another tricycle, Sun Atlas chopper

[thehazmatguy]

Both my girlfriend and I love riding my Bel Air tricycle... so I decided to build her a tricycle for Christmas.

Most of the Bel Air build can be seen here:
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=50819

Here's what the Sun tricycle looked like before I started cutting it up:

http://www.sunbicycles.com/product_deta ... LT%20TRIKE

Did some cutting, welding, etc. and here's how it looks now:

I gave it a ride tonight... it rides ok but the frame has some flex in it now. I might try to add some gussets. (sp?)

The part that really has me stumped is the rear "band brake" = it howles when applied with any kind of force. Does anyone know how to adjust one of these things, or is it supposed to be a parking brake only?? I'm worried that I'm going to have to buy another set of forks with provisions for a brake. Ouch, it's the 19th today and I don't have time to get that worked out by Christmas Day! Any suggestions would be appreciated. I've never tried to adjust a band brake before.

 

[scrumblero]

I asked a guy once that had one on his bike and he told me the two screws were "pitch and volume"... :lol:

 

[thehazmatguy]

I don't know anything about the brakes, but the bike is cool. I like the way the seat tube and the head tube are at the same angle. It helps it all "flow" nice.

Thank you for noticing that. I did that on purpose. I put the forks on and then I made small pie cuts behind the head tube until the frame sat level. Then, I made small cuts in the seat tube and support until the seat tube angle matched the forks.

The girlfriend loved the bike but she didn't "fit it well" so I'm going back to the drawing board. The head tube needs to be uprighted a bit because the bike is a bit hard for her to steer. The forks are going to be shortened a bunch too. We went to the bike shop(s) today and she has picked out a Hawaii theme with Electra stickers and parts. And, it's probably going to be a metalic red or maybe red with a pearl over it. A LBS told us a Sun / Atlas 3 speed kit is $125 and the 5 speed is $200. I put a 5 speed with reverse on my BelAir trike for just a bit over $200 so we're trying to get that figured out too.

 

[thehazmatguy]

It's close to done:

A lot happened after starting this project (worked moved me to part time, I used the opportunity to return to college, I got my degree, etc.) so it took a long time to finish. My GF and I bought a vintage travel trailer because I didn't have enough projects and you can see that in this picture.

Here's the money shot! We have another tricycle with a 5 speed and reverse. This is my GF's trike, she really liked the tricycle today at Tour De Fat and the reverse really comes in handy when maneuvering around people.

Here's both trikes... now we just need to figure out where to keep 'em.