PM with a link to the build thread and we’ll take care of the rest. If you wish to add your build personally, please feel free to peruse our Submit feature. No registrations required. Al |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:50:47 GMT -5
Al, Sure you can use whatever is on here, free of charge  I usually knock down the res to keep the file size smaller but I think its still larger then what most people use at that point, if you need something bigger then what you see here feel free to PM me and I will email you what your looking for. Personally I think the picture that I use as my personal tag on here with all the color is the best one even if its a bit dated (a year at this point). That was the only one not taken by me, it was used for an article on a motorcycle enthusiast website. I will attach it to the first post in full size so you can grab it easily. Andrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:52:08 GMT -5
Hey Andrew
I was out yesterday in the trike chasing down a Kawasaki 900 motor bike, a place here in Aus called the Reffton Spur. He is a good rider with his Knee pads scraping the road in the corners, I pushed the Trike as hard as I could and was able to equal him at times and also out corner him at times, in the straights he pulled away only very slightly and again I was up his backside in the corners.
My question to you, when you push your machine hard do you find if your doing a very fast sharp right hand corner that the right wheel leaves the road by almost one foot and the same for the left hand front wheel when doing a left fast corner?
This is happening to me but only when pushing the limits, the trike still feels stable when this happens but I was a bit in shock when it happened for the first time.
After that it seemed ok and almost normal, I lost no grip and the corners where super fast, I cannot tell you the speeds due to no time to look at the speedo only time to look where I wanted the trike to point, at a guess the sharp corner speeds were a minimum 80kms to 110kmh, in the straights I had a quick look at the speedo around 150kmh but only very short straights.
Is this normal for a 3 wheeled machine or do I have a problem? ?
Paul K. |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:53:41 GMT -5
Ned, You have a problem. I haven't seen a detailed shot of your front end, but you either lack an anti-roll bar or its insufficient. With your inside front lifting 1 ft off the ground, you are not so far from going all the way over. You should not challenge the nee draggers until you have body roll under control. |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:54:59 GMT -5
Just read one of Alan's old posts about his experiences when he owned your trike. Claims it was quite a good track handler; that he cornered it on 2 wheels at angles up to 45degress and scraped the side pods. Sounds like an exaggeration, but you can check the side pod's for scratch marks Ned. Maybe lifting the inside front wheel a ft in the air is not so dangerous after all. Scared me when mine did it prior to anti-sway bar installation. No lifting now even when driven very hard. I can feel that inside wheel skitter a bit through suddenly very light steering near the limit, but no visible lifting. The back slides before the front lifts, but it also sticks better when roll control doesn't allow it to roll over on its edge. Hope captain responds to your question, I would be interested to hear his experiences. Likewise, you too Jim, Joker, Tripod1 if you see this. |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:55:56 GMT -5
Hey thanks Triplethreat
This weekend I am going to investigate the full travel of the front suspension just to check that it is not bottoming out.
I put new tyres all round two nights prior to the wheel lift experience, Saturday I tested them out with the fronts at 20psi and the rear at 35psi, I was happy with the front tyres until they got hot and the handling did not feel as good as when they were cold the rear was fine.
So for the run on Sunday I dropped the front to 15 psi which was much much better when they got some heat into them.
As far as grip is concerned the rear has not slipped since new tyres fitted, prior to new tyres the rear would slide out all the time which was fun but lost a lot of speed due to this.
I am thinking with new rear tyre which does not slip and new fronts which grip unbelievable that the front suspension is now being forced to it limits and the rear wheel forces the same side as the direction of the corner to lift off.
By the way front tyres are 205/50/16 and rear 205/50/17 Michelin SP3 car tyres, rear soon to be a road legal semi slick Yokohama.
Your comment of rollover concerns me but in the same breath it felt very stable and did not loose traction front or rear when the wheel lifts, but better to be on the side of caution for now.
