Author Topic: Rider eye height on a Windcheetah  (Read 5336 times)

CrinklyLion

  • The one with devious, cake-pushing ways....
Re: Rider eye height on a Windcheetah
« Reply #25 on: 06 December, 2011, 10:23:56 pm »
I can't offer any help whatsoever, but I just wanted to say that sounds like a tough evening, and that your helping dealing with this is a sign of a real friend.

Re: Rider eye height on a Windcheetah
« Reply #26 on: 06 December, 2011, 10:27:12 pm »
seconded
The problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so sure of themselves, and wiser men so full of doubt.

Wombat

  • Is it supposed to hurt this much?
Re: Rider eye height on a Windcheetah
« Reply #27 on: 07 December, 2011, 08:00:23 am »
Thanks chaps!  more later.  In case of doubt, the newly added bit "is it supposed to hurt this much" refers to my crap knees and hips, not the difficulty of dealing with this.  I'll get the beast outside on Saturday, and run a laser line up the side of the main tube and check it out.  I'll also check out Bob Dixon.  A replacement seat support could be machined from solid ali or something else exotic, but of course there is th eissue of its atttachment to the vertical tube that comes up from the main tube.  I'd assume the seat support casting is "glued" to that tube.  I do have engineering skills, and friends with much better engineering skills, who also have CNC milling machines....

Annoyingly the machine is too big for me, Geoff was about 6ft 3ins, and i'm a tad under 6ft.  he did say something about the length being adjusted for him.  The only time I ever sat on it, it was definitely too long for me.
Wombat

redshift

  • High Priestess of wires
    • redshift home
Re: Rider eye height on a Windcheetah
« Reply #28 on: 07 December, 2011, 11:54:45 am »
Bob has repaired crash-damaged trikes before now, as I've spoken to him about it in the past.  IIRC his main concern was whether the main tubes and cruciform castings are crack-free and still true as per Arellcat's post, and I think one of the ones hanging in the Norman Rd workshop when I first went there was beyond repair as it was twisted during a crash.  The frame bonding is a Loctite product, and the minor units can be unbonded - when I bought my trike secondhand, Bob unbonded the nose, shortened the tube, and rebonded the front end for me, so the frame could be shortened for you, assuming that it's not beyond repair.  It's probably an application of heat, rather than clever chemicals, but Bob should be able to tell you.  The joystick casting is different these days, and the 'handlebars' are alloy tube rather than a shaped casting, but the main tube should be the same.  The steering universal joint is not up to huge loading forces, so you may need to check that that wasn't damaged.  The rear hub is custom, based on a wheelchair hub with the bearings in the casting on the rear of the main tube.  You'll need to check whether the axle through the casting is ok, as that's also custom. 

Bearings, seat rubbers and the UJ are pretty much over-the-counter parts which can be had from companies like Farnell/CPC, or possibly your local engineering workshop.  Bob would probably be more expensive, but going to him has the advantage of his experience building the machines.  I would be looking to have a chat with him direct, as an opinion on whether the trike is repairable in the first place might save you a lot of trouble.
L
:)
Windcheetah No. 176
The all-round entertainer gets quite arsey,
They won't translate his lame shit into Farsi
Somehow to let it go would be more classy…

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
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    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Rider eye height on a Windcheetah
« Reply #29 on: 08 December, 2011, 12:31:00 pm »
In the old days the seat rubbers were Mini exhaust mounts and could be had from Halfrauds for £notverymuchatall.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Wombat

  • Is it supposed to hurt this much?
Re: Rider eye height on a Windcheetah
« Reply #30 on: 11 December, 2011, 03:00:16 pm »
A swift look in daylight reveals the carbon fibre seat pan is er, not very well (thus rendering the issue of the mountings a bit irrelevant for now).   The rear hub has had half the spokes pulled out, but amazingly its axle is still dead straight.  The left hand hub has a fractional run-out on the outer flange (0.68mm) and the spokes and rim are shot.  Bob at AVD remembers building it for Geoff, and has been very helpful indeed, offering services from supplying specially manufactured parts, or restoring and selling the machine for me, or buying it, fixing it and selling it on. 

One could not ask for better service than that, I think. 

Now how the hell do I get it, partly dismantled, into a Ford Ka to take up to Sale....  Maybe by removing the chainset we can squeeze it in, with one end sticking between the front seats, obviously with all wheels off, but then its only got one complete wheel left anyway!

I have posted updated pics in my Picasa album referred to upthread, taken yesterday in daylight. 
Wombat