Looky what I brought home. :)

[Outback in Idaho]

  Ordered wider handlebars, so in limbo till those arrive on Saturday. 

 

[firiki]

I was expecting to see a puppy (or, purrferably, a kitten)

That doesn't look like a bicycle. What do you call those?

[dks]

I was thinking of that other thread you posted, about trying to find a partner.....

So, the outback reference is for the car.

[Outback in Idaho]

I was expecting to see a puppy (or, purrferably, a kitten)

That doesn't look like a bicycle. What do you call those?

  Well... I guess you could call it a dog, as it's model name is a Rover. 

[firiki]

I was expecting to see a puppy (or, purrferably, a kitten)

That doesn't look like a bicycle. What do you call those?

  Well... I guess you could call it a dog, as it's model name is a Rover.  (Image removed from quote.)

Dunno, I hate to be negative; this trike seems comfortable but I can see some drawbacks. One of them is pretty literal, when trying to move upwards a slope, one's weight will be pulling the whole thing back, won't it?

[ryan1835]

a recumbent bike!

[Grant Lamontagne]

Very nice!

I would love to get a recumbent trike but I haven't seen one in a reasonable price range around here!

That looks like a sweet machine!  I can't wait to hear how you get along with it after you put a few miles on it!

Def

[ironraven]

For the love of the gods, just do me this one teensy, tiny, itty bitty favor:

USE THE FLAG!!!

I've only seen about a dozen of these damned things around here, and not a single one has the flag mounted. I've nearly hit every single one of that roughly dozen, to, as they do 15 MPH in the middle of the land on a 50 MPH road that twists and turns and hills! Or in the smurfing fog!

Stay out of the middle of the road. And obey the damn stop signs.

[Grant Lamontagne]

For the love of the gods, just do me this one teensy, tiny, itty bitty favor:

USE THE FLAG!!!

I've only seen about a dozen of these damned things around here, and not a single one has the flag mounted. I've nearly hit every single one of that roughly dozen, to, as they do 15 MPH in the middle of the land on a 50 MPH road that twists and turns and hills! Or in the smurfing fog!

Stay out of the middle of the road. And obey the damn stop signs.

I agree with the above. Stay safe!

Def

[Outback in Idaho]

  I had/have a flag. TerraTrike has there's to mount in the seat tube, which when one lays back the flag becomes more of a fishing pole. And that poses another problem around people, the flag is eye-poking height.

  Then saw this one fella's flag setup and I so want that!   A very smart and effective flag versus the dumb looking orange one that doesn't wave worth beans.
 
  These flags have reflective strips, and run about $60 each. Yikes! Mounts are extra.

  Will have to add an updated photo. I've got day-light CREE LED lights (Bontrager Ion 800 R & Flair R) fore and aft, and two night-mode Cateye Reflex ones. Have two driveway markers in the seat tubes for now, which are shorter with reflective strips on the tip. Those two hold the PVC light-bar above the seat which I'm considering on raising up higher to see if they would work better.
  Need a drill press to drill holes dead center - grrr!

  We've had nothing but gloomy clouds and rain for like 2 weeks, with occasional shirt-term sunlight. Will try to get an updated photo of my rig. Me pants have already loosened up since riding, and feeling muscles my body forgot about.

[Outback in Idaho]

  Wished TerraTrike's forum was more like this one. One gets spoiled over here, per forum abilities.

  Already 7 pages long on my initial post! gathering massive loads of information and ideas.

[Aloha]

Looking good  .  Hope you get more seat time than you have.  Looks like a fun bike.

[Grant Lamontagne]

  Wished TerraTrike's forum was more like this one. One gets spoiled over here, per forum abilities.

  Already 7 pages long on my initial post! gathering massive loads of information and ideas.

High praise indeed!

I was wondering what you were up to, I guess I should have known!

Those flags look really cool!  Someone would really have to be trying to miss you with those above you!

