Three Wheelers - Your opinions and expertise wanted!

Wednesday 21st September 2016

Exo Sports Cars are missing from this list.

They have been manufacturing the Stuart Mills designed (now badged SVE) TR1ke and Triabusa for the last six years and according to purchasers of said kits on other forums, they are well and truly in business.

Steffan

10,362 posts

228 months

Thursday 22nd September 2016

Stuart Mills said:

It has potential but it is a pattern (buck) to make it into a mould so it would need bespoke glass and a means of access addressing. Perfect for an EV or high MPG petrol scooter motor. It has sat here for years but is on a certain well known auction site right now however I accept this is not a place to advertise.

Delighted to report it has gone to a good home. A well known specialist car Company will offer it once fully developed. Obviously I cannot mention names on here as its against the rules to advertise but I will say I am delighted that it will become a reality.

Morning Stuart, good news indeed and I look forward to getting the details from you and having a look!

This could be a really interesting product. It clearly has development potential.

Well done Sir!

4,560 posts

269 months

Monday 26th September 2016

Equus said:

The frequency of Italo's posts on links to new three-wheeler designs makes me think that there must be at least half a dozen products out there for every potential customer - even higher than the usual ratio in the kit car industry!

Meanwhile the actual (modern) three wheelers you see on the road, or customer cars at shows (and excluding the one-offs) can be narrowed down to a handful of manufacturers:
Morgan
JZR
Triking
Lomax
Grinnall
BRA

It would be interesting to know what percentage of these companies sink without trace, having never sold a single car.

I have to agree with you, but also notice, that the designs of the threewheelers mentioned are Retrò inspired vehicles and the only Grinnal Scorpion is the exeption.....

Just wondering if this means, that only retro styled threewheelers have a market potential in the kitcar niche, because the typical client might be in his late 40's up to 70's ?

Have been thinking about it for quite some time and have noticed that very few modern threewheelers have had success( Grinnal Scorpion and MEV R1trike ) the others have had a very tough time .....

Other succesful looking threewheelers to add for consideration, would be the Pembleton and Blackjack Zero, both retro inspired vehicles...
It makes you think...

Edited by fuoriserie on Monday 26th September 21:43

ugg10

681 posts

217 months

Thursday 27th October 2016

Can't be bothered to read through all 40+ pages so this may have been posted before -

Interesting trike along the Sligshot line but more of a budget version - not a kit but nevertheless intereting -

http://spannermonkeyz.myshopify.com/products/spmz-...

£5k gets you the base model
£6k gets you the 45hp version
Also being sold on ebay at the moment.

Anyone know what engine they are using, sports bike or twist and go ?

Interesting advert particularly like the idea of contacting the "pimping" department for different paint jobs.

ivormole

2 posts

92 months

Friday 28th October 2016

This might've been answered previously, but do Malone still exist, I've tried contacting them several times but never get a reply

Always liked to look / idea of building one of their Skunk / F1000 models, despite reading somewhere that Jerome was hard work to deal with

Steffan

10,362 posts

228 months

Friday 28th October 2016

ivormole said:

This might've been answered previously, but do Malone still exist, I've tried contacting them several times but never get a reply

Always liked to look / idea of building one of their Skunk / F1000 models, despite reading somewhere that Jerome was hard work to deal with

I rather doubt it looking at the minimal activity on their websites etc. very little seems to be happening?

Perhaps othes on here can give a mre definitive answer? Anyone local to their address?

4,560 posts

269 months

Tuesday 1st November 2016

ugg10 said:

Can't be bothered to read through all 40+ pages so this may have been posted before -

Interesting trike along the Sligshot line but more of a budget version - not a kit but nevertheless intereting -

http://spannermonkeyz.myshopify.com/products/spmz-...

£5k gets you the base model
£6k gets you the 45hp version
Also being sold on ebay at the moment.

Anyone know what engine they are using, sports bike or twist and go ?

Interesting advert particularly like the idea of contacting the "pimping" department for different paint jobs.

I had posted this info a few years ago on the Threewheeler Cabin Scooter Design thread and had found it on Alibaba.com.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/China-Zheji...

