Hi everyone, this is my first post so here goes. I built this e-trike to be ridden on the Playa (dry lake bed) at Burning Man, where the speed limit is 5 mph. The trike was constructed from a workman industrial trike, a Trek and a Giant mountain bike. I needed a wide track and long wheel base for stability, so I built a new frame section and reinforcement that resulted in a 4 foot wide, 8 foot long footprint. The seats are 4 feet above the ground, which puts the riders eye level about 7 feet above ground.
The rear wheels ride on 7/8” axles inside pillow blocks mounted to the 3” frame section. A coaster brake freewheel, transfers pedal power to one rear wheel. A caliper style brake is attached to the front. A 48 volt 750 watt BLDC hub motor provides power at the front forks. Two torque arms, one commercial, one I fabricated from ¼” steel plate, hold the front wheel in place and prevent the axle from spinning in the drop outs. The batteries are 4, 18ah SLA’s in a bag with the controller at mid-frame.
The trike was built to carry two riders, a Honda EU1000 generator, a Bimini top, a luggage rack on the back, and about a thousand LEDS to light it up at night. The fully loaded capacity of the vehicle is about 900 pounds. The lower frame was fabricated from 1”x3” 18ga Rectangular steel tube; the superstructure uses 1”x2” 18ga Rectangular steel tube with additional frame reinforcement using 1” round steel tube. The seat was made with 3” thick dense foam from a boat upholstery shop. This is not a light weight; total empty weight without generator or riders is 230 pounds.
Stability given the height is very good, although it is obvious that it was not built to take fast turns or corner quickly. Testing it in our hilly neighborhood gave uphill speeds of about 10 mph with 18mph on flats. But bear in mind this trike will only see speeds no greater than 10 mph with 5 mph the general rule.
I took it to Burning Man this year and was very happy with it's performance. Using a Honda EU 1000 generator and a 4 amp 48 volt charger gave me a range that was only limited by the gas in the generator. I start the generator and go, not having to worry about depleting the batteries. At one point at the end of the event I took it out on the deep playa and reached speeds of about 28 MPH. Now that we are back I'm looking forward to riding it around town.
The rear wheels ride on 7/8” axles inside pillow blocks mounted to the 3” frame section. A coaster brake freewheel, transfers pedal power to one rear wheel. A caliper style brake is attached to the front. A 48 volt 750 watt BLDC hub motor provides power at the front forks. Two torque arms, one commercial, one I fabricated from ¼” steel plate, hold the front wheel in place and prevent the axle from spinning in the drop outs. The batteries are 4, 18ah SLA’s in a bag with the controller at mid-frame.
The trike was built to carry two riders, a Honda EU1000 generator, a Bimini top, a luggage rack on the back, and about a thousand LEDS to light it up at night. The fully loaded capacity of the vehicle is about 900 pounds. The lower frame was fabricated from 1”x3” 18ga Rectangular steel tube; the superstructure uses 1”x2” 18ga Rectangular steel tube with additional frame reinforcement using 1” round steel tube. The seat was made with 3” thick dense foam from a boat upholstery shop. This is not a light weight; total empty weight without generator or riders is 230 pounds.
Stability given the height is very good, although it is obvious that it was not built to take fast turns or corner quickly. Testing it in our hilly neighborhood gave uphill speeds of about 10 mph with 18mph on flats. But bear in mind this trike will only see speeds no greater than 10 mph with 5 mph the general rule.
I took it to Burning Man this year and was very happy with it's performance. Using a Honda EU 1000 generator and a 4 amp 48 volt charger gave me a range that was only limited by the gas in the generator. I start the generator and go, not having to worry about depleting the batteries. At one point at the end of the event I took it out on the deep playa and reached speeds of about 28 MPH. Now that we are back I'm looking forward to riding it around town.
