techies behold!

[CarvCanada]

Check this ride out. I've seen about 4 of these in my life. They're built up here in a small Quebec town famous for the huge amount of harleys and custom bikes up there.
It uses a suzuki 1100 motor, tuned to 180hp. Since it weighs 900 lbs, it accelerates to 100km'h (if you do it perfecty) in 3.5 seconds. The website claims the T-rex has achieved 1.9G's of lateral grip!

[CarvCanada]

another

[CarvCanada]

!!

[CarvCanada]

Designed by Gilles Villeneuve's mechanic, with Paul Deutschmund(designed the boxser to have it ripped off)
http://www.go-t-rex.com
http://www.usa-trex.com
Sweet picture (notice all the stubborn harley dudes hiding little glances at it)
http://www.sportbikerider.us/index.cfm?fuseaction=displayit&Picture_ID=29164

[Neuffy]

hm...$25k US/$35k CND...little bit pricey, but then again so are Corvettes/Porsches etc. And this still cheaper, and looks better to me...
Now...just to figure out how to attach two snowboards to that thing for transport....


I want. Too bad I'm not rich.

[Frappe]

So, basically it's a motorcycle-rear with a car-front, as far as the frame/suspension/drivetrain goes? I LIKE it. A lot. and if it actually pulls 1.9, it's got my vote.
The single rear-wheel screams over-steer to me, but if they have the handling sorted out right I'm sure it would work.

I'd love to see some pictures of it in a corner.

[Jack Michaud]

I'm surprised by the twin-shock rear.

[Frappe]

Probably needs to be twin shock to deal with the amount of weight coming back on it during acceleration, and to be able to change camber to deal with the car-type body roll from the front.

Mayhaps?

[CarvCanada]

pretty light and simple machinery, but that's the way it should be

the rear springs have adjustable stiffness too

the thing SCREAMS! there is no sound damping at all, and the engine runs through to 14000 RPM (10000 where you should shift!)

[Frappe]

Then my only problem with it would be the noise.

I want something that goes WAY too fast, but does so while sounding very quiet, at least until you really push it.

[Ghostrider]

Loud pipes save lives.

Can it be made louder?;)

Looks like its got a can on the rear...I hope its not baffled. If I had one, that'd be gone. I like to see flames when I let off the gas. Let the engine exhale properly is my philosophy. :D

[mirror70]

Originally posted by Frappe
Probably needs to be twin shock to deal with the amount of weight coming back on it during acceleration, and to be able to change camber to deal with the car-type body roll from the front.


Doesn't look like there is any camber change except as a result of the frame flexing and the body rolling.

The twin shocks are there because of the extra weight of the vehicle. The extra weight means that a single shock/spring combo from a car could have been used, but there would be a heck of a lot of torque in the back if it had a spring on only one side - the car shock would have been to big to package in the middle. A single bike shock/spring wouldn't have handled the extra weight very well. With two passengers, it has about double the weight of the typical sportbike + rider.

[Jack Michaud]

Originally posted by mirror70

A single bike shock/spring wouldn't have handled the extra weight very well. With two passengers, it has about double the weight of the typical sportbike + rider.

Bah - a monoshock system similar to a motorcycle's could have handled the weight. The Honda Goldwing is pushing 800lbs, and is intended for 2 riders - as are 99% of all bikes. I'd also be surprised if body roll dictated the use of twin-shocks.

[mirror70]

Originally posted by Jack Michaud
Bah - a monoshock system similar to a motorcycle's could have handled the weight. The Honda Goldwing is pushing 800lbs, and is intended for 2 riders - as are 99% of all bikes. I'd also be surprised if body roll dictated the use of twin-shocks.

Even if sourced from a big bike like that, probably not. The T-rex is a 3-wheeled go-kart, not a luxo-cruiser. The very stiff spring would quickly burn out the shock, which is valved for a softer spring with lower speed travel (and more of it). If they're going to need custom valving on the shock, they may as well just go with a different design that could use off the shelf parts.

If there were a workable monoshock solution, there would still be some packaging issues because you're sitting on front of the engine, not behind it.

An interesting place for a monoshock would be in the front, where it would allow for independent control of the roll and wheel rate, such as what Formula Renault and Formula BMW use (among others).

[CarvCanada]

that'd be pretty sweet, if it could be applied to a 3-wheeler like this

i like the way that beefy suspension looks though... probably decently cheap too. they take the rear wheel straight from the rear of the dodge viper

[Jack Michaud]

There is another three-wheeler kit out there (dammit, can't remember the name at the moment) where you supply the motorcycle and they supply the front end. You basically remove the bike's fairing and front end, and graft the rest of the bike on to their front end. I think it's a one-seater though.

[CarvCanada]

hehe sounds pretty cheap, but it'll get the job done!
do you keep the rounded motorcycle wheel!?!?

[joecarve]

Good luck straddling any junk in the road...you'll need a lane change to get around a Coke can...

joe...