Mobility Scooter Turned Soapbox Racer

[mikeyp247]

Ah! It's just bolted on to a large nut in the middle. So I could drop it out and cut/relocate the mounting bracket to wherever I want and as long as I leave clearance for wheels etc it'll go back on easy enough.

I don't know if flipping the axle and the steering arm round would reverse the steering, if everything is the other way up, my PostIt doodle still seems to make the wheels go the correct way. But it will make the ackermann troublesome. Best image I could find was this:



If I flip the axle, these 'in-lines' will be wrong. So bin that idea.


I also think I might be going too far with this whole axle movement. So let's slow it down - I'll start by getting some box section and new tie rods and widen the track. My thought is to chop in 2 places (marked in red):



(not my axle, but very similar)

Then insert the bolt piece as a central sleeve and weld in place to allow re-fitment to the bracket, then put each wheel end back on and weld back in place. Should be strong enough to take the 3 or 4 runs down the hill and one or 2 jumps jump once or twice (depending on who drives and in what order).

First things first though, need to get my families welder from my Uncle in York...

[mikeyp247]

Sept 20, 2016 21:11:24 GMT fuldatramp said:

Could you just warm the box section up with a blow torch and use a big shifter to bend it to the correct angle? Then when your happy they are both twisted the same angle, weld a bit of gusset in to keep it in position and support it?

Now understand what you mean, seems much more straight forward than removing the whole bracket.

Nice one.

[steveg]

The ackerman diagram is what you need with the steering behind the axle. If you continue the dotted lines in front of the axle the steering arms mount nearer the wheels which is how your steering is now hopefully !

[mikeyp247]

Sept 21, 2016 10:28:10 GMT steveg said:

The ackerman diagram is what you need with the steering behind the axle. If you continue the dotted lines in front of the axle the steering arms mount nearer the wheels which is how your steering is now hopefully !

It is indeed.

I think it will stay this way round and just have a wider track added and as much steering rake added as possible. That coupled with some heating and twisting as per above should induce enough stability and reduce twitchiness...

[mikeyp247]

Sept 20, 2016 23:39:15 GMT dodgerover said:

Could you rig a regenerative braking system, spin up a heavy flywheel via a clutch to loose speed then once you are round the corner transfer the momentum back to the kart?

Also just found the rules state: "Gravity propulsion only – i.e. no motors, no pedals & no stored potential energy."

[mikeyp247]

OK so in the search for mini-moto wheels I found a guy on Gumtree flogging a homemade go-kart, bit of haggling and a trip to Solihull and this now resides in my garage:



So it has disc brake setups, 6 wheels (plus 2 that I had already ordered off eBay – so now have 8 wheels!) and other various ancillaries. I did wonder about just using this but the chassis is from a sacktruck and is too short for me without some serious reconfiguring and it’ll end up looking like the scooter anyway.
The hubs are a smaller diameter than the scooters axles though damn it, so will need to use these axles or source some replacement hubs.

So my first hope is that the rear section is roughly the same width as the scooter (haven’t measured yet) so I can just cut it out and weld it on – will get the tape out and measure up when I can. The front will not be so simple as it’s tube not box so will probably just cut the stems and re-weld on to some 30x30 box.

Those more ‘eagle eyed’ amongst you will also notice that this is attached:



Apparently it was fully running/turning before going in to storage so this has given me a ‘stage 2’ for after the gravity race to refit the motor and (with a bit of luck and a carb clean) turn it in to some Toylander-esque fun mobile.

Steering-wise, I've been looking at the current setup and have removed everything from (and including) the tiller unit. This has left me with the stem and a small section of head tube. I've been searching around for a UJ/steering column and think a Ka is about the right thickness to bolt in and then have 'proper' rotational steering input. Anyone know if there is a place on t'interweb where dimensions are listed? Or perhaps more like - if I get the dimensions of the tube, would someone know off-hand what would fit?

[mikeyp247]

The rear is a bit out, but I couldn't get a 100% accurate measure with the seat on and didn't have time this weekend to remove to check properly. So I think I'll make up some bushes to 'simply' drop out the existing transaxle and reuse the same mounting points and grab a spare axle to use some of my spare wheels for the gravity race. Then when that's over I'll cut and weld in the go-karts rear axle complete with engine and drive chain etc.

Anyway, looked at the front again and going to make 3 cuts (marked in yellow) to release the current crossmember from the kart, then weld in some 30x30 (same as scooters front crossmember) between the 2 places marked with blue diamonds - I can give this a bit of caster before welding:



Still need to get the welder back from York though...

[mikeyp247]

For anyone still bothering to read this, I have made a bit of progress, in that I have started chopping the engine off the rear, looked at the front axles and realised they are pants and will require some re-engineering to work (so forget the image ‘plan’ above). The rear however might be a save – think these should work quite well, having a cut and play tomorrow on those.

