My first trike build

Its been a battle but am winning.
I am making a front wheel drive trike. Yes motor be on it to. I have to do alot of strengthing first. rear axle braces. Lots to do yet. But getting closer.
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Looks good nice . Have you seen the bolt on trike back end? it looks pretty good too but very expensive.
 
This may help. I did not write this. I all so recommend a copper head gasket.

These are the things that I do, I see that others such as the seals (which I've never had one go bad) mentioned. All these mods or replacements are most likely less then $50.00. Choose what works for you, ignore the rest, but here you have them.

1. Unpack engine, familiarize your self with them.
2. Check for any missing parts. Depending who you buy from you maybe out of luck. Two sellers come to mind. Luckyearlybird and BGF.
3. Remove head
4. Mill head (flat glass and 230 (or finer) grit sand paper. Rub gasket surface to insure it is flat. Check the cylinder also. This will ensure that you have a good gasket surface. Eliminates blown head gaskets by a large percentage.
5. Tap cylinder stud holes to insure they are taped to the bottom. Some engines aren’t taped to the bottom. This can be a problem with the studs pulling out..
6. Discard all studs and nuts. Studs the length of the cylinder are hard to find. Fastener supply has metric all thread. There are a number of vendors that have kits, including myself. But replace them.
7. Replace studs with Metric 8.8 (US Grade 5) Replace nuts with locking nuts. 8mm studs are either 1.0 or 1.25 thread, 6mm studs are 1.0 thread. 8mmX1.0 is not common, but I have 1 engine with them. Do this because the Chinese hardware is junk and prone to strip or shear off.
8. Replace spark plug with a NGK or any good brand.
9. Replace spark plug wire and boot (check with lawnmower supply) or rob from old lawnmower. Use wire core lead. The stock is junk and WILL cause problems down the road.
10. Mount the engine properly, no gaps between the bike tubes and engine mounts.
http://s982.photobucket.com/albums/ae309/Ron-Becker/Engine Mounting/ This will also help to keep the studs from snapping off.
11. Torque 8mm to 120 to 175 INCH POUNDS (max for cast aluminum is 204 inch pounds).
12. Torque 6mm to 60-70 INCH POUNDS (max on these are 75 inch pounds).
13. I install cylinder studs with lock tite, and let set overnight. Optional, I do it to all my builds.
14. I coat the head gasket with Copper Kote (I coat each side twice and let dry)
15. May need to bend exhaust pipe for crank or frame clearance. Recommend using heat. There are other methods, but you won’t hear that from me.
16. Remove or cap magneto white wire off. This is used for low watt lights…it won’t work with a light you can see with, believe me.
17. Re solder blue wire on magneto. Factory has had bad connections, (cold solder joints).
18. Wiring. BLACK Coil wire to BLACK CDI wire, BLUE coil wire to BLUE CDI wire.
19. When hooking the kill switch, don’t be concerned with wire colors. Hook one wire to the black wires, and the other wire to the blue wires. (See # 21)
20. Make sure all wires have a good connection (solder best) and use tape or better yet heat shrink.
21. Hook up kill switch wires AFTER you get engine running. This will eliminate a defective switch should you have trouble starting the engine.
22. Try not to drill holes in the bike frame. Weakens the frame, I did one and the frame split in two.
 
got the front forks stretched and fitting good. upload pics tomorrow. tired.
I fitted the front cranks...now just debating the best way to install them. Little details. I have to get 2 forks for the rear...add a piece to attach them together, then, attach it to the center
bar. The rear wheels will then be totally locked down. Gonna try to find another front wheel it just looks better. <rear>.
 
For a non pedal bike, sidecar design has its good points, as I think you are seeing.

the axle would use a modded pedal crank

as you will recall from buster keaton 101, u can 2 wheel it around half your corners.
 
If put the motor on the front wheel then you just need 2 forks on the back and a front wheel in each. As for rear wheel drive if you got one long Axel I don't no how to put bike wheels on each end sorry
 
I have seen axles sold as a discrete component on ali/baba/express.it has a sprocket & a drum brake i recall.

but yeah, if you forget the pedals (not a big loss on a heavy trike) & go front hub motor, simple, as per skyash
 
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