Anything to do with motorcycles, scooter, etc...

[pietervn]

Pics of the valley

[Wspeed]

Love the pics great views

[pfrsantos]

Pics of the valley

Cool. So, tell us...

[pietervn]

Cool. So, tell us...

Mine was very green, this one however, is monochrome...

[pfrsantos]

Mine was very green, this one however, is monochrome...

Not quite. If you look closely, you'll see...



 

[MadPlumbarian]

It finally rained and hard! We’ve had 90° HOT weather, and with this rain it dropped the temp by 20° so after it stopped raining I got a break and tested a theory on my recumbent trike, sure enough it worked, Im taking out the lever action steering to a handlebar type, took some work but after 3hrs it’s set up, the nice thing is those necks and split handlebars can turn and rotate to just about any position as you can see in the pics, ones out to the side and ones upright, so all to make it comfortable, so that will come with fine tuning, next up is setting up the peddles and drive then the breaks,
JR

[pietervn]

Hi JR,

That is starting to look really good. The flames on the wheels arches are a nice touch 

Pete

[MadPlumbarian]

Hi JR,

That is starting to look really good. The flames on the wheels arches are a nice touch 

Pete

Thanks you like that? I might have a little surprise for you then,,
JR

[Chako]

That looks very interesting. I have never sat on a recumbent...they do look very comfortable.

[MadPlumbarian]

It is interesting, I need it so I can go for a bike ride with the Mrs, I can ride a bike, I’ve been able too since I was like 5, but now that my seizures are not controllable and I don’t know when there coming I’ll just flip the bike over, so with three wheels I’ll always be in balance, I’m also going to put a heavy spring on a brake, that’s held in with a cotter pin, cause every time I have one my hand pulls to so, if I can rig something as my hand pulls, it pulls the cotter pin releasing the spring locking the brake, thus, the bike don’t move! But I finished the peddle part of the frame today, used part of an old school John Deere bike! I switched the steering grips up a little since I see how much room I had to work with with the legs up, threw on a brake lever and an old school gear changer, it’s getting there!
JR

[Chako]

Sorry to hear that MadPlumbarian. I can see where that bicycle is a necessity. Still a cool looking ride. I hope you get better, and will wish you the best. 

I was able to make a nice ride to St. Joseph Island last Sunday. The ride around highway 548 is one of my favourite short rides. The scenery is varied, as is the roadway. There is plenty of wildlife that you just never know what will happen on the roadway...and this is one of the dangers of riding on the Island (always have to keep an eye peeled for deer trying to get run over). This particular trip was memorable because I had a very close encounter of the furry kind that shocked me somewhat. On this tour, I had to stop twice. The first time, for 3 female turkeys that slowly walked across the roadway. The second however was quite the experience. On a long flat stretch, I could see a singular deer standing in the middle of the road. I thought the deer would have left long before I got there, but that wasn't the case. I slowed down and ultimately had to stop around 150 years away from the deer. As we both stared at each other for what seemed like a very long minute, I heard some rustling to my right. I looked and another deer came out of the forest, walked right up to me, and I kid you not, gently head butted my right leg in a sort of greeting or something. Once the doe did that, she walked in front of my motorcycle and calmly crossed the road. Once she disappeared, the front guard followed. It happened so quick, that my mind had to take another minute to process what just happened. I am glad the deer didn't decide to bite and kick me. More so that it wasn't a bear. That was a first for me.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/St+Joseph+Island/@46.1895139,-84.0837215,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x4d368990252ad0d1:0xe2cf8bff9e84a57f!8m2!3d46.2227098!4d-83.9667213

Here is my ride at the marina located in Hilton Beach. One of two little towns located on St. Joseph Island.

20200705_085527A by Chako, on Flickr

And me thinking what just happened 35 minutes ago!

20200705_085513A by Chako, on Flickr

[MadPlumbarian]

Thanks Chako, it’s always been in my bucket list to ride on a motorcycle, especially a HD,
I lost my license 12yrs ago when I had my accident and everything I drove was pre 2000, I asked my kid one day jokingly (him, Mrs, and me) we’re just out shopping having some fun, and he drives a 2013 camaro (stick) and shockingly he said sure, I was like I can’t drive! He ends up pulling into an empty mall parking lot, puts the brake on, cuts the engine, and gets out, tells the Mrs to get out, dad jump in! I started it up, moved the stick around to get a feel, and let the clutch out, weee, of course the kids sitting next to me with his hand on the ebrake the whole time, but did a few circles, forward and backwards few “8” he was shocked I didn’t stall it, come on it’s like riding a bike once you learn and get a feel you don’t forget!! But I drove again, well kinda and in a sports car!
JR

[Chako]

Too bad you can't find someone with a trike or a sidecar to scratch that itch.

[MadPlumbarian]

Too bad you can't find someone with a trike or a sidecar to scratch that itch.

Sooner or later someone might take me for a ride around the block, although a ride in an old military sidecar would be cool! Imitation guns on the front, lol..
JR

[pietervn]

Sooner or later someone might take me for a ride around the block, although a ride in an old military sidecar would be cool! Imitation guns on the front, lol..
JR

I'll say it again: US Inmates, please take this man for a ride!!! 

