Hi Peter
Have a look at something like this. Maybe you could repair this yourself underway, When needed ....
http://ropeandcanvas.blogspot.com/2014/08/for-sale-velokit-trike-body.html
Have Nice Day and dont give up your Dreams just because all here dont understand them
Kind regards
Kjeld
Hi Kjeld,
thanks for this link
Looks OK for a Sunday trip in the park, but in strong wind conditions, this would be torn into pieces in a very short time I guess.
Also the sun would roast me under this huge clear window
I never give up my dreams, so far I have fulfilled ALL of my dreams and I will go on this way
I have finished almost impossible tasks against all the advice from countless TV-couch experts ...
I will build a simple frame based on the "
StreetFighter", which is as simple as it can get,
KISS approach ...
Will lift the seat about 25 mm higher, to have a ground clearance of 150 mm for bad roads. (original has 125 mm clearance)
Also, the rear end will be slightly different to accommodate a 150 litre cargo box.
Built in steel, which will give me about 25 mm flex and twist, adding fat tires and I have a simple and decent suspension, very light, very cheap and easily repaired if anything should break.
The whole ready to go frame will weight about 15-16 kg, not too bad I guess.
Using local materials will save me also from importing special CNC parts, which cannot be repaired here and are very costly to import,(adds 100-150% with import duties and shipping), which is insane.
Adding big flat cargo rack with a 150 liter lockable box on the top of the rear axle and I am ready to go
If everything works out fine, I consider a fairing too, something like this one ...
Could be built in
WRC strip planking or a wooden (maybe Carbon) frame covered with Dacron Sail Cloth, have to play around with it to get the lightest possible fairing.
.
I have built a Canoe once with this system and it was pretty strong and durable, only the UV killed the Dacron after 3 years of hard use in the tropics...
I believe a "woody" would be the best option, looks great, relative light and incredibly strong and a lot of fun too
I like also the HASE idea, which looks very usable to me and should not weight too much.
A almost perfect sun protection with minimal weight, easy to build and repair and could be used as a tent too when designed properly.
Seems to be aerodynamically quite good too, especially for head winds.
Resonances no gear and road noise and I can breath fresh air, just have to cover my face from the sun ...
I also consider a DELTA trike, which would provide me with ample cargo space above the rear axle.
Those Delta´s are very simple machines, easy to build and very comfortable too.
I am cruising in the 20-25 km/h range and I am NOT racing, therefore a Delta could be a nice option too.
I will probably build a Delta and a Quad frame and then test it out what is the best option for me.
The frame made out of steel cost me almost nothing, (frame raw materials about U$ 20,-) and I can use the wheels and components for both designs, so no big deal ... estimated total cost for the prototypes no more than U$ 400,- with decent bike hardware and wheels.
If everything works out fine I will install a Rohloff with a triple chainring in the front.
An electric assistance I canceled too, too heavy, too expensive, not reliable and does not bring too many advantages on long trips.
I would have to bring
3 m2 of solar panels, heavy batteries etc... NO point crawling with this kind of gear and weight along...
I have a
pure solar car in my mind too, but that´s a totally different approach, but very interesting too
They spent U$ 1.5 million on this baby, but I believe that I can build a similar one for about U$ 10.000,-, which would be maybe 20% slower, but that would be totally OK for me, because I could never afford to compete and race in Australia with that kind of professional and heavily sponsored teams.
So now I have to build my workshop first, the spring is coming soon here and nothing can hold me back
Will be an interesting project indeed ...
Kindest regards and enjoy your day.
Peter
