My ultra-sufficient semi-recumbent tricycle project

[ddk]

although the day started and ended in a fog (like my brainnnnnnsnsnssss)
mid-day saw an unusual object in the sky; the sky responded by breaking out in blue wonder.
It was sunny with an uncluttered sky to boot!

Back to work on My Trike(TM) ...after some interruptions involving riding trikes for the heck of it.
One of those random rides took me to the sign shop where my 4x8 sheet of 10mm Coroplast awaits me.
I thought to use the some trim pieces off My Sheet for the rear My Bat Boxes.
Instead the proprietor gave away some scrap pieces and sold me (cheap) some chunks of leftover 4mm black Coroplast he'd used for a sign several years ago. (woohoo)
One of the scrap pieces, about 12x18 inches, features a portrait of one of those kings of England... a German fellow I gather.
The king might make an interesting dashboard...LOL

Anyway I started making what yesterday I thought might be a nice looking bat box.
Upon setting it in it's intended position I immediately HATED the thing. But it iS big enough to hold tools, controllers, a small army + reinforcements in the opposing box (one box per side of the seat) ...or 150 5S 5000ma sticks
WTF was I thinking yesterday? Must not of remembered my drugs...

 

[ddk]

woke up to fog
went back to sleep
woke up to less fog
time to ride!
lost my ambition building battery boxes so I re-mounted my BigBlackCase
and headed out. Being almost smart I bundled up an extra coat in case the day got foggier. Or foggiest.
Due to the topography here I knew I could count on...nothing.
One moment bright...hot...sun.
Next moment damp...cold...fog. etc etc etc lost count.
Meanwhile customer comments included a teenager "woah...sweet bike!"
To SumOldFart askn' "What's in the the box bub... yer laundry?"
View attachment 5

*Opens the case*




WTF IS THIS HERESY?



One of Radio Shack's finest in automotive switche, $3.75... too cheap to wanna buy a nicer automotive switch and $15 shipping and handling seems, uhm, excessive for one $1.50 switch.
I've been using it since December with no apparent flames or welds to be seen.

"And wuts this doo-hicky?"



OMG my electrons are fused and switched before leaving the case to go on a date with the controller.


After riding for several hours in and out of fog I eventually headed home
But I wasn't done with the day yet.
I disassembled the jack shaft and added a backwards (or...reversed) 6-speed gear cage in place of my carefully-machined 13-tooth gear (LOL)
I haz the reversed freewheel blues no mo'




re-mounting this thing is akin to a puzzle. The fog got foggiest before I could snap a pic.

 

[ddk]

-After the nap-

since no one's pointed out the possible flaw in this nirvana I just created... I will.

Had I bought a 'new' freewheel-adapter and geared-freewheel for the jackshaft, I would have specified a left-hand thread for both pieces.
Even my LBS has a left-hand threaded 15-tooth freewheel in their display case (and it's priced About The Same as any on-line vendor :lol
This particular gear-cage I just installed on the jackshaft was formerly wandering around on my EMoto's axle for the last six months, sometimes staying in one place...
-So I'm hoping it's been screwed on so tightly to it's freewheel assembly as to not pose a problem.

If it does unscrew itself I'm just gonna pin the gear-cluster to it's freewheel with a couple of steel roll pins.
If THAT fails it's task I will fall back on procuring "the right" freewheel which is "the left" freewheel.
...confused yet?

So am I.
I am ATM ~4 hours of being done (YAY) with the mechanicals of My Trike(TM)
leaving me free to build the bat-boxes and dashing dashboard

UNTIL

-finally... the dreaded Solar Panel Project rapidly approach-eth.
(sorry.. i get a lisp whenever I think about the Solar Panel Project)

 

[ddk]

today was very interesting
And I mean "interesting" in a good/bad way with the bad outweighing the good.
First off I was reminded that it might have been awhile since I last bought clothes for myself.
Evidenced by my last pair of shorts disintegrating into piles of worn out threads :lol:
However that kills whatever funds I had available for My Trike(TM) for this month.

