# reverse trike/scooter



## Andy.Baloo (Aug 11, 2012)

to pass the time while l wait for a motor for my "gator" l thought l would have ago at something a little smaller using parts l can find or obtain cheaply, l was thinking along the lines of a stand on 3 wheel scooter that l could use to go around the farm tracks on,

l have 2 wheels and tyres the same size and one a bit smaller so that works out ideal for a trike, l have a rear axle from a suzuki sj l can cut down to give me around 3'6" wide across the tyres so as it will drive into the back of an estate car with the steering bars removed so that l can take it down the local park or where ever,
motor is 8.5" diameter, 2000rpm, 24v, l was thinking of mounting it above the axle and chain driving down to the diff with a 4 to 1 reduction or there abouts, not really sure how to go about the steering,
either rear wheel steer via the handle bars or brake either front wheel independently to make it turn or both ??

heres the bits l have laid out how l think they might go ??
just need to find a cheap contoller and l will have all the required components


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

Andy.Baloo said:


> ...so that l can take it down the local park or where ever,


Be careful with that. There are power and speed issues regarding what can be used on the public path.

On the road and you are limited to 15mph and 250w continuous power as a bike, but it must also have pedals. Any more and it becomes a moped and will need to meet motor vehicle regs.
In a park it would be limited to the same as above as a bike with pedals and only on bike paths. Otherwise not at all.

It is the same problem that Segway have that it is not legal in the UK, on or off the public road.

On private lane with the owners permission is fine.


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## Andy.Baloo (Aug 11, 2012)

well l finally got some time to mess with the trike, been far to busy with work all week which turned the workshop into a right mess, spent most of sunday just tidying up but its good to see the floor again lol


l spent several hours thinking about wheels and gearing but just went round in circles  it kept getting out of control and growing bigger,
l like these wheels and tyres as they have plenty of grip on wet grass










downside to these is the rim diameter is so small l cant get the drum brakes up inside the wheel










l could modify some smaller brakes or use some discs and calipers of a quad bike but that involves spending money 
l would like to keep everything suzuki based if l can as l have lots of spare axles, brakes, wheels, tyres etc 

so more rumaging produced these wheels and tyres off a big mower




















good news is that the stud patten is suzuki and that the drums fit up the inside, bad news is that the tyres have around 5mm of tread left and a very closed patten which might be ok for dry grass but would fill up with mud in the wet and give me two fat slicks which wouldent want to go anywhere ,









l looked at some new tyres for these as l quite like the width but 26x12x12 tyres are big money or at least they are in 8 ply which most seem to be

next up was these which are the wrong stud patten but as they are just a flat plate centre l can re drill them to suzuki patten










l might switch from an sj axle to a sidekick/vitara one since that has provision on the top for bolting to a ball joint which in this case would become the motor mount making it a nice compact unit


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

When you decide on the wheel size let me know what the rolling diameter is and I will do a gear calculation for you.


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## Andy.Baloo (Aug 11, 2012)

Woodsmith said:


> When you decide on the wheel size let me know what the rolling diameter is and I will do a gear calculation for you.



hi Woody

l think l am going to use the grass wheels and tyres of the old mowing machine as the "fat" tyres have grown on me 

the tyres measure 75" around, l have found a small sprocket for the motor which has 13 teeth, looking on ebay for "wheel" sprockets l see l can get anywhere from 34 teeth to 52 teeth quite easily and cheaply

the thing l am looking at is overall diameter of the sprocket l am mounting on the diff, l dont want it to hang down lower than the diff casing so that might limit my options a little or force me to use a jack shaft,

lots of if buts and maybes in my calculations, its a 24volt motor that is rated at 2000rpm but as you know l will have to feed it 48volts to marry up with the controller so do l assume it will spin at 4000 rpm when l double the voltage, guess it depends on load

the diff is 5.125 to 1 and the sprockets should give me a reduction of 
34/13= 2.6, so 2.6x5.125 gives me a 13.3 reduction from the 4000rpm

so if the motors doing 4000 rpm then 4000/13.3 gives me a wheel speed of 300 rpm, 300x75" every minute = 22,500"/min divide by 36 to get to yards/min = 625 yards/min times 60 to get to yards per hour = 37,500yards/hour divide by 1760 to get to miles an hour =21.3 mph 

but that is max spreed and the motor might only get to 3000rpm which would be 15mph, sound a good place to start ?? and then adjust as required

Andy


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

Those numbers look right and would be a good place to start. Took about 2 seconds on my spread sheet to check!

You probably wouldn't need to run at full throttle/speed, most of the time but the extra available would be useful for slopes and any increased loading.

Full throttle on my tractor lead to shrapnel!


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## Andy.Baloo (Aug 11, 2012)

took me a little longer than 2 seconds but l got there lol

l was having a play with the layout last night, think l will offsett the motor to one side to get it as low as possible probably sat right down on the axle tube,
one battery on the opposite axle tube to balance thing up and 2 or 3 down the centre spine, 3 gives me the lowest c of g but makes it a bit long at 6' overall, l can move the one battery up onto the top of the diff to allow me to move the rear wheel forward and reduce the wheelbase a little but this is robbing space where l might need it for the mounting of the steering column/gear, there is room in front of the axle for a battery or 2 but l really want to keep any weight between the wheels to reduce the chances of tipping forward in an emergency stop 







































getting in front of my self now but was looking on ebay at fairings, found this











if l could get just a front half it would fit over the axle/motor nicely then a seat of a motorbike to cover the centre batteries with a motorcyle rear mudgaurd/wheelarch covering up the rear wheel


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## Andy.Baloo (Aug 11, 2012)

well not much physical progress but a lot of thinking done and decisions made.

l have switched to a vitara/sidekick axle as its much stronger and has that handy threaded part of top which will be useful for mounting the steering gear on, oh and l had one kicking around looking lost and lonely 

l sent a few bits of to the shotblasters such as the drum brakes and diff casing although l might not use the drum brakes as l have found some of a scooter that are all complete with the levers, master cylinder, and calipers and these will probably be enough to stop such a light weight slow speed vehicle,
same as these





























l also had a few bits lazer cut such as the end mounting plates for the motor and the brackets that weld to the axle tube to carry the motor



















l also managed to find on ebay a motor bike rear sprocket that bolts straight on to the suzuki diff flange with no adapter pure luck that one











l think l am going for the John Dear look, green body/frame with yellow wheels and seat, single seat being important as it might be possible to register this as a light tractor 










phew that is bright l have always firmly believed axles and chassis should be black l have to see if this degree of brightness grows on me lol 


Andy


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

Andy.Baloo said:


> phew that is bright l have always firmly believed axles and chassis should be black l have to see if this degree of brightness grows on me lol
> 
> 
> Andy


Back in the late 80's I built a Land Rover bobtail that had yellow axles, red suspension brackets, green springs and dampers, and metalic blue chassis.

It was described as 'An explosion in a fruit bowl' by one inspection. It was MOD matt green on top.

My MGB was gloss white underneath with bright red suspension and yellow brakes and dampers and red primer on top.


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## Andy.Baloo (Aug 11, 2012)

Woodsmith said:


> Back in the late 80's I built a Land Rover bobtail that had yellow axles, red suspension brackets, green springs and dampers, and metalic blue chassis.
> 
> It was described as 'An explosion in a fruit bowl' by one inspection. It was MOD matt green on top.
> 
> My MGB was gloss white underneath with bright red suspension and yellow brakes and dampers and red primer on top.



lol you are obviously much more of a rebel than me when it comes to colour, l once ventured as far as a very dark grey on an axle  so painting a wheel yellow is revolutionary for me


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