FJ1300RT Reverse Trike Concept

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^^^^ Agree.

The tilt sensor switch will shut the bike off and leave it shut off. Fuel slosh will give the starvation and temporary cutout described.

The bike's tank was not designed for side loads, since a motorcycle, even in the hardest corenering, maintains a chassis l;oad that is vertical with respect to the frame of the mike.

Take the lean out, and with a low fuel level, it sloshes to the side and away from the pump's pickup.

I didn't think about that before, when he described the cutout as recoverable. Lean angle sensor is not self recovering, the key must be cycled.

 
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Funny because that was my first thought when it happened for the first time so the next time out I had put just a little more fuel in but probably not enough so yes you probably are correct then that it's the fuel level.

 
Ok so here is a few pics of where my frame meets the bike;

IMAG0154.jpg


IMAG0155.jpg


IMAG0156.jpg


 
OK - the gearbox proposed uses same bolts to mount - you could literally cut back the 3 tubes going to your bolting bracket plate and replace same with the gearbox and use it AS the bolting bracket- the box is quite substantial ( 4mm plate ) and I think would work. If your current system doesn't perform well enough i may be able to send a spare empty case to trial fit - most of the cost in the box is the guts as it were.

Had a situation on weekend where the bitumen finished and a dirt road went on and was quite washed away anything other then a reverse drive to one of the 3 wheels would have not have worked - currently ordering next set of special gears and shafts to achieve around 8:1 drive ( the prototype at 2:1 struggles on any sort of slope ) will keep you posted .... Alan

 
Nice! You're moving pretty fast too. I'm so close I can taste it. I worked all three days on this long weekend and got a ton done. I posted updates over on my thread if you hadn't noticed. Have you tooled it up and down the driveway or anything yet?

 
Things left to do (roughly in this order)

Wiring (not much left)

Start her up

Finish diagonal supports

Cut and mount body panels

Cooling shroud and ducting

A little test drive

Front fenders

Disassembly

Finish Weld

Grinding and paint prep

Paint

Final Assembly

Suspension adjustments

Register

Windshield

Reverse Gear (when and what?)

 
I know you guys are already deep into reverse drive concepts. But there are some hybrid motor/generator setups made for automotive drive shafts that could possibly be used as reverse drive.

Just thinking out loud about placing a motor/generator setup in-line with the drive shaft and use it for charging instead of the FJR stator. The FJR stator and Regulator/Rectifier assembly are a nearly autonomous system that could easily be removed and replaced by something else (external).

A replacement charging system that doubles as a rudimentary reverse drive could provide substantial additional wattage for more automobile-like electronics.

Again, just thinkin' out loud! :)

This entire project takes me back to childhood. My Dad and I built several prototype dune buggy vehicles, including one of the very first Baja-style buggy kits ever produced. It was my job as the skinny kid to crawl around and run all the cables and wiring. :D

 
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Things left to do (roughly in this order)

Wiring (not much left)

Start her up

Finish diagonal supports

Cut and mount body panels

Cooling shroud and ducting

A little test drive

Front fenders

Disassembly

Finish Weld

Grinding and paint prep

Paint

Final Assembly

Suspension adjustments

Register

Windshield

Reverse Gear (when and what?)
Item 6 has me worried - try and stop at "Little" - great to see you are progressing so well many talk a lot but produce little - Well Done !

Just a note re shortening dogbones at rear to raise trick - unless you have 200% confidence in your welding I would suggest just use two pieces of 35mm x 6mm flat bar in mild steel and pair drill 2 holes works fine and definitely safer then a questionable weld ....

Re alignment make sure you have indefinite positive swing arm angle as if not will tend to skip at speed

Alan

 
I know you guys are already deep into reverse drive concepts. But there are some hybrid motor/generator setups made for automotive drive shafts that could possibly be used as reverse drive.

Just thinking out loud about placing a motor/generator setup in-line with the drive shaft and use it for charging instead of the FJR stator. The FJR stator and Regulator/Rectifier assembly are a nearly autonomous system that could easily be removed and replaced by something else (external).

A replacement charging system that doubles as a rudimentary reverse drive could provide substantial additional wattage for more automobile-like electronics.

Again, just thinkin' out loud! :)

This entire project takes me back to childhood. My Dad and I built several prototype dune buggy vehicles, including one of the very first Baja-style buggy kits ever produced. It was my job as the skinny kid to crawl around and run all the cables and wiring. :D
Good ideas. Yeah, this reverse is a real head scratcher. I guess go with the $650 option that Alan is coming up with. Yikes. That would be the single highest cost purchase of the entire build. The FJR didn't even cost that much by the time I sold off the extra parts.

Between kit cars and engine swaps, I have built a couple dozen cars, including one manx-style buggy. I originally got this idea from someone who welded a motorcycle to the back of a VW pan back in the 70's. The FJR would seem to be the perfect donor for this type of thing (except that pesky reverse).

 
Item 6 has me worried - try and stop at "Little" - great to see you are progressing so well many talk a lot but produce little - Well Done !

Just a note re shortening dogbones at rear to raise trick - unless you have 200% confidence in your welding I would suggest just use two pieces of 35mm x 6mm flat bar in mild steel and pair drill 2 holes works fine and definitely safer then a questionable weld ....