The bike is looking really good JR. Thanks for keeping us posted. I find your journey to the finished bike very interesting, including your excellent engineering skills.

If you ever get to Oz, I WILL take you for a ride!!!

Cheers, Pete

[pietervn]

Awesome story Chako. It sounds like the deer are getting used to people. I would not want to have to avoid / hit one of them as high speed. I don't think that ends well. We have similar issued with kangaroos. At least not all of them are as big as deer, and they are mainly early morning or late afternoon risks. Very seldom during the day.

The bike looks really nice.

Cheers, Pete

[pietervn]

Thanks you like that? I might have a little surprise for you then
JR

Fantastic 

[Chako]

I am probably stereotyping this but I am now imagining a kangaroo kicking me off my ride. I will stick to these ninja deer. 

[Wspeed]

What a cool and scary meeting Chako 
That deer must of liked you

[Chako]

I think pietervn is correct. That deer must be someones backyard pet. A fully wild one would never do that I would think.It was an experience though.

[Wspeed]

I have never seen deer do anything like that
Normally as soon as they see you they run away

[MadPlumbarian]

I'll say it again: US Inmates, please take this man for a ride!!! 

The bike is looking really good JR. Thanks for keeping us posted. I find your journey to the finished bike very interesting, including your excellent engineering skills.

If you ever get to Oz, I WILL take you for a ride!!!

Cheers, Pete

Thanks it’s just taking forever, it just sucks cause I need someone watching me, I can’t do anything by myself in case I have a seizure while doing something like running the grinder to cut the frame and start cutting body parts,,
Anyway what color do you think I should paint that?
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

Got to work on it again today, I worked on the chain, I figured by just placing the one pulleys under the seat would work to Guide the chain to the back, boy was I wrong! It would after going through the pulley then hit the frame, so how do I get the chain up and over the frame to get to the rear gears? Well I used an S gear shift, as you can see behind the seat, but then the bottom part of the chain it’s going to hit, so I put a half of a shift on that bar under that reflector but since I brought the chain down then it was rubbing on the front of the frame, like give me a break! Anyway I busted the other chain off the bike I cut up and connected the two, but as you can see it only goes back to behind the seat, so I need a 3rd chain, funny thing was how I did the aligning, I took paracord and wrapped it around the front gear, and made the route tightened it up and imitation chain, flexible too, I guess it’s good for mechanical stuff too? But I had to raise the whole trike up so I can work on the bottom, getting there!!
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

Well, got a little time in the garage, the blue caster you see under the seat I had to reshape it, I had it like \/ shaped, so the chain wouldn’t really ride on anything but the two sides so I had to cut it to a \__/ shape so that there was a flat surface for the chain to ride on.. well that one wasn’t to hard, the new one I got that sits behind the seat, well, he was a little mean! I started cutting it and then a glob of rubber/plastic that wasn’t done cooling stuck to my finger, OUCH! I tried flinging it off then used a file to quickly scrape it off cause it was stuck and burning! So I had to go over to the outdoor faucet and run some cool water over it which I really couldn’t feel, it just wasn’t going my way, anyway, I mounted the new caster on the back after I got it cleaned up, then remounted the other one under the seat and now the chain has total pull on top from front to back, no springs or anything, so totally solid for good torque, now the under half that can have play, I still have to put something to keep the lower part off the upper, because it looks fine in this pic but, that’s because I have the chain caught on that bar..
JR

So still have the bottom part of the chain, shifter,  brakes, and if it works cosmetics,,

[MadPlumbarian]

Had some more time, and completed the chain setup, I threw on a quick shifter to see if i can peddle it down the street and it worked, made some noises, it shifted, needs some work with steering because there’s two bars that limit it from turning it to sharp and well, I couldn’t even make a u-turn without hitting the curb, so I think those are getting cut off, but it’s getting there.. here you can understand the bars,,
JR

[SteveC]

 

[Chako]

Keep us posted MadPlumbarian. I am really interesting in seeing where you are taking this. 

[MadPlumbarian]

Keep us posted MadPlumbarian. I am really interesting in seeing where you are taking this. 

I’m trying, I might remove the lower gear section and install what others have which is a tube, basically less restriction.. on another group I got yelled at for having the 2nd pulley on the top by some lady, I told them there was no way I could get around the seat and frame without using it, and she says, then it was a poor design! Yet someone else is the one who said to put the second in order to make it totally solid! That lady shows me a pic of their trike, it had freaking disk brakes on both front and the back, the chain was spit polished, it had a mirror, and was probably built using freaking laser cut metal and machine welding if you get the point, a good $5k trike, all while here’s me using scrap parts and just nuts and bolts.. I think I’m a good $50bucks into it? And yet it made it down the street and back!
JR

[Syncop8r]

Such a long chain - you need a driveshaft! 

[MadPlumbarian]

Such a long chain - you need a driveshaft! 

Just need one of those electric wheels so I don’t need a chain, which means I wouldn’t have to peddle
JR