Good News.
Yesterday I rode for 3.5 hours with no noticeable pain, but boy am I whipped today.
I can pretty much hang up the athletic supporters since I won't be needing their support...
...because of My Trike(TM)
I used all of 2AH from the six batteries discharging 21V down to 19.84V per 5S battery.
All the batteries had the same ending voltage, which they should have beings 3Px2S should have them all about the same.
(or at least the 3P(s) exactly the same)
I have no idea how far I went, but I would guess at least 20 miles or more
Only problem encountered was a blip in the power, which today I traced to a Radio Shack fuse holder. The fuse sat loosely in the holder.
I swear the only thing Radio Shack sells that actually works good is the Euro Block connectors, although those are overpriced

...but that's the way of The Shack. *said with a western drawl*

I had some auto fuse holders left over from a different project (sourced from an auto parts store) so:
unscrew the euro block
remove crappy Radio Shack fuse holder
Insert new fuse holder and tighten the euro block screws.
-About a minute repair

Bad News Everyone! *Professor Farnsworth speaking*
The reverse freewheel experiment was an abysmal, total failure.
(my brains hertz)
but it does work as well as a fixed gear.

...try as I might... I Give Up.
"Uncle"
Time to add the fixed-gear sprocket to My Trike's(TM) rear-axle, which I hoping to avoid because it's a pain in the rear-end.
Which also means purchasing another fixed gear for the jackshaft (or rear axle. I has one I needs two)... otherwise I'll have to add a "real" idler for My Trike's pedal chain for the chain to "rise above" the gear-cluster that's currently mounted on the jackshaft
Note: the nylon thingy I added earlier to My Trike(TM) works ok as a cheap and simple chain guide, but doesn't raise the chain high enough to clear the gear-cluster's stop collar (as seen in the pictures just two posts before this post)...which has that huge setscrew and locknut thingy that catches the pedal chain (sometimes)
...yes Houston. that was yet another problem today!

...anyways a fixed gear is way less expensive than fixing an idler gear to the frame and far easier to fit.

...but procuring any new parts has to wait til the end of time
or the end of this month... whichever comes first
otherwise I would have been forced into nakedness, which would be a *very* disgusting sight indeed.
c ya

 

[ddk]

after the longest nap ever...
reflections of the day...
Awhile ago I purchased a brushed motor controller for the MY1018 motor.
It failed within a couple of days.
Before it's demise I was erked by how much noise the motor made.
However, after the controller's demise, I switched the motor directly from the 12v, 24v and 36v taps from the SLA batteries I was using and the motor became MUCH quieter.
And of course I proceeded to forget about that.
Meanwhile a few days ago I repaired the motor controller, thinking it would be the easiest way to introduce a 'soft start' function from the (yet to be built) inclonometer switch*.
So I wired up a throttle to test the motor via the controller.
Results:

-OMG what a noisy motor (like... I should care, cause I normally ride wearing a noise-canceling headset :lol
-The throttle curve (hall throttle) is, well, lousy... in fact it's almost an off/on type of thing.
As I'd changed the gearing of the MY1018 output to the drive axle from 5-6MPH to a top speed of about 8-10 MPH I didn't expect what happened next:
-WHEELIES!
Like the lowrider trikes My Trike(TM) resembles the front end started hopping up and down jus' like it's bigger, more scarier auto-like cousins. (because they ARE autos)

What's curious to me is this wheelie effect didn't happen when using the MY1018 with the lower speed gears (i.e torque-ier gearing) and the switched, direct-to-battery affair.
Switching a brushed motor off/on directly from a 36V battery should have had More Wheelie Potential than from a throttle-controlled controller, one would think.

Very Curious. Very Curious Indeed.

The chains stayed in their proper places today.
The problems I experienced with this new setup was the continued inability to pedal backwards**, requiring me to change a Life-Time-of-Bike-Riding-Habits if I didn't fix this situation,.
Oh, and the occasional catch of the pedal chain on the gear-cluster's setscrew. Very annoying, that.


*Yep... gonna build my own inclonometer switch because the few I found to be useful cost TooMuchMoney for the My Trike(TM) project, where money is One Big Object... due to somewhat limited and diminished funds caused by things breaking down, batteries dieing of old age, clothing expenses, blah blah blah.

**in fact, I can't imagine ever owning or riding a 'fixie' which I consider to be the Dumbest Idea of the 21Century Yet, esp. when equipped with no brakes.

