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

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If the drum is out of round Paul, I am quite happy to machine it true, will even cover your postage costs
regards
john
 
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John

Kind of you to offer ....

At the moment it is not priority as I am still tinkering with the frame , some bad design decisions need correcting and test rides performed.

Soon it will float to the top of the list and will get the attention it deserves !

Hopefully it will be fixable within the Mansfield workshop of the Python pilot.

regards pauk
 
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Ok so there is an Irish saying when asking for directions ?

' .. well I wouldn't start from here ...' [ paraphrased some what ]

Well to beef up the hub back plate mounts I would not suggest doing it AFTER you have added the luggage basket !!!



All the welding was to be done on the basket side , it obstructed the:-

view
helmet
torch
filler
hands

etc etc etc sometimes 1 some times 2 sometimes all of them at once :mad::mad::mad:

anyway stuck on it now is:-



Not pretty , however they both have 5" of weld around them , I suspect may 1/2" - 1" is really all they need to stay fast ?



they don't really need the anti crush tube ? however it gave somewhere for the clamp to grip and stops me doing damage with the lock nut when I attach the shown bolt for real.

Being this way around has the added advantage of less bits [ spacers/washer etc ] falling off the hub back plate whilst trying to line it up [ same with the big washer tacked around the axle hole.

before there was just to much loose/floating stuff to control never mind the wheel axle SA hub spacers etc all parts that fell out at the slightest provocation.

Next clean burnt paint up and some welds - repaint then on to water bottles and lights....
 
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Excellent stuff!
Looks like a good and solid fix to me.
Those backplates will not rotate when you hit the anchors! :D
 
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Well what do we think this is ?



Part of the build is to incorporate features that ended up being clumsy bolted add-ons on the Mk1 trike :-



So now we can carry 2 water bottles and I think they can be reached from the seat whilst riding ? if so a bonus :)

There looks to be plenty of room for these bottle , till you add the tent and the seat ?



Now I have created another problem ?

Moving the panniers towards the seat has put them in conflict with the bl**dy hub mounts [ Grrrr I am beginning to hate these brakes and I have done less than 20 miles with them ]



Here's the problem :-



Those bolt heads will rub through my expensive panniers in no time [ don't ask how I know this ... ]

So I will need a third go at the back plate anchor and cut off the one it took 3 days to make/add and make it simpler and closer to the front of the upright and make a guard for the axle bolt as it cannot be removed/relocated.
 
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We all feel your pain Paul.
If you want to get those bolts/heads completely out of your way you could do what I suggested a little while ago perhaps?
If you look at the picture below.
Imagine the square tube you can see is not oriented L - R, but is in fact your upright section of square tube.
Just weld a section of 50mm x 10mm bar onto the outside face (4 x 38mm nice straight weld lines).
A hole pre-drilled in the 50mm x 10mm bar accepts the axle tube of the backplate.
I chose to put a 12mm barrel with an M6 thread in it to provide my anti-turn anchor for the backplate welded to the end of the bar stock.
You could just make the entire 50mm x 10mm bar a bit longer and drill & tap that for a blind hole (nothing poking thru to scratch yr panniers).
As this would live on the outside of your frame it is far less invasive into the load-space.

 
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Dan

This is great and the picture really helps visualise it .......

However the build has gone way past that stage and so the remedy must be incorporated into what already exists.

Sadly trying to build from ideas in your head and then for real show a lack of grasp of the shear bulk of panniers & tent added to a lack of appreciation as to how little space there actually is ....

The pain is real but push on we must.

Do you know the rear wheels could be 2.75" further back without making it any longer ?
 
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Ok third try :-



Removed the anti-crush tube and added a 6mm plate to the face of the existing carbuncle .



This plate allows the hub anchor retaining bolt to sit inside the tube instead of in the luggage area rubbing on the panniers.

The only fly in the ointment now is the axle bolt ?



I may produce some rod guards and weld them down the tube , like you find on switches ?

 
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Nice recovery there.
Would a walking stick rubber tip (or similar) fit over the axle bolt's nut perhaps?
Simplest though is a section of an old tyre zip-tied above & below. ;)
 
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Dan

Yes simple may well be better , lets face it how often do you expect to take a wheel off ?

On the Mk1 never away from home , although there are no brakes on them.

Of course there is little you can do with the wheel off at the side of the road anyway.
 
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So unhappy with the bottle rack mounts ? though there was a good chance of loosing one/both the bottles cornering if they were fully of water ?

So after a intense bout of thinking I realised the bottle mounts could be mounted either side of the frame mount ?

Leaving me room to bend them upwards and mount the bottles underneath ?



On the right is the first one bent up and bottle mount fixed.

On the left my method , I fashioned a piece of wood with a radius at the point of the bend and screwed to through the bottle mount screw holes to the top of the mount.

Made a template from card and gentle bent the flat mount upwards.

To finish off I welded a cross brace to stop wobble induced stress fractures ?



The gap between the bottle mount and the far end of the tent point should be enough for the bag that carries my inner tubes/tyre levers and front wheel spanner thus removing them from the day bag.

regards Paul
 
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So unhappy with the bottle rack mounts ? though there was a good chance of loosing one/both the bottles cornering if they were fully of water ?

So after a intense bout of thinking I realised the bottle mounts could be mounted either side of the frame mount ?

Leaving me room to bend them upwards and mount the bottles underneath ?

On the right is the first one bent up and bottle mount fixed.

On the left my method , I fashioned a piece of wood with a radius at the point of the bend and screwed to through the bottle mount screw holes to the top of the mount.

Made a template from card and gentle bent the flat mount upwards.

To finish off I welded a cross brace to stop wobble induced stress fractures ?
The gap between the bottle mount and the far end of the tent point should be enough for the bag that carries my inner tubes/tyre levers and front wheel spanner thus removing them from the day bag.

regards Paul
Good thinking Batman. So, Salmiaki in the Left one and Water in the right, or just stick with 2 x Salmiaki?
 
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Dan

Now you know I am not man enough for those drinks ....

Iced tea for me ;)😁
 
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Some good work there, and always interesting to watch this thread evolve!
Brad
Thanks Brad...

Unfortunately evolution has a few dead ends along the way , makes me realise just how sorted your plans are compared with starting with an idea and a blank sheet of paper ?
 
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I guess that there is a reason for the old saying "Oh-Well, Back to the drawing-Board".
I found that creating a full-scale drawing of my trike (on taped together lining paper) was a positive step overall.
It didn't eradicate all possible issues, but it sure did help me avoid a lot of pitfalls.
Mind you, my wife was rather annoyed at losing her dining room table for so long.
 
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....when I was building my LWB, I sketched it out first on the side wall of our house which has white plastered walls. For the SWB I did a half scale drawing. I don't have the patience to learn one of the computer based drawing apps, but they do look very pro..........
 
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I guess that there is a reason for the old saying "Oh-Well, Back to the drawing-Board".
I found that creating a full-scale drawing of my trike (on taped together lining paper) was a positive step overall.
Didn't really think I needed that ? as the Mk1 was stood in the bike shed and this build was meant to be a evolutionary step past that ?

However the design brief changed so often the goal posts had wheels attached :LOL:

....when I was building my LWB, I sketched it out first on the side wall of our house which has white plastered walls. For the SWB I did a half scale drawing. I don't have the patience to learn one of the computer based drawing apps, but they do look very pro..........
Nice idea both and something I briefly flirted with until I realised I couldn't be ar**d to measure all the parts up and draw them out full sized.

If you look at my build threads you can see I would rather fasten the real world components to a lump of wood and wing it .......
 
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