Tilter mk3

Glad you're OK popshot but do watch that leg. Mine didn't look a whole lot worse after I fell off my extension roof but what I thought was a 'scab' was apparently dead skin and an ulcer formed under it. Has taken months of twice weekly cleaning, scraping and dressings to get it to heal up. Only now feeling ok-ish!

Got to say that speed has never attracted me much. I always seem to have in the back of my mind a worry about something breaking. I had a pretty nice Lotus7 lookalike kitcar way back in early 80's and was regularly told I drove like an old woman. True enough but both me and the car were in good condition when we parted company.

I'm going to be the same with my trike/s for sure having seen just what can go wrong if luck is not on your side. Danny and now you have reinforced the feeling.

John
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I had a Dutton B+ Malaga - a REALLY poor man's 7. The back end rarely followed the front and was regularly off to one side or the other. Couldn't breathe above 70 mph with that flat screen. The damned thing just sucked all the air out behind it.
 
Had a Melos then a Phaeton both 2litre. Drove them like Morris Minors so breathing never became a problem. Only kit I ever really had complete faith in was one called an Avanti. Bit of a Ferrari Dino look and built on a VW Beetle floorpan and running gear. Had a Scirocco 1600cc engine and went nicely. Felt tight and solid with no rattles or creaks. Drove that one like a Morris Minor 1048 and once reached 65mph- daring eh!

John
 
The one I've ordered is a very long travel one as where it will sit will require that stroke. Thanks for the offer Paul but that one looks to not have the needed stroke. I was very surprised by the amount of stroke I needed when measured as my first guess was that any damper would do.
 
Popshot said:
The one I've ordered is a very long travel one as where it will sit will require that stroke. Thanks for the offer Paul but that one looks to not have the needed stroke. I was very surprised by the amount of stroke I needed when measured as my first guess was that any damper would do.
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Glad mine had short stroke as it was used as a steering limit when I was wrestling with Tilt #2's uncotrollable behavior ;)

Paul
 
Got the damper today. If I can get the brush attachment for my backside I might get it fitted this weekend. I'm currently clearing my mum's house of a lifetime's worth of crap, then I have to fit pretend black marble panels in the bathroom, then I have to fit my daughters towbar and service her car, then I might find time to myself.

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Great build mate!
sorry to hear about your off, these trikes can be as skittish as hell. I has a big off on my mates, it made me think, hell I have to build one of these! Lol

look forward to seeing how the steering dampener works, I’ve had them on motorbiles before and they work a treat.
 
Got the damper on which ought to have been a simple task but took a lot longer than expected due to it's movement and the need to clear other things. Whilst fitting it I noticed I'd bent one of the Aluminium tie / steering rods so that now needs to be replaced. One of the M8 male rod ends has also bent in the mis-action so I'll go female rod ends and M8 high tensile with a 12x8mm carbon outer sleeve bracing it. I've bent male rod ends many times now (M8 and M10) and won't be using them again unless specifically needed. I noticed a slight mismatch of fronts to rear wheel at vertical which I've also put down to the sideways action. Two large bars wedged into matters at the frant and rear of the main beam soon untwisted that - one of the joys of steel is that if it bends it can be bent back. The unstraightened bent bits didn't prevent a test though and it looks like the damper is about right at full damping. I have a lot of extra leverage on it over it's intended use so that explains the maxing out. I'm , perhaps, understandably reluctant to deliberately see if I can generate a slapper again so will leave any further comments on it as to if and when they prove necessary.

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Not very straight.

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I hope it improves performance & safety such that you can begin (in time) to push the speed envelope towards your personal "giggle-factor". :)
 
Popshot said:
Yes, I need to work back up the speed envelope slowly to regain any trust.
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Popshot... No progress reports since the awful "tankslapping" episode.
How did the steering damper work out?
Are you back riding the beast with care/impunity/gay-abandon?
The world of AZ needs to know if you are back in the saddle and all is OK again. :D
 
I stuffed my back in a few weeks ago lifting an engine whilst clearing out my mother's shed. It's just about recovered now so I can get back in the garage. I've got the carbon tube to make the new rods so can fix them and get back on it. It's the first time in years I've knackered my back doing something silly. It usually goes doing something innocuous like moving a pan from one ring to another (it really did go doing that).
 
Popshot said:
I stuffed my back in a few weeks ago lifting an engine whilst clearing out my mother's shed. It's just about recovered now so I can get back in the garage. I've got the carbon tube to make the new rods so can fix them and get back on it. It's the first time in years I've knackered my back doing something silly. It usually goes doing something innocuous like moving a pan from one ring to another (it really did go doing that).
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Yup! I once put my back out leaning over the bathroom sink to clean my teeth! No fun at all. Get well soonest! :D
 
The back is now functioning so I finished the repairing of the bent bits. I had used aluminium tie rods purposely designed for Karts but one of them bent during the mishap so I have made some using M8 high tensile studding and sleeved with 2mm wall thickness carbon tube. My thoughts are that the carbon will add a significant amount of strength for very little weight. It also looks good. I also prefer female rod ends as they are stronger and whilst I didn't bend the male ones this time I have on other installations. Female ones are unlikely to bend.

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I see about a test ride tomorrow to test the damper. I also had to shorten one control rod to make the bars equal. I made them the exact same length but must have a bracket slightly out as they were slightly unequal. It's not enough to worry over though.
 
Finally got round to a test and was unhappy as it wanted to go one way much easier than the other. Further inspection showed poor front wheel alignment so some ajustments were made to the large M12 rod ends on the end of the front axle and that resulted in more adjustments to the steering arms. Much better. The highest setting on the damper proved just the wrong side of stiff so now it's one down on that. I haven't ridden it above 20mph yet but it could be made to oscillate below that before. I'll gradually raise the speed and see how it goes. Perhaps some elbow padding may be useful just in case.
 
An update. I took the 2000W motor off and sold it. This trike is just not stable enough to handle the power. All previous taddy's were much more stable and I assumed this one would be the same. I've put a 750W TSDZ2 on it and am awaiting some better weather to try it out. I'll also need to sort the non powered rear wheel out as the spokes are seriously loose after only a handful of miles on it on another taddy. I'm unsure as to how the spokes have got so loose after so few miles so will have to watch this.
 
Hi,
I read your work with interest. Congratulations on making it, it must have taken a long time. With hindsight, how does it feel to drive, especially the steering? Is it stable? Don't the tires wear too much?
I've studied Alan Maurer's patent, but he's rather evasive about even partial respect for Ackermann's geometry, and mechanically I don't really see how he can do it. He's forced to generate different lateral angles of inclination for each wheel (the other variable, i.e. rearward inclination, is necessarily identical for each wheel since they're linked by the central axis).
On the other hand, in terms of speed, it must be very nice this close to the ground!
 
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