My life with Python trikes Mk1 , Mk1.5 , Mk2 ?

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So more done on iLean folly....



made a pair of clamps for inner tube , 2 felt tip pen cases stop rubber pulling through under clamp I hope.

rubber pulled as tight as I could [ on my own for a 3 handed job ! ]



I pulled the crank arm you cannot see in a anti clock wise direction ? can you see the rubber going slack on the top and is now much tighter on the underside.
Showing there is not much slip and it is gripping the iLean axle quite well.

Need to mount it on a ' unable to ride ' 2 wheeled Python for a try out...



watch this space Paul
 
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I do worry with such a system that should it slip you'll then have to fight it to get the trike upright and hope it slips back. If you add several clamps on the round part it would help prevent slippage. Even hose clips may work well enough to prove concept.
 
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I do worry with such a system that should it slip you'll then have to fight it to get the trike upright and hope it slips back. If you add several clamps on the round part it would help prevent slippage. Even hose clips may work well enough to prove concept.
Don't worry idea is scrapped for me NOT wanting to learn how to ride a 2 wheeled Python this is just a dead end.
Once the weight of the Python front end/rest frame is added it becomes and articulated nightmare with the front and the rear tilting in opposite directions with NO ability what so ever to free stand.
So not what I wanted and so will be dismantled forthwith.
As Edison would say not a waste , just found another way not to make a tilter I can live with YMMV
Shame it was a 5 day dead end , that time could have been better spent of the prototype snagging list :)

Paul


ps the rear end may live again on a wooden 2 wheeler I was building , that is not a Python

 
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Ok another trip to mothers on the tiller [ about 12 miles ] and I am getting better/more comfortable at riding it.

Couple of observations:-

On fast wide bends I seem to tilt a lot and not steer much - predicted by some on here ?

I can now ride it one handed without drama [ mostly :D(y) ]

I can ride it for short distances no hands [ I know it is not sensible - however it is a good indication of how ' in control ' I feel ] although only up hills where the pedaling effort is absorbed by the slope/gravity.

I now seem to be gratuitously tilting when on the other Python I would not think ' wouldn't it be great to be able tilt here ? '

I have maybe mastered the uphill pedestrian chicane that caused me so many problems on the first rides.


So onward's to the snag list/upgrading , the purpose is to make it as good as my current Python i.e incorporate bolt on parts and improve controls etc etc.

Paul
 
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I ride most of the times without my hands on my upright bike. Especially in the winter, do I can hold my hands in my pockets.
 
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Popshot

You understand what I mean by the phrase ;)

I am also getting better the first ride on that route was 1hr 20mins so 20mins longer than usual for my Python trike.
Today 1hr 10min a good improvement , it is unlikely I will may any inroads to the last 10min as I am short on gears AND short on moral fibre to ride any faster :whistle:

DannyC and I are taking tentative steps to build a Arduino tilt monitor so we can record data on a ride to see what sort of tilt angles we achieve.

Also I am thinking along the lines of tilt stops ?

Why ? well I am conscious of the fact that in some circumstances [ without the need to ] I am probably abusing the elastomer's in charge of tilting , a failure of one/both would be bad.
If I ride my test route normally and find I only use 15' of tilt , then stops @ 15' will stop the situations where I am exceeding that value.
yes there is a small risk I may need more , i am hoping it will warn me by lifting a inner wheel BEFORE it sends me over the high side ?

Paul
 
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I suggest you try to devise soft stops rather than hard ones. Hitting a hard stop as you ride could be somewhat destabilising. A soft stop would likely minimise that effect. I look forward to any lean figures your adventures into magic leaning measuring sticks produces.
 
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I suggest you try to devise soft stops rather than hard ones. Hitting a hard stop as you ride could be somewhat destabilising. A soft stop would likely minimise that effect.
Yes I agree , a progressive bump stop would be good , do they make them ? thinking a sort of rubber cone ?

I look forward to any lean figures your adventures into magic leaning measuring sticks produces.


This is part of the impetus , no way in the flesh that looks to be only 25' , so what are we actually riding at ?

Question for the thinkers ....

