Hi Patrick,
How are your knees after pedaling all that cargo load? Have you considered
electric assist?
Vi
On Aug 19, 2017, at 12:43 PM, Patrick van Gompel
<patrick_van_gompel@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Today, I had to say goodbye to my Pythonjetrike. After almost six years,
thousands of kilometers and tons of trailer loads, it's life has come to an
end.
During it's years I repaired and upgraded it a few times, but lately (due to
the stiffer dyneema cord) the 8mm bolts for the rear swing arms snapped
twice. So I wanted to make a dual 8mm rod end setup to fix this problem for
the future. BUT, when turning the trike upside down, I discoverd a big crack
in the frame near the pivot point (steering). This section has just violently
been ripped apart. Never seen that before, but a 40x10mm rectangle tube of
2mm wall thickness is ripped open around a weld and the corners of this tube
are splitting in two halves (so it's not only a weakened weld zone).
Of course, I could fix this with rewelding the cracks and reinforce this
section, but I realised it is the overall design of the trike for it's
intended use that is lacking. And a fix will only displace problems.
As far as I can see the main problem with this design are the huge forces
that are translated through the swing arms of the tilting trike. It might be
ok if it were only a trike, but together with a big trailer, it's simply too
much. By seeing the damage it has done to my cords, swing arms and now the
frame, I estimate forces of 500-1000kg.
The front part always held well and I am considering to sell it if there's
interest. See http://cycle.free-creativity.com/ for my 2-wheeled Python.
I have made a new design a few years ago, but never came to build it. But
it's desperately needed now. If I only had the time...
For now, I say goodbye :'-(
Patrick
<pythonjetrike.jpg>
