[Inquisitor720]

Interesting!... using the cross over bar to pick up the other end of the bike axle.

I was hoping to find a real light-weight car's double wishbone suspension. At least the upright, knuckles, disk brakes and axle and weld up my own wishbones if necessary.

[MalcolmB]

[

Originally Posted by Inquisitor720

I was hoping to find a real light-weight car's double wishbone suspension. At least the upright, knuckles, disk brakes and axle and weld up my own wishbones if necessary.

Let me know if you find any I've been looking for something similar for some time. I'd like to have a go at building a tilting trike one day.

[Inquisitor720]

Originally Posted by MalcolmB

[
Let me know if you find any I've been looking for something similar for some time. I'd like to have a go at building a tilting trike one day.

Well, I'm not sure how heavy you were thinking... but I stumbled over ATV's. They'll be overkill for what I need, but close enough. Some are quite heavy and they take far more abuse than a street car ever will. And there are plenty of people wrecking or getting bored with them. They're getting pretty sophisticated so getting light weight, fully independent suspensions looks pretty easy also. Just doing a search "ATV spindle" on eBay got several hundred hits.

[TomA]

You might want to take a look at Doug Malewicki's California Commuter for inspiration. Its still the high water mark for efficient road trikes, 40 years on...

http://www.canosoarus.com/03CalifCommuter/CalCom01.htm

Could be enlarged into a two seater maybe, but either way, its a sound design.

[sunworksco]

If you are on a budget , I would buy a tandem bicycle and use an Astroflight.com brushless DC motor with a Castle electronic speed controller.
If your heart is set on a reverse trike, look at the CatTrikes bicycles.
If you can afford to build a heavier trike, you can machine Ducati 1098 design wire wheel Hub centers, use stainless steel spokes with aluminum rims.
I have the Ducati hub design drawings if you can build these wheels. The great thing about these custom wheels is that they can take the lateral forces and also use automotive tires and inexpensive compared to the stock Ducati 1098 wheels.
The wheels are also pin-drive center-lock, nothing better than that.
Denis Palotov can machine the axles, uprights and wheel hubs.

[Inquisitor720]

Originally Posted by sunworksco

If you are on a budget , I would buy a tandem bicycle and use an Astrolight brushless DC motor with a Castle electronic speed controller.

Although I already have the motor and controller parts, I am interested in looking at your references. I found the Castle speed controller, but am having troubles finding the Astrolight brushless DC motor. Do you have a link handy?

I have the motor: 2.5 Hp continuous at 130Volts, 10 Amps. I’m hoping to get close to 4.0Hp for short durations. It cost $29 on eBay.

The speed controller, I plan to make my own. I’m going to use either a Netduino or Arduino micro controller for the brains. These can be purchased for as low as $18. And for the power handling, I have the Mosfet capable of handling 200 Volts and 30 Amps for $2. Throw in a few nickels for miscellaneous hardware pieces and a little software programming and I’ll have a power controller.

If all goes well, using the same microcontroller, I can add
· speedometer and odometer functionality
· engine and battery temperature sensors
· brake regeneration
· pulse battery charging capability
· diagnostics and history data

[hmincr]

I am slowly gathering parts for a tilting reverse trike. I find Motorcycle (Ninja) wheels on ebay. Just paid $8.19 for one. No tire, no brake rotor. I HAVE paid as little as $10.00 for 1 with tire and brake rotor. Average prices are around $20.00 across the board.

I also buy Moped wheels and put new tires on, for my E Bicycle-scooter I'm starting. I live on top of a hill, that's an average of 15% incline in 2 miles of distance.

Down here, in Costa Rica, rules are very lax. We don't even need pedals on an e Bicycle, yet

Controllers can be found for around $110.00 - $150.00 for high power hub motors from BIG scooters. Again, check E-S forum.

As stated, there is a LOT of good info on the E-S forum, same as here.

[Inquisitor720]

Originally Posted by hmincr

... I'm starting. I live on top of a hill, that's an average of 15% incline in 2 miles of distance.

If anyone is in need of Regenerative Braking... you're it!

[Salty9]

Malcolm's link to Stuart Mills did not work for me. I did find this which might be the same. http://www.vehicle-designer.co.uk/etrike.htm

[john818]

Originally Posted by Inquisitor720

Woodsmith
Light weight – I going as light weight as I can for the price. Meaning I’m not going to go all carbon/epoxy just to save weight. Obviously, most of the weight is going to be the batteries and until I get these motors tested, I can’t really size that for my distance. But I’m taking a WAG here and I’m being way optimistic.
~150 lbs for the drive train including batteries
~300 lbs for two people
~50 lbs for frame
~50 lbs for body
~100 lbs for 3 wheel/tire/brakes
~50 lbs for misc.
So… I'm guessing the wheels and frame can be closer to an HPV than to a motorcycle.I checked out the EnerTrac and didn’t know they made hub motors that powerful. But if they don’t show the price on the web site, I’m sure it’s over my budget.

400 lbs is going to be tough for a 2-seater, especially on a budget. I think the BugE is around there, but it's a single-seater. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out! I'm thinking about doing a trike build myself. Took some time off my planning, but I'm looking into it again.

Don't know how much you know about reverse trike design, but I assume you'll do your research. From what I've heard, a good rule of thumb is to distribute weight so that it's equal on all three tires. Don't know what you're thinking of doing for steering and suspension, but you might want to learn about Ackerman angles and bump steer, although if you don't have significant suspension travel, bump steer probably won't be a problem.

In case you haven't taken Salty9's suggestion yet and checked out Endless Sphere, you'll find lots of info there, although much of it won't be applicable to your build. Most of the info is for bicycles, but they have plenty of pedal/electric hybrid tadpole trikes capable of 40mph or so. They're not legal, since most parts of the US would require that something that fast be registered, and registration would require brake lights, turn signals, DOT tires and such, but you might get some ideas.

By the way, the Enertrac price IS listed. It's $1295. Mark, the owner, doesn't recommend it for non-leaning trike use, but I'm looking into it anyway.