Portable Drive Kit for Tricycle?

myway_1

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Hello,

Edit: I could use a trailer with my bicycle, so the drive can be either front or rear.

I am looking for drive kit for a tricycle. My budget for the kit is $350. I would need to be able to remove it and carry it with me while doing shopping. I live in an area that is completely flat. I weigh 165 pounds. The maximum weight of any cargo would be 40 pounds. I would like to be able to go 15 mph. I would need a range of at least 15 miles.

Electric Drive: I have searched the web and this forum for portable electric kits and have not found anything. I am aware of Rubbee and Shareroller. Rubbee appears to be bicycle rear drive only and Shareroller isn't currently for sale. Plus I can't afford the $800+ cost. I could put together my own electric drive so long as it didn't require any fabrication or expensive tools or technical knowledge. Are there any suitable kits or parts lists? I found one part list but it is 6 years old.

Gas Drive: Gas friction drive motors appear easy to remove. I could leave the roller assembly on the trike but would prefer not to as that would be an additional loss of $150 in case of theft. How long would it take for it to cool down enough to handle? I would carry it in an insulated bag or set it in a shopping cart. Would I have to keep the motor upright while off the bike? Is this practical?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Joe
 
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I suggest dropping any idea of having an easily removable motor, do you honestly live in such a bad place where you can't leave it on the bike while shopping? You're more likely to get robbed at gunpoint for the entire bike while riding if you're in that bad of an area.

You might be over thinking the level of crime, I did that when I first moved to the city.

Doesn't mean I don't guard against theft, I have a large u-bolt lock, with heavy tow chain. My friends all have those remote locks that you press a button, and just touching the bike will usually set off the loud sirens attracting all the wondering eyes.

Or just do as you want and lug 30 pounds of oily metal around, have fun discovering your new complicated ritual that will probably take as long to do as it would take you to shop and come back out...
 
Bicycle theft is a problem in my area. I don't want to take the risk. I'm willing to put up with some inconvenience.
 
I'm afraid I'm with Frankenstein on this one. A battery pack can be removed and carried but is expensive and you need two so one can be charging or to extend range.
A cheap 2stroke kit has mount bolts that can be double nutted with a plate across between the mount bolts so it takes longer to remove.
On an upright tricycle it shouldn't be hard to make it look very dorky, uncool and unattractive.
Perhaps paint the frame pink or pale purple and use uncoated plywood either side of the engine and over the head to allow cooling while taking away the engine's cool factor? :) Ooh and a wicker basket! :D
I wouldn't wrap the box in cable locks, but a small brightly coloured lock on each wheel and a big one attaching the frame to the rail is pretty off-putting. :)
You still might want to do something about the fuel though. At least an armoured hose to prevent vandals cutting it, I guess..
I think I would just find a better place to park! :)
 
Removable power,Interesting thought...Take power unit off someone will just pedal it away,front wheel electric remove 2 nuts and carry the wheel,gee I think the question asked would be to hard to answer,of course there is a solution but certainly not within your stated budget...I personally would unscrew 1 pedal and take that with me...Having built a motored trike and used same for a couple of years,The hardest thing to push is a trike ,one needs very long arms to reach handles to stand and walk beside said trike without taking a hammering from crank..Build it,take it shopping as suggested lock it up ,Hope its still there when you get back..As an aside I have dismantled my Trike as it was trying to injure me,Still have Bike and have almost completed rebuild of Trike into low slung Trike/Semi Recumbent..I dont recall anywhere in these pages of a removable power unit,I think it would have to be friction drive centrifigul clutch,quick release everything..electric you would be leaving behind the most expensive bit the battery..After 3 builds and a lot of trial and error I think your wants will be hard to fulfill,apolagise if this seems negative...Allen
 
I edited my original post. I could use a trailer with a bicycle. Upon reaching destination, load the drive in the trailer and use the trailer as a shopping cart by attaching a handle. So I could use either front or rear drive.
 
I edited my original post. I could use a trailer with a bicycle. Upon reaching destination, load the drive in the trailer and use the trailer as a shopping cart by attaching a handle. So I could use either front or rear drive.

Could you forget the bicycle and the tricycle and the trailer, and
just motorise a shopping cart ? :D
 
the problem with a budget and electric drive is the cost of the battery which will exceed $400 for a decent long range capacity. if you do go electric drive you can get an electric shifter and replace the bolts with allen wrench bolts. the electric shifter is integrated into the gears of the trike so it will be much harder to remove than a electric hub wheel. and you can disconect the battery and bring it with you while shopping. however, this is going to exceed the $350 limit (350 kit + 400-500 for battery).

http://www.sickbikeparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=26&products_id=181

I like the friction drive after trying in frame motors. It seems very simple, however you are not going to feasibly remove the motor and carry it with you inside. there are a number of wires and tubes going into the motor and it will be nasty and frustrating to remove them.

