Tilter mk3

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I've decided to electrify it with another Tongsheng and will be sharing the battery with the Drypod2. To that end I've bought a second base. This will need bracing round both sides with one side being quickly removeable to get the battery in and out.





It's very noticeable how much smoother and lighter the steering is after sorting that front mechanism.
 
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Popshot

Are we any closer to riding the beast ?

Paul
 
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Alas no.
My mum is elderly and frail and is taking a large portion of my time these days. The Polish seat never arrived, I suspect due to poor customs paperwork from the maker so I'll resort to a mesh seat I made previously.
 
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Yes it's only a hobby and family must come first .

I have had long delays , though usually leaving the UK and not incoming.

Paul
 
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Will hopefully be back on with this at the weekend. There is a couple of changes though. Firstly the battery position is going. If it rides well it will get electrified but the battery isn't going there. It'll go on a rear rack. A regular trike shouldn't have it there as cornering with a weight up there isn't ideal at all but a tilter will keep any forces in the correct plane. The rear suspension will therefore be modified accordingly. The Polish seat arrived eventually so that will get mounted. I have discovered why Alan lowered his so much at the front axle - it's due to the handlebars and their fixed mount from the front axle. Mine will be lowered accordingly and possibly to the floor as I'm swapping the rod actuation about so the brakes wanting to apply the steering potential are resisted by pushing not pulling. This necessitates longer tank style levers than Alan's.
 
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Popshot

Nice to hear you are well enough and life is not in the way of you working on this.

Seems you have an awful lot of work to do before it is on the streets.

What happens I suppose if we look at pictures without a Brad plan , or indeed wing it :whistle:

Paul
 
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Battery mount is now gone and the main frame rail "Z"ed to get the seat lower. The cross beam has to be level or tilt and turn get unacceptably combined so I couldn't just notch the frame. The seat is mounted nice and low now which is essential to the tilting effort. The rider now tilts roughly around their centre of mass and as such doesn't move too much left or right. This means the bar mounts can be that much closer to the rider. Bar mounts and bars are next along with the steering arms. It's going to feel weird either pushing or pulling both bars at the the same time instead of one pushed and one pulled.



 
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Good to see the beast again. I hope it goes well Popshot! :D
 
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Bars now in. The pictures show various amounts of input and the resultant steering. Nothing is overly tight so true positions are not going to be seen but it shows the general idea. I need to angle the bb further up so when it tilts my foot still clears the floor. That will leave it somewhat higher than usual when upright. Can't be helped.





 
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I've taken the decision to electrify this from the start so I'll need to brace the rear dropouts. I want a rear wheel motor on this rather than a bottom bracket drive to keep some drive if the chain snaps and will probably prevent that happening anyway. The dropouts are aluminium and simply won't take the grunt of resisting the axle twisting and if I ruin this swingarm my chances of finding an identical one are slim given it's heritage. Here's the plan. I have some 32mm washers which fit into the recess nicely. I need to weld several together for thickness, cut a slot for the axle then make a bit to brace to the two holes above. I need one each side and the right hand one also needs to be tapped for the dropout as that area needs to be flat so no M4 nuts poking up. The next few days will see if reality meets plan.

 
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I know what you mean Popshot, those are very wise precautions.
My last Wonky-Donkey with the bafang was able to pull on the chain and drag the drive-side of the wheel through the dropouts and skew the wheel.
No matter how hard I tightened the wheel-nuts it overcame the grip. Only making a small anti-pull plate with a lip that wrapped around the dropout cured it.
There's a lot of force in the e-assist.
 
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Here's the extra steel bracing the dropouts which runs around to the two M6 bolts above plus a lugged flatted washer welded to a bit of steel around one of the M6 bolts. It means the wheel can't be taken off without undoing one of these M6 bolts each side but given I'm running a Schwalbe Marathon the chances of needing to do this at the roadside are small. There's 5mm of steel this side and 3mm on the other. There's less there because the dropout wants some room too.



Almost done now bar the cable and wire management to tack on plus the cabling and wiring themselves. The V brake bosses made excellent places to brace the rear carrier rack. There's three 116 link chains there and I'm still short by 8 or 10 links. I do have a 10 speed with a very wide range of gears and a 52T on the front so I'm figuring that is why 3 chains have come up short. I've ordered another one which is a bit of a shock to the wallet as the existing three came from Ali Express but the extra is coming from Amazon as I don't want to wait a month. I actually ordered silver from Ali Express and the numpty sent me gold. Given the shiny gold coloured ones are more expensive by some margin I chose not to complain.
One thing I'd like to have done differently is the calipers are on with the actuating arms at the front. ie the cable comes in from the rear. It looks like it'd have been better to have done that the other way round and loop the cables in from the front. I can't simply swap them without remaking the mounts so will try cabling it up as is first and see if it's acceptable. It'll be nice not to have to rip it apart once built with it being stainless. It's crippled many a drill bit but I think it was worth it.

 
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Looking good, but you won't be going anywhere with that chain ;)
 
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The extra chain came late on today so that'll go on tomorrow. I've ordered a couple of these.....


.....which I intend to use as panniers. The locking holes will make good places to make the main mounts from and they are the right length and height for the 20ah battery I have destined for it. Not as simple as getting a set of ready made jobbies but I couldn't find anything the right size so in true Zombie fashion I shall make them fit. Hopefully I can get the controller in with the battery which will leave me one side for actually carrying things. It will leave the trike 6kg heavier at one side but I figure that I can throw more weight than that left and right by sticking my arm out for a turn so hopefully it won't upset anything.
 
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Popshot, a query on your seat if I may?
The mounting points are usually in the "cup" of the seat and the space between your shoulder blades (at least on mine that is where they indicated that I should drill through and fix it).
It looks like you only have one mounting in the picture. I would expect the seat to sag too much if that is the only mounting.
 
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There are two mounts. One at the lowest point, directly above the main beam, and one halfway up the backrest mounted to the main beam by a post. The seat itself is exceptionally strong being moulded in two seperate front and back halves with bracing running almost the full length. Some similar seats are without these bracing spars and made in just the one mould.
 
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Brake and gear cables on but not tuned. I'm waiting for some extension cables for the motor but can at least try it out unassisted tomorrow. I have ceramic pads in these calipers so I'm expecting some bite. Picture also shows the location of the lower mount - right at the point of contact with the main beam. Although I have an extra long cage on the derailleur it can't cope with the range of both the front and rear rings so I'll set it to manage the top end gearing rather than the lower end on the basis the assist will make the lower gears less needed. I need to make a place to add the LCD display and add some bar tape plus reglue on the missing velcro for the seat mat. The "panniers" will arrive next week and I'll need to order some specialist mounting hardware once I can measure the locking hole diameter. I plan to use the holes for the main mounts and have devised a way to do this whilst still allowing them to open plus safeguard the contents to some degree too. More on that as the mounting develops.

 
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