Hey all, thought I'd throw in an update on this jalopy and all that is.
After my beater bike blew up, I bought a Specialized Globe Work 1 Step Through in January and have been riding it daily ever since. The car has been sitting idle in the parking lot for months, but the truck gets some weekend use with mountain biking and whatnot.
I am going on a road trip in a couple weeks though, which means I need to get the Civic back into shape. Drove it to work today (GASP) to drop it off at my mechanic/fab guy's house this evening. One major point of worry is that the heat shield under the gas tank had been ripped off this winter. After having the $30 header wrap I put on it rip and fall off, I've decided to say screw it.
I'm getting the exhaust turned into a straight-pipe side dump, unless there is an easier way to keep the heat off the flammable liquid in my car. Will talk to my guy and see what he thinks. Also getting it lowered back down on the Ebay springs (hoping to score some used coilovers for cheap at some point). Then an alignment and I'll do some coroplast wheel covers.
I scored a VX pass. mirror delete a few weeks ago, so that is installed. I pulled out the front and rear carpets, the passenger seat, the lower console, stereo head unit and all the speakers. The weight savings add up and my cargo space increases. The hole in the floorboard was repaired over the winter, but I also gained a leak in the windshield seal. Time to replace the windshield.
Not sure if I mentioned, but the steering column shakes on left hand turns. I'm thinking axle but it could just be an alignment issue. I bought an EMPI axle just in case, since my current one's warranty ran out a month ago.
What else... I have Hella 500 driving lights now, hooked up to the high beams and with an on/off switch just in case. The Magnum Opus Rally isn't really an option for me this year but the lights should help driving in the country though... until LSPR 2014 comes along
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As for the velomobile, my friend and I worked on the design and settled on a 305/406 articulated frame (drivetrain mounted on fork) FWD unfaired lowracer. I/we built the wheels, with an SA XRD8-W front hub (8 spd, drum brake) and a Shimano disc brake rear hub, both to 36-hole steel rims (sourced from Calhoun Cycle) and Maxxis Hookworm tires. Going with a 65-tooth Schwinn exercise bike chainring on a short one-piece crank running to a 20-t cog. Should be geared for 25 mph, easily. Maybe 30 on sprints? Next step is to start cutting up the donor (old Huffy) bike for the fork/headset and start laying out the frame full scale. Maybe I'll start a thread here, but more likely will just add it to the recumbents.com project list.
Cheers, everybody. More updates later.
(Taking out recycling with my new "car")
