Oh man, this thing is taking shape nicely!! Looking good! ...one of the coolest "live threads" I've followed in a while!! You gonna drift her by this weekend?
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Sunday would be the absolute earliest I could possibly pull it off. New throttle cable doesn’t arrive until Saturday and we have a family get together all day. Plus the engine apparently has to be broken in. I will try to do some of that tonight and tomorrow so that if we can get her hooked up Sunday the day won’t be spent running the engine and changing the oil 4-5 times.Originally posted by SaltwaterSlick View Post
The finishing work will definitely take some time but it will be worth it. It will be hard to commit to doing it when the trike will otherwise be rideable, so after our initial test drive I will tear it down immediately and force myself to do it.Comment
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Need some video of the maiden flight!Comment
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Well good luck! Hope to follow along and see some video of a successful drift! Cudos to you sir for doing this with your boy!! He may live to be a hunert, but I'll never forget this!!
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Great Thread! Thanks for sharing.Comment
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This is really cool build. I bet that thing will fly with a 6HP motor.
I looked up a couple YouTube videos on drift trikes. Pretty radical.Comment
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First couple of oil changes are done and the new throttle cable was delivered. Still have a 30 minute constant 1/2 throttle run to do before another oil change and connecting the throttle cable for a 30 minute variable throttle run.
My son’s crawfish birthday party is this afternoon, but as long as the throttle cable installation doesn’t create a world class PITA, I think we’ll be doing donuts by sunset tomorrow.
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That's a heck of a break in procedure for a little motor. I usually just fire them up and get after it. Change the oil after the first chain break.Originally posted by txpitdog View Post
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I dunno I read that you’re supposed to break the t in so that’s what we’re doing. Remember we are starting from zero experience lol. As a friend of mine used to say “this one and the next one will make my second time trying this”Originally posted by Hoggslayer View PostThat's a heck of a break in procedure for a little motor. I usually just fire them up and get after it. Change the oil after the first chain break.Comment
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Man thats looking sweet. That’s gonna be fun!Comment
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Worked on it all afternoon. Thought I was gonna have it running Lockett split, then the **** throttle linkage gave me the attitude I expected it was gonna give. Had to very patiently file one end down of the barrel stop but got it fit up. Then wouldn’t you know it, somehow the throttle cable that fit yesterday was too short today. Cue the colorful language.
Was able to “engineer” to fit, but then couldn’t get the set screw in the throttle linkage loose. Nearly stripped it but finally got that fixed. Bolted the engine back down and started with the chain. We knew we were going to have to shorten it but we weren’t sure how much. So we laid it out on the clutch and gear, and we were just 1/8” short or 3/8” too long. Pulled the engine again and spent a half hour, a Drexel bit, and some aggressive file work and elongated the engine plate holes. Now for the chain.
Pro tip: don’t but the world’s crappiest chain breaker because you’re too much of a cheap *** to get a good one.
A 5 minute job took 30 minutes, but we got the chain put on. Here we are moments before the final check, both with butterflies about whether this whole thing was going to come together or present us with another hurdle.
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Should be epic!Comment
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So no time for cleaning up, after checking the axle bolts, engine mounts, clutch set crews, seat, and throttle, we back her out of the garage. It sits low to the ground that it won’t make it down the lip of the driveway, so we have to carry it into the street. Get it set up, and here goes nuthin’....
Success! At first the throttle was a little jumpy. My son ran back to the garage and got a spring to pull the throttle closed, like fail safe at idle, so the trike wouldn’t take off unexpectedly. It was way more controllable after that.
Here’s my son doing a few test donuts...
Opening it up a bit on this run. Nothing too exciting. The gearing is perfect, for as squirrelly as it is it the tail end, 20mph top end is fine for right now. It’s got lots of low end to let you slide right right off the bat and good acceleration. Tracks smoothly.
We all took a couple of turns, had a few people stop and check the trike out, and had a little fun for about an hour. We wanted to take it up to the school to let it rip around the parking lot for a couple laps and some high speed figure 8’s, but it was dinner time. With school tomorrow, we carried it back up the driveway, and put it in the garage.
So far, I’m really happy with it. I did not detect any flimsiness, erratic vibration, unevenness, it tracks straight, it’s basically solid and runs true. The engine seems to be fine, the throttle is not professional but is functioning correctly. The clutch is a little noisy, and I think the idle speed probably needs to come down a little. Otherwise, it’s good.
We’ll play with it more, probably through Easter. All the nephews and nieces will be over for my daughter’s birthday and Easter, and I know everyone will have fun taking a spin on it. Then, I will have to tear it down like I said, and finish it out the right way. It will be fun to bling it out a bit.
Pretty pumped. Can’t believe we did it. Definitely the coolest and most challenging project I’ve ever done.
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That's awesome. Tons of fun in yalls future now.
I would still put a chain guard on there if you can fab something up.Comment
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