 

[ddk]

ordered a 9-tooth sprocket for a 5/8" axle from ombwarehouse... with shipping @ $11something for .My Trike's(TM) jackshaft.
Gonna highly modify the 13-tooth sprocket to fit the drive axle. Gearing should be about 10-11MPH from the MY1018 drive.
The MXUS geared-motor works fine up to about a 10% grade and just needs the assist for slopes greater than that.

Decided to use a disc brake on the un-braked rear wheel. It's the easiest to mod and provides the strongest braking solution.
Esp. as a drag brake.
-I really need a good solution for those long downhill slopes where My Trike(TM) can easily exceed speeds I'm comfortable with.
LBS has a Tektro disc brake kit that includes the disc, caliper, two sizes of caliper bracket adapters and brake cable/lever arm for ~60$...It's about the same price as online with shipping.
-although I'll have Yet Another Brake Lever Arm I Have No Use For
(gotta think of some uses for all these spare parts I'm accumulating)
(maybe I have enough for another trike LOL)

Note: The band brake works ok, but like all brakes it fades with heavy use.
+ I need the redundancy of two brakes.

The EMoto taught me that under the wrong circumstances, a band brake will fail.

 

[ddk]

hopefully my last gear system
You might notice it's simplicity compared to the previous failed attempts

I've decided to make an adapter plate for the disc brake.
A ISO 507 standard trike rear wheel is mounted on a rim spoked to a hollow hub where the hub flange has pre-drilled holes to engage the axle's drive flange.

As these hubs are the same on both the driven and non-driven wheels I going to use the drive pin holes to bolt on a homemade adapter plate for the brake disc.
I'll be re-purposing an old saw blade for the adapter plate, which conveniently has a 5/8" hole in it's center that matches the 5/8" axle
=should look something like this:


Maybe I should grind down the saw teeth first?

 

[ddk]

beautiful sunny (and windy) day!
rode My Trike(TM) for an hour or so then it was back to the shop

Where I ground the teeth down on my newly acquired 9-tooth gear.
Then I gently modified the 13-tooth gear by cutting off it's body.
I took this photo mainly to see how much touch-up work I needed on the teeth

some clean-up on the teeth is needed, I see.


I just need the energy to re-mount the jackshaft and remove My Trike(TM)'s rear axle to add the 13-tooth gear to complete this job.
...and then onwards to the disc brake.

I'm still tempted to mount the disc on the front but then there's that lil' problem of mounting the caliper, so the left rear wheel's getting the disc treatment.

Today it dawned on my feeble mind that the reason I prefer to ride My Trike(TM) over the EMoto is I don't have to fight the crown of the road. In fact My Trike(TM) handles quite like a bicycle in that regard. The fork also now self-straightens the wheel if I let go the handlebars (took some futzing with the spring tension for that effect, as any wheel mounted on an extended fork should do this)
On the other hand, the EMoto wants to drift down the crown, steering into the curb. It's actually quite a struggle keeping it on the road.
-Maybe I should procure another bent springer fork for the EMoto?
...Or maybe not.

 

[ddk]

'nother sunny day so I rode
then I worked on the trike's infrastructure.
My back determined I wasn't ready to do much bending over so I resumed the dashing dashboard project.
As I've determined I need to carry 30AH@36V (1.2KW) to go as far as I wanna go (and return) I made the decision to carry 15A worth of batteries in the DD (Dashing Dashboard).
I thought to re-examine my half-a**ed design by making the battery enclosure easy to completely remove from the DD.
Using my super accurate methods of drilling holes *lets the drill bit skip until it bites* I started in.
In the beginning I proceeded to mis-measure and mis-cut my large chunk of aluminum L-channel ...luckily catching the error during the dry mock-up of the cut parts. I had exactly just enough channel left to make the right lengths (a minor gift from the gods of DIY)
View attachment 1
Removing the two 1/4" bolts will allow the battery cage to slide out of the DD
although the DD is hardly symmetrical it was easy to make all the end panels line up by surgically removing excess material with a belt sander loaded up with the coarsest of sanding belts

I definitely caught too much sun *he says with A RED FACE*

The day ended before the project got completed.

The last couple of days has had my solar system delivering all of 600W. Hardly a good performance from a 200W system.
I raised the panels up for the first time this year and results were disappointing. I expected at least 1KW per day.
-something else to fix.

