Mach3 - Change the Front Wheel

I changed the front wheel to a 24" one (had to cut the brakes assembly off to do this and patch the fork and grind things smooth again) ... and rode it around.  Pretty nice.  Then I changed it to a 26" wheel (the brake assembly was still off).  It rides pretty good and is the same size as the rear wheel.  Which means you can theoretically make it from just one donor bike.

sideview with the 26" wheel

Brakes removed

sideview of the front fork

Wheel clearance of front fork ...

too close for caliper brakes,

awkward even with "V" brakes

Another view of fork clearance

This view shows the roller for the return chain.

It keeps the chain from swinging back and forth and wreaking havoc.  I had to drop it down a little so that the chain didn't rub the bottom of the frame when on the big gear in the back and the big gear in the front at the same time.

Fork & Wheel

Here's where I'm at now.

I probably should have made the fork a bit wider at the top ... if this wheel ever warps, that nylon drive-ring will be hitting the fork. Maybe I can scrounge up some more 1.25" square tubing and make another fork ... and another pair of dropouts.

My intention is that I will mount that GEBE 32cc Tanaka engine on the rear wheel ... wait, I think I told you this already ...

Okay, well there it is ... clamped to the work bench.

by-the-way ... it's upside down at the moment.

Warrior Trike - Other Things on Hold

AtomicZombie has just released the plans for the

Warrior Racing Trike

http://www.atomiczombie.com

I want to build one!!!

I already have enough square tubing for it.

Construction process for the rear forks ...

I deviated from the original plans ...

they called for square tubing all the way to the end

With just a 45 degree cut/taper.

After reading the plans completely thru one time. I knew that what was intended for the rear dropouts wasn't going to work for me. I needed to make thin sections at each end so that my GEBE 32cc Tanaka engine could mount to the rear axle. I also had to bend them slightly so that they would have a straight even area to attach the dropouts and rear wheel. I clamped them on either side of a 5-1/4" wood block for the wheel spacing.

The plans called for 1-1/2" tubing ...

Which I considered major overkill. Besides I had some 1-1/4" tubing left over from the DeltaWolf trike I built ... So I made the rear forks out of the smaller tubing. And since I used up all the smaller tubing, I'll make the rest of the frame out of the larger tubing.

So this is what I accomplished today.

All the ends are capped and the welds have been ground ... sort of smooth ...

Tomorrow is dropouts and the seat tube.

I'm considering changes to the dropouts to work with screw-in rear derailleurs.

One of the rear pieces is slightly thicker than the other ... I discovered that it worked just fine if I welded a 3/16" plate piece that was 3" long, and the width of the tubing. I cut away all but the inside wall of the tubing ... welded the plate onto the inside of that wall past the point of the slant. Then welded the slant cap on. The thicker one was the first one and I over-laid the plate with a tubing cap. NOT! Only cap the 45 degree slant after welding the plate in. It will be more than sturdy enough.