One day I was tooling around in my garage, when a fellow passes by on a plain, metallic blue, asian built trike. After a single exclamation of interest, the bike was offered for $30 and needless to say acquired.
Here is the original concept. 24" up front, set of 20"s in the back, RockShox and a plan to relocate the seat down between the rear wheels. The frame as shown here is untouched, with the exception of a head tube swap.
I forgot to mention, this bike was originally going to be motorized. Thus, the seating position and center of gravity had to be lowered, and a differential rear axle was required. For $99, I picked one up at Northern Tool rated for up to 10 hp. Some chopping, sleeving, turning, and custom bearings eventually allowed me to fit the american shaft into the asian hole (save your jokes). With a go-kart axle, I decided it was only fitting to acquire a set of go-kart wheels as well. Some polished 10x8's and low-pro tires fit the bill. The inspiration was the Russell Mitchell trike pictured below. Around this point, I decided I needed sturdier forks as well. I picked up a used set from a downhill K2 bike from a buddy at a local bike shop.
With the stance set, it was time to rebuild the frame. The photo below shows how this ended up. Compared with the one above, you can see what I cut out and what I added back in. Note that no tubing was added, merely rearranged. The proportions are way off of the Exile trike. I think as a miniature its okay to be a caricature, rather than a replica.
By now the motor idea had been scrapped, and masochistically I decided it needed to be pedal powered. I had an internal threespeed hub handy and welded in a set of dropouts to mount it to. I also had to fabricate a sprocket that could mount to the diff. The last bit of fabrication required was the mounts for a farmer seat. The hard part was over, and all that was left was finding the proper components.
As you can see, these came by way of a 60T chainring and ape hanger bars. These photos show the bike unfinished, as I am anticipation more fab work to be done.
Now for griping... Between the weight of this bike (~50 lbs), the seating position, and the gearing, its a grueling endeavor just to get it once around the block. I intend to try lower gearing, sadly at the cost of top speed. Also, theres always the possibility of going to back to the engine, HA!
Would love any critiques you guys have. I know the pictures dont detail much. I can take more if anyone actually expresses any interest in this thing. Please just ask.
-CC
