Aixam microcar - with a bike engine!
Discussion
Munter said:
Whatever happens. You are going to make sure we have video from multiple angles right? ??
Yes. There will be video :-) That way all the naysayers revelling in disgust get their fill when it blows up in some comically short amount of time.With a bit of luck i'll have photos of that lower driveshaft mounted on some box section by tomorrow, and then the games of turning an intermediate shaft, and making it fit, start.
Edited by sparkybean on Monday 13th January 10:15
pixelatedJH said:
Sorry if I missed it, but what sort of transmission are you using? Bike clutch? Original CVT?
If you read back, he's intent on mounting the bike engine and gearbox in such a way as to allow a Heath Robinson final drive sproket off the gearbox to a lay sprocket to the final rear sprocket of the bike via a 90 degree turn, driving a solid front axle with no differential at all.What could possibly go wrong?
eliot said:
It will be a two speed transmission:
1) Working
2) All over the floor.
Edited that for you.1) Working
2) All over the floor.
Op like I said at the start, many many challenges to fitting a bike engine.
If you want to work through them, then game on.
It's how long the motivation lasts to keep the project going forward.
All the best with it.
Not my project...but having had a bike engined car (Westfield MegaBlade) and poked about plenty of LoCosts wouldn't it be a while lot easier following convention and mounting the engine sideways (and lower) and putting a drive flange for a propshaft where the sprocket is, then a solid axle/diff at the rear? I guess you could even solid-mount the axle for simplicity; go-karts aren't sprung! Got to be more robust than chain drive and no diff, and RWD is always more fun then FWD! I know you've done lots of impressive work with sprockets and such-line, but isn't there going to be a huge drag/load on the chains/intermediate shafts without a diff? I know when I had a Jeep where I could lock the diff even with V8 Hemi power you could feel the drag/strain on tarmac with the diffs locked.
Good lick with the sprocket approach though - certainly interesting; I'll keep popping back with interest for updates.
Good lick with the sprocket approach though - certainly interesting; I'll keep popping back with interest for updates.
Lets keep the ball rolling
I love box inch mild steel - its my go to construction material for most jobs. Some of those welds might even hold the crushing divvy torque. Bolting the bearings down is a job for later as the chain tensioning situation is yet to be decided. Also the further toward the back of the car i can mount the sprocket the lower i can sink the engine into the bay which is a priority in order to make room for the carbs.
More box section to mount the upper bearings. Another quality artists impression so you can all visualise the horror that is this to-be drivetrain. This took way too long to do because i had to keep moving the engine in and out. In, check clearance, engine out, tweak setup, engine back in to check. Keep repeating this until standards drop below the quality of work being done, call it good enough.
Yes you can see an exhaust poking through there. While i had the welder out i thought id get that done. I used the original yamaha exhaust (kept everything i thought id need) so all i needed was some stainless straight and a handful of 90's (which i had the foresight to order a while back :-)
I think the standard of the exhaust system is in keeping with the rest of the build. I worry that the tip is going to melt the bumper but the good news is that problem is self rectifying.
Im pushing to get the engine bolted in, and im exhausted so thats all for now. Weathers miserable, and i need to go back to work and earn some money.
I love box inch mild steel - its my go to construction material for most jobs. Some of those welds might even hold the crushing divvy torque. Bolting the bearings down is a job for later as the chain tensioning situation is yet to be decided. Also the further toward the back of the car i can mount the sprocket the lower i can sink the engine into the bay which is a priority in order to make room for the carbs.
More box section to mount the upper bearings. Another quality artists impression so you can all visualise the horror that is this to-be drivetrain. This took way too long to do because i had to keep moving the engine in and out. In, check clearance, engine out, tweak setup, engine back in to check. Keep repeating this until standards drop below the quality of work being done, call it good enough.
Yes you can see an exhaust poking through there. While i had the welder out i thought id get that done. I used the original yamaha exhaust (kept everything i thought id need) so all i needed was some stainless straight and a handful of 90's (which i had the foresight to order a while back :-)
I think the standard of the exhaust system is in keeping with the rest of the build. I worry that the tip is going to melt the bumper but the good news is that problem is self rectifying.
Im pushing to get the engine bolted in, and im exhausted so thats all for now. Weathers miserable, and i need to go back to work and earn some money.
Well. this is quite mad (in a good way)
The red chain will take one hell of a battering - a friend did something similar many years ago when he mounted a stupidly wide rear tyre (like 300 wide) on his heavily modified bike. This had 2 front sprockets on a shaft set behind the engine so that he could get a chain to the rear sprocket. The smaller chain only lasted a couple of hundred miles before it blew itself to bits as a result of the small length coupled with 2 small sprockets, the inability to keep a reasonable tension and heat from the engine and/or generated from it moving round the sprockets. He ended up putting a smaller tyre back on...
Good luck
The red chain will take one hell of a battering - a friend did something similar many years ago when he mounted a stupidly wide rear tyre (like 300 wide) on his heavily modified bike. This had 2 front sprockets on a shaft set behind the engine so that he could get a chain to the rear sprocket. The smaller chain only lasted a couple of hundred miles before it blew itself to bits as a result of the small length coupled with 2 small sprockets, the inability to keep a reasonable tension and heat from the engine and/or generated from it moving round the sprockets. He ended up putting a smaller tyre back on...
Good luck
S2r said:
Well. this is quite mad (in a good way)
The red chain will take one hell of a battering - a friend did something similar many years ago when he mounted a stupidly wide rear tyre (like 300 wide) on his heavily modified bike. This had 2 front sprockets on a shaft set behind the engine so that he could get a chain to the rear sprocket. The smaller chain only lasted a couple of hundred miles before it blew itself to bits as a result of the small length coupled with 2 small sprockets, the inability to keep a reasonable tension and heat from the engine and/or generated from it moving round the sprockets. He ended up putting a smaller tyre back on...
Good luck
This is actually one of my main concerns. The intermediate shaft is pre-final drive so its RPM is quite high, which means it needs to be finely balanced and well aligned. Also the chain is short and the sprockets are small, meaning not only does each link bend a lot, but it does it often. Its also quite a small chain, not being your standard 530# or 010B chain, but the thinner 520#. Pitch is identical between the 2 grades but yamaha specced a light duty chain for their The red chain will take one hell of a battering - a friend did something similar many years ago when he mounted a stupidly wide rear tyre (like 300 wide) on his heavily modified bike. This had 2 front sprockets on a shaft set behind the engine so that he could get a chain to the rear sprocket. The smaller chain only lasted a couple of hundred miles before it blew itself to bits as a result of the small length coupled with 2 small sprockets, the inability to keep a reasonable tension and heat from the engine and/or generated from it moving round the sprockets. He ended up putting a smaller tyre back on...
Good luck
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