my latest delta project

hugh

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This is my latest delta trike. Front wheel is 24", rear wheels are 26". The frame is based on an Atomic Zombie trike with a coroplast body fastened to a tube frame. Power is routed from the pedals through a jackshaft to the left rear wheel and the right rear wheel has a Golden Motor Magic Pie direct drive hub motor. It uses a Grin Tech Cycle Analyst computer which allows the power level and speed to be set. Also it has a PAS and a throttle. I keep the power set to a max of 220 watts which allows me to cruise between 17 and 22 kph depending on the incline of the roadway. It has mesh front and rear to allow for airflow to cool both the rider and the 2 48V batteries which are located behind the seat.


 
This is my latest delta trike. Front wheel is 24", rear wheels are 26". The frame is based on an Atomic Zombie trike with a coroplast body fastened to a tube frame. Power is routed from the pedals through a jackshaft to the left rear wheel and the right rear wheel has a Golden Motor Magic Pie direct drive hub motor. It uses a Grin Tech Cycle Analyst computer which allows the power level and speed to be set. Also it has a PAS and a throttle. I keep the power set to a max of 220 watts which allows me to cruise between 17 and 22 kph depending on the incline of the roadway. It has mesh front and rear to allow for airflow to cool both the rider and the 2 48V batteries which are located behind the seat.


Sweet ride
 
No rag top, instead I gave it this hardtop which is still being tweaked. I tested it in a heavy downpour and it will be upgraded over the summer.
 
How is the power levels between the two rear wheels balanced?

Nice ride.
 
Have you been invited to any parades? Might make a nice float.... Just kidding... I applaud your engineering and creativity. I prefer the road less traveled myself.
 
Nelson the power between the 2 rear wheels is not balanced. I thought about a differential then dismissed the idea. A solid axle causes issues when turning, I used to build off road jeeps with detroit rear lockers so I'm somewhat familiar with the handling quirks. Bikes of course are not in the same category of course but it gave me an idea of what to expect.
On the bent rider forum a couple members thought having 2 separate drive lines especially with the power of the hub motor would cause the ride to be not smooth and have a tendency to pull to one side from the torque. That has been proven not to be the case, there have been no weird handling quirks noticed yet and the trike now has prob over 400 km's on it. I do like the redundency factor. The manual driveline is fairly robust, it's overall gearing is easy to alter and I'm sure I will never break anything by applying to much leg power. The completely separate hub motor can be controlled by the PAS or with the throttle if the pedal driveline were to fail.
In town power is usually kept to 111 watts, occasionally bumping it up to level 2 at 222 watts. With people, pets, bike riders on the MUP's my preferred speed around 17 kph is ideal. Our roads when I do use them are in bad shape due to the extreme weather my city experiences. In summer it will sometimes hit 100F plus and in winter it can go lower than minus 35. Now I,ve been wanting to test the trike at higher speeds and on the 23rd met some friends at a nearby provincial park with a nice wide shoulder for bikes. It was 3 riders on higher end road bikes and 1 on a homemade tadpole trike. On our usual loop around the park I bumped up the power to level 3 that happened to 444 watts. On a slight downhill it hit 38 kph. I think wind resistance was the main factor it wouldn't go any faster. On level ground it could hold 32 kph or 20 mph. One of the road riders decided to draft behind me similar to a pelaton. We got to the end, sat at a picnic table and had time for a beverage before the others caught up. And I got to try a faster speed then usual and again no weird handling.
Heavyload, no parade invites, this trike is almost a parade of it's own. I've had cars slow down and then see the camera taking pictures, also a few people have stopped me to inquire where I got it, then sometimes would you build me one? Lot's of thumbs up, sweet ride, kids especially like it. Some adults smile, a few laugh. At 69 I don't mind any reaction, I like it and it puts a smile on my face when riding.
 
I wonder if one could use 1/4 marine grade plywood and transfer some of the load to the body panels? There is so much here for the DIY person and you have sure inspired a lot of people for sure. There is a nice trike differential made in South America someplace, just saying( was on the verge of making one from freewheels) I wonder how good two 250-watt hub motors would do on back wheels, you can get some super deals on geared Bafang front wheels the clutches should allow some differential action . My next planned build is a reverse trike, Delta doesn't work for Me, and apparently am having balance issues( I was down 4 times on my last long ride)
Your work is very inspiring.
 
