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Ultralight Plans and Construction PDF

PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 7:55 pm
by mikeschn
Eventually, when this document has made some progress we'll consider putting it on the menu... in the meantime, for those of you that are interested in the PDF version of the Ultralight plans and construction, Kerry is compiling it and adding his information on a regular basis.

http://www.mikenchell.com/TheUltralight.pdf

Mike...

PostPosted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:34 pm
by Big Guy with a Little Guy
That is some detailed documentation. I noted that you've switched the axel brackets from side to side so that the ugly flange is not visible from the outside. That's good thinking.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:50 pm
by stedi
Mike,
nice looking tear! I'm really looking forward to the next installment on the pdf. been lurking for the past few weeks...what a GREAT site! lots of useful info here to ruminate on. I'm sure it'll keep my lips moving for weeks! :lol: before i forget, blessings to you & your wife along with wishes for a speedy recovery.

greetings to all! dreamer/schemer here, hoping to join the ranks of all you owners as soon as f&g money infuses the budget.

best regards,
steve

PostPosted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:37 am
by PaulC
stedi wrote:Mike,
nice looking tear! I'm really looking forward to the next installment on the pdf. been lurking for the past few weeks...what a GREAT site! lots of useful info here to ruminate on. I'm sure it'll keep my lips moving for weeks! :lol: before i forget, blessings to you & your wife along with wishes for a speedy recovery.

greetings to all! dreamer/schemer here, hoping to join the ranks of all you owners as soon as f&g money infuses the budget.

best regards,
steve


Hi Steve and welcome to the bored.......oops........ that's supposed to be board. Since you have registered it is now time to elevate yourself from the dreamer/schemer ranks. Post some pi....... nope, I'll leave that to madjack.
Let us know what's happening along the way.
Cheers
Paul :thumbsup:

PostPosted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:38 pm
by Feral XJ-SC
Excellent pdf. One confusing part is that you use Andrew's A tongue design, not otherwise mentioned, to show the turning radius.

PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:33 pm
by Ron Dickey
hey Mike,

a pix of the unit above the PDF site might help for those of us who have not moved from dial up.

I have found that some areas are so rural that they can only get dial up unless they have satalite and not all of us can afford that.

Have you thought of light motorcycle wheels for it.

ron

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:15 am
by dwgriff1
I have wondered about lighter wheels too. In order to get the weight much lower, the wheel/tire/axle combination needs considered. Shorter wheels would work, but they disturb my sense of design.

My version of this design weighs a bit more than Mike's target, but is 5' wide and fully insulated.

Early pictures show light wire wheels. Why not? and how?

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:44 am
by angib
dwgriff1 wrote:Early pictures show light wire wheels. Why not? and how?

The problem with motorcycle wire wheels is that their axle spindle is supported on both sides. You can run them with the spindle cantilevered out from just one side, but the spindle isn't designed to take that sort of load.

The one exception is sidecar wheels, but they are rare beasts and are unlikely to be easily found.

Andrew

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 2:56 pm
by dwgriff1
So motorcycle wheels are designed much like a bicycle wheel. Hmm.

One could incorporate the two sides of the fork into a fender design, it would seem, or even a "running board" fender combo?

Are the spindles generally held with a single nut, like a bicycle? And are the forks slotted, again like a bicycle, so the wheel would drop down once the huts were loosened?

Thanks for answering.

dave

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 4:08 pm
by Nitetimes
What about the newer bikes with the single sided rear swing arm. I'm not sure how it's set up but there has to be something different about it for it to work I would think.

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 6:43 pm
by brian_bp
Another common use of single-sided motorcycle suspensions is at the front on scooters. Pretty light-duty stuff, but perhaps if people are looking for lightweight options outside of the usual range of trailer hardware there might be some suitable hardware in that area.

PostPosted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 9:27 am
by angib
dwgriff1 wrote:Are the spindles generally held with a single nut, like a bicycle? And are the forks slotted, again like a bicycle, so the wheel would drop down once the huts were loosened?

Yes, the spindle usually clamps up the bearings with spacers and a single nut on one side - the other end of the spindle often has a round head with a hole through it to use to hold the spindle while undoing the nut. Though if the nut is really stuck on, the hole never seems to be big enough to get a decent size tommy bar though and you end up bending your tommy bar!

Forks are never slotted (well, rarely, if ever). As soon as you go above very light bikes, the spindle will be clamped to the bottom of at least one fork leg with a saddle and two bolts, or some other sort of clamp.

Here are a couple of stolen parts diagrams for the front wheel of a 500cc twin - about the right sort of wheel and tyre for a teardrop, I'd say:

Image

Image

So in this case, the bolt (lower 4) clamps the left fork leg (upper 2), while the right fork leg has a pinch-bolt (upper 16) that grabs hold of the last spacer (lower 6) on the spindle.

Andrew

PostPosted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:48 pm
by Jst83
OK I'm gonna drum up an old thread, stumbled across this thread while planning an Ultra lite.
I'm working on plans for an Ultralight ultra small tear, 42" x 6'6" and was curious about this build for a frame and has it been tested?
Any info or details would be great. :worship:

Image

PostPosted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:57 pm
by mikeschn
Jst83 wrote:OK I'm gonna drum up an old thread, stumbled across this thread while planning an Ultra lite.
I'm working on plans for an Ultralight ultra small tear, 42" x 6'6" and was curious about this build for a frame and has it been tested?
Any info or details would be great. :worship:

Image


No it's never been tested... but Andrew can answer any questions you have. He know it'll work just fine when you follow his directions...

Mike...

PostPosted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 5:05 pm
by Jst83
So it's built on just a plywood floor? I saw the reinforcing plates put on for the tongue .
I'm thinking of being the one to test it if I can come up with an axle short enough and cheap enough shipping.