Look closely

Vintage Modified Dirt Racer For Sale

‘46 Ford body

This seems like the start of a glorious Steampunk Vehicle

Ed sent me this link to this 1940 big4 600cc side valve desert norton up for sale on Ebay.  The two-wheel-drive feature is notorious for being deadly on anything but sand.

Meanwhile, in Oman….

This is from the LRDG campout.

http://www.lrdg.org/

(Source: picatorazukan, via bikefreak)

Mad Max dune buggy!  According to the sign, it was used in one of the films and then further customized by the next owner.  They used a few VW-based kit-buggies in the movies but I can’t specifically place this one.  At the car museum in Butte, Montana.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28555987@N06/6006859222/in/set-72157628339263293/

Experimental vehicle for conveying French Foreign Legion officers across the sands of North Africa, with inventor, 1912.  Never adopted.

Shushpanzer!- now no longer an attack site!

Here’s my inspiration for Count Chopula… a LRDG truck.  I see chains, shade cloth, motor oil, a rifle, a telescope, a map case, toolboxes, traction plates, a 50 cal, water, at least 24 gallons of gas, and I can’t even see what’s in the bed of the truck!

Count Chopula 10th Anniversary “Rat Patrol” desert combat sidecar bicycle chopper by Johnny Payphone at www.chicagofreakbike.org

The only other tips I have for sidecar makers are:

1) Center the passenger between the two rear wheels, which should be aligned as if there was an invisible axle between them.  This will put the ass end of the car behind the bike, but that’s what you want, for better balance.  Otherwise the bike will tip towards the invisible fourth wheel.  The wheels handle best if they are arranged in a right triangle, however, any acute triangle will do, and any obtuse one will fail (for obvious reasons if you think about it).

2) Don’t do what I did and use a 26” wheel, a 24” wheel, and a 20” wheel.  This leaves you needing three spare wheels, three spare tires, and three inner tube sizes.  If you’re building for cargo I would recommend going with 20s all around- they’re stronger than larger wheels, and have better acceleration, but a lower top end, which you don’t need anyway on a cargo bike.

3) The wheels must be aligned along the X, Y, and Z axis.  You don’t want the bike to be pigeon-toed, or splay-footed, or it will chatter… the wheels should all touch the ground at the same place or the bike will lean to one side, AND you don’t want them to lean in or out like a racing wheelchair, although this is the least crucial dimension.