I was concerned prior to starting my trike build that I didn't have enough metal-working experience to build a trike, but I realized that I was wrong and that it just took knowing where to go for the information that I needed.
I read and digested the material on chopperhandbook.com, which gave the the background for motorcycle frame building that I would need to build a really cool trike. People post all kinds of crap online about what steel to get and many will brag about using DOM over ERW, but the fact of the matter is that geometry is more important than anything else. This means that you can use relatively thin-wall, small diameter pipe if you get enough of it and arrange it in triangular configurations.
For my pipe, I used both ERW and DOM, having only spent $130 on DOM 1.5" .120" wall pipe and receiving some pre-bent ERW as a part of a trade. I was able to make use of the bends in the ERW, cutting off small sections with the bends and creatively using them to get the look that I was aiming for.
For my welding, I have a used, Harbor Freight mig welder (never buy one, instead get a used, better quality one, as the HF welder will fail you unless you are super-super careful not to overload it) and a higher quality, remanufactured MIG welder that I bought from Industrial Metal Supply in Southern California for less that the price of a new HF junk MIG. The difference in quality is tremendous, as the used welder will shut down automatically to prevent you from killing it, whereas the HF will let you weld away until you melt something. I have Youtube Vids showing my welders in action. I ended up taking the HF welder apart and turning it into a battery-powered welder, using some of my old Thunder-Sky 40Ah cells that are left over from my Honda Interceptor. The battery MIG welder works much better than any AC unit I've used, but it still uses the HF torch and wire feed.
For creating a fish mouth on the tubing, I downloaded and printed and pattern off of a _______ and used my angle grinder and some gumption to obtain the fish mouths I needed. Note that you will use so many cutoff wheels that it's better to get a drill press and a hole saw for fish-mouthing tubing.
I use only simple, affordable tools. I have no tool that cost much over $100.
The front of the trike is from my Honda Interceptor and the rear is from a 71' Super Beetle. Note that some Beetle transaxles have smaller flywheels, so if you're doing a mix and match like I did (tried putting a 74' flywheel into a 71 transaxle case), you will need to either have a machine shop take off the teeth from the larger flywheel (74') or trade.buy one from a used parts dealer. For me, the cost of machining $70 was greater than the cost of a used flywheel $50, so guess what I did.
Folks on the net keep saying that I should't use a transaxle, just go direct drive, but they don't know what the hell they're taking about. Some situations call for a direct drive and some require a transaxle. My situation will involve using my trike as a truck, so I will be towing trailers and I will be carrying very heavy loads uphills, so gearing will make a huge difference and enable higher top speeds that would direct drive. If I went direct drive, my top speed would be under 60 mph, 4 gears will get me near 100mph with just me on it, especially if I make the trike aerodynamic (I plan to). In the VW Beetle I converted previously, I got that thing up over 75mph with the same parts and this trike weighs much less, so you can tell that it will translate to higher top speed.
The Soliton Jr. is the best controller for this type of project. There is no available equivalent. I am underutilizing it, for now, but in the future I will add another motor and increase the voltage to near 300 volts. Dual motor trike with almost 200HP, here I come! The Soliton makes for a simple and clean install and you also have to factor in to its cost the included precharge and contractor, as well as its configurability...you won't get that from a Kelly (a Kelly controller gives enough configuration to make you think your pack is safe, but my Kelly almost caused me to kill my pack).
CALB are the best option for price, availability, power output and manufacturing quality (cell matching). I brought all cells down to about 95% DOD and not one of them went out of sync from their initial top balance. I only charged them to 3.5 volts, controlled by the JLD404 Intelligent Ah meter, which interfaced with the Elcon PFC1500's BMS input to turn the charger off.
Elcon PFC1500, along with their other chargers, can be programmed by the factory for the specific pack you're using and can accommodate your not using a typical BMS. Actually, the JLD404 Intelligent Ah is a crude BMS, it doesn't monitor the individual cells as some people will tell you that you should do. BMSs can kill battery packs, asI found out the hard way. Your pack will need some maintenance with this crude system, but it brings you closer to your EV, doesn't get your greasy and costs way less than the problematic BMSs that I've used. If you use a BMS, I would go with GBS and their EMS (same thing as BMS, just an energy management system instead of battery management system).
Advanced DC motors can be found new or used for a good price. I got my L91-4003 from KTA Services. I am affiliated with them (having set up affiliate marketing with Wistar), but am not biased toward them. Sometimes you can get a better deal elsewhere and I am all for you being able to afford your project. KTA only stocks high quality parts, just like Evolve Electrics and some other suppliers. Th L91-4003 is a small motor, but can take well over the rated 72 horsepower. It weighs 85 lbs and is manageable by one person, though with the motor adapter plate (Canadian EV has the best quality/value motor adapters) it was heavy,so I created a go kart-based method of installing the motor. I used the rear end of a go kart, and welded two square tubes to the frame, going up diagonally to create an "X" shape, in which the motor was cradled and forward of that "X" shape was a vertical tube welded to the frame with a "V" shaped angled steel piece to hold the other end. Now to remove or infall the motor, I just set the motor/adapter assembly on the cradle and move it into or out of place. I broke off part of its "X" piece for some reason, possibly to make it better, but I got side tracked and never finished that yet.
