Slow Progress ... Mach 2

Several years back, I cut up this bicycle to make a Mach 2 designed by A.D. Carson. It's kind of like a Tour Easy clone, but with a lower frame profile.
Anyway, I've finally started to work on the frame ... It was all kind of rusted and such ... so I've sanded, still have to grind the welds, and add the bottom tubes. Then I'll make a seat for it ... bend up some EMT tubing and weld it together. Then I'll have to seriously experiment with USS (under seat steering).

This is the view from the end ...
It's not too far out of whack ...
I'll tweak it some more before I weld the bottom tubes on.

Here's a look at the front triangle.
You can see that I ground the former bottom tubes off the bottom bracket (BB). At the moment it has a Schwinn front fork which has been modified for a 20" wheel. And, from the decals, you can tell that it used to be a "GIANT" bicycle. The Salt Lake City registration decal reminds me that I bought this bicycle from the D.I. Thrift Store in
St. George, UT. As I progress ... I'll show more fotos.

Finished Product?

This young fellow can't keep his hands off what is supposed to be his older brother's trike ...
Guess which one is most likely to ride this trike ...
2/3 rd's of the time ... probably this grandson.

This is a front quartering view.
16" front wheel
Geartrain from 24" bike

Right side view.
Pink steer rod from my "Bubblegum" lowracer.

Rear view.
S&B fiberglass seat with cover.
20" wheels

Here's a video of him riding by
just to show that it works.

Paint Job

My wife and the grandkids kept insisting that I needed to paint the trike.
So here's the frame with an undercoating on it.

I dislike spray painting when it is windy ...
but that was the only choice at the time.
Which meant I had to get way too close and some areas
aren't as nice as I'd like.

Another view of my classy paint shop.
Grandson wanted fluorescent lime green.

Disk Brake Frame Bracket

Okay ... the disc brake assembly bolts to that plate (see blog further down this page) ... the plate is screwed down onto these two tabs.

Of course, I couldn't mark where the tabs go without having the rotor disc mounted ... so I could get the correct spacing from the frame ... and the correct angle to fit the brake unit around the rotor.  Anyway, I positioned it ... looked at it carefully ... marked it with a sharpie ... took the axle off the frame ... held the brake unit (with tabs) in place ... tacked each tab ... took the brake unit off ... and finished welding the tabs in place.  Spent lots of time "truing" the rotor unit in hopes that it will rotate without side-to-side wobble.  

Making an Idler Wheel - Roller

This is my vertical lathe ... I needed some way to turn roller skate wheels into idler rollers ... This is being used on the return side of the chain on another recumbent that has a long swinging return chain.  Anyway, I tack welded a scrap piece of pipe to a scrap length of strap ... clamped it to my drill-press table ... which provides me with a tool rest.  I use my 1/4" straight chisel to "turn" the wheels (hollow out a chain groove) .  Sweet! 

Disc Brake Bracket

Overhead view of the brake unit ...
in the lower part of the foto ...
diagonally left and up from the maroon knob ...
you see a slot (or part of one) that the rotor disc fits into.
This unit clamps the rotor disc between 2 pads
to force the axle to stop.

This is the disc brake unit off my EZ-Speedster ...
Needed to adapt it so that I can mount it on the DW trike.
I discovered that when properly positioned, I couldn't reach these allen head screws. So, I built this little 90 degree bracket which can be screwed to 2 other tabs that are welded to the frame. This allows me to place this unit vertically down over the disc rotor
and screw it in place.
The fun part will be getting it all to work together ...
without the rotor wobbling too much ...

Brake Thingies

These are new brake pads ... 

some of the caliper brakes had the "C" pads

and the "V" brakes have the "V" pads.

I'll try whatever to see if they work.

The "V" brake that I added to the Speedster recumbent ...

had "C" pads on it ... 

and didn't seem to stop the wheel very well.

So, I changed to "V" pads ... now it works wonderfully.

(can't say the same about the caliper brakes ... )

(the ones on the trike ...)

This shows a disc brake rotor with an adapter on top of it.

I made the adapter to attach the rotor to the trike axle.

I just have to find nuts for the bolts ...

Here's a closer view of the adapter ... 

a 5/8" collar tack-welded to ...

and chunk of electrical box cover.

Flag Avoidance

When the flag is angled back and out to left ...
you find that drivers tend to go around the tip of the flag
and not try to crowd you and your bike.

Glitches & Mods #1

There's been a major glitch ... the brakes won't stop the trike. I've tried sanding the paint on the rims ... I've tried grinding off the hard rubber layer of the pads down to a fresh layer ... and nothing works. DRAT!
It rides and moves nicely otherwise! The boys think it is fantastic ... even though they had to use "Flintstone" brakes (drag your shoes on the ground).
I did read that one message about a smaller wheel further forward to change the chain angle so things work better ... I LIKE IT! This roller skate wheel had a soft outer layer ... but a hard plastic inner core.

