My Current trike

Disclaimer

The base trike is a cattrike trail

which I acquired thanks to family & friends from Ian@flying furniture after some harrassment & intimidation from the local constabulary for rolling my swag out in order for it to dry between the showers of rain under the cover directly in front of Ian's business whilst he fitted some marathon+ tyres to my trike instead of that which they came with in his shed @home

Hence I do not recommend anyone else to purchase from there unless like me you were desperate for options to examine.

I suspect the tenuous relationship Ian has within this sold off school real estate is the reason he prefers strict appointments

personally if there are alternatives to Ian I recommend you use them, even if it means buying direct from overseas

Unfortunately many of the retail outlets of cycles are disinterested in service because they know there is little to no competition unlike with fossil fueled alternatives

I've not been back there since, despite the issues I've had which probably would have been covered under warranty, which Michael@fuse-recumbents assisted me with

I have a rollcage made from chrome moly which is rusting nicely braized up by Wayne@Gundaroo

Unfortunately due to my communication limititations this rollcage is in the process of being modified to not be so long out the back & to be a ute like I thought I'd asked for to begin with leaving the panel over the seat like I requested using the Aluminium addition which is exactly the length of the bit I have to cut off the back.

Attached to the frame under the seat of the trike to offset the high Centre of Gravity the cage introduces are 2 18Ahr Sealed Lead Acid Batteries

Atop the rollcage is one Unisolar us-64 which to date has already produced over 1kAhr through the under attached orora controller

Thanks to Warren for assisting me at cost in modifying the cage so it would take the batteries under the seat & the panel I had it constructed for suppossedly.

Also attached to the underside of the panel is my GR-100 wireless and 6port AC power board with plug end hardwired into the controller.

This allows me to listen to AM/FM/SW whilst heating water to the correct temperature with my 12/24DC kettle for my pain relief coffee using a standard 15Amp 3pin plug which remain cheaper then the 2pin alternatives.

I'm also able to plug in standard AC leads for providing power to my tent/12volt drill & other DC items.

My current top speed on the trike is 51kph which was exceeded on the East coast whilst traversing the Great Dividing Range on very poorly maintained breakdown lanes which damaged my poorly constructed tent trailer requiring a rescue by family in Belmont NSW a week after leaving Canberra.

For this reason I still seek a regen motor I can attach to rear wheel mainly for braking/regen purposes distilling collected acid rain/dew from the panel.

I'm also considering the use of plastic juice bottles as a noise/pollution deadener against the seagulls & their fossil fueled vechiles.

20081028 Purchased a few lights today,

A twinpack of LED 12volt downlights which will hopefully be mounted on the front of the rollcage pointing forward

& a Sontax windup torch/rear led flasher which can accept 4.5volt constant input which I hope to plug into my solar/batts as needed to recharge which is now mounted on the rollcage ready for use

replacing one of the crappy AAA rear flashers I smashed during the very first uncontrolled roll@5kph on a so called wheelchair ramp access to Lake Burley Griffin

Since that roll & a few others I've learnt that Australian Standards are fairly much ignored & ramps as with most things are designed to a price rather then accessability for all.

That is so long as an arbitrary number say 50% can use it, then she'll be right mate.

That said, I advise anyone purchasing a trike/wheelchair scooter to examine access to paths near to where they live.

I've since discovered that despite the trikes excellent cornering I still endure much pain at shiny bum designed chicanes.

If I'd bought the greenspeed instead I'd have been completely stuffed trying to negitiate same.

I'm sure there are lots of greenspeed owners who don't have problems, but when it comes to disabilities & trikes I recommend an extended test period if possible before settling on one or feedback from lots of people with the same disabilities before purchase.

Given the lack of trike resellers in Aus I doubt there will ever be a proper rent/try before you buy cycle store.

20081030 Added front 12volt LED downlights horizontally to the underside of my panel & despite throwing very little light they should be sufficient for being a little more visible at night.

Really need 12volt rear lights & indicators front and rear so drivers have no excuse for cutting me off when I need to turn and they decide to cut the corner by the whole width of the road as I approach an intersection.

Are you an annoying fossil fuel consumer who doesn't give a crap about cyclists on your bit of the road, then you need to read this.

20081031 Tried fitting a neon light to the front of the trike. prognosis waste of time because of the interference it causes with my wireless

200901?? Moved Downlights from below panel to top of rollcage to provide longer throw

200901?? Purchased a second hand 6volt tread turned Sanyo Dynamo kit to provide permanent light while moving from AceCyclery for $85

Wired it into the cruddy Sontax light kit which once again failed till I removed it's internal battery

Be warned the switches on the rear lights do not tolerate rain at all & this in turn destroys the internal battery because of it's designed to fail nature.

Soon to be replaced by proper 12volt indicator/stop/tail lights though I think.

My current outstanding need

My current progress for same

other things I'm contemplating doing to my trike include

Adding a floor under the seat/pedals.

The idea behind this is to protect my bottom from water, sand, etc should I go through a deep enough puddle

An extension to this is to make the whole trike a water going vessel.

A thermoelectric device to heat water one side whilst cooling it on the otherside with excess power from panel/electric regen brakes