I think if you brain storm you can find bolts with a weird pattern and replace the mounting bolts with those. i mean you can also try to run a cable/chain from motor to bike frame. but, i like the idea of weird bolt patterns such as an allen wrench or that star pattern i see.

just some thoughts.
 
Buy a car! Bike thieves don't steal cars! Car thieves steal cars.

I'll mention bicycle theft is an issue here too, I know at least 3 people who've had their bikes stolen, not including myself, person had to climb a 6 foot pointy cast iron fence, go to the back of the yard, bring a bike to the fence, throw it over and climbed back over to steal the one I had, luckily my motorized bicycle, which Sat 2 feet from the very same fence is 50ish pounds and was locked to to pipe railing with my heavy theft deterrent lock/chains.

Just remember that nothing is theft proof, just theft deterrent. I could lock my bike in a steel box with walls 8 feet thick, alarmed, and guarded with a swat team, if somebody honestly found it more valuable to take the risk to get to the bike than the probable death/jail time then they would simply make it happen.

Obviously a motorized bicycle with at least a thousand dollars in parts alone isn't worth attempting to cut through a towing chain and heavy u-lock in public, if it was I'd be down a motorized bicycle.

Toss in a couple alarms and it's basically a no go. Big time thieves thrive on schedules, they scope out what they want and how to get it. The petty thief (your average bicycle stealing thief) is nearly 100% an opportunistic thief, they waltz around looking for a bike or other item of value to steal, if the object in question is just too difficult to acquire quickly and easily without high risk of being caught then they move on to the next opportunity.

Bike thieves don't usually commit burglary and vice versa.

Seriously don't over think the situation. Put a good heavy lock on it, and put an alarmed lock system on board. If it moves it screams, and that's just from trying to touch it, let alone it blaring away as a person is trying to cut steel chains, if they bother. Again thieves are cowards, hence they take the lowest risk possible, steal the least locked bike to not get caught, or rob the house when they are sure nobody is home, or stick up helpless people with a gun.

No cheap locks, small chains are broken easily, small locks even easier, cheap cable locks can be twisted off, I had a bike in my back yard I had locked with a very cheap cable lock, came with the bike. Forgot the code and I used a hammer and a brick, 2 swings and it just snapped the cheap cast metal housing open. Meanwhile I had to use my not-cheap u-lock as a hammer to repair my motor when I was in a pinch, it actually performed very well as a hammer, and to this day, after rain, snow, ice, salt, dirt, and whatever else lives outside, is still my primary lock and shows no signs of lacking in its original security.

Sorry I just can't say it enough, don't worry about the bike being stolen, I'll also side with the other poster, trikes are just so... Tacky? It's almost a deterrent in itself to being a victim of theft because it just looks... Ew. Stick a big lock on it and it just going to scream stay away, thieves also know that if reported to the police a motorized tricycle is going to be way too easy to spot, it would be like a car thief deciding between a white van or a neon yellow punch buggy.. You get what I mean? It's too big to simply hide with easily, it's big, gawky, and if the person isn't even used to starting a motorized bike and riding a trike it's going to be just even more strange and less likely they will want anything to do with it.

I also have a simple deterrent system, if I don't want to lock my bike up, just going inside for a few minutes, I loosen the 2 bolts on the stem attachment, you know the part that you loosen to adjust the way the front wheel faces with the handlebars straight, well I loosen them on my bike, turn the front wheel sideways so it's parallel with my handlebars, and retighten the bolts, this way it can't be ridden at all, only walked, and a couple minutes just doesn't worry me since no person could get very far with it like that, I also leave the lights on with the turn signal blinking, it's like I homing Beacon in the dark, and for everyone else who thinks of touching it it just seems too odd to bother with since they have no idea what to do with it and how to make it less obvious it isn't their's, meanwhile lights turned on and turn signal blinking almost says I'll be right back.

Sorry for the rather extensive post, just my experiences with bikes, thieves, and theft protection tends to be well... Rather extensive.
 
Rap a chain around the hole thing .drill holes in the fins to padlock. Best one a personal alarm when you pull a rope it go off so put the alarm on the bike frame and the rope to the wheel when it gets moved the most horrible sound comes out and everyone runs lol
 
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