Trike Frame Question

[SINNER]

Hi, just a quick question.
Is there an ideal track to wheelbase ratio for trikes?
My alcohol damaged brain thinks equal should be better.

SINNER

[Manky Monkey]

Hi Sinner -welcome back.
Don't know if ours could be described as ideal or not, but they seem to handle pretty well. They average out at about 4 foot 6 inches wide by around 8 to 9 foot long. Using a Reliant axle we can't make the width any wider without fitting wheels with loads of offset & we can't reduce the length much because of the Reliant motor & box we use.
I'd love to claim we arrived at the design by use of clever equations & geometry but it was pure trial & error -but seems to work.
Hmm, you seen the new Merchandise page? Wonder if we can interest you in becoming our first overseas sale?!
Have you made a start on that trike of yours yet? If so, show us some piccies! 

[SINNER]

Mmmm............. so, longer is better?
I have memories of the Honda fat wheeled trikes.  I rode one on a farm many years ago and spent more time getting it back on its wheels than on it. No wonder they took them off the market.

OK, my trike project. The guy that has the donor bike is going through the "yes/no" thing.  Been there three times to pick it up so far. He feels that "one day" he might find the time..........
I have to humor him because its an  '86 1100cc Magna with only 32,000 on the clock! All the damage is cosmetic. Instruments, footpeg and muffler. But, as they were never sold in OZ,  parts are like rocking horse poo.

You want pics? How about one of my new mig welder that I haven't had time to take out of the box yet?

Also I have to get rid of my last project to make some space.
Anyone want to buy a classic 1964 Holden?

Would it be classified as an overseas sale if you send to a UK address? I would pick up at a relos place, as I will be in your quaint little country next month.

SINNER

[Manky Monkey]

"Longer would be better" -how many times have I been told that over the years!   
I'm sure someone somewhere will have the equation for the perfect set-up; probably my brother Steve, knower of all things, but I can only go on personal experience & tell you that ours seem to handle fairly well. The first trike I built was for a girlfriend at the time & had an XS750 Yam' engine in a shortened & hardtailed bike frame with a Reliant axle narrowed by 11 inches -see Sharon's Yamaha in the Motors, 3 wheels section. It looked great but handled abysmally. Felt like it was going to fall over on every bend. Now we use standard width axles & keep the centre of gravity nice & low too & roadholding is much improved.
As to the length- we can't make our Reliants any shorter. The prop-shafts are only the two UJs butted together in a short length of tube as it is & the forks are standard length. just kicked out a bit further due to the low headstocks.
So no expert frame design -just the way it fell into place, but it works.
The Magna should make a nice trike power plant if you can ever get your hands on it!
Holdens are lovely looking things. Gonna send us a write up & some piccies so we can feature it in the Motors bit?
   

[Manky Monkey]

Yup, we're all very quaint here. We all talk like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins -except Yoda who talks like Mary Poppins, London is permanently shrouded in Victorian fog & we all know the Queen personally. 
Gonna do any bike or car events while you're here? The Bulldog Bash is the middle of next month & is one of the biggest "festival" type bike shows with 20,000 + bikers there. Would be great to hook up with you for a quick pint of warm British beer while you're about.
Yeah, any postal address is fine. Would be a real buzz to see our humble shirts on the other side of the World!   

[SINNER]

Well thank you for the kind offer Mr Monkey Sir.

I have 4 days in the London area on a "wife organised" tour, then its off to see the sites in the rest of the UK on a bus.
Then its off to Europe on a bus.
Email a phone No and I will try to call in a spare moment.

Pics of my EH?  I have no idea how to upload pics to this site. Point me in the right direction and you have them.

Got the Mig out of the box and it works!  Took about 10 minutes to sort it out, and the welds are passable.(just)

Off to see if this is the day to pick up the donor bike.

SINNER

[Manky Monkey]

A coach tour of the World eh? Presumably you'll be visiting StoneHenge, William Shakespeare's home, which stands on the white cliffs of Dover, next to Windsor Castle, which is surrounded by Hadrian's Wall, just up the road from Lands End & John O' Groats?
You can either email some piccies direct to me or Yoda, via the addressses on the Contacts page, or burn 'em onto a CD & post 'em. PM me for my address. Or bring the disc with you! If you fancy scribbling a quick write-up, (as I keep saying, doesn't have to be a literary masterpiece -just describe your car as you would if you were talking to a mate), write it in your word processor programme then cut & paste it into an email or burn it onto the disc.
MIGs are dead easy to use aren't they. Just got to make sure your settings are right & you're getting enough penetration on the welds. Takes a little practice but the results look nice. I'm not a qualified welder, just did an evening class course at the local technical college. It was enough to give me the confidence that I was doing it right.
Off to a classic car show now but will email you my land & mobile phone numbers later.
Good luck with the bike negotiations! 

[adriandiamond]

Take no notice of him Sinner....................Hadrians wall surrounds Buckingham Palace not Windsor Palace as Andy said.

[Manky Monkey]

Sorry, you're right. I was thinking of Edinburgh Castle on the Thames.

[SINNER]

Thanks to all the tour guides.
But I think I can get lost on my own.

SINNER

[SINNER]

OK, I was talking about flipping a diff over to get the correct rotation, and a knowitall mate said that a four wheel drive front diff rotates the opposite way to the back one.
Also an "older" Peugeot diff rotates the right way. That is: anticlockwise from the front.

Only half of my brain wants him to be right.

SINNER

[Manky Monkey]

Hang on, I'll give Flap a nudge. He's our resident landrover, four wheel drivey expert.

[flap]

Never really noticed before, I'm sure its  the same way as the back axle, isn't it? It must be, maybe   

[Manky Monkey]

See -told you he'd know! 

[adriandiamond]

Stop confusing the lad, he's asked a genuine question and should be given a respectable answer, after all isn't that what this site is about.

Sorry mate ignore them. On a 4 wheel drive front diff the left wheel goes round left ways and the right hand wheel goes round right ways. The diff itself goes up and down neither left or right. However, and this is crucial, in reverse it's the diff that goes left and right and the wheels now go up and down..............hope this helps