Ok, yesterday and today saw a good deal of progress! I'm now in the "stacking parts" stage of my build, which is easily one of my favorite parts! I took The Trashliner Trike apart yesterday to make use of the handlebars, springer fork and trike rear. While most everything came apart easily, I had to let a bolt on the trike axle soak in some PB Blaster overnight. I need to do some more work to TTT's handlebars to clean them up, so I just stuck an identical (and cleaner) set of ape hangers on the Fair Lady for now. I got to say, just adding a springer fork and a set of Sting-Ray handlebars to an otherwise mellow girl's bike makes a world of difference! Even if I don't stick with the trike axle, this Fair Lady still has a world of potential!
As an added bonus, One of my neighbors (who builds sprint cars, or midget sprint cars; I don't know the difference) told me he might be on board for helping me put this trike together!
...And then he came down with something today before he could look at the project to be. Praying he didn't catch covid-19, and that he gets well soon.
I went ahead and mocked up the trike rear end earlier today. Fortunately, it fits the frame with no issues! In fact, I could even use the stock mounting holes on the brace and just make a custom bracket to hold everything in place... but that's not the path I'm taking, at least not right now. As mentioned before, I want to put some fat bike tires in the rear, lower the seat tube, seat stays and trike frame/brace (seriously, what do you
call that hunk of 1/2" steel tubing?) to allow me to sit over the rear axle and ride this like a recumbent bike, and maybe even add a custom tank and bodywork. The only things stopping that from happening are finding someone with metal fab skills who can bring my crazy ideas to life... and my slow and unsteady source of income. But for now... this ain't half bad.
Small problem I detected yesterday: The chain kept skipping and popping off the sprockets while I was riding The Trashliner Trike before I parted it out. This is why: The shroud that covers the rear sprocket and axle is bent inward, forcing the chain off the rear sprocket. It should be fairly easy to fix for the right guy, but I'm not that guy. Luckily, I know people who could fix it, when their schedule frees up.
Because I just can't seem to stop imagining how to make this trike
really stand out, I had the idea to place an old steel drum between the rear wheels. I've been thinking of adding some bodywork to the rear of the trike, both to function as part of the seat, and for style. This drum has almost the same diameter as the 24" tires that are currently on the trike, and I like the idea of having something between the seat and the wheels. I don't know if this idea will stick, but it's something I want to explore. I'm just not sure it says "muscle trike" as much as it says "32 Ford trunk on a Schwinn." What do you guys think?