Gallery, Projects and General > Project Logs
Hack saw and a gas bottle, whimsical bicycle project!
(1/9) > >>
John Hill:

DSCN0318 by aardvark_akubra, on Flickr

A cargo bike project, so far.  Two land-fill bikes and a piece of exhaust tube so it is not especially light or high tech.   

Acetylene is out of the question for the home shop nowadays and this was the first project I have tried to do with LPG/Oxygen which has not gone well, in fact the joints look very poor and with all the messing around the frame is not exactly 'true' so this project might all turn to custard! :coffee:

I feel I should drop the front end by resetting one join which will level the horizontal member, tilt the seat post forward a little and increase the rake, all of which I think would be improvements. So I will be doing that.

There will be a plywood box, about as big as a supermarket trolley, fitted in front of the rider.  Google "Bakfiets".

P.S. the second piece on the front steering head will possibly just get cut off if the bike feel rigid enough.
dsquire:
John

Now this will be interesting. I will be watching this close. It is funny, I have always liked bikes that were different than normal but I had never seen or herd of "Bakfiets" before. It looks like a very interesting concept. I have 3 bikes sitting out back, Hmmm.  :D :D

Cheers  :beer:

Don

BiggerHammer:
I have seen the trikes with storage BEHIND the rider. Never seen the Bakfiets style before. Just looking at one makes me think that if I tried to ride it I would manage to have some horrible wreck with squealing tires and lots of explosions. Not sure how I would manage to make a bicycle explode, but with my luck I am sure I could manage.  :lol:  I think I would have to go with one of the trike models. Three wheels just looks safer with that much cargo capacity.

While I was stationed in Korea I did witness some amazing feats of material transportation. I own one of those big American pickup trucks and I don't think I could transport as much stuff as some of those guys over there could move on a bicycle.

Some examples here.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/extraordinary-loads-on-ordinary-bikes-slideshow.php

Not all of these are of Korea but it gives you a good idea of the things I have seen.

Also good luck with the build. It looks to present some interesting and fun (I have an odd definition of fun I guess) challenges.
John Hill:
I have considered a trike but they are, in my humble opinion, a poor substitute for the elegance of a two wheeled vehicle!  According to what I have read the cargo box behind the steering makes a huge difference to the stability and the handling of the bike, time will tell!

My little ute is much smaller than a typical American pickup and is just a bit too small to lay a sheet of 8 x 4 flat in the back but even it is quite big enough for our size parking spaces!  I must mention that this town we have moved to is flat as a pool table and with wide streets a 'full size' pickup would fit in quite well!
madjackghengis:
Hi John, having built bicycles in my youth, and having built many motorcycles even up to finishing the restoring of what would be an antique, if any two of the parts had ever been on the same motorcycle, I have to wonder what you mean about "acetylene being out of the question for the home shop".  Is it restricted now, as too dangerous or something?  I only use mine occasionally, but when I need it, nothing else will do, and I have a full and complete welding set up.  By the by, I'm interested in how this build turns out, it should be interesting looking and hopefully useful as well.  :beer:  Cheers, Jack
Navigation
Message Index
Next page

Go to full version