Interesting engineering

[dullbird]

Has anyone seen this website?

It's quite good if you haven't.

I saw this little Vespa thought it was a nifty idea looks like some other interesting stuff on the site too :)

Is it a Vespa or is it a camper van? (http://interestingengineering.com/is-it-a-vespa-or-is-it-a-camper-van/)

[sam_d]

It looks interesting but I'd be concerned about it's stability.

It made me think of this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQh56geU0X8).

[Dougal]

It looks to be a rendering rather than a physical thing at this point. But it's an extremely interesting design.

[V8Ian]

'Tis but a variation on converting an old Post Office Transit to a camper.

[BMKal]

'Tis but a variation on converting an old Post Office Transit to a camper.

Yes - and if you want a "luxury" or "family camper" version - import a Tuk Tuk and modify that. :D

[vnx205]

I could never understand why anyone would think it was a good idea to have the single wheel at the front on a three wheeler. Surely the weight transfer must make it very unstable if you brake and turn at the same time. The Robin Reliant seems to demonstrate that problem with monotonous regularity.

The Morgan setup with two wheels at the front must surely be much safer. You would need to go flat out in reverse, turn the wheel and slam on the brakes to create the stability problems that you live with all the time in a three wheeler with one front wheel.

Is there some mechanical or technical advantage that makes it worth the instability inherent in the design?

[V8Ian]

Yes - and if you want a "luxury" or "family camper" version - import a Tuk Tuk and modify that. :D
I would love a Tuk Tuk but doubt it could be rego'd in Australia.

[banjo]

I would love a Tuk Tuk but doubt it could be rego'd in Australia.

I did see one years ago with rego on it.

[banjo]

I did see one years ago with rego on it.


Plus in NSW you can rego those small motor bikes now. Like the ones some guys use on a golf course. I was offered one with full rego all done up with mags & all the nice paint to swap for the green car. Little Honda , they look like kids bikes.

[V8Ian]

Yes Jason, I remember there was a place in Wickham St that had some in the '70s, but anything you imported now has to comply with ADRs.

[dullbird]

It looks to be a rendering rather than a physical thing at this point. But it's an extremely interesting design.

Yeah I knew it was a render/concept....

it was more about the webiste its self but seeing the vespa caught my eye because I thought it was a cool idea:)

[isuzurover]

I could never understand why anyone would think it was a good idea to have the single wheel at the front on a three wheeler. Surely the weight transfer must make it very unstable if you brake and turn at the same time. The Robin Reliant seems to demonstrate that problem with monotonous regularity.

The Morgan setup with two wheels at the front must surely be much safer. You would need to go flat out in reverse, turn the wheel and slam on the brakes to create the stability problems that you live with all the time in a three wheeler with one front wheel.

Is there some mechanical or technical advantage that makes it worth the instability inherent in the design?

Indeed. However I think the Ape on which that concept is based does OK because it is basically a small van so usually has a load in the back and hence the CofG is far enough back to make it sufficintly stable.

That concept however seems to have most of the weight on one side, which I would need some rethinking.

The Apes are used for goods deliveries all through italy, as they are the only vans/trucks small enough to fit down all the narrow alleys in the old villages.

[dullbird]

If I remember rightly in the UK you didn't need a driving licence for a robin reliant only a bike licence...(I couldnt wrong on that though)

so in answer to the I never understood why they put the one wheel at the front and not the back..I wonder if this had anything to do with it, if it was the case...
Perhaps two wheels at the front put it in a category of a car not a bike maybe????

I'm only guessin on this

[V8Ian]

Lou, like you I am unsure but I think the licence bit had more to do with the lack of a reverse gear rather than wheel placement.

[UncleHo]

There was a butcher on Bribie that had a Tuk Tuk for deliveries,but had to buy a ute as it didn't have the capacity,I think it is still sitting in his yard,there was somebody in Brisbane that imported about a dozen of them,they should be still around, what I would like is a Can-Am motorcycle type of thing 2 wheels at the front 1 rear,a friend has one 1300cc,he went to Cairns for his belated honeymoon,and called in on the way back,it was towing a Can-Am trailer with their camping gear :)

[bob10]

Found this, Bob


Classification:

UK Government Regulations

Licence Groups permitted to drive a Tricycle:

Group B1 Motor tricycle / quadricycles
Group B Car category manual or auto
Group P Mopeds (Tricycles not exceeding 50cc and a top speed of 30mph)


Please note! There is still a belief that if you pass a motorcycle test that you can drive a 3-wheeler like a Reliant Robin, this is no longer the case. For those who took a motorcycle test and gained Group A on their license before February 2001, this gave them the full Group B1 entitlement. However, passing your motorcycle test after February 2001 does not give you full Group B1 entitlement. For those who passed a car test (Group B), although the driving license may not be explicitly marked with Group B1, it is included because Group B is the main category and also covers the sub-category B1

[dullbird]

So I was right cool....

I thought you could at one point.

[vnx205]

So I was right cool....

I thought you could at one point.

The conversation between Jeremy Clarkson and a group of Robin owners in that link posted in post #2 confirms what you said.

[dullbird]

Yeah didn't look at the link:)

[sdt463]

My first car in the 60s Was a an Isetta bubble car ( 2 wheels at the front ) This was driven on a motor bike licence and had a reverse gear. Although the law at the time said that a car licence was required for any vehicle with reverse it did not seem to to be enforced.
Another three wheeler of the time ( if my memory serves me ) was the Bond. The single wheel at the front was attached to a Villiers motor which turned with the steering. To reverse on some models you could turn the wheel through 180 degrees, on others turning the ignition key anti clockwise would start the motor backwards.
Thats my recollection, any one with a better memory please feel free to correct me.
Cheers,
Dave

[jerryd]

In my youth and riding motorcycles, I purchased a "Reliant Regal Van" (think Del Boy) to use in the colder winter months and to generally learn to drive a car legally without supervision :cool: Yes you could drive one on a full motorbike licence.

It drove and handled quite well, but one night travelling home I hit some flood water across the road. The front wheel immediately turned to the left ripping my hands off the steering wheel and it began to roll :eek:

The car behind me said it rolled seven times, I just seem to remember everything happening in slow motion with the doors being ripped off and the front part of the roof caving in along with the windscreen. It came to a halt upside down in a ditch, my dog which was in the back was thrown out and he managed to find his way home which was about a mile away. Amazingly my passenger and myself were unhurt with just a few bruises, how we survived I don't know as we did not wear seatbelts in those days.

A few days later I went to the scrap yard to collect items out of the car, I was really surprised to see that there was a metal bar moulded into the roof structure which had probably stopped the whole roof caving in. Did this experience put me off driving one ?? Certainly not I went and purchased another one but drove it a bit more carefully at night.

[AndyG]

Did the dog ever get back in the thing, or stick to walking?