Ned PS 1 side pod is scraped not sure about 45 degrees, Alan told me the same but not 45 degrees
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:56:45 GMT -5
This made me laugh a bit, I have cornered pretty hard, probably in the 40-50 mph range (60-80 kph) and never even felt a hint of the inside wheel lifting. This sounds like a James Bond style stunt maneuver. I may have to go find a parking lot to try this in now though, I run pretty stiff suspension and a very stiff roll bar. When I first built the thing I could get 5 degrees of body roll just by pushing hard back and forth on the top of the roll hoop, now I can put my full body weight into that and barely feel the trike give. I don't know about other people but my CG is in the 17" (43 cm) range, from the ground. I run 205/40R17 on all 3 corners I have actually been doing a lot of work lately just nothing really to show for it yet, I am replacing the head lights with much brighter LED lights from MightyLED, getting an LED tail light and a secondary brake light that will go on the cross bar near the top of the roll hoop. Also switching to LED rear turn blinkers, mostly I am just trying to become more visible in the day and the night. Also I am in the final stages of finishing a new chassis fab table (4'x8') that I am going to use to make another trike and possible more after that. -Andrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:57:33 GMT -5
I can appreciate that in matters that can kill and cripple you would seek an expert's advice, but an expert in four wheel suspension is not automatically one with tikes. It ain't rocket science Ned. If you don't have an anti-roll bar, get one. If you do, get a bigger one and/or stiffer front springs. Don't know why Alan would choose to compare to a Can Am. High CG, narrow track, don't corner well, can't keep up with a decent bike and rider. As sold in the US they have electronic nannies that severely limit corner speed. May catch flack but IMO they are for old men who don't care to go fast and have grown weary of holding up their Gold Wings and Harleys, not that there is anything wrong with that. |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 21, 2018 23:58:18 GMT -5
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:00:58 GMT -5
What tires are you running? Are all three the same size? Looks great by the way...love to see it in person. Another question...moving the radiator down, did you experience any cooling issues? I am running 205/50R17 on all three corners. The radiator has been in the same place really as it was in the bike, but it is thicker and wider and has a huge fan on the front. As far as cooling goes, as long as everything is hooked up properly (ie the fan isn't wired backwards pulling air away from the rad) I have had no issues, it runs about 225F at the high and then 210F on the low on a hot day. On a cold day I actually have trouble getting it up to temp, usually reaches around 195F. The JD2 bender is on order with three dies, I bought the model 32 heavy duty that can be updated with hydraulics later if I want. I bought the 1" Diameter 3.0" Rad, 1.25" Diameter 3.5" Rad, and the 1.5" Diameter 4.5" Rad dies. The total came to just shy of a 1k for the lot of it, which seems reasonable and they can all do 180 degree bends which I was definitely looking for after my first woodward fab bender only did 120 degrees and made the one bend I did do in the roll hoop very difficult. I'll update with my review of that in a few weeks when it shows up. I don't know if anyone else has encountered this but yesterday I ended up driving about 2 hours in the trike after work and over tightening the belt apparently which then crushed my chest a bit and threw my back out of wack. So I tightened the belts when I got in, after a bit of driving they had felt loose so I tightened them down again. I think the way I have to sit in the thing compiled with how my shoulders are a bit forward to grab the wheel and my head tilts down to look straight ahead caused an overall compression on the front of my body. My lungs/chest seem alright today but I ended up at the chiropractor for 2 hours getting my back sorted out which looks to be some sort of strained muscle. I think I'm going to take a few days off of driving the thing and make sure I get sorted out health wise. -Andrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:03:47 GMT -5
Update from Ned Kelly Update on James bond, last weekend I did the Reefton spur again on my own we had a long weekend 3 days 1st day only inner cornering wheel lifting when going pretty hard, 2nd day same, 3rd day early morning so I had the road all to myself, in my head this was my chance to see how hard I could push this machine, very early into the ride maybe 5 corners into it doing a fast l/h corner and hitting the brakes she lifted onto 2 wheels r/h/f and rear to approximately 45 degrees possible more, no steering heading straight into the mountain embankment on the wrong side of the road I released the brakes, almost sprained both wrists trying to opposite lock the steering the l/h/f floated gently back to earth after the r/h/s body made contact with the road needless to say the remainder of the ride was a fair bit slower. So to all you trike people please be careful. Ned, On a 2 wheel bike what you did was a highside slide out but with three wheels it kept you upright. A good anti-sway (anti-rollbar) may keep it flatter at the same speed or higher in the same corner. A steering stabilizer shock may have softened the jerk to opposite lock somewhat too. Keep us informed. Hello thanks for the response.