The engines used on these threewheelers vary from the manaufacture, but most use Zongshen, Lifan or loncin, and here are a few videos :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9tFfFeujRM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNAuAcLOk68

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1pbHkl-Etw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJsaYWXAHQQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsZTomxiPHI

4,560 posts

269 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016

A new threewheeler :

https://cycar.co/image-gallery/

Ambleton

6,655 posts

192 months

Wednesday 30th November 2016

fuoriserie said:

A new threewheeler :

https://cycar.co/image-gallery/

good luck to them, but it looks like a bad, chunky, mash-up of the BRA CV3 and BJ Zero

ugg10

681 posts

217 months

Wednesday 30th November 2016

Nice idea but just a couple of thoughts-

Interesting use of a Harley v twin mounted on what looks like a type 9 gearbox but the rear end looks over complicated, why not just use a BMW/pan European shaft drive.

Rear axle/spindle looks a bit weedy as does the whole rear swinging arm system.

Not sure why they have used the overcomplicated chassis, guess they are old hot rider and based it on the model t.

Good try but not for me.

Ambleton

6,655 posts

192 months

Wednesday 30th November 2016

ugg10 said:

why not just use a BMW/pan European shaft drive.

The problem with this is that the shaft is off centre by around 4-5inches, so you end up squeezing the width of one of the seats OR you end up with an oversized tunnel. Not ideal.

I think FWD three wheelers are the best as you can have a much more open cockpit with more space. They are also inherently safer too...

I currently know of one that's being built with a modern big BMW boxer engine mounted to an Audi A3/A4 hybrid gearbox... this is a one off special and will be fantastic when finished judging by previous builds. it's been in the design/planning stage for a few years, and probably still a few years to go!

Steffan

10,362 posts

228 months

Wednesday 30th November 2016

Ambleton said:

ugg10 said:

why not just use a BMW/pan European shaft drive.

The problem with this is that the shaft is off centre by around 4-5inches, so you end up squeezing the width of one of the seats OR you end up with an oversized tunnel. Not ideal.

I think FWD three wheelers are the best as you can have a much more open cockpit with more space. They are also inherently safer too...

I currently know of one that's being built with a modern big BMW boxer engine mounted to an Audi A3/A4 hybrid gearbox... this is a one off special and will be fantastic when finished judging by previous builds. it's been in the design/planning stage for a few years, and probably still a few years to go!

I entirely agree. Good post!

As many will know on here I still believe that the ancient Berkeley three wheeler wth alloy engine and FWD defined the best configuration for really inherent, fail safe handling, three wheelers. Never better or even equaled IMO. Still head and shoulders above all the other efforts despite the designs being nearly as old as me and certainly over 50 years old.

I would love to see those cars bettered or at least equalled. Not happened as yet.

ugg10

681 posts

217 months

Wednesday 30th November 2016

Slightly off topic, that has got me thinking.

The tiger z100 twin engine car had a version that drove the front wheels with one engine and the rear with another using the Sierra 4x4 front and rear diff. Would be interesting to see how a seven style car went with something like a pan European v4 or aprilia rsvr engine (Stuart Taylor did a version of their seven with a pan European engine) driving a front diff (upside down) via either a short drive shaft or Cush donut or perhaps a Harley engine through a vw beetle gearbox with the engine behind the front axle to keep the weight distribution right. Back to the his thread, no reason why it has to have two rear wheels.

Ambleton

6,655 posts

192 months

Thursday 1st December 2016

ugg10 said:

Slightly off topic, that has got me thinking.

The tiger z100 twin engine car had a version that drove the front wheels with one engine and the rear with another using the Sierra 4x4 front and rear diff. Would be interesting to see how a seven style car went with something like a pan European v4 or aprilia rsvr engine (Stuart Taylor did a version of their seven with a pan European engine) driving a front diff (upside down) via either a short drive shaft or Cush donut or perhaps a Harley engine through a vw beetle gearbox with the engine behind the front axle to keep the weight distribution right. Back to the his thread, no reason why it has to have two rear wheels.

Am I right in thinking that you're suggesting a 3X3?

In which case, it's not beyond the realms of possibility, especially with a layout with a hybrid of a 2cv/morgan. Longitudinal VTwin or flat-twin hanging out at the front, modified 2CV 4x4 gearbox behind (essentially a 2CV gearbox with a prop shaft sticking out the back), with a prop to the back, then an equally geared bevel box and final belt/chain drive. OR, angle the prop and hook up to a shave drive bike swing arm...

Don't really know what benefit this would have though as the increase in the mechanical drag would be not be worth the it for the advantages...

4,560 posts

269 months

Saturday 7th January 2017

The Tiger Cat Threewheeler :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBJgrPi7Hzc

4,560 posts

269 months