4th generation of my trike

[irondad01]

I'm thinking about starting a build thread on redoing my VW. I've had it on the road for 12 yrs. in this version. About a month ago I blew the sidewall out of a rear tire and thought as long as I'm buying three tires I might as well freshen it up. That lead to why not change almost everything?

I want to make it look like it was in WWII. I don't want a tribute bike, I want people think it was in WWII. I built almost everything on it, frame, front end, fiberglass body, front fender, etc. I'll have to derake the frame to get the look I want. It's at 40* now, I want 28*-30*. I'll beef the front end up for looks, it's plenty strong enough now, it just looks too skinny for what I want. I'll have to shorten the forks too. I'll keep the tank. The rear of the body will look like the back of a Kubelwagon, think VW Thing. It was the German version of our flat fender Jeep.

If you count the Beetle it started as, this is the 4th generation. This will be the third time as a trike.

We'll see how it goes, Carl

 

[irondad01]

I don't know why the picture is so blurry, I'm an old guy and was having a rough time posting .

 

[rhino 2]

Gonna be an interesting build thats for sure....ThumbUp,,,

 

[Burnerboy]

Now "that's" cool..

Ronnie

 

[irondad01]

Got some stuff done. I stripped it all down and made some wooden wheels so I could roll it around easier.



I wanted to go from 40* rake to 28*-30*. I cut a 10* pie slice out and pulled it back, then welded it all up. It ended up at 28*.








Now the next big thing is the front end. The way it was I had 2" of trail but now with the derake the forks will be too long and the bottom link won't be right. Not a big deal, I have a plan.

 

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Excellent.

Caint wait to see what you do.

Pictures pictures pictures.

 

[DeathBySnuSnu]

O....O....O.......

Yes.

No.

Wait.....

Disclaimer......I dont mean to be trying to tell you what to do or what to build.....I just caint help myself sometimes........I seldom can make the wheels stop spinning in my head.

So just some ideas for you to ponder.

So de-raked. Now a bent back leg leading link.

An early styled gas tank and move the shifter up beside the tank.

A sprung saddle seat.

So all standard fair....but now to get odd.

Shorten it a bit.

And.

Move the entire backbone/neck over to the left way off center but not all the way to inline with left rear.

Then graft a side car body on the right side.

Of course as narrow as is reasonable with the vw suspension, rim offset ect.....

A side hack looking vw trike in antique military style. It would not drive any wonkier than an actual side car bike.

Sorry.....I caint help myself....

 

[irondad01]

Thanks for the replies and ideas. I've had 6 side cars. My wife liked the way the trike was set up better, easier to get on and off and higher to see what's going on. I bought a Harley solo police seat and I'm planning on a wide bomber rear seat. I've also toyed with crazy, odd ideas but I need to get this done for next summer. I have an idea for the shifter beside me using rods and bell cranks to get to the trans. I know about the cable shifters but I have a hard time with the price they want. I thought about building a whole new trike but a lot of stuff is already figured out on this one and the title is taken care of.

PS Did anyone notice in the picture with the pie cut out of the frame whats lurking in the trees?

 

[irondad01]

Got the frame blocked up to ride height and put the forks on. They're 4" to long and the pivot is 6" too far forward. Amazing what 12* difference in rake will change. I will shorten them right above the shock mount, cut them at an angle to bring the pivot up and back. I worked on a template to figure out what angle to cut. You cut half the angle you want off each piece and when they're joined everything should match up. My old geometry teacher would be so ashamed of me. I think I finally got it figured out. I could have bent them back but I have to cut to shorten anyway.





I'll use that loop for the bottom link. The pivots have oil-lite bushings in them and show no wear after 12 years. The old link is on the floor in the first picture.

 

[peteg59]

Looks good! Are you building the Kubelwagen rear from scratch, or do you have any original parts to do it?

Answer to your question: Junior Sasquatch sneaking out from behind a tree, mebbe???:Shrug:

 

[irondad01]

Thanks. I'm going to make my own body, roughly looking like the Kubelwagon. I think original parts would be rare and $$.

It is Sasquatch but if it's junior I don't want to see Dad because that one is 8' tall.

 

[peteg59]

That should be an interesting project for sure, there aren't many K/W styled trikes running around!

Hard to get a good idea on your Sassy's size, as there's not much around it for comparison.:Shrug:

Post up a closeup if you have time...

 

[irondad01]

I'm 6'. My wife got this for me and brought it home in our Subaru Forrester. It was almost like Harry and the Hendersons.

