Engineering

I was impressed recently when i saw the fabulous outcomes of my brothers blood, sweat and tears in the renovation of his Grade II listed thatched cottage. He has a fabulous streak of Nike in him. It inspired me, and so I've decided to "Just do it"....... But where to start?
I need to get the headstock turned and so hit the internet, Back Street Heroes mags, and contact recommendations of Hughie to find a suitable engineering company to make my bit.
There are hundreds of small engineering companies here in the West Mindlands (though sad to say they are reducing in numbers these days) - but i dont really know what im asking for (Ive never had a headstock requirement before) so i really wanted a MOTORCYCLE engineering workshop, and i wanted one that i could go visit to talk through my requirements - so i wanted a custom bike builder in Birmingham. [and while we're on the subject, my definition of a custom bike builder doesnt include boutiques that buy and sell chromed harley parts and airbrushed helmets]
Up until now I had planned to use Ray at BlackSpur [see earlier blog entry], but sadly that business appears to be no more (another example of small specialist back street engineering companies being pushed out by housing developments) and so a new search was necessary
My searches found a couple of people who over the phone showed little interest, a couple of people who i suspected were going to outsource the turning, and a couple of people that were simply going to be too far a drive to get to.
Exasperated, I glibly typed "headstock" into ebay, and bugger me, there was someone offering to turn a head stock to my requirements! fifty quid! But surely thats too dodgy to buy a bit of engineering from an unknown on an auction site? But wait!...... whats this? this chap is in the midlands, he has a website, he builds custom trikes and bikes, he is 6 miles from my house!
I call him. Kev is a nice guy. He is interested in my project. He invites me over.
And what a fab workshop it turns out to be. And what a skilled engineer - hes been in this business for 6 years. There are 4 bikes in progress, one trike and hanging from the roof, a ready for sale, complete soft rear trike end. His engineering facilities are clean, tidy and well lit. And he made time to chat. Brilliant :-)
For all your custom bike manufacturing needs talk to Kev at www.projex-uk.co.uk
The only downside is that "reliant engine" is a sinful concept in Kevs world, so as long as i can keep talking about trikes and not about engines, i think Kev is going to be a really useful chap on this project. All ive go to do now is to continue to "just do it"

Geometry

As i start to lay the 3 major components (rear axle, engine/gearbox, front-end headstock) out onto my jig, I'm starting to wonder about centerlines. Up until now i'd assumed that everything is symmetrical - that is, the differential is in the middle of the rear axle, and the crankshaft is in line with the prop-shaft.
On closer inspection it seems like they are pretty well all designed to be on line down the center line of the vehicle - but how would i know? Does the engine have an off-center center of gravity? is it shifted in the original Reliant Robin to give more leg clearance for the driver? Does the long prop-shaft accommodate this in a way that my soon to be shortened prop-shaft couldn't? and would an offset, off-weight engine have a significant effect on the handling of my trike?
So many questions, and so few absolute answers?
I return to my mission statement (i should have it laminated and hung on the wall really) - "to create a trike of beauty" - The fog lifts and all is clear.... mount the engine so it LOOKS right - which in this case is on centerline of crankshaft. It will mean that the radiator will have to be shoved over (to be back on centerline of the vehicle) so it wont be getting the most direct benefit of the fan, but i guess it will generally keep cool enough if i drive fast enough!

And then there is the rake angle of the front-end. If i lean it back as far as i would like, will it make the handling dangerous. Check out wiki to make your own decision - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_and_motorcycle_geometry

building momentum

Ive been feeling frustrated (again) - having blown the dust off the black spanner, I was feeling like I would never have time to get back into the garage - there always seems to be too many other priorites - not least having to work to earn a living.
So what to do? well, clearly the only thing to do was go and work in the garage while I was supposed to be working for my employer! :-/ Actually, it was my boss who suggested it!
Could i use the time in the garage productively to think about stuff while i was tinkering?

Im not sure if i was very productive for my paymaster (though i do feel less stressed after 3 hours of metal bashing - and surely they will benefit from be being a bit more smiley) and i did write a few notes later in the afternoon on some clarity that came to me about a bit of work we are doing at the moment. Whatever, I think this is an experiment that requires some further research :-)

So Ive got the rear axle clamped square and true to the jig mounting frame. I enjoyed getting back to a bit of sawing, filing and welding. My welding is rubbish; im using a little 120A stick welder, and i was doing it outside in the rain. I comfort myself that my pigeon muck is plenty good enough for the time being for jig brackets - frame welding will require some new kit and lots of practice

The Black Spanner is back

Its been over a year since the black spanner and I enjoyed each others company. In that time its been gathering dust and generally been getting in the way of other mini projects.
A year ago I was planning to make a jigging fixture that would hold all the necessary lumps in the right places while i welded a frame around them. And today I implemented my year old plan

As you can see from the photo, ive taken 2 lengths of 40mm kitchen worktop (i figured that these would be stable enough to hold everything pretty well steady) - joined them at one end to from a T - you can probably guess which end is forward and which is back. I ran a circular saw cut along the lengths before bolting them together and will use these as my centerline references.
Ive bolted underneath 4 heavy duty castors (courtesy of The voice of reason - trust him to have a set clean and available) so i can now move the project around a bit to get better access to it in my tiny garage.

There is nothing especially clever about what ive done here other than the fact that ive actually done something! and boy that made me feel so good. I am so looking forward to making the black spanner a priority again :-)