4th generation of my trike

irondad01 · Oct 2, 2019

I'm thinking about starting a build thread on redoing my VW. I've had it on the road for 12 yrs. in this version. About a month ago I blew the sidewall out of a rear tire and thought as long as I'm buying three tires I might as well freshen it up. That lead to why not change almost everything?

I want to make it look like it was in WWII. I don't want a tribute bike, I want people think it was in WWII. I built almost everything on it, frame, front end, fiberglass body, front fender, etc. I'll have to derake the frame to get the look I want. It's at 40* now, I want 28*-30*. I'll beef the front end up for looks, it's plenty strong enough now, it just looks too skinny for what I want.I'll have to shorten the forks too. I'll keep the tank. The rear of the body will look like the back of a Kubelwagon, think VW Thing. It was the German version of our flatfender Jeep.

If you count the Beetle it started as, this is the 4th generation. This will be the third time as a trike.

We'll see how it goes, Carl

irondad01 · Oct 2, 2019

I don't know why the picture is so blurry, I'm an old guy and was having a rough time posting .

rhino 2 · Oct 2, 2019

Gonna be an interesting build thats for sure....ThumbUp,,,

Burnerboy · Oct 3, 2019

Now "that's" cool..................:clapping::clapping:

Ronnie

FuzzyWuzHe · Oct 3, 2019

:clapping::clapping::clapping: Oh Boy ... maybe another build thread.

irondad01 · Oct 3, 2019

Got some stuff done. I stripped it all down and made some wooden wheels so I could roll it around easier.

I wanted to go from 40* rake to 28*-30*. I cut a 10* pie slice out and pulled it back, then welded it all up. It ended up at 28*.

Now the next big thing is the front end. The way it was I had 2" of trail but now with the derake the forks will be too long and the bottom link won't be right. Not a big deal, I have a plan.

DeathBySnuSnu · Oct 3, 2019

Excellent.

Caint wait to see what you do.

Pictures pictures pictures.

DeathBySnuSnu · Oct 3, 2019

O....O....O.......

Yes.

No.

Wait.....

Disclaimer......I dont mean to be trying to tell you what to do or what to build.....I just caint help myself sometimes........I seldom can make the wheels stop spinning in my head.

So just some ideas for you to ponder.

So de-raked. Now a bent back leg leading link.

An early styled gas tank and move the shifter up beside the tank.

A sprung saddle seat.

So all standard fair....but now to get odd.

Shorten it a bit.

And.

Move the entire backbone/neck over to the left way off center but not all the way to inline with left rear.

Then graft a side care body on the right side.

Of course as narrow as is reasonable with the vw suspension, rim offset ect.....

A side hack looking vw trike in antique military style. It would not drive any wonkier than an actual side car bike.

Sorry.....I caint help myself....

irondad01 · Oct 4, 2019

Thanks for the replies and ideas. I've had 6 side cars. My wife liked the way the trike was set up better, easier to get on and off and higher to see what's going on. I bought a Harley solo police seat and I'm planning on a wide bomber rear seat. I've also toyed with crazy, odd ideas but I need to get this done for next summer. I have an idea for the shifter beside me using rods and bell cranks to get to the trans. I know about the cable shifters but I have a hard time with the price they want. I thought about building a whole new trike but a lot of stuff is already figured out on this one and the title is taken care of.

PS Did anyone notice in the picture with the pie cut out of the frame whats lurking in the trees?

irondad01 · Oct 4, 2019

Got the frame blocked up to ride height and put the forks on. They're 4" to long and the pivot is 6" too far forward. Amazing what 12* difference in rake will change. I will shorten them right above the shock mount, cut them at an angle to bring the pivot up and back. I worked on a template to figure out what angle to cut. You cut half the angle you want off each piece and when they're joined everything should match up. My old geometry teacher would be so ashamed of me. I think I finally got it figured out. I could have bent them back but I have to cut to shorten anyway.

I'll use that loop for the bottom link. The pivots have oil-lite bushings in them and show no wear after 12 years. The old link is on the floor in the first picture.

peteg59 · Oct 4, 2019

Looks good! Are you building the Kubelwagen rear from scratch, or do you have any original parts to do it?

Answer to your question: Junior Sasquatch sneaking out from behind a tree, mebbe???:Shrug:

irondad01 · Oct 4, 2019

Thanks. I'm going to make my own body, roughly looking like the Kubelwagon. I think original parts would be rare and $$.

It is Sasquatch but if it's junior I don't want to see Dad because that one is 8' tall.

peteg59 · Oct 4, 2019

That should be an interesting project for sure, there aren't many K/W styled trikes running around!

Hard to get a good idea on your Sassy's size, as there's not much around it for comparison.:Shrug:

Post up a closeup if you have time...

irondad01 · Oct 5, 2019

I'm 6'. My wife got this for me and brought it home in our Subaru Forrester. It was almost like Harry and the Hendersons.

LarryA · Oct 5, 2019

Carl , great to see the next generation trike underway....admire how you went right for the jugular! looking forward to the build!

DeathBySnuSnu · Oct 5, 2019

I did not post my guess, but from the edge view I thought it looked more like Tree Beard from Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers.

And love seeing your build. Keep it coming.

irondad01 · Oct 7, 2019

Before I cut anything I wanted to be sure all my gosintas [ like 2 goes into 4 ] were right. I was looking at my old lower links and it seems like they might work with just a change in the shock mount. If I were making a new lower link the cuts on the fork wouldn't be as critical because I could put the pivot mounts where ever I needed to get the trail I want. The links that are already made have the pivot 10 1/4" from the center of the axle so I have to make sure the fork pivot ends up in the right place to give me 2" of trail. If it fails I can always make a new lower link. If it succeeds it will save me a lot of work.

For better or worse it's cut apart. Now to put the pieces back together. When I first made the front end I used 1 1/2" x 1/4" wall square tube so I would have some weight up front to keep it on the ground. That gives me lots of metal to weld to. I have a brace that goes around the back of the wheel that bolts the two links together.

Johnny Mac · Oct 7, 2019

irondad01 said:
View attachment 77138

Those wheels :clapping:

irondad01 · Oct 8, 2019

The front end is all welded back together and it came out just where I wanted . I started to modify the old links. I had to make clearance for full shock travel and I have to move the shock mounts on the links.