Project "Why Not"

[ranger 373]

How about continuing the 'oriental' theme and fitting a suzuki sj rear axle cut down on one side to take two of the short halfshafts,use a chain reduction to the dif, turn the axle upside down if the rotation is wrong. Wasn`t the 'Ride away Senior' built along those lines?

[Ian 2,417]

That sound like a lot of work to fit a Suzie rear axle! Where as the trans I have coming from Chris bolt's straight to the chassis and should be strong enough to handle the abuse gentle driving

[ranger 373]

Yes, but fitted with Showmans rowcrop type front end & long handlebars it`ll make an awesome Wheelhorse  trike!  'KCC' (Kent County Choppers).

[Ian 2,417]

Kent County Choppers... I like that    But I built a Qwakasaki powered trike years ago, so Project "Why Not" will be having four wheels

 

 

"Sweet! That went from zero turn to tire burn in 2 seconds!"   Thought I'd share this comment left on YouTube, it made me laugh

[rotoscytheben 94]

I saw this in the flesh today and I must say the engine looks stunning in the horse can't wait for my first drive

i,ll second that nigel i cant wait for a go either 

[pmackellow 2,738]

Best make sure the throttle doesn't stick orbtheres no awning displays nearby...

 

That wouldn't damage the gazebo it would wipe it out !!  

[Ian 2,417]

i,ll second that nigel i cant wait for a go either 

 

Me first

 

 

 

That wouldn't damage the gazebo it would wipe it out !!  

 

Don't worry Paul, I'm going to install one of those pointy "cow catchers" from the front of a steam train.. That way it should pass straight under the gazebo

 

I've not had a chance to do anything much on "Why Not", mostly due to having the remains of a Honda to strip down so I could make space to get my GT-14+2 back in the shack, but I did find the time yesterday to sit back, have a look, and work out the way forward.

 

As if proof was need that I'm doing the right thing with this build, while sitting down with a coffee having a look at the beast from a different angle I noticed a couple of words on one of the front tyre's..

 

 

 

A close up for you

 

 

 

After watching the mower racing on Sunday and seeing how low all the machine were I knew I had to lower "Why Not" a bit to help it stay on all four wheels.

As I want to be able to use this machine for also pulling a trailer once in a while and go for the odd drive around the fields, I don't want to go too low, so out came the ruler..

 

The chassis will be chopped and dropped by 2 1/2 inches, making the chassis 4 1/2 inches off the ground, where the blue mark is on the ruler.

 

 

 

The front will also get chopped and dropped just behind the front axle mounting.

 

 

 

The body tub will also be chopped and dropped but only by 2 inches. The extra 1/2 inch space created should just be enough to fit a standard Raider fuel tank in it's original place under the hood

The back of the body tub will also get a bit more trimming to get the seat as low as possible..

 

 

 

This big old lump is the Honda's final drive until..

 

 

 

Which I had been thinking of using backwards to get the drive from the bike gearbox to the WH gearbox...

 

 

 

But a certain good chap by the name of Nigel has found the ideal solution in his parts collection... More on that when it arrives..

[meadowfield 1,900]

good plan, let me know if you need this calculator...

[diggerjames 543]

Looking good Ian this is going to be great watching with envy '

[Ian 2,417]

good plan, let me know if you need this calculator...

 

Thanks Mark, I will need the calculator just need to get a few more numbers to put into it first.

 

 

 

Looking good Ian this is going to be great watching with envy '

 

No need for the envy James, you too can build something weird and wonderful

 

 

No update as such, I was busy dealing with the worlds most problematic trike yesterday!

But another part has arrived freshly dug out from Nigel's parts store (thanks Nigel), and thank you to Garry for picking it up for me..

 

The part in question is this right angled drive thingy from a rotovator 

 

 

 

I'm not sure what the gear ratio is yet as it needs a bit of freeing off, but I'm guessing at a 1 to 1 ratio or very close..

The prop shaft will come in very handy as it allows me to mount the drive thingy where I want and get the output drive lined up with the WH trans

 

 

 

And yes it will fit despite how it looks in the photo's

[diggerjames 543]

Good idea Ian at least with the ujs you have a bit of movement to play with with lining everything up keep us posted !

[nigel 1,876]

ive got a small extension with ujs ian that should fit onto that would give you another 6" if you need it

[Ian 2,417]

ive got a small extension with ujs ian that should fit onto that would give you another 6" if you need it

 

Thanks mate, length is a problem.. I have too much of it

 

 

A bit of a slow day in the shack today, feeling tired after yesterdays chaos with Garry's trike, but other than finishing cutting the grass I did manage to get a little bit done one "Why Not" today..

 

The angled drive thingy from Nigel (thanks mate) was cracked open to see what needed freeing up...   Dry as a bone inside other than a quick squirt of WD40!

 

 

 

So I filled it up with stuff that smelt like diesel, though it was a funny colour!  An hour later it had freed up

 

 

 

This is where my length problem comes in!

 

The angled drive is near as as I could wedge it in it's new position, and the prop shaft that slides onto the bike gearbox splines is full on!!   Not enough space to cut and shut the shafts together!

 

 

 

There is enough space to move the engine forward and tuck in the front of the hood, but.... The front axle would be in the way!!