 

[ddk]

been raining and foggy all day but here at 7:30PM the sun broke thru.
-too late to do anything.
So this month (or two) I need to purchase another 8 5S 5000mah batteries to effect my fantasy rides

...and if I'm gonna fantasize I can fantasize this:

 

[ddk]

almost finished the bat box for the DD
need to add the connectors and Velcro strapping and then complete the rest of the DD

Taking the battery assembly out of the DD finds that it fits nicely in the BigBlackCase
-meaning I should build another one for two of them. Maybe three, but the MY1018 motor/controller is only to be powered from a 36V 10AH battery (4x 5S) so the bat box could be different...or not.

 

[docnjoj]

Hey DDK
I'm afraid someone beat you to the "Fantasy Quad". It is an actual bike by Lightning Recumbents. Lotta money though! Keep on writing as I really like your stuff!
otherDoc

View attachment Lightning Phsntom Quad.doc

 

[ddk]

Hey DDK
I'm afraid someone beat you to the "Fantasy Quad". It is an actual bike by Lightning Recumbents. Lotta money though! Keep on writing as I really like your stuff!
otherDoc

View attachment 1

:lol: that's just a bicycle with adult-sized training wheels!

my fantasy quad incorporates 3 motors with invisible batteries suitable for climbing the Cascades from east to west into Seattle
and other, similar rides.

 

[ddk]

-stopped in at Radio Shack to get more stuff (euro blocks and banana connectors)
thank goodness they didn't have all I needed so Surf's Up!
Futerlec sells the same euro terminal blocks for $2 that RS sells for $6.something.
same deal with the banana connectors
-BUT- (bigger than but)
...while ordering the banana connectors for the battery box(s) from Futerlec:
I stumbled upon a connector I stupidly forgot about:
http://www.futurlec.com/Speaker-Terminals.shtml

Speakon connectors are used for high-power amplifier connections up to 1000w and have 2-8 poles which can accept up to 10g wire. The contacts are rated for continuous 30A each.
Neutrik, the original designer of these connectors specifies they are not to be used for power connections, just like phone plugs and 3-pin XLR connectors shouldn't, but are, used. LOL
They're relatively inexpensive and are locking connectors. The 2-4 pole connectors are terminated with a set screw (easy and secure) or soldered (pain-in-the-ass with 10g wire)
I'm jus' gonna use these bad boys as bulk charger connectors for the bat boxes

 

[ddk]

it's another rain and fog day
I've drilled and mangled my one folding table enough that I no longer bring it into the MH, leaving me work surfaceless.
That only leaves me to design other parts of the puzzle yet to be decided upon.

so today's design (that will likely change) is the inclonometer switch for the MY1018 motor/controller

the requirements:
I can't climb grades that approach 15% with only myself and the front hub motor doing the work.
That is, without risking melting down the front hub motor (and myself for that matter)
I would like a hands-off approach because I'm generally doing things like... steering and... changing gears (see- I SHOULD HAVE bought the nuvinci hub solution!)

the fundamentals:
this image was borrowed and cropped from the en Wikipedia from a discussion on road grades

so the switch should operate with about a 7 degree angle

as one might discern from the images; it wouldn't take much of a bump to accidentally activate a switch activated by a swing arm.
My limited mental capacity limits me to think about using either:
-some sort of time-constant to activate a comparator circuit. (simple to design... but*)
-some sort of dampener on the moving lever arm that activates the switch (too much futzing and would likely never work right all the time)

*old age sux- I can hardly see a minidip package much less hold one with my shaky hands, which also makes soldering a circuit board pretty much a thing of the past.
This is probably for the best... as I've likely sucked up MUCH more than my fair share of lead fumes over the years leading to my current mental-state-being-a-derp

after perusing the interwebs for info I think I can just dampen the movement of The Pendulum by lengthening it's arm, increasing the scha-wing before it hits da switch-thingy
Edger Allan Poe would be happier if I had a blade attached to the end of the pendulum, but I'll use a hammer.

