AZ inspired trike build starts!

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Today's plan was to go to the hardware store to get the bolts for the bottom bracket bracket. I went there, got another part, and forgot them. So I went back, and I got them. Then I came home, spent about an hour getting the bottom bracket bracket welded up. Following the directions explicitly, I was able to get a pretty good fit! I was very happy:



Until I tried to put nuts on the bolts.

I'll be going back again tomorrow to get half an inch longer bolts. Then I can weld the nuts on and give it a good test fitting. Tomorrow I work on the seat, too.

Interesting note about the length of 1.5" square tubing that I have the bottom bracket bracket mocked up to: It's the last unmolested piece out of the 20' stick that I bought! I needed way more than I thought. Some of it is welding waste, but most of it got put to some kind of use.
 
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I just got a notification that I had to share. When I was at the hardware store yesterday, I was going to purchase rod ends for the steering. 3/8" rod ends were $10 each! Being frugal beyond almost all measure, I looked at online suppliers. Amazon... about $8 each. Hm. Banggood.com? $3.33 each. I'll take two, thanks!

The real price I'll pay is that it takes a month for them to get here. D'oh!
 

SirJoey

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My cozy little nook in the corner!
Like you, I'm pretty patient, & usually willing to wait
awhile if it's not urgent, & if it saves me a few bux.
***
 
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Alright, got some more bolts, got some work done, although some of it will need tweaking... The seat bottom is crooked somehow! Dangit. I was able to give it its first "sit" today:



I don't notice it in person, but in every picture, the rear wheels look like they have tons of negative camber. I have noticed that the wheel bearings are pretty loose, so I'll need to address that. Once I fix the crooked seat bottom, then it'll be time to work on one of the trillion things I have left. High on the list is the jack shaft. Now that I have the BB mounted, I can look at chainlines and determine the width of the jackshaft, and then start building it. It won't be too hard I don't think. Should be fun, even! If I can keep it from wobbling, that is!
 
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Your in Elma Wa? need to locate on map. We reside in Ryderwood Wa.
for the rod ends I get mine from USA bearings n drives. Order 10 at a time, Lh and and Rhand never have enough. All 3/8" as they fit nicely in a 1/2" box tube for tie rods etc.
 
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I didn't have time to post this last night, but I did make progress last night. First I fixed the crooked seat. The easiest thing to do was to weld a washer to the seat mount and then grind it down until it was level. Which is what I did. The next thing was to fit the cranks and check the chainline so that I could measure for the jack shaft length. Which is also what I did, as shown here:



This is what the jack shaft is going to look like.



Later in the evening I was able to cut it to length, tack weld on the second hub, and get it straight so it doesn't wobble until several hundred RPM. This afternoon I'll get that finished and get the axle made. Should be fun!

My next Big Challenge will be setting a chainline that doesn't interfere with brakes. I really wish I had disk brakes.

OH, oh oh!! almost forgot! I gave it its first pedal 😍

@MrIdaho yup I'm in Elma. Head up I5, take a left at 12 (exit for Rochester) and go West until you run into 8, and you're in Elma.
 
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So I take it you don't plan on peddling quite that fast? :ROFLMAO:
***
Well, there ARE conditions that it could happen. If I'm pedaling at 80rpm with a 50 tooth chain ring, and I have a 14 tooth cog, then it would be turning at 285 rpm, so it's definitely approaching "wobbly" range. But I strongly doubt it'll be an issue :p :p :p
 

SirJoey

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That's actually true, now that you mention it. I hadn't considered that.
However, I was somehow imagining a PEDAL rpm of several hundred! :LOL:
Now THAT would be impressive! 🤔

***
 
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This accomplishment was short lived, unfortunately. I have to redo part of it. When I measured the length of the shaft, I marked the spot where the freewheel needed to be so that I could it shorter yet after checking the hub length and what not. I never did that part... and now it's too wide by a hubs length. D'oh! It's alright. I didn't like those welds on the black hub anyway. sigh
 

Radical Brad

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That's the way of it... hack, grind, weld, grind, then weld again!

Great progress!
Brad

This accomplishment was short lived, unfortunately. I have to redo part of it. When I measured the length of the shaft, I marked the spot where the freewheel needed to be so that I could it shorter yet after checking the hub length and what not. I never did that part... and now it's too wide by a hubs length. D'oh! It's alright. I didn't like those welds on the black hub anyway. sigh
 

Radical Brad

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I almost forgot!
You had been using one of the trikes from MoonzGarage as a reference, and said you could not find the image anywhere.
It was an original sent to me in 2010.

MoonzGarage did a lot of bikes, here is a great lookin' OverKill flavored chop...

