After having installed the FWD (Front Wheel Drive) transmission on my M5 bike I was able to do some tests and the result was encouraging.
So it was possible to start the build of the new tilting mechanism.
Unfortunately it was not possible to use exactly the same I used for the Raptobike.
In fact the frame width in the rear on the Raptobike is 100mm, while for the M5 is 130mm.
This means that although the mechanism is the same, the width of both arms has to be 30mm greater.
Here we can see some test of the positioning of the mechanism using two wider aluminium supports (40mm instead of 25mm).
An additional challenge is the fact that both rear arms are really very close to the bike frame, so additional spacing has to be provided for them to freely rotate.
In the pictures here below we can see the new tilting trike with the rear mechanism installed, together with the electrical parts (hub motor, controller and 48V battery)
New M5 tilting trike from the rear, with disk brakes and eZee front hub motor
Initial tests of the trike with the hub motor have been really good: the bike handles well and it is extremely stable!
The next steps are going to be the following:
- build the 3 support structures for the solar panels: one in the front, one in the center and one in the back.
- build the rotating mechanisms to allow the solar panels to tilt around the main axle
- build the frame to keep both solar panels (150W each, size 1070x800mm) together
Really great work sir,I am interested in your tilting mechanism ,is it possible to mail me detial inside design with picture ,
Hi Daniele
How can I purchase a tilt kit for my cruzebike price? Availability?
Seriously Rob Australia
Hi Daniele,
you have to repaint the tilting system, the light blue do not go at all with the blue of the frame !
😉
I thought that this “light blue” tilting mechanism was better with my M5 than the trivial “white” as I used last year on the (white) Raptobike …but you are probably right!
Hi, thank you for your comment! What you suggest is interesting, but I think that for this kind of applications it is not really adapted.
In fact it would add weight and complexity for a bicycle, so the solution I have chosen is better from both points of view.
May be it is not perfect, but in 5000 km I had no bad surprises.
Probably in the future I may redesign this part with the objective to make it more robust and reliable.
Daniele
Please understand that I have used a translator.
I’d like to share my thoughts on the tilt mechanism.
What do you think of using a bevel gear to move the wheel arm differently?
The weight of this device is unknown, but the drive mechanism of this gear system is very simple and does not require any additional equipment.
If there is a possibility, do you want to try it?
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