Originally Posted by
Scootertrash
Any idea what the frame came from?
The now top tube, was the bottom tube of a bicycle, and the steering neck. The tube to neck weld is factory to the bicycle, then the hand drilled and cut gussets were added on.
The forks are just extended bicycle forks.
The engine plate looks manufactured, so it possibly came from a go-kart. It may be the rear section cut from a kart because the bottom is all square tubing.
The rear axle was some type of chain driven differential, possibly from an old riding mower. I'm not certain about that either, because it's a style of lightweight differential, similar to ones still available for pedal trikes. It didn't have the proper bearing support either way.
It does have BMX stunt pegs welded on as the foot pegs.
You'll notice some unused tabs on the frame, under the seat. Those were for the seat mounting they made. It was a very skinny bicycle seat with a nut welded to the front for a front pivot, and one of those cheap Walmart bike rear shocks welded to the bottom and bolted to the very end of the frame. An non adjustable setup, that just looked cluttered and the shock was so weak it collapsed when anyone set on it, making it useless. I've left them on for now and was planning to cut the front pivot tabs off and use the rear for a wheelie bar strut, because the flat steel they attached the wheelie wheel to was a little twisted from no support.
That's a roller blade or scooter wheel.
The current seat post is what I added. It's a ATC185 front wheel bearing spacer (ends were messed up), that just happened to be the right diameter for a seat post. I drilled completely through the top tube and welded both sides. My welds are terrible though. Thick seat post tube, trying to weld to thin bicycle frame, with a flux core, 110V mig. It's been holding so far, and hasn't left my cheek skin on the road anywhere. The seat is adjustable for height (a little) and angle now.
There's one other unused tab near the seatpost that was a brake reservoir mount and a bracket on the bottom right of the frame that used to hold the rear master cylinder that was being cable operated. The cable operated setup made the handlebars look a little cleaner, although it made the system more complex. It was frozen and I wasn't too sure about the stopping power of the setup, so I just simplified it by going with a front brake system for a motorcycle. Making a removable bottom caliper mount and modification to the original top caliper mount was all it took.
The rest I don't have a clue about. I bought it from a brother or cousin of the guy who built it and it hadn't run in years. I think he said the guy had a motorcycle shop in in Northwest Arkansas.
Last edited by ATC King; 03-22-2020 at 12:44 PM.
The story of three wheels and a man...