Its amazing how you can get so focused on the details of a job sometimes that you forget to stand back and see if the bigger picture is still as you planned in your initial vision.
Hugh came over today, and the sun came out (it always does where-ever Hugh goes) and so it seemed like a good excuse to get the Trike out of my pokey garage so that i could get better all round view of progress so far.
We shuffled the engine and front end back and forth by a half inch here and a mill or two there. We sat in the seat and jacked that up and down. We imagined what different handle bars would feel like.... and all in all, it felt good - I think im still on the right track.
One design objective is to ensure that I keep the length of the vehicle short enough to be in beautiful proportion (many trikes appear to be too long to me) - but to achieve this the headstock has to come in close to the engine block meaning that the radiator would have to sit outside (in front) of the two front frame tubes (i'd ideally fit the rad in between them to keep things tidy). As we jiggled the bits back and forth, I used the word "compromise"! Hugh was quick to pick me up on it.... but that now leaves me with some head scratching and fine details to work out if im going to keep it short AND fit the rad in the frame as i want.
The other point that raised its head as we stood around the front end was; just how much of an angle do the forks have to rotate through while turning (it has an impact on where i weld the frame to the headstock) - so Hugh is going to have a measure of the rotation on his own bikes
There is heaps of design work to do still, but im confident and very happy that i am going in the right direction
3 comments:
Looking good. This is the best time you, can still chenge the design. An hour here is worth ten hours later on.
The rad problem shows why bike and VW engines are so popular.
How great would it be if you could make a tank that fitted between the top of the engine and the top tubes. It would fill in the gap nicely and retain the low profile. If you were in America you would have guy just down the road who would make you one in polished aluminium. I don't think you budget will run to that - next time.
Its a good point about an underslung tank and one that has been floating around for a while. I was wondering if a fat stumpy fire extinguisher might do the job. I rather fancy a transverse tank. Maybe an air cylinder off a truck might do it?
You are absolutely right about the budget - ive got to start being very creative with resourcing parts
Whilst waiting for your next input I have just been looking at these pictures. I have been trying to imagine how the frame will react to the weight of the engine. I think you may have to consider some cross bracing to prevent the fram from "sagging" in the middle ( when viewed from the side.). I don't know how you intend to install the engine mounts or where the are situated. It could be that the cross bracig will be provided by the engine itself. I think there are some motor bikes that use the engine as part of the frame, Hugh will know. With the forks at that low angle any loads inside the frame will tend to want to bend the top tube down. For you thoughts.
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