Def

[Outback in Idaho]

  The above photo isn't mine. Just showing off his flag setup that I want. What he's got there is about $188 worth of gear new in the two rear flags alone. $60 per flag & pole, $35 per mount. Accessories adds up. 

  Been riding mostly on Saturday morning, going to church. Have rode around here locally but it's a pain in the butt getting the Rover in and out of the trailer's door. Someone was messing with it out on the deck when i had a cheesy door up. Smurfing neighbors need to learn respect.
  Have most of the porch enclosure done but I want a heavier door, and it's either raining or I'm working. Two jobs, no days off.... /grr  I get a few hours at night to goof off. Have the heavy plywood in storage, though no pickup to get it with. Trying to coordinate with neighbors to give a guy a hand is another story.

  I need to learn to take glamour shots on the camera. Wished has access to a video recording drone, then maybe I can get some decent selfies.

[Grant Lamontagne]

You are also going to have to find a way to mount the GoSun to it- imagine pedalling for a few hours, then have lunch, pedal for a few hours then have supper! 

Seriously, you have a great looking rig there and I am glad you are at least getting sometime to make use of it.  I'd love to have something like that, I could probably save a lot of money on gas if I did, as I could manage a lot more errands on something like that versus a bicycle.  Of course, I might be far too paranoid to leave it outside while I went into a store!   

And storage does sound like a pain in the butt.  Still, I can see how it would be well worth the effort.  If I was closer I'd absolutely give you a hand!

Def

[Outback in Idaho]

  Not much of a glamour shot as I went to A&W for a burger. 

 

 


  Went to the local park to do a light test. (Ignore the heavy breathing, I had just rode over wet, soggy grass.) Raised the light bar in the back too, I like it better up there. 
  And it was coooold outside. Well, upper 40's.

 

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Those are absolutely bright!   

Looks great, although I have to wonder how you power it all!  You could probably hit a good 5-10 miles per hour more if you cut back on some of the lights, and a few thousand batteries! 

Seriously though, I am super jealous of that trike.  It looks like a lot of fun on top of being really practical, although I do wonder if your pants are goig to tighten back up if you only use it for going to A&W and back! 

Def

[Aloha]

Pretty sweet set up with all those lights.  Some guy was riding down a busy road with NO lights or Flags  .  Man what is he thinking?  There is no reason for any vehicle to no see you coming or going down the road.  Great job   

[Syncop8r]

Sweet wheels 

[Outback in Idaho]

  Had gotten this Super Bright LEDs Blue Flair light and went for a total night ride. The light was good, but the only mount was a fairly strong magnet. But... the magnet came unglued or something and it could not hold the LED unit to the frame. Pathetic magnet. Strapped in on the top boom for this ride, but it was supposed to go underneath.
  Contacted the manufacturer and they sent me a shipping & priority postal label free of charge to send it back. Was an impressive light. Can see in this video:

 

  It was 41° F outside, done rode 10 miles over a 1hr 30 min ride so was breathing a bit hard there.
 

[Outback in Idaho]

  We had like a week's worth of rain. Did some work for job #1, and decided to heck with this, it's sunny, so went for a ride. Misplaced a few things so got a later than anticipated start. Rode out to A&W again for a chipolte crunch burger, fries, and good ol' A&W root beer. Can honestly say I was tired when I got home, only did 7.4 miles, but half of that was in a headwind, the other half the landscape blocked most of the tailwind. My thighs were tight from riding.

  The twin yellow whips were an experiment. Am going to cut these shorter and put a new light-bar across to cap the ends. Trying to find a single foam cushion to use as a neck rest. These are used on exercise equipment and are called "dog bone" shape. Found two on Amazon for $28, but I only need one. /grr
  So the whips will be shortened to my neck height, and a bar strung across to mount lights and a solar panel to, and the foam cushion will be in the center. Won't look as sexy as the Utah Trikes one they used to make (can't convince them to make another), but it should suffice.