 

[ddk]

What the hell just happened?

oh ya...
I must have slept from the afternoon of yesterday until this morn'

Yesterday Rassy and his friend Bob stopped by on their way to a bike rally in Fernwood 2Nite.
It was my turn to buy lunch so I took them to the same restaurant we'd previously visited.
Dunno why I did this because that place is going downhill rapidly.
I should take the time to visit some other establishments... or ask my sister.
Of course, I conveniently (for me) forgot my wallet so Rassy had to pay again!

***actually I hadn't meant to leave the wallet behind. What happened was I unconsciously used the ol' ninja substitution technique of replacing my wallet with a Master lock. The lock that should have been locking up my trikes.
-Luckily I hadn't locked the trikes up with my wallet***

He actually stopped by to drop off one of his marvelous constructions.
They're mainly marvelous because he measures stuff...


-whereas I just guess.

anyway this trailer is great!
Check out the very clever (and very small) ball hitch Rassy made.


+ he stopped to buy a couple of 20" wheels as he knew there's a dearth of used bike parts in my parts.

Thanks again Rassy!

Having this trailer available now leads me to consider selling the EMoto trike, as I probably shouldn't have two trikes
(and they barely fit in my tent/shed together)
I was keeping the EMoto because it's a cargo monster trike (in it's own, uhm, special way)

However adding a hitch to My Trike(TM) means I can no longer lazily use the BigBlackCase as a battery box
So I spent most the best part of the day finishing the DD and the bat box for the DD.
I can't actually finish either until I receive my parts order from futurlec

-But I did get this far:





-


The sole purpose of this contraption is to weigh down the front fork, assisting my anti-wheelie whoopie fetish.


the DD eventually will be mounted here:


the batteries will balance on the stem's incline, effectively reducing any impact on the trike's handling.
(I Hope)

 

[ddk]

oh
hi

welcome back to your 6th grade science class

Today's lesson involves convoluted thinking
You're required to have prior, err, elementary knowledge of LiPo battery chemistry ...



SURPRISE POP QUIZ A-ha ha hahahaha (evil science teacher laff)


Please review the following photograph in FIG 1

FIG 1



Discussion:
where anyone will admit any multi-meter is better than no multi-meter.
Generally speaking, there are differences in the accuracy of multi- multi-meters.

One of the meters in FIG 1 is calibrated to a known standard reference DC voltage and is regularly checked against said standard DC voltage
The other two meters have never been calibrated.

Let's Pretend YOU JUST WON THE LOTTERY!!
Congratulations, you won an e-bike
However, your BRAND NEW E-BIKE doesn't come with batteries
Assume you put together a battery using 10 individual cells of Li-Po chemistry.

Lets assume you wish to mount your 10-cell battery on your brand NEW e-bicycle to power your stuff.
You wish to use one, from this multitude of multi-meters, to monitor your 10-cell battery while your battery is being used i.e charging or discharging.

ESSAY TEST A ha a ha a hahhahahahHAHAHA

There are 2 questions, each is worth 50% of your grade, questions A and B are in two-parts, requiring both parts to be answered correctly.
Total test value is over 9000%

BEGIN NOW
:
A. Which meter would you choose to use on your bicycle. And why
B. Two part question: ahaha ahahaahaaahahahahaAHAHAHAH
For complete safety, at what measured voltage displayed on your 'chosen' meter will cause you to terminate your batteries during:
1. charging... and why did you choose this voltage value?
2. discharging... same ol' blah blah blah



this WILL go on your permanent record





(ans)
A: there are no wrong answers, only opinions
B: congratulations if you didn't accidentally your house

 

[docnjoj]

Damn man, you need to go on "the road" with this act! Just keep 'em coming! Very funny stuff and clever too. A rare combo these days. I teach college physiology and pathology but I still remember those physics "tests"! Great stuff.
otherDoc

 

[amberwolf]

I terminate charge at 4.15V/cell max, because there isn't much energy added above that anyway. Lower charge values extend life of cells.

I terminate discharge at 3.6V/cell min, because there's not much energy left below that, and lower discharge extends cell life. I actually don't really go down that far, but that's my cutoff level I wouldn't go below unless I absolutely had to for some wierd emergency reason. 3.7-3.8V/cell is really about as far as I typically ever deep discharge, and rarely actually go below 3.85V/cell, as I don't usually use all of my range before recharging.