Anyway, this update isn’t actually about the soapbox, it’s a kind of 'introduction' to a secondary project if you like. Well, I have found a more permanent home for the engine that came on the go-kart 'kit' (read: 'sack-truck almost converted to small go-kart') that I bought for the wheels, axles and brakes that were there. This one:



Well as I said, I had thought about adding the engine to the soapbox when I've done the run for some toy fun later. But it's not 'likely' to be the best basis for a go-kart to be honest after I have chopped it all around etc - but who knows. And if I make a good enough job of the Hansom Cab soapbox, it might end up doing a few years stint in the history group and possibly the museum as some form of local homage to Hinckley, I don’t know.

So I was browsing the internet and well-known auction sites for box section and inspiration and came across this:



Wait for it...







“FANTASTIC!” I thought, “bet it’s miiilles away”.

Nope, 5 minutes’ drive from my house, 2 minutes’ drive from where I work. Was on eBay for £20 starting bid (no bids) and 3 and a bit days to run. Thought I’d be cheeky and sent a text asking if I could come take some measurements with a view to buying it. The seller called me up and we arranged that I would pop round on my way home.

Got there, friendly guy – told me he had bought 2 Stringray bikes and made this for a soapbox race in Wales. Won a prize (I think for most frickin’ awesome) and did quite well. Anyway, I tell him my situation and plans and he is almost as buzzing as I am. Tells me he has had loads of interest but nobody came up with an offer or bid and seemed to want to convert it back to pedal-power (see the footplate bar, welded through the crank ‘bit’ so would be tricky).

Anyway, the deal is done and it’s loaded in the back of my car (handlebars flipped down, front wheel off – just fits). He even agreed on a great price as I think his SWMBO just wanted it gone (more on that in a bit).

My plan is to drop the little engine in between and above the two rear wheels and chain drive the left hand wheel – should go fairly well. Will probably need to look at cog and transfer arrangement as the engine has a go-kart cog rather than a bike one – so different chain - will look at that another time though. Here's it's peachy bum:



So not so much a build I guess, but an adaptation/extension of an existing one (or two). As it's not really part of the soapbox, it can have it's own thread from now on. Now I just need to find the right time to tell my SWMBO this now resides in our garage…

[mikeyp247]

So the more I think and look at these, the more I realise the trike has everything right for the Hansom Cab soapbox - right shape, brakes already on, steering good etc...

So I think the trike will (first off, that engine is still DEFINITELY going to end up on it) be dressed and the scooter turned in to a Toylander thing as I still have the motor.

[mikeyp247]

OK, so this is definitely turning in to a Toylander thing, and I need a UJ arrangement as I need to change the angle of steering input. Got a question thread running too but maybe that was unnecessary.

Please forgive the crudeness of this, but here's my thoughts (where the red and green assembly is the UJ/steering rack):

[hario]

WOuln't it be more 'gokarty' if the seat was much lower?

[mikeyp247]

Yes. Forget that - will more than likely be removing the seat altogether and boxing in the batteries under a bench seat.

[Spudgun]

Hi mate

I cant wait to see this finished

When is the next Hinckley soap box race?
I might see if work will enter a racer, Its gotta be cool racing down Castle St.

[mikeyp247]

Oct 18, 2016 19:45:37 GMT Spudgun said:

Hi mate

I cant wait to see this finished

When is the next Hinckley soap box race?
I might see if work will enter a racer, Its gotta be cool racing down Castle St.

Thanks man! Build proper should start in the new year I think.

Raced down it loads growing up on my bike, but this experience will be different! Haha.

It'll normally June/July time - haven't seen the confirmed date yet.

[mikeyp247]

Picked up one of these last weekend:



Going to use the wiring loom and controls from it for whatever the 4 wheeled one turns out to be, then the chassis of this I thought I may turn in to a trailer type thing.

So should I go Willies jeep, truck, pickup or van design for the front? Been looking through eBay for inspiration but it is literally Jeeps or LandRovers (Toylanders)

[vanpeebles]

I bet riding an old motorised sack barrow with a school plastic chair for a seat is like taking off for the moon And just as dangerous

[mikeyp247]

Nov 2, 2016 15:40:28 GMT vanpeebles said:

I bet riding an old motorised sack barrow with a school plastic chair for a seat is like taking off for the moon And just as dangerous

Lol, it might well be! I'll never know though, because i cut the engine and rear axle off that while experimenting with the wheels/axle a while back.

[oasis6x]

I converted a mobility scooter to put a 50cc twostroke on the back over the last year. It was quite similar to the above where the front two wheels were close together, leading it to tip.

Ive just fabricated a longer axle, and I'm looking for a plastic Gordons gin bottle to hold the fuel in the front basket

[mikeyp247]

Do you have a build thread, would be interested in seeing how you got on.

[oasis6x]

Nov 10, 2016 15:57:39 GMT mikeyp247 said:

Do you have a build thread, would be interested in seeing how you got on.

I realised I should have one, just took a load of photos and will upload one now