  This is my current setup
 

 
  Here's a shot of a Utah Trikes Rover mod - that headrest is so beast, and useful too. Sadly they wouldn't even bite on helping a US Veteran out. Sad huh?
 


  The TerraTrike headrest version doesn't look very comfortable... and it's $140 too.
 
  Maybe I can trade them a slightly used Leatherman Tread for the headrest?

[Outback in Idaho]

  Latest update. Added a headrest & a lower rack behind the seat. A custom bag will go down in there, and am working on supports to allow me to carry a ukulele and/or didgeridoo underneath utilizing that rack. Contemplating on adding an under carriage lighting for those dark areas out in the countryside.

 

  This is like two rack bags in one with a center piece.
 

[Outback in Idaho]

  Back on June 3rd I strapped Rover on top of my hamster wagon and drove to Council, ID for a Weiser River Trail ride. Just over 3 hours total, as I needed to get back to go to work in the afternoon.

 

  Think I made like 18 videos of the ride on a GoPro HERO Session, recharging once using a Suntactics 8 watt Solar Charger. Was rather impressed with the solar panel as at home the fastest charge I got was 4 hours on AC, and this solar panel had the HERO charged to 80% in a mere 20 minutes!
  If you do watch the 18 videos, hover mouse over the YouTube video to the gear icon, change the playback to 2.0 ~ If you want the 5 minute (or so) version, try:

  Here was the overview map using CycleDroid
 

  More photos on facebook since PB took a dump on us per 3rd party hosting.

http://idaho-trail-lizard.blogspot.com/2017/06/may-2017.html

[Grant Lamontagne]

Very cool!

I am still looking for a good recumbent trike myself, but the hardest part is justifying the $$ they go for.  Even the cheap ones are pretty pricey!   

Still, every time you post pics of what you've been doing on yours I am motivated all over again to start looking!

Def

[Outback in Idaho]

  The Beast is slowly getting more geared up. Still looking for a light-weight 12V rechargeable power source - would be a boon if it also had a 5V USB connector on it too.

  At a park
 

 

  Undercarriage lighting idea. Need to do some soldering, wire management, and get a rechargeable 12V power source. Still using demo batteries. 
 

  Night lighting
 

  Debating fenders and a BB7 brake upgrade...

[Aloha]

Could you use 2 golf cart batteries?  Add in a solar trickle charger?  I could very well be wrong in my thinking on both accounts.  Trike looks great btw. 

[Outback in Idaho]

  Those types of batteries are way too heavy with me in he cockpit. Weight is of major concern.

  Looking for a decent Lithium or Metal Hydroxide type of battery that is lighter in weight and can be recharged easily. MANY Chinese/Taiwanese/Something-or-another-ese things on the market. Finding one that will perform, and not burn down the house if left in the charger is the thing.

[MusicMen]

something like this
https://www.amazon.com/American-Hunter-Lantern-Rechargeable-Battery/dp/B003WHDSDY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1507584049&sr=8-2&keywords=rechargeable+lantern+battery

or this
https://www.amazon.com/Expertpower-Rechargeable-Battery-exp645-Count/dp/B00QXRLVIE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1507584167&sr=8-4&keywords=rechargeable+lantern+battery

with one of these or something like it.
https://www.amazon.com/Motopower-Waterproof-Motorcycle-Charger-Adapter/dp/B01DYE54LI/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_263_bs_tr_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ED41KVHYEJXTMVVMPE93&dpID=41hReB3862L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

[Syncop8r]

I can't help but think you need a more aerodynamic flag - like in the pic of someone else's trike earlier.

[Grant Lamontagne]

It may not fill your 12V needs but I use a NOCO Genius Boost as a portable power source an awful lot.  It's meant for boosting car batteries but I use it more as a huge power bank than anything else.

https://no.co/products/power/jumpstarters

The trike is looking awesome- every time you post an update I get more jealous as I would love to have something like that!

Def