I figure at worst I am not using about 20% of my possible capacity, but my pack will last longer, with less risk of unbalancing it. Since I bulk charge and only periodically check cell balance, this is important. I have yet to see any real cell imbalance, perhaps 0.01V difference between cells. Not yet tested that under load/ride conditions, just sitting connected to the powered-on bike.

I would use the cheapest meter on teh bike, so that if someone damaged it or stole it, I wouldn't be out much. Realistically they're all accurate enough for a pack-level measurement.

One caveat about using only a pack-level LVC: you may want to stop discharging at a much higher voltage than you would if you had cell-level LVC, because unless you stop to check cell balance periodically, you might find you have a cell that is so low for some reason that it ends up being killed by continuing discharge after it's really really too low a voltage to continue, but while the rest of the pack is still very "full". This is not a likely scenario, but it could happen, and has happened to people before.

The same is true of pack-level HVC.

Once you have thoroughly characterized your packs and cells, and know their limits, you can push closer to them, but before you have deterimined the limits, you may want to stay in a narrower probably safer range.

 

[ddk]

Damn man, you need to go on "the road" with this act!

no
no, I did that shtick once but now I'm retired.

Very funny stuff and clever too. A rare combo these days. I teach college physiology and pathology but I still remember those physics "tests"! Great stuff.
otherDoc

HaHA I'm a clever monkey!
Clever monkeys abound, but are mostly hiding behind the hedgerows*

I terminate charge at 4.15V/cell max, because there isn't much energy added above that anyway. Lower charge values extend life of cells.

I terminate discharge at 3.6V/cell min, because there's not much energy left below that, and lower discharge extends cell life. I actually don't really go down that far, but that's my cutoff level I wouldn't go below unless I absolutely had to for some wierd emergency reason. 3.7-3.8V/cell is really about as far as I typically ever deep discharge, and rarely actually go below 3.85V/cell, as I don't usually use all of my range before recharging.

I figure at worst I am not using about 20% of my possible capacity, but my pack will last longer, with less risk of unbalancing it. Since I bulk charge and only periodically check cell balance, this is important. I have yet to see any real cell imbalance, perhaps 0.01V difference between cells. Not yet tested that under load/ride conditions, just sitting connected to the powered-on bike.

I would use the cheapest meter on teh bike, so that if someone damaged it or stole it, I wouldn't be out much. Realistically they're all accurate enough for a pack-level measurement.

One caveat about using only a pack-level LVC: you may want to stop discharging at a much higher voltage than you would if you had cell-level LVC, because unless you stop to check cell balance periodically, you might find you have a cell that is so low for some reason that it ends up being killed by continuing discharge after it's really really too low a voltage to continue, but while the rest of the pack is still very "full". This is not a likely scenario, but it could happen, and has happened to people before.

The same is true of pack-level HVC.

Once you have thoroughly characterized your packs and cells, and know their limits, you can push closer to them, but before you have deterimined the limits, you may want to stay in a narrower probably safer range.

LOL amberwolf
You failed to read the fine print which should have alerted you that I might have wrote that quiz because I was bored, waiting for my battery packs to finish bulk-charging. (like I'm doing right now) (waiting the wait)
I remembered that I forgot to remember to check the red/yellow meters against my standard, so I took the opportunity to check both these meters I intend to use on my DD about here:


I haven't heard from futurlec about my parts order (still) so I slapped-happied the connector stufs from the BigBlackCase, velcroed onto the bat box so I could ride today (most the day) (with many, many long pauses)

The DD apparently causes strangers to take notice that My Trike(TM) is motorized!
Screw this stealth crap.

I rode without the coroplast cover because my first stop was to purchase more coroplast to cover the coroplast cover.
I got stopped by more by-standers and drivers with inquiries today than I've ever received on any of my contraptions.
I believe they (the inquirers) expected me to actually sell My Trike(TM)
(i referred them to the LBS, which doesn't stock electric bikes...yet)
I was told by several people I should start a business
oh, ya?
with what money... LOL.





*clever monkeys are generally hunted by all the predator monkeys mainly because predator monkeys hate clever monkeys ability to avoid their predator-built monkey traps. Eventually even clever monkeys get tired of this game causing their rabid disenchantment with the world... until they just go ahead and walk right into the predator monkey traps,

 

[ddk]

oh ya...

forgot to mention that having the weight of the batteries over the fork's suspension smooths out the suspension movement causing an overall increased stability to My Trike(TM) when underway.

