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How to mount Bike wheels from one side
rowlocks - 8/10/11 at 04:54 AM

Hi,
What would be the best method of mounting a motorcycle wheel on a hub from one side? (for the front wheels of a trike).
If a bike rear wheel is used then it seems wrong to have car tires on the front. So much rubber at the front and only a small contact patch at the rear.
Also what kind of uprights/hubs would be best? Has anyone built their own?


I look the looks of these ones.

rayward - 8/10/11 at 06:25 AM

if you take a look a ducati 748's and 916's or Triumph Daytona t595 /speed triple they have a single sided swingarm which would make things easier i reckon

hth

Ray

scootz - 8/10/11 at 06:58 AM

The ones on the Sub (the trike in your photo) are custom jobs.

Your best bet are BMW rears that will fit straight-up to a conventional hub. I'm using the K1200 wheel on the back of my reverse-trike until I can afford a custom one.



The only problem with fitting 3 of them is the orientation as the BMW ones are not symmetrical - the wheel design tends to flow in the direction of the bikes travel. So you'll end up with one wheels design flowing in the opposite direction to the other two (does that make sense).

The ONLY way around it with the BMW design is to to buy one 6" from a K1200 (£250-ish), and then bag 2 six-inch rears from a R1200S / HP2 Sport which has the swingarm facing in the opposite direction (so all 3 wheels flow the same way). However... the R1200S / HP2 Sport wheels will set you back £500 a pop second hand (if you can find any!).

adithorp - 8/10/11 at 07:49 AM

Don't know a lot (anything) about trikes but, isn't the bike tyre the wrong sort of contruction/design for two wheel steering? It's designed to lean and roll over to the side when turning, hence it's shape, whereas on a trike (like a car) it won't. Aren't you just fitting tyres with a very small contact patch?
Surely the better answer is to find a car tyre for the rear? So you get better grip at the back (and front) rather than less grip at both ends.

smart51 - 8/10/11 at 06:02 PM

You're better off with nice square car tyres unless you're going to lean round corners. And they mount conventionally too, so you don't have to reinvent the suspension.

Benzine - 8/10/11 at 06:43 PM

Would it be possible to make your own simple hub that has a shaft that's threaded at the end? Slide the wheel & bearings on and tighten up...

I'm interested in this topic, I know there's talk of motorbike tyres not being suitable but the reverse trike i'd want to use them on wouldn't be going more than 50mph. I couldn't find any remotely thin enough car wheels & tyres

rowlocks - 9/10/11 at 04:44 AM

Would a 20mm shaft be strong enough to be held from one end?

I just saw this one. Doesn't look too bad but not as nice as the proper hubs.


One option to even the wear out would be to deliberately design the suspension so that the camber changes a lot when rolling over, so the edges get worn as well... Lol.

smart51 - 9/10/11 at 08:00 AM

quote:
Originally posted by BenzineI couldn't find any remotely thin enough car wheels & tyres


Smart Diesels have 135/70/15 front tyres which might do. Fiat Cinquecentos have 135 space saver tyres on a 13" rim (and are rated at 100MPH if you get them balanced). If you want thinner than that then you have to look at trailer tyres, which are not known for their grip or power handling.

scootz - 9/10/11 at 08:59 AM

quote:
Originally posted by rowlocks
Would a 20mm shaft be strong enough to be held from one end?

I just saw this one. Doesn't look too bad but not as nice as the proper hubs.


One option to even the wear out would be to deliberately design the suspension so that the camber changes a lot when rolling over, so the edges get worn as well... Lol.


I quite like that front-end arrangement!

You could mount sports bike front wheels on those and with a little extra fabrication run all 4 bike calipers as the doner bike intended. Very much style-over substance as the contact patches on 2 x 3.5 inch width front bike wheels would be awful, but it would look uber-cool (IMHO!).

Can you get decently grippy car tyres that would fit a 3.5" wide 17" diameter wheel?

Russell - 9/10/11 at 09:40 AM

You need to be looking for sidecar tyres. They are like thin car tyres with a flat tread pattern.
I mean the Wallace and Gromit type sidecar, not the leany outy clingy onny round the bendy racing type sidecar.

rowlocks - 11/10/11 at 10:24 PM

quote:
Originally posted by scootz
You could mount sports bike front wheels on those and with a little extra fabrication run all 4 bike calipers as the doner bike intended. Very much style-over substance as the contact patches on 2 x 3.5 inch width front bike wheels would be awful, but it would look uber-cool (IMHO!).


4 calipers on the front would look awesome! Probably wouldnt be good for unsprung weight though.

Isnt the size of the contact patch determined by the weight of the vehicle and the tyre pressure? So with car tyres you would have a wide but very thin contact patch unless you underinflate the tyres, which would be really good for hydroplaning...

Simon - 11/10/11 at 10:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Benzine
I couldn't find any remotely thin enough car wheels & tyres


How about Citroen 2CV wheels. Light and thin

ATB

Simon

[Edited on 11/10/11 by Simon]

scootz - 28/10/11 at 07:05 PM

quote:
Originally posted by rowlocks



Can anyone point me in the direction of any further info on this trike? I just want to see the front upright design in better detail.

Cheers.

Benzine - 28/10/11 at 07:09 PM

http://www.eco-exo.com/gallery_3.html

tompat3463 - 28/10/11 at 07:23 PM

quote:
Originally posted by scootz
quote:
Originally posted by rowlocks



Can anyone point me in the direction of any further info on this trike? I just want to see the front upright design in better detail.

Cheers.




IKEA

scootz - 28/10/11 at 07:41 PM

quote:
Originally posted by tompat3463
IKEA


scootz - 28/10/11 at 07:41 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Benzine
http://www.eco-exo.com/gallery_3.html


Thank you!

Benzine - 28/10/11 at 10:17 PM

No problem!

Just been googling 'trials car', do they use bike wheels?













[Edited on 28-10-2011 by Benzine]

trikerneil - 29/10/11 at 11:25 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Russell
You need to be looking for sidecar tyres. They are like thin car tyres with a flat tread pattern.
I mean the Wallace and Gromit type sidecar, not the leany outy clingy onny round the bendy racing type sidecar.


Avon S&M MkII




As used on the front of many "right way round" Trikes

HTH

Neil

scootz - 29/10/11 at 12:25 PM

Would they be 'grippier' than a similar width bike tyre?

scootz - 29/10/11 at 01:27 PM

Sorry to be hijacking your thread Rowlocks... just thought it would be best to keep all the info in the one place.



I'm having a 'moment' and can't work this out for myself!!!

Could this type of wheel be run with a single brake-disc on the inside only on a spindle-hub, or would this cause wobble???

Cheers!

JF - 30/10/11 at 06:55 PM

No wobble shouldn't be a problem. As you remove equal weight around the entire wheel there is no change in balance, hence no wobble. There will be a slight weight difference left to right, but that doesn't matter... ever had a good look at your average car wheel?

I'd be more concerned about side loading on sleek/delicate wheels like that though...

scootz - 4/11/11 at 02:29 PM

Cheers!

Any other opinions on this one!?

designer - 4/11/11 at 03:55 PM

have to agree that there will be no wobble.

But, as with mine, I am more concerned about side forces on a wheel not designed to take any.

scootz - 4/11/11 at 07:04 PM

Ta.

I was originally dead against using bike wheels for that same reason, but I'm getting less and less concerned about it as time goes by.

My trike should comfortably be less than 300kg, and I wouldn't imagine that I'll be pulling high lateral loads with two 120 section bike tyres on the front!

I'm steadily drifting from 'go' to 'show' on this project!