The seat is a Corbin aftermarket seat from a BMW K1100.
I read and digested the material on chopperhandbook.com, which gave the the background for motorcycle frame building that I would need to build a really cool trike. People post all kinds of crap online about what steel to get and many will brag about using DOM over ERW, but the fact of the matter is that geometry is more important than anything else. This means that you can use relatively thin-wall, small diameter pipe if you get enough of it and arrange it in triangular configurations.
For my pipe, I used both ERW and DOM, having only spent $130 on DOM 1.5" .120" wall pipe and receiving some pre-bent ERW as a part of a trade. I was able to make use of the bends in the ERW, cutting off small sections with the bends and creatively using them to get the look that I was aiming for.
For my welding, I have a used, Harbor Freight mig welder (never buy one, instead get a used, better quality one, as the HF welder will fail you unless you are super-super careful not to overload it) and a higher quality, remanufactured MIG welder that I bought from Industrial Metal Supply in Southern California for less that the price of a new HF junk MIG. The difference in quality is tremendous, as the used welder will shut down automatically to prevent you from killing it, whereas the HF will let you weld away until you melt something. I have Youtube Vids showing my welders in action. I ended up taking the HF welder apart and turning it into a battery-powered welder, using some of my old Thunder-Sky 40Ah cells that are left over from my Honda Interceptor. The battery MIG welder works much better than any AC unit I've used, but it still uses the HF torch and wire feed.
For creating a fish mouth on the tubing, I downloaded and printed and pattern off of a _______ and used my angle grinder and some gumption to obtain the fish mouths I needed. Note that you will use so many cutoff wheels that it's better to get a drill press and a hole saw for fish-mouthing tubing.
I use only simple, affordable tools. I have no tool that cost much over $100.
The front of the trike is from my Honda Interceptor and the rear is from a 71' Super Beetle. Note that some Beetle transaxles have smaller flywheels, so if you're doing a mix and match like I did (tried putting a 74' flywheel into a 71 transaxle case), you will need to either have a machine shop take off the teeth from the larger flywheel (74') or trade.buy one from a used parts dealer. For me, the cost of machining $70 was greater than the cost of a used flywheel $50, so guess what I did.
Folks on the net keep saying that I should't use a transaxle, just go direct drive, but they don't know what the hell they're taking about. Some situations call for a direct drive and some require a transaxle. My situation will involve using my trike as a truck, so I will be towing trailers and I will be carrying very heavy loads uphills, so gearing will make a huge difference and enable higher top speeds that would direct drive. If I went direct drive, my top speed would be under 60 mph, 4 gears will get me near 100mph with just me on it, especially if I make the trike aerodynamic (I plan to). In the VW Beetle I converted previously, I got that thing up over 75mph with the same parts and this trike weighs much less, so you can tell that it will translate to higher top speed.
The Soliton Jr. is the best controller for this type of project. There is no available equivalent. I am underutilizing it, for now, but in the future I will add another motor and increase the voltage to near 300 volts. Dual motor trike with almost 200HP, here I come! The Soliton makes for a simple and clean install and you also have to factor in to its cost the included precharge and contractor, as well as its configurability...you won't get that from a Kelly (a Kelly controller gives enough configuration to make you think your pack is safe, but my Kelly almost caused me to kill my pack).
CALB are the best option for price, availability, power output and manufacturing quality (cell matching). I brought all cells down to about 95% DOD and not one of them went out of sync from their initial top balance. I only charged them to 3.5 volts, controlled by the JLD404 Intelligent Ah meter, which interfaced with the Elcon PFC1500's BMS input to turn the charger off.
Elcon PFC1500, along with their other chargers, can be programmed by the factory for the specific pack you're using and can accommodate your not using a typical BMS. Actually, the JLD404 Intelligent Ah is a crude BMS, it doesn't monitor the individual cells as some people will tell you that you should do. BMSs can kill battery packs, asI found out the hard way. Your pack will need some maintenance with this crude system, but it brings you closer to your EV, doesn't get your greasy and costs way less than the problematic BMSs that I've used. If you use a BMS, I would go with GBS and their EMS (same thing as BMS, just an energy management system instead of battery management system).
Advanced DC motors can be found new or used for a good price. I got my L91-4003 from KTA Services. I am affiliated with them (having set up affiliate marketing with Wistar), but am not biased toward them. Sometimes you can get a better deal elsewhere and I am all for you being able to afford your project. KTA only stocks high quality parts, just like Evolve Electrics and some other suppliers. Th L91-4003 is a small motor, but can take well over the rated 72 horsepower. It weighs 85 lbs and is manageable by one person, though with the motor adapter plate (Canadian EV has the best quality/value motor adapters) it was heavy,so I created a go kart-based method of installing the motor. I used the rear end of a go kart, and welded two square tubes to the frame, going up diagonally to create an "X" shape, in which the motor was cradled and forward of that "X" shape was a vertical tube welded to the frame with a "V" shaped angled steel piece to hold the other end. Now to remove or infall the motor, I just set the motor/adapter assembly on the cradle and move it into or out of place. I broke off part of its "X" piece for some reason, possibly to make it better, but I got side tracked and never finished that yet.
The seat is a Corbin aftermarket seat from a BMW K1100.
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