Minicooper
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| posted on 10/7/11 at 02:49 PM |
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Fwd Bike Engined Trike
Hello, after becoming bored with my mini project haven't touched it for years now I have decided to something very different namely a bike
engined fwd trike. The mechanics of it are easy enough but the really hard part is making it look good, the styling of a lot of trikes rwd or fwd are
hideous to say the least, it will be even more difficult to make a fwd trike look good.
The overall weight to be no more than 300kgs excluding driver maximising the performance of the bike engine, options for the body are exo skeleton or
a more conventional box section round tube mixture with a grp lightweight body. I think getting the styling right is easier using the more
conventional route ie a lightweight grp body than an exo skeleton. The trike will be either single seater or twin seater in a tandem configuration as
a side by side twin seater look far too portly round the middle for me
Any pointers or thoughts will be most welcome
Cheers
David
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The Venom Project
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| posted on 11/7/11 at 10:47 AM |
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FWD Trike
I know a bloke who builds these and races a custom built FWD reverse trike at Olivers Mount.
To be honest its not my cup of tea, I think you will struggle to make it look nice without spending an awful lot of money on a bodyshell (Unless you
are very confident with GRP)
The guy who builds them is called Fred and his workshop is up in Tong near Bradford, him and his son build and race them.
Here is a link to his race trike. It goes like stink, but personally looks dreadful.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/olivers%20mount%20trike/dixonandrew/Oliversmt040692.jpg
Im sure you can wrap a body around it, but I guess he ain't too bothered, its built for speed not comfort, thats his wife on the back, she is
his race pillion. I personally think the whole idea of a trike is to enjoy someone else's company, so side by side for me is the way to go,
otherwise I would have bought another bike.
I suppose each to there own, Grinall are okay, but not really my cup of tea, think they could have designed a sleeker nicer body. Campagna T-Rex is
by far one of the nicest Trikes I have seen and been in, but you need a spare £30K
I have bought a RTR TR1KE, for me its everything I want from a T-Rex but a fraction of the price.
I have had a Boom Lowrider 1600cc which was so comfy and a lovely bit of kit, I just fancied something much more radical.
If you decide to go down the FWD route and want to talk to Fred, let me know, he might be able to help you.
Unless you are a compitent GRP moulder, look at maybe shelling out up to £4K for a sleek GRP body.
Cheers
Nick
It's not that i'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.....
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scootz
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| posted on 11/7/11 at 11:30 AM |
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If I was doing the FWD route, and it HAD to be a bike-engine, then I would go shafty (Kawa GTR14, Yama FJR13, Honda VFR12, etc) and hook the shaft
stub directly to a diff.
It's Evolution Baby!
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The Venom Project
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| posted on 11/7/11 at 02:29 PM |
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I think this engine he uses is or was a bandit 1200, and it had a very short chain drive. I have to say for engineeering it was quite interesting,
and it must work as they do win a fair bit 
The other issue with pillion seating is this trike he has is very long.
It's not that i'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.....
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tony-devon
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| posted on 11/7/11 at 03:08 PM |
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if your going with bike engined, then a lot depends on how much overhang you want beyond the front axle
a big shaft bike engine, with a sierra diff flipped upside down, linked together as short as possible, will work, but thats a lot of weight in front
of the axle line, however its the only way I can see of mounting the engine on the centreline of the chassis and thus helping weight spread.
maybe a bike engine turned sideways like in a car, but facing to the right instead of the left? this way you could get the weight back towards the
centreline if you ran unequal length shafts and had the diff slightly offset??
I never built a trike like that before, only ever RWD, oh and mine all have 2 at the back not 1 LOL
heavy is good, heavy is reliable, and if it breaks, hit them with it
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Kwik
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| posted on 11/7/11 at 04:38 PM |
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look at the morgan 3 wheeler.
to make it look good i think you will need to go a bit extreme, think almost ratrod/hotrod with the engine exposed at the front.
3 wheelers arnt inconspicuous by design, you are going to be noticed, so why not go a little crazy with the lines and go retro...
either that, or super aggressive look, big beefy front tyres and a mean face, the rest act as if it was the tail...
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iank
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| posted on 11/7/11 at 09:40 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by The Venom Project
I know a bloke who builds these and races a custom built FWD reverse trike at Olivers Mount.
To be honest its not my cup of tea, I think you will struggle to make it look nice without spending an awful lot of money on a bodyshell (Unless you
are very confident with GRP)
The guy who builds them is called Fred and his workshop is up in Tong near Bradford, him and his son build and race them.
Here is a link to his race trike. It goes like stink, but personally looks dreadful.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/olivers%20mount%20trike/dixonandrew/Oliversmt040692.jpg
Im sure you can wrap a body around it, but I guess he ain't too bothered, its built for speed not comfort, thats his wife on the back, she is
his race pillion. I personally think the whole idea of a trike is to enjoy someone else's company, so side by side for me is the way to go,
otherwise I would have bought another bike.
...
Cheers
Nick
That's the FRS trike they are currently productionising? Their website's not really got much on at the moment.
http://frsmotorsport.com/
More information here
and http://www.totalkitcar.com/tkc_article_2062.php
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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Minicooper
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| posted on 12/7/11 at 03:43 PM |
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Thanks for the replys,
Nick
I'm actually a MOD qualified laminator but it's not something I do often now as I hate working with the stuff, I've seen that
particular trike at Gurston Down a few years back now before the bodywork turned up, it certainly got the attention but maybe not in a good way, went
extremely well though. After looking around the web it seems that a fwd reverse trike with a wide front track and fairly long wheelbase seems to be
the way forward for stability.
What I'm going to do is plonk the whole lot in their rough positions on a build table and see how it looks, the front end on that trike looks
excessively long I would be looking at half that and not as high either, with the radiator in side pods or the rear somewhere
Scootz
"If it HAD to be a bike engine", it doesn't have to be but it should work well if it's very light, you seem against a bike
engine, any reason for that? Most shaft drive engines rotate the wrong way to use a conventional diff like I would need and also it would be very long
from the centre of the diff outputs to the other side of the bike engine, I looked in to this style of engine/diff combo for the rear of a mini and it
was a minimun of 30" meaning 19/20" was sticking out in front of the tyre not a good look.
Tony-devon
I'm thinking a bike engine in it's normal orientation centrally mounted and chain drive to a diff with unequal driveshafts, should be
fairly equal so I wouldn't expect any problems
Kwik
It would be noticed but I want it noticed for the right reasons ie looks good hopefully
Iank
Had a quick look, not sure what engine they will get in that front end, with the engine cowl pods looks like a boxer configuration of some sort
Cheers
David
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scootz
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| posted on 12/7/11 at 04:02 PM |
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I'm not really against a bike-engine... I think they're fab. I just think that a bike engine and chain combination wouldn't be a
kick in the pants off the length of a transversely mounted engine and gearbox from a FWD car.
Also, the FWD set-up is super common, so loads to choose from and in many cases it's pretty much a plug and play install!
It's Evolution Baby!
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Minicooper
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| posted on 21/7/11 at 11:27 PM |
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Hello all,
I have got some hubs now and was wondering if I can use a escort mk2 rack which I already have, upside down? I need to do this to as the steering rack
is now used behind the hubs and not in front as in a escort mk2, it also helps point the steering pinion more directly to the centre of the
vehicle.
Would it make any difference to the operation of the rack being upside down? I'm thinking not at all but always worth checking. The original
rack to suit the hubs is totally wrong and of no use
Cheers
David
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