The Creature!

[Chonker]

That solid driveshaft is going to weigh 0.55kg on it's own! Two of those plus two 0.56kg UJ's and you're at 2.22kg just to transfer drive out to the front wheels. I guess you are saving the length of chain between the front and rear wheels and maybe an idler under the seat but that still seems like a lot.

 

[Night Train]

Weight of 'off the shelf' parts is a bit high but it costs money to reduce weight. There is a limit to what I can make in house at the moment but I am open to suggestions for lighter parts.

If I can find lighter UJs and hollow splined shafts within my budget I would be happier.

The trike frame, as it stands, isn't light weight to begin with anyway so that needs to be sorted. Maybe if I am successful with aluminium brazing I can rebuild the whole frame and most of the steel parts.
There may not be much of the original used at all.

 

[Hilldodger]

and we thought you were just going to bolt it back together...........

 

[Night Train]

and we thought you were just going to bolt it back together...........

Well, it was quite a bit wrong in the geometry so reassembly wasn't going to make a working trike.

However, when The Creature is finished I will probably still have all the original bits left over.....

 

[Black Sheep]

with the drive-shafts and UJ's have you looked at some of the larger RC cars, they come up to 1/8 scale and are pretty powerful things so probably have strong yet light parts in there, that and I believe the gearboxes have some sort of 'freewheel' in there.

 

[Night Train]

with the drive-shafts and UJ's have you looked at some of the larger RC cars, they come up to 1/8 scale and are pretty powerful things so probably have strong yet light parts in there, that and I believe the gearboxes have some sort of 'freewheel' in there.

Do you have any examples?

The ones I have seen are really too small and also don't have needle roller bearings.

I think with the RC ones they will handle very high RPM but not low RPM and high torque.

 

[Black Sheep]

needle roller bearings you might struggle for, was thinking from the traxxass range, the T-maxx and also the HPI savage are high powered machines.

no 1/8 models springing to mind at the moment, I know there are some off road examples as I sold one when I was working in a model shop a couple of years back

 

[ufkacbln]

Actually, I thought it was mad when I was designing one back in '96 with a view to it being three wheel drive.
However, having had a go on Bikepete's Russian trike I am a convert, they are fantastic.

There isn't a diff either, it has freewheels in the hubs, that means no wheel spin unlike with a diff. But if you want a diff you can get a conveniently sized one out of a powered lawn mower....

I was going to point you to Velovison's Russian Trike Forum, then remembered that you might just have heard of it through your contacts

 

[ufkacbln]

My Hurricane has a mere 42, I feel deprived now!

 

[ufkacbln]

I have this image where in a couple of years time, and after all the modifications - the Creature takes pride of place in Velovision, and in the interview Peter asks you what remains of the original trike....



.. and you point out a single bolt

 

[jayjay]

The 1/4 scale car market seems to require a large donation to enter:
http://www.wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/109709/
Or more stock style, but with no sockets:
http://www.wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/97360/

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

The 1/4 scale car market seems to require a large donation to enter:
http://www.wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/109709/

Those are pricey but they look like proper constant velocity joints. This would be better than plain universal joints, which aren't ideal for transmitting through a wide range of angles as is common in a front wheel drive set up.

I don't see any technical specs though. Will they cope with the kind of torque a rider can generate?

 

[Night Train]

They look good. Need specs or one to test. A bit spendy though but it is for two dog bones and four cups.

The 9mm shafts will twist over the length needed so it will need to be large diameter thin wall tube to extend it. Probably better to have the 'cup' part on the end of the drive shaft tube and the 'dog bone' part on the stub axle.

I might have to have a go at making some.

 

[Arch]

I have this image where in a couple of years time, and after all the modifications - the Creature takes pride of place in Velovision, and in the interview Peter asks you what remains of the original trike....



.. and you point out a single bolt

Yebbut, he'd have modified that bolt as well....

 

[Arch]

and we thought you were just going to bolt it back together...........

You don't know NT well enough yet....