Dragged my kids out to ride today and everyone had a blast!

We took advantage of the great weather and went out this afternoon. I was able to take turns with my older boy on his adult sized trike with the little one riding on my lap. We generally chased each other around and had a good time. I was happy with the way the trike felt and how well the little upgrades I've done worked out. I had installed a caliper brakeset on the front wheel to supplement the drum brake, possibly unneeded but it makes braking possible with either hand. The plastic cargo box works well and seems lighter and probably safer than a wire basket. The new handgrips were comfy. and most importantly the bell is compact, cute and loud!

sorry to see summer go!

Rather than focus on summer being gone, I'm going to focus on getting ready for fall.
Project one: getting the BikeE ready for commuting, repair horn mount and maintenance.
Project two: Create cargo chopper bike for riding with the kids. inspired by this post at instructables.com:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cargo-Rack-Bike-Sport-Hauler/

I promise updates by the end of the month.

Easter Sunday in the shop and on the road?

I'm hoping to get busy today. Get a ride ready for my wife. Do a ride with as many family members as possible. install an Xtracycle frame extension on my wife's Mtn. bike. Select bits of "extra bike junk" to E-bay off. I'll post pictures today.

scoring: Got a ride/walk in with the wife and kids. The kids on the rides and the wife & I walking, Though I did ride Ian's Trifecta around some
collected and photographed and post 7 items on E-bay
didn't get the wife's ride hooked up, hoping to get her to try one of my rides.

Snowshoeing Anyone?

Wish I could get my hands on my snowshoes! I may be reduced to making a pair. There is so much snow in bklyn getting around the next few days will be pain. I have ski poles and could probably bodge together something that would work. Hmm.... To bad I got rid of those old tennis rackets;)

Results of Sunday's efforts

Here are the sorry results, but consider that this morning, my son and I did a 45 minute bike ride. Icy puddles look out here we come.

I) Install the heater in the lab, No way, It was really just to get it out of the way.
2) unload materials for the heap 'o parts. Good to go, moved the frame, a trike front end and some forks.
3) Do initial assembly of chrome chopper bike. got as far as getting it on the rack.
4) make shopping-digging out list of additional parts for the chopper. found the original fork, check to smaller heap for other choices.
5) install / adjust rear cables, seatpost, saddle, rack on wife's bike. No way, next time

Sunday plans for work, chrome chopperproject

Sundays plans are clear
I) Install the heater in the lab
2) unload materials for the heap 'o parts
3) Do initial assembly of chrome chopper bike
4) make shopping-digging out list of additional parts for the chopper.
5) install / adjust rear cables, seatpost, saddle, rack on wife's bike.

I'll post tomorrow on how many items I have completed by Sunday nite.
Tonight, I should load the car with whatever stuff is left to go out to the heap: The chrome frame, some fork candidates and whatever over items I've left laying around. One of the forks I'm considering is a NOS OCC Schwinn Stingray fork and the other is a cheapie 20" suspension fork with triple trees. I want to use the Stingray, which has brakes, brake cable and lever but gotta see what fits. The frame needs a bottom bracket, crankset, handlebars. I have a banana seat and a sissy bar. Wish me luck

Rube Goldberg homebuilder survey salvaged recovered repurposed materials

DIY recumbent home builder/mechanics are a resourceful breed. Almost uniformly, our efforts are based on taking an existing bike frame or two and bodging it/them together with parts from other bikes and creating something new. I've seen a lots of exciting projects made from trash day recovered kid's bikes. But I want to know what are the best non-bike parts you have repurposed for your ride?
We will have two categories:
Best non-bike item you bought for use on your ride
Best non-bike bit trash picked or repurposed from within your home or workshop.
Please share your eureka items and comment on posted bits.