I honestly don't think there is a fix for this and don't think a heavier sway bar would resolve the issue.
After many hours thinking about this issue and many hours on the net, I believe it is nothing more than Physics taking over when the weight transfers in hard braked corners with only one person on board being it is a 2 seater so off centre weight with only a driver and will 'only' and 'always' roll to the drivers side of the trike and will never roll to the passengers side.
The sway bar is 22mm in diameter from a car that weighs at least twice as much as the trike, the only help I can input to the trike is to adjust the front suspension every time it has only one on board.
If you look at the Morgan 3 wheeler the engine is not only placed at the front of the thing for good looks it also helps with the issue I have with my 2 seater.
Regards Ned
Time for a new design!
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:08:42 GMT -5
Ned, I really want to see on board video of this occuring if you have it. I have cornered relatively hard and never been close (that I know of) to really lifting a wheel, maybe I need to try harder  , flashes of my dead body plowed into a tree usually keeps me off the limit. Triplethreat, As far as the sway bar goes I finally got the verticals laser cut and did a reasonable job welding, it is very stiff but I have had no problem with breakage since then, probably 800 miles on it since then. currently rolling through 3k miles since I first got it registered last April. I am still fighting to get a title, found out last week that DMV didn't like one of my appraisals so I had to go get it redone. Hopefully the second time through this operation will be much more seamless. -Andrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:09:38 GMT -5
Hey Andrew
Sorry no video to show, and I have certainly slowed down since, so I don't think I will risk it again just to have on video.
I am sure it's due to it's a 2 seater and all weight is on the D/S none on passenger side when riding alone, when braking in corner, weight transfers and up she goes.
You on the other hand are seated in the middle of your machine which is the only explanation as to why you are not lifting a wheel and also your track or width of the front wheels is greater than what I have.
When I say braking hard, I mean you are or have made the judgement to late that you have gone into the corner to hot/fast and rapidly and firmly apply the brakes, which is driver error or over confidant prior to the corner.
Having said that I bought this thing to go as fast as I can and push the limits, but as you say (flashes of my dead body plowed into a tree) has slowed me down somewhat.
I am planning a new frame which will have wider track at front to try and help with this, I am also toying with building a 2 seater side by side trike that has the engine over/near the front suspension similar to Slingshot and seat near rear suspension, only for track riding.
As I have told you the laws in Aus won't allow a home made anything on the road without major dollars in engineering.
Ned
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:10:36 GMT -5
May '15 Finally got my title sorted out and it arrived last week. Its nice to have that out of the way. For those interested the process if goes as follows for North Carolina (The MVR-55A Form is very helpful here): 1) Finish your vehicle to a street legal condition, this will be based on your vehicle code for the state, if your unsure the inspectors office is helpful. (In Cali I needed fenders, here I do not) 2) Call you local DMV inspectors office and setup an appointment to have them see the vehicle, they come to you which is really nice. My guy met me at lunch 3 times so I didn't have to miss work. 3) Inspector notes all relevant info with him, this will include donor bike title numbers and engine block numbers for motorcycle engines. 4) Inspector takes all that info runs it with DMV headquarters and about a week later will meet with you again, assuming things went well, to give you his inspectors report and two VIN stickers. One goes on the dash and the other goes somewhere hidden (mine is near the ECU in the tail) www.ncdot.gov/dmv/forms/default.html (All required forms) 5) Once you have that report you need to do or fill out the following: A) MVR-1 Title Application Form (not the MVR-1A) B) MVR-92H Affidavit of facts to accompany indemnity bond, needs to be notarized (a lot of these were left N/A on mine as it is written for a purchased chassis kit car) C) MVR-55 (not MVR-55A) Affidavit for custom/replica built vehicle, needs to be notarized (This is a hand written statement of the process used to build the vehicle, I had this finished when the inspector wrote his report which I found to be helpful as he took a copy for his notes) D) Trailer your vehicle to a motorcycle inspection station and get an inspection now that you have a VIN E) Obtain two appraisals from registered motorcycle dealerships, trike dealerships would be best but not always possible, with the new Polaris and CAN-AM out there these are becoming much easier to find. (these appraisals need to be on company letter head and signed preferably with a note saying that this is an appraisal, I had one of mine kicked back because it looked to much like a receipt for purchased parts) F) MVR-92D - Get a title bond from an insurance company for one and a half times the value of the highest appraisal, this requires that they fill out this form, signatures and notarized all around. 