Bamboozle

[Wildcat]

This is a frame from the scrap pile. It wasn't ever outfitted and ridden, like a few other frames I dug up at the same place a couple years ago. I didn't know what it was until I asked here. It's a clone of an Easy Racer recumbent frame.

That's not how I plan to build it though. I want to make a longboard scooter, using that frame low to the ground with a surfboard along the bottom to kick from.

The rules state the bike must be pedaled. I plan to have a pedal for a propulsion system of some kind along with using feet to drive the scooter. I picked class 1 because the frame won't be modified, and the forks might be bent but no fabrication.

For wheels, I have 20, 24, and 26 inch to choose from. I have a good set of 24", with coaster and new tires ready to go, but the 26" has better rolling tires. The coaster hub should provide the brakes. Running a caliper brake with cable is a last resort, I'd like to keep it free of cables. I might have to use 20" on the front to keep it level and low enough. I've been researching the scooters and the Schwinn gets complaints because it's too high off the ground, it needs to be low so you don't get worn out from kicking.

I may add a seat for a place to sit when resting, but where is in question. I need to keep the rear area clear for kicking.

It's going to be about 8 feet long. I hope to be able to remove the front wheel easily so it will go on the bike rack.

 

[kingfish254]

Weird and cool frame. I look forward to seeing your pedalled drivetrain idea.

 

[gowjobs]

I feel like, with a kick pedal/lever, a short length of chain, a freewheel and a spring, you could make a drivetrain reminiscent of Honda's "Kick'n'Go" scooters from the '70s/'80s.

 

[Wildcat]

Yep, it will be as simple as possible, without a long chain or any of that. I may scrap the coaster brake and use a freewheel hub with band brake, but no brake cable. Some kind of foot pedals for braking and propulsion.
I found a drawing of the kick-n-go.

 

[OddJob]

@Wildcat back with a 'wild' idea and creative start! Yep, it's an RRB build off again for sure! RaT oN~!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

This is a really cool idea. The kick-drive is interesting, looking forward to your engineering on that. Make your deck height as low as possible if you intend to push by foot, scooter style. The higher it is a the more difficult and tiring the movement becomes. Also, too much width on the deck makes it tough to get that foot down to the pavement.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

If a guy wanted to get nitpicky...
We've had them scraper lowriders here that tho they were "pedal-powered" there's no way you could pedal one down the road. A reasonable system that "could" work and was out of the way of kicking it down the lane should suffice. I have a feeling you're like me tho. It either works or it's not on there.

Carl

 

[Wildcat]

I have no real idea yet on the pedal drive. On that kick n go scoot, the pedal is fairly high up, I would position my drive pedal lower. I'd also like to have a simpler drive mechanism.

I forgot to mention the board I would use. The frame has two tubes on the bottom, so that's a few inches of width already, then add 6 inches for board on either side and the board is already 15 inches wide. It may only be 4 inches on either side at the very least. That's still about a foot wide. The board would be about 5 feet long and be suspended under the frame by metal brackets, enough to keep the board rigid. It will bolt up to the frame in 2 or 3 places. That will let me have some height for the frame that might be needed for the wheel and fork size. It might be adjustable for the height of the board, but that might be unstable. I'm shooting for one bracket size that works and is solid.

The wood might need to be laminated for strength, like a skateboard. An actual longboard style skateboard wouldn't be wide enough.

But here in the Philippines, things can be made by hand by craftsman fairly cheaply, so I can have a custom board made that looks great. Even made of bamboo. As long as I have enough metal support under the wood, it should be fine.

 

[Wildcat]

Some changes already, but some progress too. The 24" wheels were way too tall, so I'll try a set of 20" wheels I laced up awhile back. It's got a freewheel and is setup for a band brake already.

I used some wood and the 20" wheel will sit it just right on the rear, so the board will be just around 2 1/2" off the ground. How the fork will go needs a lot of planning.

I measured and it will only need a 36" board. I found a skateboard deck that's 7 ply maple, 34" x 10". 30 bucks. I measured across the frame and I think 10" will give enough room for footing.

On this setup, one leg will be on the opposite side of the frame while the other leg kicks, so a little more narrow should help.

To keep the right frame height, it will need a serious bend forward. The steering might be too off, or not. I have no idea. I may have to fabricate a fork that will have the right trail. Or use a donor frame and add an extra headtube to this frame somehow.

 

[Wildcat]

Board is on the way!

 

[Wildcat]

I laid it out to see how the front wheel would sit. I positioned the front wheel as close to the fork as possible and still kept the correct height of the frame. I looked up trail and checked to see how bad the geometry would be. I kept the deck height at about 3 inches and measured it. There won't be any trail, the wheel is a couple inches ahead of the usual spot where the angles meet. That's way out of the normal. I could use a smaller wheel and get fairly close to a normal trail, but I don't want little wheels. So I'll give this a try first and see how bad it steers.

 

[Wildcat]

If this is rideable, I should be ok.

 

[SwissGuy]

You could give a 26 or 28 fork a kota bend... (<- hit the link)
When I did it back then, the bent 28 fork fitted a 24, so a bent 26 could probably take a 20...
It takes some time getting used to but definitely rideable:

https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/threads/bending-a-fork-kota-style.109841/

 

[Wildcat]

That's a 26" fork in the pic. It would be quite a bend. I couldn't do it, but maybe a machine shop could. The one I use here I thought could, but when they bent a piece of flatbar for my build a few weeks ago, they just used a vise and started hammering away. I was thinking of cutting the bottom of the forks off, then running struts from the lower fork legs to the axle, with more supports also going to the upper fork or top of the fork with a bracket. Like a trestle. A single bend would look a lot better if I can get it done.

 

[OddJob]

Proportionally, these 20" look really good to me on there.

I haven't completely caught on to the mechanics of your idea yet, but keep the process updates coming! I'll figure it out sooner or later.

 

[toro1978]

All pretty cool, I am interested.
Curious what will happen on the other side of that head tube. Considering the head tube angle and height figuring out the steer will be quite a challenge.

 

[Wildcat]

The height of the board and the angle of the headtube can't change, so the front wheel will need to be as close to the frame as possible (as in the frame 11 pic) but will still be at a strange angle. Like a lowrider bike, but they do ride them somehow. Maybe there's a learning curve. If it's too hard to navigate that way, I may get another headtube from a leftover frame and try to attach it to this frame at a higher point and a steeper angle somehow.

 

[toro1978]

I am pretty sure the fork and the wheel will work out. I am curious about the "stem" or "shaft" that you will use or make.

 

[Wildcat]

A bmx stem is the only kind I have that will fit the smaller tubing on the apes. I estimate the height of the top of the stem at 20", with the frame where it sits. Add the 20" apes and it should have a handlebar height of about 40". I think that might be high enough. It may need more support as that's where a lot of the leverage is when kicking. I may add a couple struts from the forks to the upper bars.

 

[Wildcat]

I laid it out again to see how high the bars would be and try to get some ideas for the fork. They are 38" high as it's set up. That might be just high enough. I wanted higher but I'll see how it rides.