Earthquakes in the automotive repair shops are taking place. Options for repurposing skills to fill voids.

A simply easy vehicle to maintain and repair would be fantastic for the repair shops. The complexity of the vehicles these days is way beyond reason. If they lasted twenty or thirty years, then maybe there would be justification for this complexity but they are not holding up. My push mower does not have sensors, backup cameras or butt warmers. When it is time to cut the grass, the push mower cranks up and gets the job done. I did add a simple and cheap fuel cutoff valve. The carburetor is always gook free and ready to go. Vehicles should not be any different.

Tampa Trike has developed such a vehicle. Two or so body panels can be detached with one quarter turn fasteners and removed. The entire machine is fully accessible. There is a need for wind and grit shielding. Motorcycle engines, transmission and rear wheel assembly creates the drivetrain. They have a great power to weight ratio, manufactured in all sizes and are easy to maintain. Most have a fuel cutoff valve so you can run the carburetors dry. Motorcycles do not like stagnant fuel.

We wanted a trike that drives like a traditional four wheel vehicle and the chassis that operates like a traditional motorcycle, but the big leans take a lot of skill, nerve and can be physically demanding. We wanted to capture the best features of both machines. This patented design ( U.S. 11,279,430 and U.S. 11,753,105  Euro and HK patent pending) not only promises an euphoric drive, but also brings innovation to the forefront of the automotive market.

Design layout

We have retained the automotive seating, steering and pedal controls. The leaning feature of this trike is controlled autonomously. The low seating position would make leaning in a controlled fashion almost impossible. Plus the driver will be free to focus on the next corner. Adjustment to chassis pivot angle controls the under and over steering characteristics of this trike. This one adjustment is always 100% symmetrical. On our website, Storyboard 5 is an animated video of this trike’s functionality. This video started as a play pretty and we kept playing. The drawings evolved from the patent art.

The website https://tampatrike.com, the patent drawings and text contain all of the  technical information to build this trike. The patents protect us and allow us to monetize our work product that took many years to develop. We feel the functional issues with a three wheel car have now been resolved. We also hope the world will appreciate the work and testing that this project consumed and that they would like to experience a really fun drive as we have.

What now

Our product  Patent License Single Vehicle Only exists so that one can use the patent  design as they would like. The simplicity took a lot of work to keep the part count very low. Complex “A” arm design and its many pivots and pivot mounting positions were not used. The “A” arms incorporate a lot of parts and will not allow the wide front tires to stay flat on the road surface when leaning. This is just a mechanical fact. This setup may also affect the steering direction when the vehicle leans. Every corner at various speeds requires a different lean angle.

We hope that people will take advantage of the patent license to build this vehicle. Even with major funding and all of the group thinking that goes with it, meeting demand as we see it, would be difficult. Plus, it could be a fun project and one could enjoy the fruits of their labor daily.

Some points to consider for the repair shop owners and the technicians.

1-   Most will have the skill set and tools needed

2-   Existing vehicle service difficulty is well understood

3-   Many types of donor bikes are available.

4-   May have some components on hand

5-   A lot of small manufacturing machines can be purchased.

6-   You can make your own purpose-built machines.

6-   3D printers work great for making castings patterns.

7-   Plenty of info available about sand casting. Major cost reduction.

8-   We offer more products on the website that could ease the workload.

9-   If it prevents idle hands all will be good.

A local guy told me the reason I don’t like fish is because I have never had fresh fish. He said after school, he and his friend would jump on their bikes and petal as fast as they could down to the canal and fish. If they caught a fish they would cook it right there. “Those were good days”. This project can create the same enthusiasm and focus.

All of us at Tampa Trike hope everyone enjoys this article. If the project improves society one notch, it will be worth it. If it helps individuals one notch it will be worth it. We always need to improve. That is what drives markets and ourselves.

Tampa Trike exists to provide consumers with an exhilarating drive, fuel sipping efficiency and salivating to navigate the next tight corner with another big lean.

Opinions for improvements and business inquiries will be warmly welcomed.