6) Take all these documents from step five as well as the inspectors report down to the DMV, the inspector has started the process with DMV HQ and there will be a file there based on your VIN number. DMV will take all these documents, with some coaxing, unless you get someone really helpful like I did you will end up doing a lot of explaining. At the end of the process you should leave with plate, tag, and registration, and hopefully if you have filled out all your forms correct in a month or two you will get a title and your off and running. (I paid $500 in tax and fees based on my accessed value, its a double tax in my opinion as I already paid tax on all the parts when I purchased them, but that is just my opinion...) Also if there is anything in the title application or other non-notarized documents that you are unsure of, such as make and model, leave them blank until you are actually at DMV and have them tell you what they want you to write in those places. Hopefully this is helpful. In other news, the new pipe bender from JD2 is pretty awesome, relatively easy to use as well. The bender was about $1000 for the model 32 bender and 3 dies (1", 1.25" 1.5") all of the smallest bend radius. My only complaint with the bender is its instructions for putting it together are garbage and sometimes incorrect, like they made them years ago for the first version and just never bothered to update. It also came with a bunch of extra washers and other parts that have no use as far as I can tell and have no reference in either the construction or use sections. I tried calling the company but could never get a hold of anyone. So I just went by trial and error, still have a bunch of "spare" parts but the bends look really nice. I have most of the bars for the front of the next chassis cut and bent, they still need to be coped but I am currently working on my fixtures as the top priority. I would like to have a chassis to sit in by the end of June if I can get motivated. Andrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:11:30 GMT -5
Hey,Thanks Andrew You just made a great set of instructions for getting things done for the state. I know they are different; I'd like to hear the same for Virginia, since that is where I live. I have lots of parts from different vendors, most of which I have receipts for. But the original bikes, none of them have titles on file, especially the one I am using as a base (engine & rear drive). I am close to certain that, in the end, I may not need a title from the original, because the machine is a complex combination of parts. I could go with the assumption that I am right, but we all know that is not the best way to proceed. Any advice is welcome. |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:12:16 GMT -5
Rapt, The title will help, but the reality is they will just take the numbers off the motor case and run them against known stolen numbers. Having receipts will be helpful at the appraisal stage if its similar to NC. Just doing a quick check into this, and I highly recommend calling your state title office and getting their opinion, I see that you need to fill out a VIN application (VSA-22) under the specially constructed vehicle box which they want any original title, receipts for parts (I expect that this should include receipts for all metal used in the chassis), notarized construction document (similar to the MVR-55 from NC, you may want to use it as a base document if you can't find something from Virginia), a photo, and some money. Then once you have your VIN you need to fill out the title application (VSA-17A). This is a pretty good go to for the process in your state it looks like, again I highly suggest just giving your states title office a call and going over with them what you plan to do and let them tell you what they need. www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/#reconstructed.htmlAndrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:13:49 GMT -5
June '15 Finally got going on things with the help of some friends. The table is all done, and has been for awhile, but the laser cut chassis fixtures were finished last week. I welded them together, somewhat badly on the L shaped ones, you might say they are more of a V, weld pull...real life problems. Also because its a cool picture, I threw in a picture of all the NASCAR haulers that I took at the Sonoma Cup race last Sunday. I have slowly been working on the pieces for all this it just came together real quickly yesterday. Still need to make the fixtures to support the roll hoops and the front bulkhead and everything behind the firewall. Lots to do.     BTW, Does this picture make me look fat...? Andrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:15:04 GMT -5
Thanks mate, that's kinda where its headed, I'm not sure who the customers are yet but I'm sure there is bound to be crazy people out there willing to pay me for a chassis/trike kit, well see as this next one progresses. I am currently looking for the donor bike in the NC area and not having a lot of luck. Also to those of you who have access to my google drive, I got off my lazy ass and fixed the gas tank flange issue. The gas tank mount flange (really the fuel pump flange) is located in the chassis folder with all the other gas tanks parts. Please let me know if there are more issues. Another note, since I made this mistake, you need to use the chassis 5_upright 4.asm, that contains all the newest pieces unlike any other main assemblies that might be hidden in those folders. -Andrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:16:23 GMT -5
