A good read, and worth reading twice!
quote: "Every time I stop for a break or a refueling I invariably get asked the questions 'Does it lean?' and 'How does it handle compared to a standard trike?'
On number one – no as with 99.9% of on and off road vehicles this particular design does not lean. There is no advantage to a trike that leans and many disadvantages. A leaning trike is no more stable than a standard motorcycle and offers no traction gain in corners. Essentially you end up with a normal motorcycle with an extra $10,000 wheel to maintain, it is simply a novelty item at best. On the other hand a Non-leaning trike offers the best handling and most stable ride without ground clearance and loss of traction issues of a leaning vehicle.
On the second, as with a conventional trike it is stable easy to ride however unlike a wheels back configuration my design is built totally around steering, handling, aerodynamics and most importantly – a sporty and fun ride. The wheels forward design offers a host of advantages from economy to true adventure sport riding.
There really is no comparison between a wheels forward and a wheels back conversion."
Well ... there is ONE comparison ... at least in the extreme circumstance:
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I do see some number of T-Rexs wizzing about these days. To their credit, although I am aware of instances of crashes, the ones I know of involve an operator simply driving too damned fast, rather then the vehicle exceeding built-in design limitations. Please let me know if you have seen otherwise.
The BugSmasher will have a wheel track of 4"3" (51") and a wheel base of 120". I am aiming at a target weight of about 1200 pounds. BTW ... the Piper fuselage is surprisingly light, perhaps 200 pounds as you see it, or light enough for 73 year ol' me and my 45 year old buddy to lift up and carry around which happened but you didn't see. I'm figuring that the GL1200 stuff will weight about 500 pounds after all the bits I don't need have been removed. I would welcome any input you may have on this. Obviously, it is a mid engine design, with a very low center of gravity. The 'Smasher will be built with the weird little front suspension found in the VW Bug, and has a fixed length, not-easily-adjusted swingarm at the rear.
Here are some unknowns. Of course, everything
could be just fine out of the box. But then, I wasn't born lucky, I've never been lucky and I don't see any indication after all these 73 years my luck is about to change. It's always been better for me if I try to anticipate what might go wrong. :
1. To much roll stiffness in the frontend. I could remove one of the torsion spring inside the axle to reduce spring rate. I haven't looked to see if I can find lighter anti-roll bars yet, but I can remove the bar totally and see what I got. I suppose I can move the bike frame backwards in the chassis to see what that might do.
2. Being too light in the rear resulting in loss of traction in corners or lifting the rear wheel under severe braking.
We can anticipate but won't know these things until after the first couple of test rides. As the undertaker sez: "Remains to be seen."
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If you ain't having fun ... you ain't doing it right.
