[trikes] Tilting deltas

[Purple People Design]

Hi all,

It may be my first post here but a quick scan of the archives shows friends,
acquainted a long time ago and more recently.

The tilting delta I showed at the MHPSC is my second and the first I've
built based on the original Magic leaning trike.  I've owned the Magic since
about '99 when I "inherited" it from the designer, my mentor.  It is a
simple design and when the rear toe-in is adjusted properly it is capable of
very tight turns.  Some may remember it in the parking lot at the Ford
Proving Grounds turning 12 ft circles around small groups of people at near
45 deg lean over.  Note that the 1-hour race results are nbt wholly
indicative since I had just arrived that afternoon and did not get a chance
to fine tune the rear wheel alignment before the mass start.  By Sunday, I
had the alignment and thus the handling mostly in hand.

For those who haven't already seen it, here is a video of the original in
action.  I'll try to get video of the new trike up soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdSLRD_2vzc

As you can see, the new trike is considerably lower.  So low that I was able
to change the rear track from 20" on the down to just over a foot.

The advantage of a tilting delta over a bike is during cornering.  I know it
sounds counter-intuitive, but the extra contact patch at the rear allows the
machine to hang in there when a two-wheeler will begin to over-steer.  The
disadvantage compared to a tadpole is that it is still possible to lose the
single front contact patch.  I suppose the ideal cornering vehicle would be
a leaning quad.... but I haven't yet worked out the details for such a
machine.

:)ensen.

Miguel Jensen Didulo dba
Purple People Design
London, Ontario

"Those who claim to be making history are often the same ones repeating it."