Nelson the power between the 2 rear wheels is not balanced. I thought about a differential then dismissed the idea. A solid axle causes issues when turning, I used to build off road jeeps with detroit rear lockers so I'm somewhat familiar with the handling quirks. Bikes of course are not in the same category of course but it gave me an idea of what to expect.
On the bent rider forum a couple members thought having 2 separate drive lines especially with the power of the hub motor would cause the ride to be not smooth and have a tendency to pull to one side from the torque. That has been proven not to be the case, there have been no weird handling quirks noticed yet and the trike now has prob over 400 km's on it. I do like the redundency factor. The manual driveline is fairly robust, it's overall gearing is easy to alter and I'm sure I will never break anything by applying to much leg power. The completely separate hub motor can be controlled by the PAS or with the throttle if the pedal driveline were to fail.
In town power is usually kept to 111 watts, occasionally bumping it up to level 2 at 222 watts. With people, pets, bike riders on the MUP's my preferred speed around 17 kph is ideal. Our roads when I do use them are in bad shape due to the extreme weather my city experiences. In summer it will sometimes hit 100F plus and in winter it can go lower than minus 35. Now I,ve been wanting to test the trike at higher speeds and on the 23rd met some friends at a nearby provincial park with a nice wide shoulder for bikes. It was 3 riders on higher end road bikes and 1 on a homemade tadpole trike. On our usual loop around the park I bumped up the power to level 3 that happened to 444 watts. On a slight downhill it hit 38 kph. I think wind resistance was the main factor it wouldn't go any faster. On level ground it could hold 32 kph or 20 mph. One of the road riders decided to draft behind me similar to a pelaton. We got to the end, sat at a picnic table and had time for a beverage before the others caught up. And I got to try a faster speed then usual and again no weird handling.
Heavyload, no parade invites, this trike is almost a parade of it's own. I've had cars slow down and then see the camera taking pictures, also a few people have stopped me to inquire where I got it, then sometimes would you build me one? Lot's of thumbs up, sweet ride, kids especially like it. Some adults smile, a few laugh. At 69 I don't mind any reaction, I like it and it puts a smile on my face when riding.
It's nice to see positive response to something you create your a role model for ebike enthusiasts everywhere.
 
I should do an update on this trike. It worked great for over 1000 km's. The concept was sound. The roof kept the sun and it's heat off of the rider (me), the open mesh front end provided enough air flow so that the rider never overheated and the weather protection was great. But, and there's always a but, I built it way too heavy and that coupled with our rough roads killed the Magic Pie motor.
So it has been taken apart and the motor sits in my garage where I may one day take it apart to see if it can be repaired. The marine grade plywood sounds good although a friend who built a quad with a body on it found the wood seemed to resonate quite a bit. By that he meant it was loud and so he switched to coroplast and found it a lot quieter on the road.
The 2 motors would prob be okay although in order to get any differential action you would need to stop pedaling or applying power in corners.
I do have another Delta I built a few years ago also from Atomic Zombie plans. It has rear suspension and a coro box on the back. It was running a BBS02 mid drive which is being mounted on my full suspension long wheelbase 2 wheeler currently under construction. Back to the other Delta, one rear wheel will now be pedal power and I just received a Bafang geared 500 watt hub for the front wheel. All 3 wheels are 20"
 
Thanks for the kind words. Here is an older picture of my 2nd and now only Delta. It has a few thousand Km's on it and with the 20" wheels is very stable and actually corners quite well. Prob not as good as a tadpole but fast enough for me.
 
This is my latest delta trike. Front wheel is 24", rear wheels are 26". The frame is based on an Atomic Zombie trike with a coroplast body fastened to a tube frame. Power is routed from the pedals through a jackshaft to the left rear wheel and the right rear wheel has a Golden Motor Magic Pie direct drive hub motor. It uses a Grin Tech Cycle Analyst computer which allows the power level and speed to be set. Also it has a PAS and a throttle. I keep the power set to a max of 220 watts which allows me to cruise between 17 and 22 kph depending on the incline of the roadway. It has mesh front and rear to allow for airflow to cool both the rider and the 2 48V batteries which are located behind the seat.


I like that windscreen, very stylish.
 
Here's a few pics of my stealth bug out bike. Only thing missing is a Tompson
.45 and scabard mounted
to front forks.
 

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