I can now ride My Trike(TM) with one hand on the tiller, the other hand loose making random hand-signals

 

[TopCat]

I can now ride My Trike(TM) with one hand on the tiller, the other hand loose making random hand-signals

LOL...do you mean gestures to offending motorists

Regards
Tom

 

[ddk]

I can now ride My Trike(TM) with one hand on the tiller, the other hand loose making random hand-signals

LOL...do you mean gestures to offending motorists

Regards
Tom

Indicating which way I intend to turn or a friendly wave...even if I'm not thinking friendly thoughts.
-anything beyond that would put me in a place or mindset I never intend to be or have.



I'm pretty much done with the My Trike(TM) project.
No more funds for the solar crap this year.

Conclusions:
-if there was a bike/trike manufactured that did what My Trike(TM) can do I would have bought it. That is, being able to climb the steepest hills while remaining below my country's legal limits for speed and power for an electric bicycle.
-E-tricycles are better than E-bicycles- no debate needed
-Most of the cheap e-bikes I've recently looked at or have purchased work pretty good. They don't, however, climb hills pretty gud.
-modern specifications on EVERYTHING, if provided, are apparently allowed to be completely bogus
-on-line purveyors of merchandise are weird... sometimes reliable, ofttimes not.
-on-line ex-spurts should never be trusted -really. Do do your own do-do. You CANNOT verify who you're communicating with on the interwebbs. Most so-called ex-spurts are merely parrots. And keep your private information about yourself to yourself.

Have a nice life!

 

[SamTexas]

I'm pretty much done with the My Trike(TM) project.
No more funds for the solar crap this year.

Conclusions:
-if there was a bike/trike manufactured that did what My Trike(TM) can do I would have bought it. That is, being able to climb the steepest hills while remaining below my country's legal limits for speed and power for an electric bicycle.
-E-tricycles are better than E-bicycles- no debate needed
-Most of the cheap e-bikes I've recently looked at or have purchased work pretty good. They don't, however, climb hills pretty gud.
-modern specifications on EVERYTHING, if provided, are apparently allowed to be completely bogus
-on-line purveyors of merchandise are weird... sometimes reliable, ofttimes not.
-on-line ex-spurts should never be trusted -really. Do do your own do-do. You CANNOT verify who you're communicating with on the interwebbs. Most so-called ex-spurts are merely parrots. And keep your private information about yourself to yourself.

Have a nice life!

Can you post a few pictures of your final, finished etrike? Can you also summarize the changes to made to the original trike?

 

[ddk]

Can you post a few pictures of your final, finished etrike? Can you also summarize the changes to made to the original trike?

too bizzy to play on the inturnetz
more business comments are indeed warranted, however

my new mantra
"Has My Order Shipped Yet?"

futurlec,com
-didn't ship my order
-emailed twice to get a response
-about one item not being in stock but they expect it in 1 day
some days latter (includes the weekend, so two days latter) I continue my mantra with two emails 12 hours apart... only this email instructs futurlec to cancel my order and refund my CC if they can't fulfill it.
(of course they immediately charged my CC upon receiving my order)

-three days later my CC is refunded-minus $1.20
I got charged $1.20 for a company, not having an item in stock, charging me a re-stocking fee?
-or because they took my money before they knew they had the items I'd ordered? (stock)
either way futurlec is on my personal ever-growing list of companies I'd rather not do business with

bicycledesigner.com

first day
ordered part by phone
asked about stock:
"yup durr we gotz uz some stocks" (not a direct quote but a quote changed with dramatic changes to protect the quoter)
-immediately charged my CC
next day no indication it's shipped
wait the weekend
-monday
I Start My Mantra via e-mail +leaving 1 phone message Voicing My Mantra
end of day USPS sends reception email
however I must have upset bicycledesigner because they couldn't be bothered to return my emails or my phone messages
-'nother business (bicycledesigner) is on my personal ever-growing list of companies I'd rather not do business with.

of course this is imo and not to be construed as an endorsement (or not) of any real or imaginary bisnezzw who should probably only be selling via ebay where the consumer somehow is 'spozed to expect crappy treatment from the sellers