July '15 Finally found a reasonable deal on a 2008 Suzuki GSXR 1000, I feel bad taking this beast apart as it seems to be in really nice condition but it was the cheapest deal I could find. This one was track prepped and came with power commander, it seems quite nice and only has 9k miles on it. Not much has happened on the chassis front as I am waiting for the next set of fixtures to come back from the laser cutter and a third set are in final design and should be ready to go early this week. Also finally made it out to an SCCA autocross. The trike is reasonably fast because of its power to weight ratio but cornering leaves a bit to be desired, overall I was 12 seconds off the fastest car of the day and about 5 seconds behind the average. On the bright side I got a lot of things that needed fixing fixed, like the loose throttle cable, the unbled brakes, and the unwired rear turn blinker. The people with the SCCA were really awesome, but at the end of the day I was asked not to come back with my trike (apparently people complained because SCCA insurance only covers "4 wheel vehicles"). Even though the outcome was less then I wanted as far as elapsed time went it was a really good learning experience and I gained a lot of knowledge about how the thing handles on the edge...with low quality tires.       Autocross Film Link Andrew Side note: the weird glitch in the center of one of the pictures is what happens when you hand your friend the camera to take a picture without taking it out of panorama mode. |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:19:17 GMT -5
What group conducted the autocross? SCCA has a lot of issues with reverse trikes in the southeast. What's up with the new handle z06lite? Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. If you reread his post, it was an SCCA event. He must of snuck up on them to get a day in but was subsequently banned. MAN! I wish I could gotten a few runs when I attended an event some time ago. I was dismissed without anyone even looking at the trike. My account was hacked on another forum, so I thought it would be easier to change e mail address and screen name on all the forums I visit. |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:20:07 GMT -5
August '15 Got some real progress done today with the help of my friend Tony. The whole front of the chassis is done now, the fixtures for the back end will be sent to the laser cutter this week hopefully if the friend I have helping with them gets the back one done. I off handedly gave it to him as something to do and it turned into a monster that includes both the lower and upper shock mounts, all the rear bars, and the gas tank mounts. The chassis weighed in at 69.6lbs with my super accurate scale, the CAD model says it should weigh 71 lbs at this point without any weld weight modeled in so that is looking on track. I also pulled the chassis out of the jig to make that would work and then set it out next to the current trike to get a feel for size and look. I sat in it and realized that I hadn't accounted for the driver seat position change with the front roll hoop height, as you now sit between the lower chassis rails instead of on top of them so you sit about 1.5" lower. I am not really worried about it, as I expect that area to be used up by a reasonable seat cushion unlike the current one. The only other thing I noticed as the firewall/seat back is really wide, just as it is now, might look into bending the upper side tubes just forward of the drivers shoulders to decrease the width in the future. Overall I am very pleased with it, lots to do though. Anyone wondering about cost, the table ran me about $1500, and I expect to spend about $1000 on fixtures. For those of you with access to my google drive, as soon as I release the rear end fixtures to the laser cutter I plan on dumping all the chassis/table/fixture files in there for you.      |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:21:40 GMT -5
For those with access to the Google drive I have changed some things around, I dropped all the files that were in the folder into a sub folder called 2014 vehicle and now there is a new folder called 2015 vehicle that has the new chassis, table, and fixtures. This is a work in progress but the parts you see are the parts I am using, some have not been made yet and I will update as I find problems. An easy one is the front hoop/bell crank fixture in the model no longer represents what you see in the pictures on this page as I changed it where I saw the need to add more. Working on the movie Vilzer, been busy, it will be up tomorrow hopefully, I am just doing one with my best time. Beyond being busy I also shot the film in 60fps which is giving me a lot of issues just trying to get a way to play it back properly. Look for a link in that previous post. Video is posted on the autocross link, repost below. Andrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:22:29 GMT -5
Hey Captain, how are you?