 

[LarryA]

Carl , great to see the next generation trike underway....admire how you went right for the jugular! looking forward to the build!

 

[DeathBySnuSnu]

I did not post my guess, but from the edge view I thought it looked more like Tree Beard from Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers.

And love seeing your build. Keep it coming.

 

[irondad01]

Before I cut anything I wanted to be sure all my gosintas [ like 2 goes into 4 ] were right. I was looking at my old lower links and it seems like they might work with just a change in the shock mount. If I were making a new lower link the cuts on the fork wouldn't be as critical because I could put the pivot mounts where ever I needed to get the trail I want. The links that are already made have the pivot 10 1/4" from the center of the axle so I have to make sure the fork pivot ends up in the right place to give me 2" of trail. If it fails I can always make a new lower link. If it succeeds it will save me a lot of work.





For better or worse it's cut apart. Now to put the pieces back together. When I first made the front end I used 1 1/2" x 1/4" wall square tube so I would have some weight up front to keep it on the ground. That gives me lots of metal to weld to. I have a brace that goes around the back of the wheel that bolts the two links together.

 

[Johnny Mac]

View attachment 77138

Those wheels

 

[irondad01]

The front end is all welded back together and it came out just where I wanted . I started to modify the old links. I had to make clearance for full shock travel and I have to move the shock mounts on the links.



I would like to get the major welding done before winter sets in because this is my welding shop. A garage sure would be nice.

 

[grandpanystrom61]

Yep, I have a garage as my shop, and yet I have no room at all for what I want to do, LOL.

 

[grandpanystrom61]

It has

to be me looking at photo's, but when I try to see the front wheel on the front end and frame, is there enough room for the turning with out the back of the tire hitting frame ?

 

[irondad01]

Yes there is room. I might be changing the frame anyway to get the look I want. I finished the lower links and have it setting on the wheel. It will settle a little once all the weight is put back on. The front is stiffer now because I moved the shock mount forward so have less leverage. I'll be putting a dual sport tire on to give a more off-road look. Next on the front is a high mount fender and brace. I'm thinking along the lines of a Ural.



This is what it used to look like. You can see the difference in lower shock position. That fender I pounded out of 18ga. metal but it looks too skinny mounted high.

I think next is to sit and stare at the main frame to figure out what I need to do to add the body.

 

[peteg59]

Lots of work in quick time!

Looks good Carl.

The front end probably isn't wide enough, but in my opinion only, a 16" Harley wheel with a car tire on it would give the car themed rear you're planning some depth?

 

[LarryA]

ya...looking good and moving at warp speed...wondering about the function of the large holes on the rockers....concluded they were alignment holes with short tubes to keep rocker halves parallel?

 

[irondad01]

Thanks,

You're right, the front end isn't wide enough and I agree a 16" spoked wheel would go better with the theme. For me to do that would mean a whole new front end. The cast wheel looks too modern but I like it being tube-less. The Germans had the half track Kettenkrad with a motorcycle front end. The tire on it is kind of thin so maybe I can pull it off.

Yes, the large holes have tubes welded in for alignment and added strength. It's sort of like an I-beam.

 

[grandpanystrom61]

Well my eye appt is soon, maybe my glasses need upgraded.

It does seem to be coming together nicely for you. Thank you for taking the time to show me how all fits together.

 

[irondad01]

You're welcome.

Today I worked on stuff that needs done but not worth taking pictures of. Stuff like cleaning brackets off the frame that won't be needed. I'll be using 1" square tube for the skeleton of the body so I'll have to be able to bend it with some consistency. I have one of the Harbor Freight hydraulic pipe benders and I saw how to make a die to bend square tube. I guess I'll be making one of those.

On projects like this you get into things you never did before so you learn. I think you can do most anything if you put your mind to it.

 

[irondad01]

I did some trimming today.



I ordered the tubing to redo the foot rest area. You can see I added the front seat mount. The seat will be about 3" higher than the old one so I didn't need the step down on the floor board. That will give me more ground clearance for adventure riding.

 

[DeathBySnuSnu]

I have a 16 inch aluminum rim if you want one.

Honda gl1200.

 

[irondad01]

Thanks for the offer but I think I'll try my wheel with a little change in paint to see if it blends in. Later I can always change to something else. I'm going to have a high mount fender so I won't have to worry about the wheel matching the radius as much.

There always seems to be a million things to do on projects like this and each one depends on the others. The trick is thinking three steps ahead and you still miss something. I've learned that to keep things moving I try to do something every day, even if it is just rearranging the parts. It's easy to miss one day ,then that turns into two, then three, etc.