Chain Drive 1

Okay, so I mounted a chain on the frame with idlers.  Only one gear on the front (the smallest one).  Only gear on the back (also the smallest one).  Took some photos.  Then rolled it out to the flat road out front, then took off riding down the street, turned right into the driveway, and rode down behind the shop.  It moves out pretty good.  I won't really know how well it will actually perform, until I get shifters, shifter cables, brake levers,  and brake cables on it.

In order to clear the tie-rod under the frame, I had to make this adapter.

This didn't turn out very focused ... bottom view of the trike.  I have a 3" idler roller (v-belt pulley) on the rear.  And a 2-5/8" idler roller (v-belt pulley) on the front. 

A view of the steering (trike upside down).  Front chain idler (2-5/8").  Brakes mounted.

Steering turned all the way to the right.  I can achieve these steering angles while riding (without the wheel hitting my leg).

Steering turned all the way to the left.

A view from the front (trike right-side up).  Clip on pedals are a must! (Crank Brothers Candy 2)

Here it is just before I took off riding.  Next addition is the return chain tube, some means to keep the drive chain from popping out of the idler rollers (it kept coming out of the front one), and brake levers & cables.

Under-Seat Steering (USS)

For my own information as well as yours ...

I took some fotos of the steering on a trike made by S&B Recumbents. This steering has also been modified for the use of a tiller-stick over-seat steering.

This is an overhead view of the steering mechanism.

It uses a round tube at 90 degrees to the main tube.

I believe it has 15mm axle Phil Wood hubs. It is definitely NOT very massive ... quite petite almost, but designed to carry a 250 lb. person.

Here's a view of a hub with the arm and both linkage rods.

This shows the connection between the steering and the linkage arms. There are additional tubes that are actually frame support members and not related to the steering. Pay attention to how the 90 degree arm is connected with the steering headset.

Note the chain routing ...

As wells as the linkage.

Here's a close-up view of the axle connecting with the headset. Notice the grease fitting.

With everything straightened up ...

This is a view of the bottom of the linkage.