Ninja 250 trike project

[4950cycle]

Just thought I'd post a pic of my Ninjette trike I built for my Dad. But I like riding it so much I don't want to give it up

[CZroe]

"Last edited by 4950cycle; Today at 10:54 PM. Reason: Trying to get a pic up "

Waiting with bated breath.


http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=110660

[4950cycle]

What the heck is that !

[Jono]

Interesting! Would be cool to see more pics of it up close.

[4950cycle]

Thank You

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by 4950cycle

What the heck is that !

Someone failed idea of a Ninja 250 trike. Yours is awesome though. Show me more!

That monstrosity was found it on craigslist locally. No, it wasn't Newnan Motor Trike. Those guys could have done it a million times better!

[YunMing]

Interesting. How is the ride?

[csmith12]

WTF! Is that lawn mower tires on the second one?

Awesome job John!

[4950cycle]

Thanks Csmith , It dosn't have independent rear suspension. But it doe's rely on the same monoshock that the stock single rear wheel did. But since theres 2 rear wheels it rides a tad rougher. I ride it like a high performance ATC 90. Accept it handles 4 times better than an ATC IMO to answer the question " how doe's it ride ".

[YunMing]

lol @ centerstand

[YunMing]

Three wheelers just remind me of the Reliant Robin

[4950cycle]

Whats a relient Robin ? One of those rascal old folk three wheelers ? Again, I built this for my Dad. Even though I'm 50 I can still ride the **** out of a 2 wheeler (NO CRUISER CRAP) though not as well as in my 30s. I can still outride a lot of the youth around here. But they are kind of a bunch of dumb heads. And I grew up as an A.D.D. wild ass Indian as grandmother used to call me. No, I just happen to like the different riding style I use now. It certainly took a while to get used to I'll admit. Its so stable for a three wheeler that I slide it around in the loose stuff and do kind of a semi holeshot where I at least chirp three gears. It kind of reminds me of rideing a 4 wheeler more than an ATC thank God. And I can still take corners as fast as sain riders. Sometimes faster because I'm not afraid of dumping it which suprised me. PS I left the center stand on it in case I want to switch it back to a two wheeler. " yes, it's that interchangable " (different chain though)

[himynameisjoe]

This explains what a Relient Robin is pretty well...

Link to original page on YouTube.

[4950cycle]

Wildfire motors sells the 600 or 650 version of this Robin out of Ohio right here in the US. I think it is a Chinese knock off though. I saw a guy that had the van version right here in FL. . But he wasn't constantly flipping the thing like this Yo Yo. . He's over driving that thing to make it upset easily. Thats why he was wearing a helmet because he know he was going to drive it like a duesh. No one ever did say it was a Porcshe. Its a point A to point B vehicle you use your head while driving.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by 4950cycle

Wildfire motors sells the 600 or 650 version of this Robin out of Ohio right here in the US. I think it is a Chinese knock off though. I saw a guy that had the van version right here in FL. . But he wasn't constantly flipping the thing like this Yo Yo. . He's over driving that thing to make it upset easily. Thats why he was wearing a helmet because he know he was going to drive it like a duesh. No one ever did say it was a Porcshe. Its a point A to point B vehicle you use your head while driving.

Jeremy Clarkson revels in being seen as a Yo Yo.

He is a comedian car enthusiast and writer, after all.

[4950cycle]

True dat

[Alex]

Very cool project!

[Snake]

Great looking trike John. More pics at different angles would be great.

[4950cycle]

Thanks Alex and Snake. I want to doll up the workings with paint and such before showing my sh#*!t. You know, Detail it a liitle more. Should have this stuff done within the week.

[Snake]

I was wondering. Does it have a reverse gear?

[Domagoj]

Uhh, a blue pregen with 2 wheels aft, and on the second picture a blue newgen with 2 wheels fore. Which one is it? Both?

In any case, three wheels is kind of a loose-loose. Apart from looking different Which may be viewed as a good thing.
Worse handling than a car, positional steering like a car, high centre of gravity, less stable than a car, exposed to atmosphere like a bike, unable to ride thru traffic.

[akcalhoun]

wow awesome job

[4950cycle]

First pic Domago . And your wrong on almost all points besides the fixed stearing like a car, And you are in the rain like a bike. Everything you believe is the case with this three wheeler, I believed to be true also before I built and road it . It gets trough traffic MUCH better than a car because it is still much more narrow than a car, Much quicker than most cars (only about 50-60 lbs. more than standard Ninja because of careful component choices). Is plenty stable again because of more careful design than most trikes. I'm getting ready to make it even more stable by making it a bit lower. Believe me, once my Dad decided he quit riding motorcycles of any sort I would have put it right back to two wheels if it wasn't enjoyable to ride. And to answer Snakes Question, I was afraid having no reverse would be a problem. Turns out to have a reverse would be a waste of engineering. The bike is still plenty light to just back it up with your feet. No problem AT ALL ! Now that I have it as I said, I don't want to change it back. And I could do so in no more than an hour and a half. And thanks for all the Kodos.

[GlassAnkles]

is that an actual trike or are they just 2 training wheels mounted on the sides of the original drive wheel?

any more pics? ive always wanted a harley servi-car to get groceries with but this would be much cheaper

[4950cycle]

I wouldn't dare do training wheels ! No, this is a full fledged custom made 3 total wheels setup. and not time for pix yet.

