AZ inspired trike build starts!

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I managed to get it working. It was a matter of what I was looking at and using the appropriate account/password. Until today, the screen was totally different and the link process, which was different to what I had seen/used previously, did not work. I'll get a few more pics to drill the process into the brain. I am now presented with the familiar range of link possibilities as per this image. I past the Direct Link address in AZ.
 
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The other issue is that I feel like I'm going to slide right off the seat. I'm not sure if that's just me having never ridden a trike of any kind before or if the seat material is too slick. Time will tell, there. Oh, and the seat no longer fits the same way now that it has foam on it! 0.o I should have seen that coming. I have Tee nuts to hold 10-24 machine screws to install it, and I had to go back to wood screws for the time being. Minor issue.
Well done , on your way now ..

I had a similar problem with a AZ inspired seat on my Python trike , the trike corners flat and the only body roll is YOU !
I was lucky and bought some Dutch moulded seats real cheap , as shown below.


You can see they have a bucket shape and the ears at your lumbar region support you and stop the rolling feeling.
Looking at your picture you will either need a wider seat or maybe just make some screw on ears from plywood ?
I am thinking of a plank crossing seat left to right at about you lumber region then just gluing layers of seat foam till you feel some support ? I suspect they won't need to be big maybe 8" x 3" ?

Other alternative is to keep the base and make the back from a lawn chair , usually they have enough sag in the material to support you ?

Some think like this ?

https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-recumbent-bicycle-made-from-recycled-parts/



Keep at it you are very close ......
 
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Be guided by what your tender nether regions tell you. Technically, if you slide sideways in the seat your are exceeding the safety limits of the creation. Seriously, I think a few of us have ploughed the same sod.

It was commented elsewhere that the Barnett Williams design seemed a bit complicated and that complication may have been related to the tube bending requirement. I commented elsewhere that I am about to restart my eLecTricks build and I plan to have a modified Barnett Williams seat. The mesh cloth won't fold around a bent(?) tube frame bent with a tube bender.

As it turns out, the trike body will need some framework around the seat area. I plan to spread the side stringers out to trike body width, using it as a reinforcing frame as well as the seat frame. Bending the frame will be a matter of kerfing the tube, bending it, and welding at the bend. The mesh will form a hammock into which I should sink quite comfortably. Lacing to the frame should ensure that lumber support, etc., is maintained.

Anyway, that is the plan but, we know what happens to plans.
 
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Paul: Some interesting stuff on the second link above.
Yes Tim and the site are sorely missed , he was an innovative guy with a very Brad like ' we can do ' with and angle grinder and some thought...
 
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Hi Stormbird!
Thanks for the link to Fleetrikes.com. I used to follow that site. A really talented builder, great depth of plan variety.
I thought it was lost and gone forever!
Jeffstuff!
 
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Hi Stormbird!
Thanks for the link to Fleetrikes.com. I used to follow that site. A really talented builder, great depth of plan variety.
I thought it was lost and gone forever! Jeffstuff!
As everything on the internet is precarious I used a site ripper to download all his stuff before it disappeared as his Python/trike stuff was very inspirational....
 
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you can still access the site using this site https://web.archive.org/ the last link that was uploaded seems to be from 27 Jan 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140127034452/http://www.fleettrikes.com/
yes that's where my links pointed to....

However as I said ' As everything on the internet is precarious ' the Wayback Machine does not save every site neither does it save all site content sometimes there are pages or pictures missing...

However as I said ' As everything on the internet is precarious ' the Wayback machine itself was under threat a year or two ago and was asking for donations , I felt it worth donating ;)

However as I said ' As everything on the internet is precarious ' this site is also ' under threat ' and is gratefully receiving donations , I felt it worth donating :D
 
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Speaking of things from "way back", it's been a little bit since I worked on the trike. The weather got COLD and so did being on my shop! It finally warmed up just in time for it to get dark at 5pm. But today, I went for a ride! The jackshaft got welded up and now it actually moves under its own power, and I can put some umph into the pedals. The seat situation doesn't feel quite right, so I've got some work to do there. The seat bottom just needs a different angle, I think. I'll fiddle with that a bit.

I did take a short video of me riding, without brakes, and it's on my instagram account below in my sig:
 
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The seat situation doesn't feel quite right, so I've got some work to do there. The seat bottom just needs a different angle, I think. I'll fiddle with that a bit.
Couple things , the seat base could be up to 10' nose up without trouble and the back could be reclined 45'-55'
If the seat base is level it may feel like you are constantly sliding forward.
If the seat back is to upright you will put to much weight on your 'bum' and you could end up with recumbent butt ! when I adjusted my seat to upright recumbent butt turned up in less than 1/2 mile ! easily fixed by reclining the seat-back back so it shares your weight.

Good luck with your test rides ...
 
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Indeed, the back felt fine but I did feel like I was going to slide off the seat. I'm going to shim it first to see if that's enough. Hopefully it is, I don't feel like cutting and welding it. Once I have it all set up and am sure I won't need to weld anything else, I'm going to paint it. Which, I am unsure how I'm going to go about, considering that ti temps are around 45F during the day :/
 
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Unless your build processes are different to most, there will always be a change as it is "bedded in". That's just how DIY works. It either goes that way or you end up making another one. That is what you are finding out with your seat.

Don't paint until you have a few kilometres on it. If you can't find any kilometres to ride over there, try miles, they are almost as good for testing. Spray can auto paint is durable for those who don't have other spray facilities.
 
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things going wrong durring burn in, always
things going wrong after painting, yes
my streetfox had several issus after I painted and reassembled.
Stuff happens
 
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I brush on the paint as well and always tremclad rust paint, easy to touch up later on if needed and way less fumes than a spray job
 

Radical Brad

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The tremclad rust paint is really amazing, I used it on most of my yellow bikes and it looks almost as good as sprayed on paint.
If you really care about the bling, you can mix it down with paint thinner, and put it on in 5 or more coats to get a hotrod quality finish.

Oh, and the bonus for me is that it lasts for years in the can, even through -40 winters. Latex paint is shot the first time it gets below zero.

Brad
 
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