Three Wheelers - Your opinions and expertise wanted!

[dave de roxby]

qdos said:

Generally found in quadricycles I have one in the Zest which I import, they are petrol and put out 15kw (21 horse) this is the maximum power for heavy quadricycles in Europe but they could be tuned.

Thanks Qdos!

21 hp in a micro vehicle is still very usable! Had a good look at your website and share many of your views.

Boy, you certainly dabble at both ends of the spectrum! Well done and good luck.

[dave de roxby]

First Class!

[dave de roxby]

mikeveal said:

Dave,
Have you looked at the French marque Secma? I think they are imported to the UK under the Qpod brand. The Fun Runner is almost a trike - with a full windscreen, heater and wipers. May give you some ideas.

Ta Mike! All ideas gratefully received and will be chewed upon.

[dave de roxby]

qdos said:

about 60mpg on a run as with most things it depends on the traffic you are in really but it's a lot cheaper to run than a regular car on short journeys for sure. Sadly though they are not cheap as with most of the micro cars E 11,500 these days

Wonder what a batch would cost straight from Lombardi - engines + CVT that is??

[dave de roxby]

Thanks qdos and Italo. This is all of great interest. My house sale finally looks to be going through but I don't want to count my chickens just yet! But seems like I may have the finance I need quite soon. Everything on hold until then.

[dave de roxby]

Am I right in saying that, in the Morgan, there appears to be no transverse bracing of the top-front of the suspension cage? I certainly can't see any in the pics posted so far, unless something bolt-on is added later. The Liberty Ace does exhibit a chrome cross-bar, although even that is bent in the middle! Maybe the forces involved with such cars don't make transverse strengthening essential?

[dave de roxby]

Sam_68 said:

dave de roxby said:

Maybe the forces involved with such cars don't make transverse strengthening essential?

I'm sure they're adequately strong even with the kinked tie bar and bending loads into the middle of the wishbones, given the light weight and negligible torsional chassis loading you get with a trike (hence the lack of triangulation on the rest of the chassis), but it still seems to be a very inelegant and amateurish approach, stucturally speaking.

There's no reason you can't do it right, so doing it wrong just seems lazy and sloppy?

I think on balance I'd stick with a Triking and save myself £15K.

Yep, agree Sam. And wonder if continual braking loads would eventually stress the joints at the rear ends of the top logitudinal elements. Probably not, but it don't look quite right to me either!

On another point, as much as I can admire these 1930's re-creations, why can't we produce something more up-to-date for goodness sakes!! That's where I am trying to go.

[dave de roxby]

Hey Jeff,

Hello again on this thread!

Now, I had no idea Jim Keeble had any interests in three-wheeled creations. Wonder what they would make of it on the Tiger/Keeble thread? It's quite a surprise to me but at least lets me know my auto-design dreaming is not without parallel!

[dave de roxby]

Steve_D said:

JeffreyB said:

Dave, we must stop meeting like this!
This thread shows that there is still a lot of interest in 3 wheelers. I probably learned more about driving from my Berkeley than any other car I've owned since. A lesson Jeremy Clarkson and Co have yet to learn is that it's perfectly possible to get a real buzz from driving underpowered cars as long as the vehicle provides plenty of other sensations apart from sheer top speed. A sense of impending doom for one! (and the Berkeley certainly provided that).

Jeff

For impending doom try driving an Isetta Bubble car at speed.

Steve

I shall never forget walking home one cold night in the early sixties, before I even had a car myself, when this Issetta Bubble came around a downhill hairpin bend a little too fast. It simply rolled over, quite a delicate manoeuvre, and landed back on its wheels. But a couple of its windows had popped out and were lying in the road. The driver, whistling and quite undaunted, got out, picked up his windows and drove off again - as if this were quite a normal experience!

[dave de roxby]

TriPod1 said:

Hi All,

I personally think 3 wheelers have great possibilities for all sorts of reasons.

My preferences for the layout etc are represented by the choices made in my own design - http://ozht.com/trike/index.html

In Australia a trike is the only way to get a motorcycle engined vehicle (other than a bike of course) onto a public road (well legally anyway!).

The rules in general for a scratch built trike are such that it isn't a diabolical impossibilty to get it registered.

A car of your own design is going to be expensive and quite possibly impossible to get on the road. With a bike engine for power it is impossible.

3 wheels themselves when done right I think can handle very well indeed. Low, light and wide is the key. Oh and 2 wheels at the front I'm sure makes most sense.

Traction at the rear maybe an issue but a trackday style soft tyre should help.

Cost is also an advantage over 4 wheels as the power train is dead simple. No expensive transaxles, LSDs, custom propshafts etc.

The hassles/issues as I see them are, reverse gear, hand brake (not a biggy), and rear wheel traction.

Avoiding pot holes is also probably a bit of a driving issue.

Fun factor though is through the roof. Light and chuckable with a smooth ride and handy acceleration at sane speeds.

In Aus sane speeds is all we are allowed so to my mind a small light fun chuck around type vehicle makes huge sense compared with some kind of overpriced autobahn burner upperer.

Regards, Andrew.

Hi Andrew,
A fantastic effort and a great site. It appears the rules for car construction in Aus are real tight. But often, as in formula racing, tight rules sometimes bring out the best in us. I do hope all your mechanical efforts can be clothed in the sexy bodywork this trike deserves.

Well done and please keep us informed!

[dave de roxby]

Fer said:

If you want some detailed pictures, let me know.

Thanks Fer. I've already had a good look at the Secma products. Very interesting. Whilst I'm impressed, not quite the direction I am going in - but thanks all the same.
Dave

[dave de roxby]

fuoriserie said:

Posted on the Design thread, but maybe more relevant in this post, this is one of my new rough sketchs for a Threewheeler Design project with a V-Twin Guzzi engine up front...

As always, intrigued by your work Italo! I take it you've clocked this from down under - http://ozht.com/trike/index.html
Hope the bodywork lives up to the promise of his chassis! Any ideas?

[dave de roxby]

Hi dpaws and thanks for an interesting first contribution! This thread has produced some great chat and much essential information and discussion. Your experience and comments are very welcome.

[dave de roxby]

KDIcarmad said:

Badsey Bullet has a claim production of 8 spit between South Africa and US. Am I right that they drive on the left in south africa! Idea any one?

Yep, South Africans drive on the left, mostly, except when they drive down the middle.