TerrorTubby’s Reliant trike Make: 2 Blokes in a shed
ModeL: Crimson Darkling Engine and box Reliant 750 Frame and fabrication: Trike Paul and Gary Engineering: trike Paul Axle: Reliant with Mini Lites Front End: Suzuki GS 850 Forks and running gear Frame Finish: Mick and Gary Paint: Martin. This started life as a frame bought off an online auction site. By the time I'd got round to starting the build and realised it was not fit for purpose it was too late to do anything about it. When I first fitted all the parts it was apparent the frame was not square -so, after much discussion & a deep breath, my mate Paul & I decided to cut the whole back end off and rebuild it. The front would be changed and improved to suit our needs. We rebuilt the back end first and made a prop shaft with a back to back UJ and then got the axle mounted squarely and welded it all up. Once the frame was doing what it’s supposed to do, we mocked up the engine and box along with the tank and seats. We then sorted the mountings and foot controls. We rubber mounted the engine and box just as Reliant did in the original car. The pedals are home made to a design Paul has used many times before. They work well and give a good feel. A handbrake lever was fitted to the left side and the brakes were connected up and tested. The gearshift is something Paul made up too. It's a simple A arm design, but works remarkably well, taking out the sloppiness of some other trike gearchanges. It looks nicer than a bent stick or a welded up jobbie, works well and is smooth to use. The clutch on this is really light too and is easy to operate. The rear drums and one front disc are all connected to a single pedal on the right. The other disc on the front is operated by a Honda “Fireblade” master cylinder. It can be stopped rather quickly if needed. The dash holds the idiot lights and speedo, flanked by oil pressure and temperature gauges. It has the starter button mounted in the centre for easy access. The key is tucked away out of sight. All the other electrics are in a small box on the frame. The solenoid is up out of sight under the seat. The tank dash housing and mudguards were painted black at one stage but a mate knows a young lad who was trying to get into painting bikes. After a chat with the lad we decided to let him loose on the trike parts and what you see is what he did with them. Not too shabby for his first go. I don’t expect it to break any speed records but it’s running an SU carb instead of the original Zenith down draught and as soon as I can afford it I’ll get it tuned. I also want to have a stainless exhaust made for it with 4 down tubes instead of one. It rides really smoothly apart from a little shimmy at about 10 mph and then it settles down. The apes are sort of comfy and make a change from having my weight on my wrists on the GSXR. It’s pretty rapid off the mark and stops well and should do what we intended. We have some great roads with great views here in Derbyshire, so we won’t be rushing about on it. It’s a hardtail so I don’t see us doing any major trips on it but as long as we can get to Astle park for the NABD rally once a year and to Roughleys Bike Show in Stockport then that’ll do for me. Most of our riding is round Woodhead and Buxton way occasionally so we will never be in the saddle for more than an hour anyway. Paul did all the clever stuff on this and much of the credit for it even being built must go to him. I did a bit of filing here and there and some cutting and a bit of drilling but none of the good stuff. Paul showed me how to do some things and then left me to it and those will be the dodgy bits you can see on the trike. Mick and I did a lot of the finishing and refurbishing but had to rely on neighbours and friends to do all our heavy lifting. That caused delays some times as you can’t expect people to drop things every time you need a hand. The work Mick and I did on the trike was time consuming because we are both a bit crook. We can only muster three hands and one good knee between us. Mick was knocked off his bike about 12 years ago and is held together with baling twine; He lost his right arm as a result. I have bad osteo arthritis and drop things a lot. I fall to bits as the day progresses. Thanks to Paul for all your help. Mick too, no one polishes better than you mate. Cheers to Wendy and the kids for putting up with me. -TerrorTubby Update. It's now done just over 200 miles so it's getting a once over from Mick and myself just to check things. It's comfy for a hardtail and handles pretty well too. It does 70 comfortably and would probably get to 85mph if we ever tried to go flat out. Not over blessed with power but rather sprightly considering. |