Here's another view of the chain angle and routing ...
And, in case you were wondering ...
One grandson did go flying up over the curb today ...

Main Tube Bracing

Since this grandchild is known to "fly" off curbs ...
and in other ways test the limits of a bike ...
I figured I'd re-enforce the main tube.
Particularly since I only used 1-1/4" sq. tubing ...
(the plans call for 1-1/2" sq. tubing)

So, I tack-welded a piece of 3/4" angle iron
starting at the large gusset ...
running up to where the BB is set for kids.

Which places a triangular brace most of the length of the main tube.
I figure that should keep the grandkids from
bending the main tube.
I also re-enforced where the main tube and front up-tube meet.
(just in case ... )

More on Brake Brackets

Here's a view in the sunshine

A look at a bracket ...
The bracket is only 6" long ... so it's very sturdy.
we leaned 230 lbs on the end of this bracket ...
and we weren't seeing much flex.

Here's what the brackets look like from a front quarter view.
If I had mounted them so they were horizontal ...
they would have been longer ... and I would have triangulated them.

DeltaWolf Trike - Fully Functional

Here's rear-quarter view showing both the brakes and the gear train.

I decided to use caliper brakes ... base on
something Jack Baker made.
So I welded up mirror image brackets to hold the brakes.

Here's with the caliper brake mounted

side view of the brake mount.

Matching brake mounts ...
the left brake lever controls the left brake ...
and the right lever controls the right ...
might help in making high-speed pivot turns ...

Here's a side view ... with room for leg growth of the rider.

DW Trike Gear Train

After I cut the axle into two parts ...
I removed one side and attached the free-wheel
gear cluster and adapter ... and 4" pulley.
Just trying the chain on for size ...
and I need to weld closed all those open ends ...

The 4 rear frames ends and the end of the main tube are welded closed.
I put the other axle and wheel back on ...
and welded a rear axle to the frame to use as a dérailleur hanger.
Still need to run a cable so it will shift ... put on a chain roller ...
AND ... brakes.
I did go ride it down the street just to verify it works ...

DW Trike Seat Mounts

Here's a better view of the two seat mounts.

Lazy Man Bike

This is your basic "lazy man" bike ...
I only have to pedal going up hills.

I have a rearview mirror attached to my glasses ...
I have an attractive bicycle helmet ...
and a safety vest for visibility ...
There are reflectors ... but I still have to work on the lights.

Motor Assisted Recumbent

Here is the Sun EZ-Speedster with the GEBE (Golden Eagle Bike Engine) mounted on the rear. The disk brake is coming off because the engine frame wouldn't fit around it. And even if I had been able to attach the engine frame ... It would have clamped the disk mechanism so it wouldn't work.

I ran a ground line (soldered to the switch) ..
connected to the bolt securing the engine brace.
It works really well.

The kill switch lines weren't long enough to go to the handlebars ...
So it is held in place by the clamp that holds the water bottle.
The original throttle cable is shorter than desired ...
but is draped under the seat and functions
without reducing "free play" in the cable length.
When I get some more "bullet" connectors ...
I'll lengthen the lines and mount the switch on the handlebars.

Due to the chain on the other side ...
I opted to put the throttle lever on the left side.
Which doesn't conflict with the majority of my shifting

This shows the kill switch on my handlebar stem.

I had to cut one of these cable routing thingies
off of another bike and weld it in this position under the seat
to allow for optimum use of the cable going to the rear brake/

Since I couldn't mount both the engine and disk brake ...
And the rear fork area was too wide for "V" brake posts ...
I cut this unit off the front of another bike
and welded it to the rear.
The thought of going down hills with only a front disk brake ...
was too scary a thought for me to consider ...
and since I plan on riding this bike 11 miles to work tomorrow ...
attaching a rear brake became a HIGH priority!

EZ-Speedster GEBE 1

This is an EZ_Speedster that I've mounted a Tanaka 32cc engine onto. I'm switching from a disk brake on the rear to a "V" brake ...
I'll post a foto when I've finished working that out ...

Since I don't have the usual bicycle fender connection point ...
this is how I connected the support brace so it doesn't move forward-backward ...

Closer View of a Few Parts

Here it is with the pedals and steering.

That's a seat tube that is attached to the piece going into the headset.
This sits high enough to clear even my knees.

I copied the tilting setup that TrikeBuilder used on his DeltaWolf.

I changed out bottom bracket units ...
just trying to simplify my workload at this point.
Besides, this one is cleaner looking ...
(my welds are getting better)