3909

And similar to the one you originally posted (also from Moonz). Found in a really old AZ gallery I had archived.

3910

There was once a website as well, moonzgarage.com but it is long gone.
Try the wayback machine, it should have indexes.

Cheers,
Brad
 
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Thank you @Radical Brad !!! That is awesome. I'm definitely going to check it out on archive.org :)

Today was "do it again" day for the jackshaft. I cut off one side and measured 3 or 4 times then cut it down and did it again. It's not quite as straight as it was before (boo) but its just fine and... it's done! Except the axle is about an inch short -_- I should be able to make it work, though. If not.. I'll be lengthening the axle by that much. I went ahead and serviced the hubs with all new grease and even installed the freewheels loosely just to see how it looks. I've got to re-center the axle by just a smidge, maybe 1/4", and then there will be enough threads to mount the axle nut on the short end.



Next I need to come up with a mounting scheme that makes sense and hopefully leaves room for brakes! Otherwise I'll be building a pedestal on the left side so the brakes can clear the chain. Should be fun :)
 
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Worked lightly for a little while tonight and came up with a mounting scheme for the jackshaft that I hope makes sense. I measured for dropouts and cut those first, because no matter now I mount them, they have to be at least a certain distance from where they're going to mount. Once I was happy with those, I got to work test fitting them. This was my first idea:



This was a terrible solution, unfortunately. The chainline would be in the way of brakes on the driver wheel, and I'd never be able to make use of the smaller cogs on the drive (wheel) side of the jackshaft because the frame would be in the way. So I tried something else:




I tacked it up to check it out and I think I like it! The dropout is facing rearward on the driven side under the seat, and it's facing forward on the wheel side, that way the shaft can't pull out of the dropouts. Lastly I gazed upon the geared goodness that is the nearly complete drivetrain (still need derailers):



And wouldn't you know it- the seat is still kinda crooked!
 
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Many things can contrive to make you think things are crooked - or even straight - especially if you wear glasses. Chain angles and other things in your line of sight don't help either. If you had a jig it would be no problem but who goes to that trouble for one-offs?

I have to resort to placing a straight edge, away from and parallel to the central boom, as a reference at times to see how things are lining up. Can't rely on my eyes like I used to do. Anyone can follow someone else's plan and have it come out right as per the plan but if you are not following a plan, it is suck it and see and some problems don't show up until you have gone far enough to make them show up.

Maybe it is the front derailleur post that is out of perpendicularousness (how's that for a word I just made up) that is exacerbating the seat view problem. It does look a little like it is leaning to the right of the image when you can see the main boom sticking out more behind the top of it.

Ah, the fun of DIY. I hope to have something different to share in a week or so. Or, should I say some time in the future. I have already had to make three changes in getting it satisfactory. There may be four or even five still to come, but I hope not.

Keep on cutting, welding, grinding, cutting, etc. Each day brings you one day closer to completion. You just don't get the actual date until you are finished.
 

Twinkle

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Just my tu penny worth , wouldn't it be easier to find a couple of disc mtb hubs and rebuild the rear wheels to incorporate disc brakes , alternately fit the rim brakes on the rear out of the way of the chain .

regards Emma
 
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Howdy all. The weekend was spent resting and doing Other Things. I went to the Chiropractor on Friday, my first visit in over a decade. I was bushed! Today I finally felt up to working on the trike. But first:

Kevin: Yes, definitely the fun of DIY. And it's definitely not level. I tightened the bolt too hard and crushed the wood a little bit. The mount is level. I just need to tighten the other side harder I guess.

Emma: Yup, it would be easier, but I'm using what I have on hand for now. I'll be able to mount brakes without trouble. I have that part figured out. At least, I think I do! :p If the whole thing is a resounding success, then its successor will be disk braked. This is an interim vehicle for now. When I get my strength back, I'll may be building a bicycle with nicer parts.

Today I went to go work on the trike and realized I wasn't sure where to start. There's lots of things to do, and they all have to be done before it's driveable. Up until now it's been the huge things: Frame, the big design, measurements, all the stuff that says "this is a trike". Now it's all the stuff that says "This is a trike that can drive." So like any semi-organized person woul do, I made a list:



When that list has everything crossed off, it should be ready for a test ride, perhaps before.

I started out with a derailer mount, but got sidetrack on something that's bothering me more: Brakes. I used a donor steel framed bike (the blue huffy the wheels came from) and some 3/16" steel to make some brake mounts:



The shininess is due to my flap disks having arrived. So shiny!

I welded the heck out of them so they don't go anywhere, and they're ready for test fitting:



I needed a break, as a nerve in my right leg is giving me trouble. I need more chiropractor visits this week!
 
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