Manky Monkey Motors

ok so this is a bit late in the day, but thought someone might like to see it, or you probably seen it on other sites?

this is my build, Im not a pro, not even an expert, just enthusiastic, got about 5-6 bike trikes, and 8 or 9 custom bikes to my name and had my first trike on the road on my 18th birthday, they are just in my blood

all work by me, built in a garage under someone elses house, where Im not even supposed to have electric LOL, luckily the guy that lives above it thinks my angle grinder is cordless :)

Im a bit of a loner, sadly this area has no custom scene, hardly even a bike scene (power ranger plastic fantastics meet to compare knob sizes and how much they have filed off their sliders but thats it), I dont have any mates that build bikes or trikes, so at time I do majorly get fed up and just leave projects festering due to lack of enthusiasm.

this one is so far 10 months work, but thats just the odd couple of hours here and there, and it was untouched for a couple of months due to personal problems.

my builds are always on a budget, they have to be, as I have bugger all money to my name and have to rely on money from a previous project etc, so I very rarely get to keep anything for very long as I need to sell it to raise cash

so having built a full hardtail GSXR engined chop for the sum of £460, I sold it for £1100 and started on this build

I tend to buy what I can afford or find local, then make it work.

total spend thus far, and its almost ready for MOT is about £1200, however theres another £41 I just spent on 2 tyres that might go on here, if I can find the £300 for the two wheels, so it could end up at more like £1500, but I am confident I will get my money back when its sold

so, it all started with a dirt cheap engine from ebay

GTR1000 with pile of extra bits, carbs, rear end etc etc £31

this sat in the garage under a blanket until one day I saw a sierra back end for about £60, and hey presto the seed was sown.

how I have done things isnt always the right way, but its the only way I could think of, or was the only way I could do it with my tools etc

I knew from the start that due to a bolloxed back, the frame had to be stressed member, so I can lift the frame about, in the end this weighed nearly the same as the friggin motor LOL

so I started laying things out, chocking the engine and diff at different heights and distances etc.

I tried to use a bit of common sense with some things, I bent up the 2 top tubes, they were welded side by side and then I sat it in place and worked out headstock angle etc, this in turn told me the angle of cut I needed across the end of the tubes to fishmouth over the headstock

so I made the headstock a nice size to mate up to the ends of the 2 tubes, put the top tubes of the frame in a mill, and using a milling cutter the same dia as the headstock (lol you shuold have seen that coming), I cut the notch, obviously making sure the tube was vertical and mill bed flat etc etc

I then knew that the headstock was a good fit into the slot, it was straight in relation to the backbone and off I went on my merry way making smoke and sparks

a lot of this build was dictated by what I had, I decided to copy the wishbones and carriers from the haynes kit car, this is a proven design, and look good, but to get the rear track width I was after, I built the frame and rear suspension pickups, to suit the length of the arms etc

this is the tacked in place top tube and top engine mount
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/6-10-10.jpg)

the very first time it rolled out into daylight
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/rolling3-1.jpg)

then got onto the seat rails and removable front frame section
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/6-11-10.jpg)

later decided that I really hated the way the seat frame ended, cut it all off and started again, this time a rounded back end
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/12-2-118.jpg)
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/12-2-117.jpg)

things like the exhaust, I used the front section from the bike, its stainless, follows the engine tightly and seemed stupid not to
I then designed a system, bought mandrel formed bends from OJZ engineering, welded it together for the link pipes
I found a cbr600 underseat exhaust on ebay, local to me, seller wouldnt post, 99p start no reserve, got it for 99p, cut it up and thats the rear silencer sorted
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/june256.jpg)

this is the latest pics I have, but the oil cooler is now in place and looks great, front end is fully wired and the big 7" headlight all buttoned up.
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/9thjuly.jpg)
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/9thjuly2.jpg)
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/9thjuly3.jpg)

That looks great Skip. 10 months is a very impressive build time. Some nice tubework there. I love the goosenecked frame/headstock.
So whereabouts in the country are you?

north Devon, right on the coast, can hear the waves while I sit typing :)

lovely place, but bugger all going on, no bike breakers, no custom shops

no pubs with loads of bikes outside etc

might see 2-3 chops a year round here, thats only when a couple of guys that live about 25 mile away are off on a club run

very good work geezer, wish I had your get up and go, mine got up and went a long time ago, but not before kicking me in the back and prostate. Keep it up and you might get a visit someday, Manky`s tend to wander sometimes ;D ;D ;D ;D

MANKY,S WANDER,,,  its some sort of illness  ;) ;) i know cozz i,ve got it  :D :D :D

Nice to see you are making progress with it.


