Transportation
Economical Reverse trike
My dream project. Over 40 years in my mind. This is my third attempt at creating this dream trike. My goal is to achieve 120 miles per gallon. Making the front swing arm. Working on the steering linkage. Adding the electrical wires. Roofing tar paper body mock-up. A good looking beast but in the…
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Burningman pedal car
When my wife decided to come with me to the Burningman art festival I started looking for ideas on a two person pedal vehicle that I could make for the event. I spied on this picture. During WWII when France was occupied by the Germans and fuel was confiscated for the war effort,…
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FWD recumbent trike
I had an idea of making a skate type quadracycle. I felt this would be a fun racing vehicle on a short tight-turn course. Before making a full scale mock-up I wanted to test out the idea of using neoprene wheels. I purchased two wheels from a push scooter outfit and decided to…
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The Cycle Kart
For PDF plans, click here! Once my other prototype proved the neoprene wheels would work, I ordered 4 wheels from a push scooter outfit. These are 9″ in diameter, which are bigger than most. A BMX free wheel hub was added to the drive wheel. I don’t have proper machining tools for accuracy, but I…
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DIY car top carrier
Here I am playing around again with a $20 sheet of 4×8 foot 4mm thick fluted plastic. I thought I’d make a car top carrier. I buy my fluted plastic at Laird Plastics Inc. (206-623-4900) in downtown Seattle Washington where they stock several thicknesses, sizes and color choices. Made with zip ties and held down…
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Teardrop bicycle cover
This was an attempt to make a teardrop shell fiberglass plug for my road bike. Plywood ribs were attached together using 90 degree brackets. Holes spaced 4″ apart were drilled on the rib edges. 1/8″ wire was treaded thru the holes. Thin wire was used to attach the chicken wire to the 1/8″ wire…
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Electric recumbent scooter
This is the first stand up scooter I made into a recumbent. It was a hoot to ride for about 4 miles, then the battery would drain and soon you were forced to walk the rig home.
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Little burningman trike
The second time I went to Burningman I brought my older brother. I brought the big trike and made this little sail trike adding a 2hp Briggs and Stratton edger motor for back-up power. I pounded on a roughed-up tube onto the drive axle for front wheel food activated friction drive. I made a…
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High mileage trike #2
This was my second attempt at making my dream 150+ mpg one passenger vehicle. I started out with a rear engine design but opted to try a front engine placement for better cooling and balancing. Later I tried to make it a rat rod type vehicle, but eventually abandoned the idea all together. Fast…
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Rear steer recumbent bike
When I was eighteen I read an article in Popular Mechanics of a rear steer bike. It looked like a good idea for saving weight with the shorter chain. I spent 4 years designing and redesigning this bike. Once it was built it took me 2 hours to get both feet on the pedals. Once…
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