CABLE ROUTING

been wanting to get some nice cable clamps for the trike as zipties just won't do it justice.

so been messing with my home lathe recently and i came up with this... really diggin the look and feel but this will only work in certain circumstances...

here's the shifter mounted on my trike. not a very good picture but you get the idea. had some issues with where to mount it cause most other places, my arms would not be able to shift the shifter! short man, short arms mah!

anywez, since the tube where i finally mounted the shifter is smaller than the clamp, i lathed out a delrin spacer to take up the slack, tried to use the old "inner tube wrap around the tube trick" but it was too ugly for my liking....

also relocating the brake lever to the left of the handle bar just in case i need to stop in a hurry while i happen to be shifting gears seemed only natural.

i'm still having issues with the rear box/chair though... just looks wrong to me...

COOL OLD SCHOOL SHIFTER...

was kindly donated to my trike project by a guy i don't even know except from an overseas bike forum! how cool is that! all i did was pay for postage!

seems the guys who hang out at ratrodbikes.com are all like that, quick to offer not just advice but parts too! 

well, thanks to bombshelterbikes from ratrodbikes for the great shifter! you're da man! 

my kids giving my trike the shake down

FINALLY STARTED WORK ON THE REAR END....

the "truck bed" idea won hands down in the end.... 

well, i wouldn't want my kid to fall off a rear springer seat now would i?

anywez, decided that i would re-use an existing IKEA rack (see below)

that i purchased some years ago. this way i get materials i need for my trike and i get to clear some unwanted clutter in my workroom! (also,  this has got to work! if not y wife will kill me for wasting a perfectly good piece of furniture!!!)

but since the stock dimensions of the rack was too large, i had to "shave a little off the sides" to make it look right....oh ok..i had to do it twice, finally got the thumbs up from both my kids meant i could progress on with the project.




here's a trail fit on the trike (not bolted on yet) to see if it fit on the trike's behind and that it fit both my kids behinds! haha...

Jade's first ride on my trike...

here's my older daughter's first go at my trike. yes, she's the one that mumbles under her breath that my trike looks silly! i bet she dun think that way now though...hahaha

IDEAS..

even before the parts came together for this trike project, i have been thinking about some ideas for the rear of the trike.

now that the trike is up and running, for sure my 5 year old is all set to ride shotgun with her pops on that "silly thing" (as my older daughter mumbles under her breath  ever so often, she just doesn't get it... haha)

idea 1: is to have a bent seat post that stretches from the stock seat post location to all the way to the back and mount two individual saddles onto it, the rear of the seat post being supported via a sissy bar of sorts.

idea 2: is what you see below, this for me is more do-able as i have tools to cut wood but no tools to bend such a seat post in idea 1. 

i could also pad the inside of the "wooden truck bed" to make it comfy, almost like a rumble seat?

for sure my younger daughter would much prefer pretending to be a sack of potatoes.

anywez, still keeping my options open for now...

FIRST RIDE - sunday night 01 June 2008

managed to get the trike into the lift after all. i even had... say 15 to 20 cm more space between the front tire and the lift ceiling! should have made her longer! dammit!

at first, my body was automatically trying to counter the lean of the bike, then it occurred to me that i was no longer in control. having two wheels behind meant that i was a puppet and the less than perfect road was the puppet master. good fun!

still need to fine tune the rear derailer as the chain tried ghost shifting every now and then. other than that, the first ride was a good one. 

oh yes, need to work on that dreaded springer out front. my 3" wide tire tends to rub the inside of the fork as i made tight turns.