AZ Inspired Trike Build (The Tri-Meridian) is Complete!

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Feb 5, 2008
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Fernley, NV
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Yes, that's right- it's DONE. That doesn't mean there isn't more to do, but it means that my biggest hurdle: getting it to where I can just hop on it and go for a ride! has been cleared. And that'sexactly what I did today. It was only about half a mile, and I have a feeling there will be little things to adjust and fix as I ride it more, but for all intents and purposes, it is completed.

Right now it only has gearing on the jack shaft and the rear wheel; the front derailer isn't hooked up. It's set to stay on the 38T chain ring. This gives me plenty of gearing as-is. I have everything to hook it up except for the bracket to hold the shifter cable. It wouldn't be that hard to weld one on, but I'm pretty much done welding on this trike. Everything from here on out will be bolt on only, unless absolutely necessary.

Future plans include fenders front and back as well as a cargo box for the back, lighting front and back for seeing and to be seen, and a phone mount with charger for the sake of a phone based bike computer/gps. As those things come together, I'll post pictures, probably in their own threads.



And a very proud builder/rider:



And to anybody wondering "Can I do this?" the answer is yes. You can. If I can, you can.
 
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Joined
Sep 16, 2018
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Netherlands
Looking good. A box on the back and you can take a lot of stuff with you.
The rear fenders you can make also from Cora plast.
 
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Here coraplast is very hard to get in big sizes.
I found an address, but it's still a bit smaller than that size. But great stuff to work with.
I didn't think of using that as box on the back, but that is a great idea. No problem as it gets wet, light and easy to work with.
 
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Nov 10, 2019
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charlotte, nc
nice, if you use coroplast buy black (most uv resistive) and then spray paint it white with paint designed for plastic. will last forever that way.
 
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charlotte, nc
depending on how much sun you get, white will last for 4 to 6 years. I've yet to destroy any paitned panel. it's the uv light that makes them crack and die.
 
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May 31, 2013
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South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
Here coraplast is very hard to get in big sizes.
I found an address, but it's still a bit smaller than that size. But great stuff to work with.
I didn't think of using that as box on the back, but that is a great idea. No problem as it gets wet, light and easy to work with.
Amazon sell it in 244 x 122 cm sheets (delivered rolled-up) £8.99 a sheet I think.
 
Joined
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Joined
Sep 16, 2018
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I know. Many forums are filled with it out here.
But the 2 to 2,1m is the max length you can get out here.
Smaller plates are easy to get, but the bigger ones are a problem.
I contacted many companies and even companies that makes boxes out of it.
They buy their plates in surten sizes and many get it from outside the Netherlands. Importing is hard to do as you only need a few.

I go with the 2m and extend it. For what I want yo do, that is no big problem.
 
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Over the last few days I've found a little time to take some 3/4" square tubing and cut it in half length wise, and then try to make the sides even. The idea is to make it c-channel that can be used as a way to support the cargo box. Here's what I came up with:



The fore piece is clearly not square to the frame, but it's okay- it's just sitting there. These are going to support the cargo box with built in fenders, and they're going to be zip tied to the frame. Pieces of foam matting (the same used in the seat) will pad it, and give the zip ties something to compress for a nice tight rattle-free fit. The reason I'm not welding these on is that I want the whole thing to be removable by just snipping a few zip ties. If that becomes problematic,then I'll make weld some upside down bolts to the frame and make it bolt-on. But this is fine for now.

The next step will be to drill holes in the cargo rack to mount the coroplast box to. Then, design, build and attach the coroplast box. That'll be a project all on its own!
 
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Had a bit of a setback this morning unfortunately! It's the jack shaft. It's bent again. It turns out that wheel hubs aren't made for the loads I'm putting on them. The more I ride it,the more crooked the shaft becomes. In the image below, you can see where the maximum amount of torque is applied- the joint behind the freewheel. Normally the hub is just pressed together and is friction fit, and the center piece doesn't have any load on it. The load goes to the spokes... which don't exist in this scenario!



So,what I'm going to have to do is rebuild it by cutting out everything in the blue portion, and only leave the threaded freewheel mounts. So, I have to remove the freewheels and cut it all up and start over. NOT a huge deal, just time consuming.
 
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Feb 20, 2013
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Just part of the development process. Makes me think about what I am planning to do after a few more days of back rest. At least my right calf has settled down and I am walking properly again but my back is still ruling the roost.
 
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Heh. Thanks for the encouragement, guys- much appreciated! I've decided that I'm going to leave it for a winter project when it's not as nice out and I don't mind tearing it apart again. As long as it rides that is, and so far, it does. If it breaks, well, I guess that'll force my hand then won't it.

Tonight I cut up a box to assist with some CAD work (Cardboard Assisted Design) and mocked up what the side of the cargo box might look like. This is what I came up with.



The idea here was that the box lid would double as the top of the fender. After looking at it closer however, I can see how that idea is flawed. Unless the box were sealed perfectly, water would be flung up by the wheel and seep right into the cargo box. Instead the box will have to be just a box by itself, and the fender will have to be mounted to it externally. The box will be probably 3-4" (75-100mm) taller than the fender, and the lid will have a lip that'll extend about an inch downward so that even heavy rain doesn't make it into the box.

The reason for all the concern is that it rains a lot here, and there's a good chance this will get ridden not just in the rain, but that I'll get caught in a heavy downpour. I'll have coroplast left over, and I've had velomobile like thoughts :p

I might have time to make progress on the cargo box this weekend. We'll see.
 
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Sep 16, 2018
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Don't wait to long with fixing it. I did the same with my build and in the end, it had to break before I finally made it good.
 
Joined
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miscdotgeek.com
Got some progress today. I was hoping to get it 100% done, but today just went haywire and ended up being very busy. But, I got a little progress. First I cut out a piece that I was going to use as a side, and I realized that would not work right. So I cut out a huge piece that I could fold into 3 sides of the box, and the bottom. Here's that piece:



Then I folded it up and taped it with packing tape, which works great on coroplast:



The bent seams on the sides need some reinforcement to keep them at 90 degrees, but that'll be easy enough to do. Left is the rear panel, a lid, and the reinforcements. Then the fenders, which will be pretty easy. I think.
 
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