[n4mwd]

It looks very nice. I'd like to see some more pictures of it. I'd be curious about the differential.

As to handling, its not going to do as well as a car because its missing a wheel (3 is less stable than 4). The exception is for trikes that can lean like a motorcycle. Not many do though. Not sure if the can am spyder leans or not.

[4950cycle]

No, Can Ams Spyder's front wheels do not lean. I think the only two, one trikes that the stear wheels lean into the corner are the Piagio scooter and Asian knock offs of said scooter. In trike jargen mine is what is called a one,two trike or a traditional trike and a Can Am, and Piagio is what is called a two, one for obvious reasons. And I'm sorry for saying it handles just as well as a car if I did. Most 4 wheeled cars handle a little bit better. What I meant is for a one,two trike it handles as good as the best of them and better than any I have ever driven. I take a 90 degree naiborhood turn at 15 miles an hour. Thats all the faster you would want to take an L shaped turn in a car. Ofcaurse unless your age 16 and overdoing it (sport driving) .

[n4mwd]

The thing about a car is that you can take any corner at any speed provided you have enough traction to keep you from sliding. With a 1-2 trike, in addition to traction, you have to worry about centrifugal forces flinging you over because you can't lean. On my bike, I routinely take residential turns at 25 mph. In the car, I keep it down to about 15.

Personally, I don't like trikes in general, but I will say that I do like yours and I think you did a really nice job on it.

I would be curious what kind of a top end performance hit you took by adding the third wheel. That is, what is the new top speed? Do you have a trailer hitch? They seem to be pretty common on trikes.

[4950cycle]

I think most guys are interested that don't like trikes is because they want to build them for others if you know what I mean. That is what I would like to do with people that are interested in having one. As for riding hard, I save that for a 2 wheeler. If I want to haul ass in the sand dunes I bring a dune buggy / sand rail. I don't bring a station wagon. But I can have a little fun with this. I won't be doing wheelies standing on the seat with it. I'll save that for my other 2 wheeler. As for top end , It goe's about 85 MPH. Now thats with a custom tall ass mikesshields euro windshield and a 255 lbs. rider that is 6'3 and sticking up in the wind higher than the windshield. I'm to big for a Ningette but love em so much I ride them anyway. They remind me of the old days when we road lighter 2 strokes. I don't like bikes that ride me. I like bikes that I can tell what to do. Probably why I don't like horses. lol Oh and thank you for the complement. I'm glad everybody doesn't think its ugly or pointless.

[n4mwd]

A couple of notes.

I know a guy that lost his leg on his Harley when a drunk broadsided him. He now drives a trike. I also know some older guys who say their balance isn't good any more and they drive trikes too. But in my case, should I ever get to the point where I can't handle two wheels for whatever reason, I just think it would be time to hang up the helmet and take the car.

But I still think they look cool, I just don't see them as practical.

If you are building them, maybe modify the rear end so that the wheel's angle float with the bike. That doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. At least that way you could corner more like a motorcycle.

One odd thing about wheelies, it turns out they are totally legal in FL for trikes. The last I looked, the law was written something like "must have at least 2 wheels on the ground" - which means that your trike could do a wheelie legally.

[choneofakind]

Yeah, but have you seen ATV wheelies go wrong?

Unlike a motorcycle, atv/trike wheelies aren't able to be steered. If you get the front up, you're stuck going the same direction until you drop the front again. On top of that, they get squirrely and bouncy.

No thank you!! if I'm doing wheelies, I'm doing it right and going up on one wheel, where I can still steer.

[4950cycle]

Hey, I remember when there was no laws against wheelies or burning out in FL. . If they really wanted to ticket you they could just chalk it up to Reckless driving I believe they call the offense. But again there were no specific laws against either wheelies or smoking your tires along time ago.

[himynameisjoe]

Originally Posted by 4950cycle

Wildfire motors sells the 600 or 650 version of this Robin out of Ohio right here in the US. I think it is a Chinese knock off though. I saw a guy that had the van version right here in FL. . But he wasn't constantly flipping the thing like this Yo Yo. . He's over driving that thing to make it upset easily. Thats why he was wearing a helmet because he know he was going to drive it like a duesh. No one ever did say it was a Porcshe. Its a point A to point B vehicle you use your head while driving.

lol just saw this. Yeah, it was a joke. I love Jezza though, and I love Top Gear. It's mostly for fun haha. And come on, tell me you wouldn't want to flip one of those at least once in your life?

[4950cycle]

Gotta flip it once just to see what it "won't" do

[lowdown112]

I want to turn mine into a reverse trike but haave no clue how yet. I also want to make it interchhangeable.

[4950cycle]

You may not want to do that. I would think it would be very hard to make a 2-1 trike interchangeable. With my 1-2 trike I can use already existing systems. The two wheels also don't have to steer the bike like a 2-1.

[4950cycle]

Oh, for those who may want to know my MPG dropped to about 50+ once I turned it into a trike. If I'm not mistaken in 2 wheel form it got 62-70 MPG.

[Mill.rat]

Is there anyway you could hook me up with how you did this. I really like the idea of how much fun building something like this would be

[4950cycle]

To bad you live clear out in Oke. I would sell you mine ,

[Mill.rat]

Sorry man haha I'd rather build 1 bc I need a project. But if you can send some instructions or what you used that would be appreciated