Catrike Expedition Touring Trike

Kirk

100 W
Joined
Nov 25, 2009
Messages
158
Location
Lakewood, WA
Several problems always comes to mind with E-Assist, uncomfortable, damages the wrists, shoulders, spine, range, carrying capacity, being seen in traffic and that damn seat being shoved up your ass. A tadpole recumbent trike can solve all of those problems, if set up right. KMX Karts need not apply.
Start with a decent trike with Ackerman compensated steering.
7184961761_108424cc4b.jpg

Like the one on this baby here with the Bitex single hung hubs. Then stretch it out a bit to take the vibration out of the lousy roads and give your trike nice high speed stability. Put 30/355 wheels with 50/355 Schwalbe Big Apples to keep the ride smooth and the cornering crisp, on the front.
8074188812_b617352f00_z.jpg

A sheepskin rug will keep you warm in the Winter and cool in the Summer. A GM Pro 901 hub motor, Stand Alone CA, 18s2p Turnigy Lipo for errands around town and a 18s6p Turnigy Nano-Tech battery for touring. A Garmin 705 GPS and the Cyclemeter app to help you from getting lost. There is a real good app for the Android phones also. According to the CA log I've managed to get to 69.5 mph.So no entry into the 70 mph club yet.
I'm thinking of perhaps a C'Lyte H3525, Lyens 18 FET controller and a 20s battery, after I ride over to SeaTac WA,next month and before Tater TOT in the Spring.

Film at eleven. TTFN
 
I really like your trike.. my plan is to get one next spring just still figuring out what I want..

I like how it seems like your rear end is extended and you could really add some storage back there if you wanted.

that's not a standard ride is it ? Like the front windshield as well. can't believe you have gotten it so fast.
well I do just figure aerodynamics must come into play.

Anyway love your ride. I am jealous.
 
Kirk:

Thanks for the great photos and description. Do you have any more details to share, how/when you purchased and hooked things up (GM Pro 901 hub motor, Stand Alone CA, 18s2p Turnigy Lipo and 18s6p Turnigy Nano-Tech)?

Some of your previous posts describe some, but wondering if there is more advise you can share? Did you use a kit, or lace the wheel yourself, 20" or 26"? What is your wiring like for your current controller, what you might have done differently based on experience. Torque arm, regen, speed switch, thumb throttle....anything else you can share would be great. Mods to the GM Pro 901? You can teach us trikers a great lesson on how to get into this with a GM Pro 901. Thanks in advance for the film a eleven. ~smiley.

some very helpful previous posts by Kirk:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=235&p=586237#p586237
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=35076&p=576005#p576005
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=38839&p=574082#p574082

And thanks for this forum, my first post (be gentle), reading up and soaking it all in.

Best of Regards,

Joe Mc.
 
Kirk said:
A Garmin 705 GPS and the Cyclemeter app to help you from getting lost. There is a real good app for the Android phones also. According to the CA log I've managed to get to 69.5 mph.So no entry into the 70 mph club yet.
I'm thinking of perhaps a C'Lyte H3525, Lyens 18 FET controller and a 20s battery, after I ride over to SeaTac WA,next month and before Tater TOT in the Spring.

Film at eleven. TTFN

Nice trike!

BUt... your numbers look suspicious...

maybe your CA is a little off calibration :lol: ..
with 20s lipo fully charged H3525 and 26" and even a 1000A controller the absolute max speed you can get is 63km/h... it's far from 69.5mph!

believe me.. i've rided my ebike at 70mph and i can ensure you that the aerodynamism of your etrike would require at least 15kW of power!.. and with 20s lipo... even with with fully charged pack, you would need 200A batt current and higher phase current.


Please doublecheck your C-A calibration :wink:

Doc
 
Nice trike. I like the extra cargo space in back; was that accomplished with an Xtracycle Freeloader?
Eric
 
chvidgov.bc.ca said:
Maybe downhill. I've hit 43mph downhill with 16S LIFPO4 on my Actionbent trike. A bigger hill and I could probably hit 60mph.


Yep, it was downhill and with a different fairing. It was last Spring coming down Cape Foulweather on the Oregon Coast, with a Mueller Bros. WGX Windrapper fairing, which comes back damn near to my chest. I was slouched down so that my head was under the lip of the fairing and could see where I was going looking between my knees. Just keep the throttle wide open and hang on.
Typically a bike at 18 MPH uses 80% of its energy just to over come the force of the air drag. A velomobile at 30 MPH has virtually no drag. with a full front fairing on the trike, drag starts coming into play around 26 MPH. Depending on tires, heat and wind conditions, if you have enough hill, terminal velocity for a good tadpole trike with a good fairing seems to be between 60 and 70 MPH. In the Pterovelo velomobile going down a decent grade I start on the brakes at 80 MPH to give me time to react to road hazards.
Another thing that really affects roll out. I replaced the front and hub motor bearings with VXB ABEC-7 Hybrid Ceramic bearings. You can stand behind my trike and blow on it and make it roll.
 
Eric said:
Nice trike. I like the extra cargo space in back; was that accomplished with an Xtracycle Freeloader?
Eric

Its a Xtracycle Free Radical redesigned to work on a number of trikes. Its marketed by Terra Cycle as the Cargo Monster. I think all of the Free Radical accessories fit it.
 
Kirk's design was my inspiration for this story: http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=63968

Thanks again Enless Sphere Community.

energyi

energyi said:
Kirk:

Thanks for the great photos and description. Do you have any more details to share, how/when you purchased and hooked things up (GM Pro 901 hub motor, Stand Alone CA, 18s2p Turnigy Lipo and 18s6p Turnigy Nano-Tech)?

Some of your previous posts describe some, but wondering if there is more advise you can share? Did you use a kit, or lace the wheel yourself, 20" or 26"? What is your wiring like for your current controller, what you might have done differently based on experience. Torque arm, regen, speed switch, thumb throttle....anything else you can share would be great. Mods to the GM Pro 901? You can teach us trikers a great lesson on how to get into this with a GM Pro 901. Thanks in advance for the film a eleven. ~smiley.

some very helpful previous posts by Kirk:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=235&p=586237#p586237
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=35076&p=576005#p576005
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=38839&p=574082#p574082

And thanks for this forum, my first post (be gentle), reading up and soaking it all in.
 
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