I've wanted a trike for a long time & can't find any local so I decided to build one. Big thanks to Gumpit for sharing deminsions with me. I rolled it out of the shop today & took it for a spin. what a blast! I put a vegas carts 460 on it & it runs great. I made it low to the ground to be more stable with the axle above the frame. 20" tires on the back 15" on the front. 6000 rpm & this thing is flying low. I used manual disc brakes & plan to change that over to hydraulic. I used a Comet 40 series setup & it works great. tomorrow I will finish the seats & tinker around on it. I raked the front at 46* & it drives real good. very happy so far. just as much fun as I remember back in the 70s. I'll try & post some pics.
Trike project
- Thread starter wndwlkr
- Start date
That looks awesome...I bet it flies with that 460 on it!! Interesting how your "flipped" the rear engine mount area so that the axle is above the frame. I am modding a Montgomery Ward T-555 rolling frame that I bought off of CL that had a bent center tube beam. You got me thinking of flipping the back end to do the same thing in order to lower the CG. Very nice sir!!!
Excellent job. I need to definitely move the axel on top on my next one. Right now I have to shift my weight off the seat on the turns. I put my seat back gussets behind the bar so I could slide over. But that bar definitely needs support. I bent it back twice before going off jumps.lol
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Got it ready for the Minibike Throwdown at RiceORama this coming weekend. Hopefully the last race with this engine. Knobby's have a lot of traction on the Circle in front of my house but are really good on the track. It's a long track so as long as it holds together it should be good. You can see why I need to lower mine like yours. My 350+ pound center of gravity is too high so I have to really lean. Worst case I can put the golf cart tires on and have more fun spinning in the turns. But I like the height of the knobby for top end speed. I went with 11t/54t to get a little more speed out of it. I think with the big blocks you can gear them for speed and they still have the torque off the line. I also bought some stiffer driver springs for a higher engagement rpm so it will launch better off the line. I love my trike.
https://youtu.be/lrtzcm5r1nE
https://youtu.be/lrtzcm5r1nE
You need MORE horse power. I have seen Triple cylinder free air engines in Tri-Sports. And even one trike with fuel injection on a Kawasaki triple with huge expansion chambers. These monster engines were only good on long tracks and the tight turns killed their advantage. I built a trike with a single 1 inch frame and a live axle and the small go kart wheels. It was powered by a McCulloch 101 twin carb engine and used a slipper wet clutch there was a seat but no padding and the best part was the driver weighed 155 pounds and was tough and super strong Wayne Coppers. If he beat you to the first corner you didn't have a chance all went well until one night he went off road to pass a slower rider and hooked a small tree that was the end of that great winning streak. The engine went back on to his Tri-Sport RTS - MAC
It's awesome that you have all these places to ride, I'll have to build my own I rekon. I really like this trike low for sure, even with 20" tires I can spin it out with turf saver tires. I guess thats the fun part anyway. Thanks again for all your help. I really enjoy watching your videos looks like a blast.