Just watched your last video, awesome.
I see in your video your head sits high in the trike, the wind hitting your head at speed must drive you insane. In my trike my head is much lower and I also have a windscreen of sorts, but if I don't have a helmut on the fatigue from the wind exhausts me and I mean I am buggered after a couple of hours. How do you find it?
Ned
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:23:34 GMT -5
Ned, Yeah I have noticed that the wind is a bit of a problem at high speed, and if I put my hand up at a 90 degree angle off the top of the gauge cluster I can minimize what I feel on my face. Not sure how to deal with this in the immediate future, honestly it doesn't affect me that much. If I went lower the trike would be longer, this would all be easier if I wasn't so tall. I have much more of an issue with my ankle trying to keep my foot of the gas pedal, after 30 minutes or so it starts to really hurt holding your foot at an angle. Andrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:25:13 GMT -5
With the height of your cowl, a very small piece of flat plexi, to be viewed over, not through, could make a lot of difference without much affect on forward vision. It would be easy to experiment with size and angles. As you already have a lot of flat surfaces, it would integrate just fine. Besides wind, it would also help against gravel and keep your helmet visor free of bug juice. My shield is several inches below my line of sight, yet I can cruise at highway speeds wearing a baseball cap (bill forward) without fear of having to pull over to retrieve it. Does your state require a helmet for trikes? |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:26:36 GMT -5
Triple, I realize the idea behind it, just making it look good, not like its an after thought is my current stumbling block. I am required to have a helmet in NC, I would probably wear one anyway. I don't get to many crashes, but the number one thing that has helped me is to separate individual parts into sub assemblies. Before I did this the vehicle assembly was probably around 4-500 parts, afterwards its down to about 30 sub-assemblies, so there are way fewer mates in the main assembly which severely cuts down the calculation time when you move something. So when I do my a-arms now the rod end without the ball is included in the a-arm assembly and the chassis/upright have the ball in their respective assembly. So when you go to put them together its very straight forward as solidworks views assemblies in other assemblies are as immovable parts. This allows an a-arm to be placed with 3 coincident mates; one each of the balls and it becomes very easy for the computer to work out its motion path. Since I had started doing that looking at motion paths of the suspension is a breeze. Andrew |
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Dec 22, 2018 0:27:34 GMT -5
September 2015 Looking good down under, almost had a heart attack when the first car whizzed by on the right side of you. I still want to see film of this wheel lift you have if that is still occurring. Finally got over being sick and got back to working on trike number 2, fixtures are now all built correctly. I am picking up the first bent piece from the laser cutter tomorrow afternoon, the gauge cluster cover, time to see how close reality is to CAD model assuming the part is made to spec. I now have enough fixtures to make all the main chassis bars, just takes time working through everything and making sure the welds don't pull everything out of place. Also got to working on the body work in CAD, first draft looks like two pieces of aluminum, cut and bent, that clam shell the chassis with a fiberglass nose cone to match the profiles.         The trike needed a wash so I drove it home from work today in the rain. Andrew |
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I usually knock down the res to keep the file size smaller but I think its still larger then what most people use at that point, if you need something bigger then what you see here feel free to PM me and I will email you what your looking for. Personally I think the picture that I use as my personal tag on here with all the color is the best one even if its a bit dated (a year at this point). That was the only one not taken by me, it was used for an article on a motorcycle enthusiast website. I will attach it to the first post in full size so you can grab it easily.
, flashes of my dead body plowed into a tree usually keeps me off the limit.