Thanks should be fun to see our results. I have to believe my best trash pick find of a non-bike item is the Suzuki motorcycle windshield. It's going to be the fairing on my BikeE. My best store bought non-bike item is probably the plastic storage bin that fits between the rear wheels on my eldest's Worksman Trifecta

My Youtube picks

http://www.youtube.com/jacobs721

My list includes a number of velomobile and bike modification videos as well as Point of View video series for the HPV events at Battle Mountain with time trial footage, interviews in the racers workshops
POVme: Part 1 of 3
From: sciencemediagroup | April 13, 2007 | 7,543 views
A program showing that science is something top athletes — people tweens admire and respect — care about, know about, and use. POVme provides tweens with new role models for science — something those who are underserved and at-risk sorely lack — and give them a new mental image about what doing science can be all about.

vintage columbia trike photo

This is a picture from before I touched this bike. It is in very sad shape. I haven't done much to this, some of the rusted parts were dumped. I have replaced the bottom bracket with an adapter to take a modern crankset instead of the original one piece crank. I need to replace the rear wheels, the rest of the drive train. This is definitely a long term project.

An amazing art custom bike site and a sheldon brown link

This website features galleries of one-off rides of the wildest imaginations, mostly home built, though some of them required some serious home shop upgrades to complete.
http://bikerodnkustom5.homestead.com/cover9_0_2.html

Sheldon Brown was one of the first bike mavens to post articles, reference materials and links on all sorts of bike related content on the web. He is gone but his webpage lives on.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/

Project recumbent status

This summer I bought a Bikee recumbent bike that I made my short daily commute with in September and October. I really enjoyed riding it. The long wheelbase makes it amazing comfortable to sit on and I like sitting more upright. It came well equipped with a large custom bag mounted on the seat, rear suspension, a computer and electric horn. I rode with my son Ian on his Worksman trike just 2 laps inside track at Marine Park. Ready to go needs very little work BUT I also have a short wheel base frame, A short wheelbase Counterpoint Presto since in the attached photo, I tried to built last year and never got the drivetrain right. Another big project: make this rideable, I should have all the bits get there. Two bikes should be the limit I, would probably sell a recumbent and keep the Mt bike. I have been thinking about modifying it to take child seat, trailer, sidecar of something to ride with the 3 year old.

Hooking up my son's Trifecta trike

This is a modern American made adult size trike. My son will not ride a two wheeler and all the trikes for kids were so low to the ground, poor quality and heavy as too not be an option. I've installed a center pull brake on the front fork to compliment the drum brake. You just can't have too much brake power. I've install a plastic basket with the bottom about even with the rear hubs and a bell. Next is a new quick release for the seatpost so it stays steady better and a new set of handlebars. The bike in the picture is not his, just a similar one til a get a photo to post. !

My first post is up. That wasn't too painful. Next: here is a partial list of the projects/bikes/frames/major bits in the collection. In the stable we have:

1) my recumbent, the most comfortable bike I have ever riden

2) My Cannondale Mt. bike the workhorse, I rode it down Mt. Killington in Vt. summer 2008

3) My 10 year old's Worksman Trifecta trike, a work in progress but he loves it

4) My wife's Cannondale Mt. bike another work in progress, upgrades to make it more likely to be riden, more comfortable, easier.

I also have a folding wheelchair frame, a xtracycle frame extension, a vintage columbia folding trike, another recumbent project, seen above, that needs some drivetrain work, a vintage Ross Europa, an early '60s Raleigh Sports, a chrome Dyno BMX frame and too many others to mention. I want to be able for my 3 year old to be able to ride with us or I guess more accurately to be carried by me on a bike or trike.

Home Brew Human Powered Vehicles

This blog is a free resource, journal, outlet and forum reflecting my interest in Bikes, Trikes and all manner of human powered vehicles. I currently own way too many bikes and bike related bits and pieces and way too many bits of recovered, recycled and salvaged bits of flotsam I've kept because they could be used for a bike project. The bikes I have currently have in a rideable state in the stable are: a Cannondale mountain bike with a suspension fork and hydraulic brakes, a BikeE recumbent bike with rear suspension and couch like ride. This blog will document my progress this year in converting the remaining 1/2 ton of stuff into rideable vehicles for me, my wife and kids. I have never blogged before and I hope this will help me document the process because this year I will have access to a proper place to work on my stuff for the first time in over ten years. I will be posted photos of my work. My philosophy is I don't build stuff to look pretty. I would like to be able to commute to work be bike in all weather. Anything I make will be functional. Reactions to the blog will be welcomed. Thanks for looking.