North Devon sounds like Slough but with a good view   ;D


Keep us posted  ;)

Cheers guys. Moved from southend and as much as i love devon i do seriously wish i could just up and move somewhere that i could get some mates and theres a bike scene.

Today i bit the bullet. I always envisaged the finished trike with fat rear tyres.

I sold some stuff and ordered a pair of custom made 15" rimd
has tipped the budget to about 1600 quid. But they will be worth it.

Hoping that when i sell it i will get something like £2500+

Looks amazing mate considering your on a budget.

you moved from southend!!!!! when???? did you have any connection with the Sevens over there???

Yeah knew a few 7's my 18th birthday present was a trike built by tom touhy.
My regular watering hole was the liberty belle.
Mostly hung about with trikers. Used to go to the fortune of war. Tony ryder. Toni jopson are the only names that spring to mind.

I`m Secretary of the Sevens. Tom 2E is still around riding that bloody great monster of his, Toni must be Spanish Toni and we don`t have much to do with her. Clubs still going strong too.

Hi toni was with the shoshoni's shes one of them been everywhere done everything people. Was into all that spiritual s**t. She was running a fild do rally in hullbridhe each year.
Animal was i believe a 7 he was living down here recently working as mot tester.

yep, that`s Toni lol

who /what/is the 'shoshoni' ??

shoshoni was an all female trike club, with links to the shoshoni indians.

I grew up surrounded by the "essex trikes" long car engined, tractor seats( as Toni could get them out of the tractor plant at daganem LOL) long linkages from the forks back to a set of handlebars

however as I was more bike orientated I preferred the bike based builds, was a bit frowned upon by some of them because of this, I didnt care, they were all old gits as far as I was concerned at the time LOL

many good times were had on the seafront of southend, and surrounding areas, will get up there on the trike some time soon, be nice to have a roll around the old stomping grounds again, but on a trike.

Hurray!   Another one of Us!

I now have working brakes (GGGRRRR 3 days and about 3 litres of fluid later), working clutch and FAT rubber up the arse :)

need larger front wheel now, for looks and also to get the front end up a bit.

wheels need painting black, but couldnt resist bolting them on

(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/2011-07-27205132.jpg)

Looking good,
What size wheels and tyres have you on the rear.

wheels are 9x15 tyres are 295 50-15

Your arse end looks fantastic from that angle mate.  :)

bet you say that to all the boys !!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

They do bring the IRS into proportion.

woooooooooow. that looks the muts nuts.

Awesome rear end buddy

thanks guys, only thing left is the rear brakes, bloody things are crap, got new master cylinder just waiting for the fittings to make it fit into my lines, need to remove the front frame section and cut it all about again to get the new master fitted, but such is life, just want it finished and gone now.

Love the look of this trike buddy!! Everything just looks 'right' in my humble, un-knowledgeable opinion!! :)
 

You going to sell it as soon as it's done? That's a shame -looks like it'll be a lot of fun to ride.

yeah, I enjoy building them, theres no one down here to ride around with, its a sad lonely crap place to live sometimes. theres no pubs where people meet, I dont know a single person that rides chops or trikes etc, Im a bit of a loner, dont have any mates, just like keeping myself to myself and messing about in the garage, making things like this.

it will go on ebay and sell for whatever it makes, hopefully in the region of £2500+ owes me £1600 now so that will probably be the reserve

hy skip any chance of more detailed pics of rear end from topside  frontside bottomside insideoutside outsideinside upsidedownside downsideupside
don't what to pinch the design (much) but have a similar idea using 8 sided cage for diff instead of the square type and maybe your hard work may save me and all the other lazy sobs some graft

