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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 14, 2014 13:49:13 GMT -5
OK guyz and galz...
Every so often we see neat ideas for a TRAILER. I came across THIS one in a T-Shirt design on eBay... Duh... You just never know where inspiration may come from!
Seems my research shows the scooter and trailer in the line-drawing are by CEZETA from "Sloviakia". Not sure if that was Czechoslovakia before the new Russian Federation, but the scoot, and its mega-funky design are certainly from the old-school Communist-Block. (I'm also posting a pic of a Sputnik-inspired relic-condition Cezeta "rocket" scoot, just because it's SO funky-neat!)
This single-wheel, "lean with the scooter" trailer design is SO simple, yet SO well-done that it merits study by anyone wanting to make their own scooter-trailer!
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This single-wheel trailer fastens to the Continental spare-tire mount on the scooter. This surely is part of the top-rear frame-tube. A simple steel tab, welded to the frame and protruding through the plastic (tin on this one... LOL!) is all that's needed to hook the trailer up to the scoot. The trailer-tongue has a simple "C" shaped female clamp that goes over the male tab on the scooter with a bolt. The only necessity here would be that the bolt would need to be capable of "pinching" the "C" clamp snugly against the scooter tab, so the trailer could NOT wobble ANY left and right on the tab. Easy enough to accomplish! Just a careful fitting of the male and female parts of the mount, and a good, stout bolt and nut to pinch it together. You could even drill through the protruding bolt, and put a padlock through it. Or, just forget the "C" part on the tongue, and simply use broad, flat pieces on BOTH the tongue, AND the scooter mount, with a friction-piece between, the whole enchilada being pinched together by the through-bolt! (Somewhere in the tongue, there should also be an "up-and-down" hinge-feature, to avoid fatiguing the mount at the scooter.)
Talk about "form follows function"! Wow! What a great example of the old "K.I.S.S." concept. The trailer ONLY pivots left and right, on its attachment point. The trailer itself however is well-engineered, with compression-spring suspension on the teensy "tail-wheel" and a separate frame, complete with stand-offs for turn-signals. The metal body is NICE! But, could be home-made from anything from a car-top carrier to a trunk, to a plywood box... or even a flat-floor with bungee cords to hold the goods.
Just look over the concept, and let your mind run wild! There are HUNDREDS of ways to replicate this design in your own garage! The more I study the single-wheel trailer, the more it makes a whole lot of sense to me!
Now, just for the funky-fun of it... Check out this 1950's/1960's "Rocket" scooter by Cezeta! At first, I thought the small picture was an early Murray pedal-car! Or, an amusement-park ride! But nope! It's a real scooter (175cc 2-stroke to boot!).
print screen windows xp
You've gotta give credit to good folks living in the dismal conditions of the old-time Communist regime who could manage such whimsical, fantasy-transportation as THIS one!
Ride safe, and keep yer' Sputnik in orbit!
Leo in Texas
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Post by novaraptor on Apr 14, 2014 14:48:40 GMT -5
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Post by skuttadawg on Apr 14, 2014 15:17:29 GMT -5
Those like neato as I love " classic not plastic " scoots . I would think a single rear wheel it would be speed limited as it would bounce around and may cause you to wreck . I have seen a few trailers made for scooters and many on Goldwings . The other week I saw a Radio Flyer wagon with the front wheels taken off as a trailer . You would need to have tail and brake lights to be legal .