Re alignment make sure you have indefinite positive swing arm angle as if not will tend to skip at speed

Alan
Can't test drive too much because most of my frame is not yet fully welded.

I used the stock dog bones - no welding.

Re: alignment - Are you talking about the rear suspension here?

 
Yes rear suspension - standard bike side view shows +ve rake of swing-arm if you have mounted nose of bike lower then std for a lower profile ( as I did ) you will have a negative swing arm angle. If you notice a lot of the newer fast bikes have a pronounced +ve angle - talking to a MC race engineer suggested the wandering I originally had on race track could be related to this and when I raised the back to get the angle right wandering went away

Re how did you sell your not needed bits? Unfortunately I had to buy a non damaged bike ( $8000 and that was cheap ) as damaged ones pull around $6000 and not that available. - Compliance with Australian design rules for road rego cost around $6000 in testing alone. Building an Individually Constructed Vehicle (ICV) in Aust is not a cheap exercise but the grin factor of driving something you designed and built yourself is priceless plus for the $$ spent nothing comes close in performance ... keep at it -Alan

 
WOW that's pricey just to re-register! I got my bike for $1500. and sold about $1000. worth of un-needed parts off of it which funded the rest of the project so I'm really only into this thing about $2000-2500. out of pocket. To register I just have to get a certified VIN inspection ($20) and then register it probably around $100. max

Didn't realize Australia was that strict and expensive... :eek:

 
Yes rear suspension - standard bike side view shows +ve rake of swing-arm if you have mounted nose of bike lower then std for a lower profile ( as I did ) you will have a negative swing arm angle. If you notice a lot of the newer fast bikes have a pronounced +ve angle - talking to a MC race engineer suggested the wandering I originally had on race track could be related to this and when I raised the back to get the angle right wandering went away

Re how did you sell your not needed bits? Unfortunately I had to buy a non damaged bike ( $8000 and that was cheap ) as damaged ones pull around $6000 and not that available. - Compliance with Australian design rules for road rego cost around $6000 in testing alone. Building an Individually Constructed Vehicle (ICV) in Aust is not a cheap exercise but the grin factor of driving something you designed and built yourself is priceless plus for the $$ spent nothing comes close in performance ... keep at it -Alan
The bike is mounted at pretty close to stock height. If I'm understanding your description, you would have had to raise the front or lower the rear, thereby raising the swingarm, to correct the issue.

Pretty much all the parts I sold went to members of this forum :)

From my research, my trike will be registered as a motorcycle in the State of Oregon, and quite possibly as a 2004 FJR.

 
Yes the cost and procedures in Aust make it difficult - to get a VIN number adds a further complication and around 4 mths waiting for one to issue AFTER presentation for registration - the ADR book is about 4 inches thick and is for full compliance for new vehicles which an ICV or homebuilt is deemed to be - I was able to register mine as a 2001 Yamaha Tri-car ( a modified motor vehicle ) by keeping the original VIN this helped but still took 12 mths for a determination from VicRoads the authority - this was done during construction so not a problem :rolleyes: Alan

 
It runs!

Spun the wheel in 1st and 2nd, verified the clutch, throttle, and rear brake are working.

At first the neutral light didn't work, but traced it to a bad bulb.

Exhaust leaks at muffler connections. Finally figured out that the pipes I have didn't have gaskets.

The glued tipover switch works fine. The clutch switch and the sidestand switch are jumped.

Diagonal supports are done. Need to wire the headlights and taillights, then finish the body panels.

 
Sweet man! My neutral light still doesn't work and it's not the bulb. I never did figure out what it was... I'd like to have it but tired of chasing gremlins...

Good to hear you got her running though! Feels good doesn't it?

 
...My neutral light still doesn't work and it's not the bulb. I never did figure out what it was... I'd like to have it but tired of chasing gremlins...
With the ignition key on, in neutral, go to the Starting Circuit Cut Off Relay under the seat; it has an 11 pin connector populated with eight wires. Ground the Light Green wire. If the neutral light comes ON, the Relay is bad. If the neutral light does not come on, go to the connector on the Meter Assembly and with the key on, measure the voltage on the Brown/Red wire. If it is anything other than battery voltage the Windshield Drive Unit is bad. If it is the Relay, there is nothing you can easily do except replace the relay. If it is the Windshield Drive you can jump any switched 12 volt source to the B/R wire without having to do do anything else to the B/R wire and then the neutral light will work correctly.

 
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Sweet man! My neutral light still doesn't work and it's not the bulb. I never did figure out what it was... I'd like to have it but tired of chasing gremlins...

Good to hear you got her running though! Feels good doesn't it?
Do you have a manual/wiring diagram for the FJR?

12V power to the gauges on the Brown/Red wire (I think, going on memory here), through the neutral light, out of the gauges on the Light Green wire. Then it goes through a relay. You could bypass the relay and wire the light green through the neutral switch down on the transmission. The other side of the neutral switch goes to ground.

Yes, have a trip scheduled this summer. The only question now is will the trike be done, or will I be taking the bike?

 
Thanks guys, I guess I will go ahead and do some more work to try and get it working... Just lazy and getting impatient to get it on the road! I do have a diagram, not very clear picture of it but I do.

I think I'm going to plan a trip too but not until after driving the trike around a while to work out any bugs that pop up.

 
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