Kev, if you want diagrams for the Haynes arms..........

have got access to the build your own custom car for 1 shilling and 3 pence happenny but it shows the top and bottom arms not using a wishbome type thingamy i.e 4 straight rods instead of 2 on inside and 1 on outside and was just trying to nick skips idea but instead of a square box around the diff was thinking of an 8 sided (don't know the correct name so lets call it it whatagogon)
and piccies are a lot more helpful than lines on a piece of paper
who would have believed that I studed to be a technical draughtsman

On the bottom arms?
The 3rd rod is angled between the outer ones, I believe this design was for use with sierra hub carriers.
If you want drawings for them........

Yeah i copied the haynes book for the wishbones and uprights. Seemed silly to not take advantage of someone elses work and proven design.
I would redesign the rear cage if i had the gear to get nice tight bends. But i work on the premise that i make things with what tools i have.

I worked out how wide i wanted it to be. Then worked backwards from there.

so, are you running shortened drive shafts or are the wishbones longer than the ''book'' specs........also , rear shocks,as per book or special spring rate??........sorry bout all the questions but you've got me finkin'

yes both shafts are shortened, think they are about 450mm each

I used the book wishbones purely because it was easy and local kit car builder had made the jigs to build the arms

then I mounted and made the frame to get the overall width how I wanted it

with the 295 tyres on the back, total max width is 1650mm

ah ha, but what about the shock spring rates?

well I bought the shocks with a pair of springs, then made the mounts suit the pondage of the springs LOL

but my rear springs are 200lb each, shocks are AVO adjustable, set fairly hard.

if I keep it then over the winter theres a lot of changes to be made, moving the shocks a bit, seating changing, and probably going to have to move the diff over, I desperately didnt want to, but think Im going to have to.

cheers guy :D.....all info goin' into storage ready for future reference! ;D ;D

the last irs rear end i did on a mates trike used a weld on "casarva" kit and they recommend a pair 900lb springs ::)

hey, pete where did you get the kit from ??

 and have you done that there gear linkage yet  :D :D

woohoo finally found an MOT place that will even look at it, the other class 3 places all said no as they dont know what it is LOL

friday at 2 oclock

only thing Im worried about is the rear brakes, new discs and think they need some scrubbing??? but will have a chance to play on the way to the MOT. rear balance is possibly a bit out, unsure how much, one locks, one doesnt

aha thats interesting, just realised that brake imbalance is only a fail on the steered wheels :)

so the back end of my trike is safe.

need 25% and 30% braking ability, well the fronts have 12 pistons grabbing at 2 dinner plate sized discs LOL, and they are rock solid so thats the 30%, be interesting to see how the rears do, wish I had some smaller wheels to chuck on to be honest, the height of my tyres wont be helping

Good luck Skippy.  ;)

Kits available from Casarva, email them for info at matt@casarva.co.uk be sure to tell them I sent you.

Yes, just done linkage yesterday.
Used a brand new Nissan Bluebird Ball Joint from good old fleabay, only £3.50 inc P+P :)
Thanks for the info :)

Found the link to Casarva

http://www.casarva.co.uk/

casarva are great. i was going use one of them kits but couldnt afford it and in the end i built my own
but they are helpful and i wouldnt hesitate to recomend them

am I being dumb? but what are cycle wings??????

wings for cycle,s  pmsl  :D :D :D :D
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
the style that andy has had made for his pop pick up  ;) ;)

Are they something like the bingo wings we hear so much about ?

LOL at least it didnt say fenders!!

oh and on most trikes I see, they do flap like bingo wings LOL

I dont bother, mudguards are for people that like to ??? actually I dont know why would you fit mudguards??,

so it dont fling rooster tails in the wet?

whats the problem with that??

not like on my chop where it all rains down my neck, they out to the side, nah I will stick with no muddies thanks :)

ahha so it does rain down there then chewie  ;D ;) ::)

The Flapster trike used to throw a plume of rain up off the front wheel & straight into your face.  :P

hmm front muddy is going to be fitted LOL rode to the MOT today in the heaviest rain for ages, was even heavier when it stopped, huge cascade of water raining down on me LOL

them big fat rears aquaplane like buggery when you hit huge patches of standing water LOL

So -did it pass? and more importantly, was it fun to ride?