I have handle bars on the none tilting rear part of the trike.
I can feel the rear part tilting left and right compared to [ or more than ] the front part I am sat on.
So is the rear or the front tilting ?
If I traverse a left slope that turns right so have a right tilt where do I measure the actual tilt angle ?

all for now Paul
 
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A rubber cone would be ideal. Something like this...


That angle looks about 25 degrees to me. You can only realistically measure it from two points I think.

  1. Absolute angle to perfectly level. You'd need a spirit level wired to your measuring device unless it contains one.
  2. Angle to the rear part. This would equate to the angle to the road.
Both measurements would tell you something useful though for placing bump stops it'd be the second one.

As to which part is tilting I'd suggest that if you're trying to ride in a straight line on a sloping road it's the rear that tilts. If centrifugal / centripetal forces are at work it's the front. Could be both at once.
 
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Popshot

I suspect a car one won't compress much if I hit it ?



I have 3 of these , much to light and puny for the intended job I can bend them through 90' in my hands.

However if cut one in half it would yield 2 conical bump stops ? flap disc should be able to make them more Madonna'ish ?



Paul
 
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Much will depend on the leverage you can exert on them. High leverage will want a hard stop and low, soft. Those elastomers should be fine in a low leverage position.
 
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About 60+ miles on tilter now.

I was apprehensive about this ride as the last one went so well ?
You know when you think you have conquered something and then the next try goes all pear shaped ......

So I have moved the clipped pedals over from my old Python and again seen a improvement in the control/ease in which I can get it to behave using legs only.

Unbelievably despite lack of gearing and so speed I did the run in 1 hour same as old Python.

Still no able to ride hands free except briefly up hill.

An old mistake has come back to haunt me ?

When building the new front end I left the left thread BB cup in to get the BB correctly orientated ? well it was clamped up when trying to get it in a good position to weld it the clamp slipped off and it fell on the floor , not thinking I just picked it up and re-clamped it ?
Yep I got it the wrong way around ! so now it is unwinding whilst riding.

Anyone been able to overcome this ? currently it is a old skool assembled BB I wondered if I put some 3mm steel in a slot on the locking ring and clamped the steel to the BB shell with a jubilee clip it would stop it rotating and that would also stop the centre coming out ?

Did something the old Python cannot do ?

Near mother's each of the streets end with a 45' grass bank up slope that the old Python cannot climb due to having to do a 90' turn to get onto it the resulting lack of grip/speed stops me getting up.
Tilter no problem ! I just approached it @ 45' and tilted myself up the slope and pedaled ACROSS it without rolling down it flipping unbelievable !!!

So did a few chores whilst out and had a good ride ' magic '

Paul
 
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You're not the only one to have got a BB the wrong way round. I've done it too and seen them come from the factory the wrong way round on donors. Try some threadlock - the type that only semi-sets - usually blue.
 
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Ok building a new narrower rear end 24" tyre centre to tyre centre rather than the current 28" to 30".

So I have made 2 of these :-



You can just see the 2 notches in the plates to ensure they all line up as I am sure the holes are no longer central , however as they were all filed down together any offset should be the same.



they will go in either end of this 20" x 1.5" sq dead axle , the SA hubs will run on the bolts with a single M12 lock nut holding them on and all hardware inside axle.
They will be held by plug welds through the 1.5" locking the plates with the bolts inside , if I add 2 spacer tubes between the plates once the end plate is welded inside the tubing they cannot come out , and the wheel can be attached with a single nut and box spanner not messing with 2 spanners etc.

Paul
 
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DannyC and I are taking tentative steps to build a Arduino tilt monitor so we can record data on a ride to see what sort of tilt angles we achieve.
I have succeeded in making a working prototype.
So far its just an Arduino, and SD Card reader/writer and the Gyro unit.
It manages to take a snapshot of both "Pitch" & "Roll" amounts every second and writes this to the SD card for later ingestion to a spreadsheet for Min/Max and Average analysis.
The files are pretty small, and just have +/- numerical values in 2 columns.
Just for giggles I am going to add a RTC so there are 3 columns per entry Date/Time ¦ Pitch Value ¦ Roll Value
 
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