Josie's Skate-Trike (update - music video)

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Picked up this tough little trike at Goodwill for $5.00
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The tires are all flat
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The headset is bone dry and it's got some rust
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But my daughter Josie is really excited about building a custom "pink bike" so here we go.

My father in law is an old hot-rodder and retired pipe-fitter so he knows his way around the shop and stuff like torches, welders, and paint guns. He is co-builder on this project.

To kick things off we visited Bay Area Schwinn in Pasadena Texas. No idea what we were looking for, just wanted to see if they had any old parts and spend some time together hatching plans and getting ideas. We noticed a cool little tricycle from Giant that had a fake skateboard as the deck between the rear wheels.

On the way home we were talking about it and I mentioned we might try something similar with a real skateboard. Just a few blocks later I spotted a skateboard at a road-side flea-market. The lady wanted $8.00 I offered $5.00 and she let it go for $6.00.

Spent the afternoon today over at "Pee-Paw's" garage tearing down the trike and starting to mock things up. Cut the skateboard in half and used the rounded ends to trace the same curve on the straight sides. Little bit of jigsaw work and sanding and we've got two mini-skateboards.
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Josie and Pee-Paw at work
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She is documenting the build with her own camera
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Josie likes bikes and skateboards so as you can imagine she is excited about the project. I like the idea of combining the two so she could grab the bars, put her foot on the deck, and kick with the other foot like a skateboard and then leap-frog up on the seat and start pedaling. Even before we had the skateboard idea she had perfected the leapfrog trick. It'll also be cool if one kid can pedal wile another is riding on the boards. Sort of a tandem skate-trike arrangement.

So that's where we're at. Lots of work ahead. Plans include notching the spine in two places to add some rake to the forks wile keeping the boards level and fabricating some kind of fender for the front wheel. We're thinking bubble-gum pink with blue pearl clear-coat for the paint. Probably paint the wheels silver.

If you've got ideas post-em. :)
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edit 4/28: posted music video
 
Re: Josie's Skate-Trike

A skateboarding-kick scootering tricycle! Hey, ya got the best of 3 worlds there! NICE! 8)
 
Re: Josie's Skate-Trike

Still needs apes and a nice wide saddle. Oh and I'm sure you could fit a low rider springer fork on that sweet lil trike :!: YEEEAH now we're talkin 8) :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Re: Josie's Skate-Trike

Very cool project....and the photo quality is excellent.

What camera are you using?
 
Re: Josie's Skate-Trike

cute kid, i love the idea of someone pedaling while another passenger stands on the back :p put a big ole light on the front :D

not quite sure how those fenders work but they look neat
 
Re: Josie's Skate-Trike

Rat Rod said:
What camera are you using?
It's a SIGMA SD-14 and 50mm lens. The camera uses a different sensor technology and it's pictures have a different look about them. I also like the prime lenses. They're almost always sharper than zooms. I guess I'm an odd-ball when it comes to bikes and cameras.

Josie's camera is a Fisher-Price "kid tough" digital. We've added a 500MB SD card so it holds well over 2000 VGA images. She can shoot all she wants and she isn't going to fill it up. Every now and then I abduct the camera, copy the good images, and throw away the crap. She has made some very special memories with that little cam. The world seen through the eyes of a child. :)
 
Re: Josie's Skate-Trike

right on dude, the world thru a childs eyes, ya gotta luv it. that trike is the cats meow, so far my fav. has i vote.

Outlaw :mrgreen:
 
Re: Josie's Skate-Trike

Man you got a vision, that skate board idea is way cool. I got all my kids cameras it is pretty cool some of the stuff they shot and some of the stuff you didnt think they saw. :mrgreen: . Keep up the good work.
 
Re: Josie's Skate-Trike

Trike I have two like that one is red with white wheels and the other is green with yellow wheels lika john deere Tony 8)
 
Test ride music video

Whoah, heh, my wife bought me a flip video camera for my birthday so I shot some footage of Josie testing out the skate-trike.


music video


Tried several different ways to embed the video without luck. If there is a way to do it send me a clue and I'll edit the post.

Final pix should be posted within the next couple of days.
 
Sweet ride, looks like she could be ridin that trike for years. Looks like as she grows you could just slide the seat down and get some baby moon bars that will reach back.... 8) Oh and another idea, even when she gets really tall, just slap some Apes on it and she can ride on the boards! Wow, nice build, I'm jealous... And how did the camera black out the sun like that?
 
I never thought that I'd be saying a "build off" bike would be CUTE! But that thing is COOL CUTE! Nice job.
 

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