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Post by spandi on Apr 14, 2014 17:13:53 GMT -5
Leo, I remember these from some site I went to (as I am very interested in trailer units) If I recall correctly they are STILL selling these units, but I also recall them being rather pricy too. However Leo, a mig welder and some time.....a mig welder and time  |
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Post by nulldevice on Apr 14, 2014 19:22:04 GMT -5
Those like neato as I love " classic not plastic " scoots . I would think a single rear wheel it would be speed limited as it would bounce around and may cause you to wreck . I have seen a few trailers made for scooters and many on Goldwings . The other week I saw a Radio Flyer wagon with the front wheels taken off as a trailer . You would need to have tail and brake lights to be legal . From my recent experience with my home made one wheel trailer -- a hitch that is stiff is most important. My first hitch made from laminated wood wasn't, and it had some scary moments for me. Once the trailer started swaying the only way to stop the sway was to come almost to a complete stop. My new hitch made of square steel tubing cured that. Now any initial swaying is self damping. Regarding bouncing -- my trailer has no suspension, just a rigidly mounted 4.80/4.00-8 trailer wheel and tire. It bounces. As long as I am going in a straight line I feel nothing, I only hear the cargo door rattle and bang. Going around corners with the trailer bouncing is disconcerting. It does yank the scooter from side to side, but after the first couple times the yanking becomes predictable and is controllable. Thirty to fifty MPH cross winds do make things really interesting. A big bounce happened on the Interstate at 70 MPH. The trailer started bouncing side to side from the wind shoving the trailer out of line and was self sustaining. I had to back off to 60 MPH to stop that one. Next winter it gets a suspension. I have some ideas . . . in the meantime I am going to get a rounded tread cross section eight inch wheelbarrow tire and see if it helps the bouncy bouncy. |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 14, 2014 21:45:22 GMT -5
As others have mentioned, YES, the trailer-to-scooter hookup must be VERY solid with NO slop, just like your scoot's front and rear forks. Otherwise, the trailer may well start "oscillating" like a front-fork "high-speed wobble". The fit of the hitch to the scooter needs to be tight, and the welded tab "bullet-proof". If I recall, Nulldevice has a scooter "blessed" with a HOLLOW rear axle, making THAT part of the mount a "no-brainer". A hollow axle makes for a "perfect" rock-solid attachment point!
I don't think it makes much difference if the trailer uses two wheels, or one, so long as the wheel is well behind the center of gravity. Either setup can oscillate and wobble if the weight is too far forward, or, if the hitch-to-scooter attachment has any slop in it.
Like Nulldevice, I believe a round-profile treaded tire would be a very good idea for tracking, especially through turns. I'm not sure a wheelbarrow tire will hold up to highway speed, but if not, any old scooter wheel/tire combo should be OK, and inexpensive if you look around. As for suspension, I have looked into that too, and there are numerous coil-over spring and shock units available for mountain-bicycle use. These are available in a WIDE array of weight-appropriate designs, and should be IDEAL for use on a small trailer. If you search eBay, they can be had pretty cheap, too.
One thing I noticed about the CEZETA trailer (I've seen these on VESPA scoots, too) is that the wheel IS set up like an aircraft tail-wheel. It's WAY out back, with all the trailer-weight well in front of it. Just from the appearance, it looks like this design is well-engineered to reduce the tendency toward bounce-induced-wobble.
With the wheel way out back, equipped with well-damped suspension, it should track as true as possible. I'd go so far as to think a standard 2-wheel trailer might even track better if the axle was out back like this single-wheel design. Some concepts just "look right" to the eye, and this is one of them (my opinion only... LOL!). These trailers are in use in Europe, and other places where riders are SERIOUS about utility and reliability, so I'd think the design has probably been proven to be a good one.
I think Nulldevice is most likely to be the first one on the site to really try refining the single-wheel trailer concept. He's already "ahead of the curve" with real, road-tested designs. This is the kind of neat stuff that makes "ItIsTheRide" such a great place to be part of!
Keep the ideas coming!
Leo in Texas
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Post by nulldevice on Apr 15, 2014 12:06:46 GMT -5
I have done some research and experiments on tire pressure. For a starting point research came up with this method. Maximum tire load capacity at maximum pressure Divided by the maximum expected gross weight on the tire Take the maximum load and divide it by the number you just got Take the maximum pressure and divide it by the second number you just got. My calculations: Max tire load 590 pounds Maximum pressure 60 PSI Maximum loaded trailer weight 150 pounds Here we go with the calculator 590 / 150 = 3.  60 / 3. = 15.25 PSI I wonder how low I can go and keep the tire beads seated.  So, 15 PSI to start, with the trailer loaded at about 100 pounds gross weight to try it out on the road. The lift and drop it test was promising. |
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Post by earlwb on Apr 15, 2014 14:24:06 GMT -5
Yeah they had some pretty cool trailer and scooter combo's way back then. It was a lot more popular at that time as WWII had only ended a short time earlier and most people couldn't afford a car yet.
I think that the all time classic was the vintage video of someone using a scooter with a side car to pull a fold up camping trailer with a small boat too. I actually thought it was pretty neat. This was back in the early 1950's when cars were still too expensive for many people since WWII had ended.
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