Yup sailed thru. Only issue was numberplate.
Well happy with the brakes perfectly balanced on the back end. Fronts worked fine but pads are contaminated and creating some drag.
Been up to 70 not a single shake of the bars. Only thing is that it feels a little twitchy. Any input into the bars results in instant turn in at a corner. Think that stiffening the rear dampers will help.
Only one issue to look at ands thats propshaft related. Need to look at the way i have it attached to the engine end.
Overall im over the moon. It went well. Test ride was in the rain. Heavy heavy rain and hailstones.
But im still smiling lol

Can't ask for more than that. Congratulations!

well its an oldy, but a record for me LOL its almost a year on and I still own it :)

just had the tax reminder thru so I know its a year

 over 4000 miles later its evolved and changed a little since the first version of it, mainly through my need to be doing something, diff was removed, mounts cut off and the diff swapped for a smaller unit and relocated to one side by about 3" this meant making new shafts, but gave much better run for the propshaft

front wheel got changed to a 180 tyred rear, then I found that the handling wasnt all that, mainly as I had to drop the rear end and this ruined the ride height setup from original design, front forks were too short and too soft

so hey presto, about £80 later I built some leading links, all my own work, just waiting on finding some money to buy a bit of alloy to make an adaptor for fitting front disc to rear disc bolt pcd, then I have a large 4 pot brembo caliper I bought off ebay when it was only £5 as the seller listed in on wrong section and spelt it wrong :)

over winter I will be stripping and tidying it up, ready for powdercoating and some hydrographics work, modify the bars to be narrower and further back, and either move the forwards, or just fit some pegs back in a normal riding position, forwards are fine and comfy round town, but my legs dont like them on long runs 100miles + on the motorway and Im in agony

I do have a 250 rear tyre, and will be trying to fit it to a car rim and might fit that in the front instead, it will just squeeze in,

(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/LLfrontend2.jpg)

(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/LLfrontend.jpg)

(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/tony-devon/LLfrontend3.jpg)

good work them LL look very clean and tidy, did you make the yokes?? :)

I picked them up cheap as very basic blocks of billet, the previous person had cocked them up proper job, I reworked and finished them, by the time I had finished it would have been easier to have made new ones, but the billet is so expensive that it was the cheapest option to fix them ones

the tops are blind, so the fork legs screw into them

2" billet top and bottom, will be polishing them as well as other parts when the rebuild and powdercoat

theres 250mm gap twist the fork legs, the 250 tyre on my car rim pulls in to 240mm wide so gives me some room, but starting to think that the 180 looks big enough for now

save both car rims with 250 tyres for a bike build.

i think the proportions look spot on to be fair ;)... id like to go the 160/180 route on mine but keep the telescopics. also im not keen on changing from big 1100cc twin disc setup as its outstanding braking performance

I havent had a front brake for 8 months LOL I never reached for it or needed it, I ride on rear brake on bikes too

Im slowly thinking that the 180 looks right too, wondering if the 250 will fill it too much and not look to scale

front will be a 330mm disc with large 4 pot brembo, so will offer more than enough stop, but doubt it will ever get used, except by MOT man

ive linked all mine through a heel brake as im crippled in me right arm, but must say it very easy to use and very effective, keep 180 ;) on LL its apparently best to use a flat profile tyre, but they look sooooooo much better with a curved profile back bike tyre, any over all picks skip, im intreagued

That's a big disc! wots that off?

Very tidy front end. Good to see it again.  :)

the tyre thats on it look fat as (in a good way) much larger and i dunno

I popped the front wheel out and put the 250 in place l;ast night, just sat to see what it looked like, loked stoopid LOL

sorry my error the front disc is 310mm not 330mm, was thinking of the discs on something else