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Always loved the Morgans!  Quirky good looks and lightweight, glorious motorcycle type engines and such great performanc...

Always loved the Morgans!  Quirky good looks and lightweight, glorious motorcycle type engines and such great performance.

With my retirement looming and the cost of participating in the "Classic Motorsports" getting progressively further out of reach, the idea of "spirited demonstrations" in a home-built Cyclekart has a lot of appeal.

I have been watching the development of the 'sport' since the early Stevenson days in the USA and I am looking forward to applying some of a lifetime of knowledge and basic skills to this project.

If past performance is any guide....this may not be a fast process, but I will document it here, to the end.

Cheers, Daryl.

 

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  • I scrounged a couple of used McPherson Struts for the Hard Chrome shafts to make my front suspension pillars.

    I ordered 22mm id bushes to suit them.

    Although I prefer and actually tried to source these locally in OZ, as so often happens, it was so much less involved, way easier and cheaper to get them from China, via eBay.
    My initial...
    I scrounged a couple of used McPherson Struts for the Hard Chrome shafts to make my front suspension pillars.

    I ordered 22mm id bushes to suit them.

    Although I prefer and actually tried to source these locally in OZ, as so often happens, it was so much less involved, way easier and cheaper to get them from China, via eBay.
    My initial preference was to get DU type bushes which have a 25mm OD. Finding tube or pipe with a 25mm (or slightly smaller) ID proved quite difficult.
    Closest I found, was some old bicycle frame tubing with a 1" (25.4 mm) id. I considered that the welding of the axle and steering arms (and the appropriate bracing, reinforcement and support might shrink the tube enough to retain the bearing. In my youth, I would have plowed right into this option, just to see if it could work.
    Instead........the bushes I ordered have a 30mm OD. This allows many more options for heavy wall pipe etc. and plenty of meat to machine the OD to suit my final selection. pics to follow.

    cheers, Daryl.
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  • First chassis member bent. Will use this to create a simple form or jig to shape the other three!
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  • Here are some life size working plans for exploring layout issues and bending the main chassis members.
    Chalk lines on form board, easy to adjust with a damp cloth

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  • I have been doing a lot of research on the Morgan sliding hub front suspension. A seemingly simple system, but with many subtle tricks.
    They have been maintained, modified and raced for 100+ years. A lot of the available information on-line, is for 1950's plus 'four wheelers'.
    Vintage trikes were different. Here is some of what I have learned...
    I have been doing a lot of research on the Morgan sliding hub front suspension. A seemingly simple system, but with many subtle tricks.
    They have been maintained, modified and raced for 100+ years. A lot of the available information on-line, is for 1950's plus 'four wheelers'.
    Vintage trikes were different. Here is some of what I have learned to build into my cycle kart.

    The pillars can be Vertical. A degree or two of rearward rake might be useful to reduce 'stiction' on the edges of the bushes due to the offset/angle of the suspension forces during compression. ( I imagine these would wear and round-off a sharp edge pretty quickly anyway).

    What about caster and the need to have kingpin inclination for the tyre contact to be behind the swivel axis?
    Vintage trikes had the axle spindle fitted behind the hub and the pillar. (see pic) This offset is the equivalent of having caster angle.

    It helps to look at Morgan suspension like a motorcycle telescopic front end. Instead of caster, use the term 'trail'.
    With 17" wheels, placing the centre of the axle (say 50mm) behind centre-line of the pillar is equivalent to a Fork Rake (or Caster) angle of around 9 degrees.

    One more factor re: king pin inclination that might be useful for a CycleKart builder.
    If I was building a 4 wheel Kart and wanted to use a locked rear axle, then king pin inclination is way more important.
    With rearward inclination, turn left and the left hub rises, the right hub falls. this transfers weight to the right rear wheel and reduces it at the left rear.
    This is how Go-karts get around corners without the need to power slide, basically 3 wheeling. I'm already building a Trike.

    Next time: Camber angle and Kingpin Swivel angle.

    Cheers Daryl.
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  •   Daryl's "Vintage Morgan" Inspired 3 Wheeler. reacted to this post about 1 month ago
    Scaled drawings....adjusted to CycleKart dimensions.
    I use Paint.net which is great for manipulating photos, drawings, scaling etc.
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  • Daryl's "Vintage Morgan" Inspired 3 Wheeler. has been updated
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  • Daryl's "Vintage Morgan" Inspired 3 Wheeler.

    Always loved the Morgans!  Quirky good looks and lightweight, glorious motorcycle type engines and such great performance.

    With my retirement looming and the cost of participating in the "Classic Motorsports" getting progressively further out of reach, the idea of "spirited demonstrations" in a...

    Always loved the Morgans!  Quirky good looks and lightweight, glorious motorcycle type engines and such great performance.

    With my retirement looming and the cost of participating in the "Classic Motorsports" getting progressively further out of reach, the idea of "spirited demonstrations" in a home-built Cyclekart has a lot of appeal.

    I have been watching the development of the 'sport' since the early Stevenson days in the USA and I am looking forward to applying some of a lifetime of knowledge and basic skills to this project.

    If past performance is any guide....this may not be a fast process, but I will document it here, to the end.

    Cheers, Daryl.

     

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