 

 

 

I don't want to lengthen the hood, but maybe I should move the front axle to in front of the hood to make the space!.. Dunno

 

 

Also trying to work out how to get the center of this wheel..

 

 

 

Into the center of this wheel...

 

 

 

So I can fit wheel hubs on the front which will give me somewhere to fix one of these....... Thought a pair of them on the front might come in handy

 

[ranger 373]

Spacer between the trans and the frame? or fabricate a new rear part of the frame to extend it and carry the 90 deg box

[Stormin 4,458]

 

 

 

 

 I've been looking at that photo, Ian. Would it be possible to shorten the Honda drive shaft behind the UJ, machine a sleeve/adapter to fit the angle gearbox and weld it to the shortened shaft? You would only have one UJ then.

[Ian 2,417]

Spacer between the trans and the frame? or fabricate a new rear part of the frame to extend it and carry the 90 deg box

 

It would have to be a rather large spacer       As I'm going to chop and lower the chassis it would be easy enough to slip in an extra few inches while I'm at it.

 

 

 

 I've been looking at that photo, Ian. Would it be possible to shorten the Honda drive shaft behind the UJ, machine a sleeve/adapter to fit the angle gearbox and weld it to the shortened shaft? You would only have one UJ then.

 

I get your thinking Norm, the trouble is the angled drive unit thingy has to be offset towards the middle of the chassis to get the drive lined up with the WH trans.. So 2 UJ's are needed.

[Stormin 4,458]

How about making an extension for the output shaft? You could fit a supporting out rigger.

[Ian 2,417]

Which output shaft are you talking about Norm? I have the shaft drive from the bike gearbox.

[Stormin 4,458]

Angle gear box to trans.

[meadowfield 1,900]

What's the gearbox and UJ drive shaft off?

[Ian 2,417]

I think a rotovator of some sort, my thinking is anything that can cope with the stresses of rotovating must be quite strong

[meadowfield 1,900]

Depends what the bearings are and the lubricant...

Spinning a bronze bearing at 4000 rpm not good, friction is high and it's hard to get oil into the bearing. I'm assuming they are sleeved bronze for cost and longlife. Did the gearbox once contain oil or grease?

I'll bet the right angle drive from the original engine is oil filled and roller/ball bearings.

[Ian 2,417]

I'm guessing it once contained oil Mark

 

 

I'm feeling a bit unsteady today, so rather then start using tools that produce hot sparks I'd have a gentle potter in the shack and move a few bit's about on "Why Not" to create a bit more drive shaft space..

 

The front axle moved forward of the hood and the engine slid forward as much as it could.

 

 

 

 

The engine will go even more forward once the front axle mount is out the way..

 

 

 

But it gave enough space to show the two prop shafts could be lined up and made into one..

 

 

 

 

How about making an extension for the output shaft? You could fit a supporting out rigger.

 

Here's why the angle gearbox drive doesn't need an extension Norm..

 

Line the angled gearbox prop up with the shaft on the bike trans..

 

 

 

And the angled drive gearbox would stick out so far the pulleys don't stand a chance of lining up..  Not that any of that matters any more, your see why in a min.

 

 

 

While I had the Honda's final drive to hand I stuck it on the end of the drive shaft to have a look... It almost lines up with the Wh trans pulley

 

But due to the final drives gearing it would give a very slow top speed... Oh, and a lot more reverse gears than forward

 

 

 

And then Mark who has been kind enough and also has the maths brain power that I'm lacking came back with a few calculations for me!   It's the final number that hit home!!

That sort of top speed from a 48hp V twin would just be embarrassing, and could be got from a 10hp Kohler with a lot less work!!

 

 

 

Looking at the final drive on the end of that shaft did get me thinking though.. If the final drive was bit further back to line up with the Wh trans axles then maybe it could be used to drive a cart axle!!

Yes it's the same photo again

 

 

 

So, off to the shed I trundled and grabbed the Honda's rear wheel to unbolt this bit..  It shouldn't be too hard to get a sprocket to fit that

 

 

 

And that bit happens to slide onto the final drive

 

 

 

Sooo, the new plan is to use the Honda's swing arm and final drive then take power back from there via chain and sprocket to a rather strong kart axle.. I can even use the Honda's rear brake which is more than up to the job and very easy to fit

 

The new plan kinda moves this build up a few levels as it could be very easily geared to reach the bikes level of top speed or even more should the suicidal urge take me!!

I'm happy to gear it for a bit less top speed but certainly more than 14.20422 MPH

 

 

Oh, and while the front axle was off I lowered the front end quite a bit to see how it looked

 

[Charlie Smith 192]

Looking great! Once it's finished don't paint it! Have a rat rod,

Instead of the normal... Taking rust away, make rust, have a nice looking rat rod. Get the exhaust pipe chromed, make the rear rims wider have wide semi slick tyres on the rear, one of them fancy looking chain steering wheels, there's so much you could do to.. 'Tart' it up, or then again you could paint it, stick a few racing decals on there with a racing number, either way this will look great!!! Top work,

[meadowfield 1,900]

glad to be of assistance and I think the new plan is more sensible than using the wh transmission...

 

plus who needs reverse