Rat,
we have them in the UK too. In fact I wouldn't be an auto design engineer if I hadn't checked out the "competition " before putting pen to paper !!!
The Spyder is basically the concept our first two abhortive attempts followed - a back end of a bike rammed into a car style front end !
Note the little fixes that went in with the Spyder - very small diameter front wheels, very long rear end AND more stability control electronics than a Space Shuttle.
I rode one - two actually the Tourer and the Sports - and my reaction was ................well I honestly thought I was going to end up into the path of oncoming traffic on the other side of the road a couple of times. I thought maybe it was me - but check out the Spyder site for recalls and problems. That's why I arranged to ride a second version, in case the first one wasn't quite right. Lurch oversteer comes to mind. You can't fault the quality of the parts and the overall effect - but my riding experience was not a happy one.
Using the Riley and Foale geometry and dynamics as a baseline - the Spyder would have to be about 6 feet longer [ at the rear ] to be anywhere near.
Another stab at the Reverse Trike is the TriRod [ US based ] - evil looking [ in a good way ] and that was my inspiration for the style we wanted to go for - Hooligan.
I haven't ridden this one - but I'm intrigued that the rear wheel seems to have been moved back a foot or so?
The third commercially available Reverse trike is the Taurus by a Swiss company renowned for their quads. I think they may have been sucked in as we were initially - how difficult can it be to throw one wheel away at the back. Again it's a beautiful piece of engineering - in fact automotive art would be an apt description. But again using the Riley and Foale parameters ......................
When we used the Riley and Foale findings as our basis all became clear - and I resorted to how I started in my working life 50 years ago - I sat down, thought about it and then drew up a set of plans using ye olde fashioned, pencil paper and drawing board !
Bear in mind - all the foregoing refers to sit on style rather than Morgan car style - which is far simpler to get right.
BTW - sad to say we were met with a bit of a disaster this morning - the guys who were responsible for taking off the king mould from the finished bodywork fucked up and didn't put enough release gel on the body. Fortunately we do have another rough body shape taken from the flash moulds - but we now only have 8 days to the show...not looking good my mates.
Here's the CG Taurus - looks like it's run into something ...
Styling is a bit......, but you can't fault the quality of the manufacture. IMO - way to high COG - too short wheelbase.
Hmmmm won't load, sorry - check out their site.
we have them in the UK too. In fact I wouldn't be an auto design engineer if I hadn't checked out the "competition " before putting pen to paper !!!
The Spyder is basically the concept our first two abhortive attempts followed - a back end of a bike rammed into a car style front end !
Note the little fixes that went in with the Spyder - very small diameter front wheels, very long rear end AND more stability control electronics than a Space Shuttle.
I rode one - two actually the Tourer and the Sports - and my reaction was ................well I honestly thought I was going to end up into the path of oncoming traffic on the other side of the road a couple of times. I thought maybe it was me - but check out the Spyder site for recalls and problems. That's why I arranged to ride a second version, in case the first one wasn't quite right. Lurch oversteer comes to mind. You can't fault the quality of the parts and the overall effect - but my riding experience was not a happy one.
Using the Riley and Foale geometry and dynamics as a baseline - the Spyder would have to be about 6 feet longer [ at the rear ] to be anywhere near.
Another stab at the Reverse Trike is the TriRod [ US based ] - evil looking [ in a good way ] and that was my inspiration for the style we wanted to go for - Hooligan.
I haven't ridden this one - but I'm intrigued that the rear wheel seems to have been moved back a foot or so?
The third commercially available Reverse trike is the Taurus by a Swiss company renowned for their quads. I think they may have been sucked in as we were initially - how difficult can it be to throw one wheel away at the back. Again it's a beautiful piece of engineering - in fact automotive art would be an apt description. But again using the Riley and Foale parameters ......................
When we used the Riley and Foale findings as our basis all became clear - and I resorted to how I started in my working life 50 years ago - I sat down, thought about it and then drew up a set of plans using ye olde fashioned, pencil paper and drawing board !
Bear in mind - all the foregoing refers to sit on style rather than Morgan car style - which is far simpler to get right.
BTW - sad to say we were met with a bit of a disaster this morning - the guys who were responsible for taking off the king mould from the finished bodywork fucked up and didn't put enough release gel on the body. Fortunately we do have another rough body shape taken from the flash moulds - but we now only have 8 days to the show...not looking good my mates.
Here's the CG Taurus - looks like it's run into something ...
Styling is a bit......, but you can't fault the quality of the manufacture. IMO - way to high COG - too short wheelbase.
Hmmmm won't load, sorry - check out their site.