Homebuilt Atomic Zombie Aurora Delta Trike

Thought I would share some pics of my second homebuilt trike. I built this one for my wife so that she could get into riding recumbents and do it in comfort until she got used to the different riding.

It is a scratch built delta trike project from Atomic Zombie Aurora plans. Changes were to the steering and the seat. I built a seat frame and mesh seat in lieu of the original hard seat. Also, I made the seat and steering completely adjustable so that if my wife wanted to change seat incline and orientation to the pedals . . . it could be done easily without major modifications.

Here are some pics. Links to the build photos for my Aurora (and my AZ Warrior) in my signature that show many details if you care to see them.

Let me know if you have any questions . . .would love to answer them!




Rob
RV3maker
AZ Warrior build
AZ Aurora build

 

Looking Great! My AZ Tadpole is unfinished...pulls to right badly and must re-do steering.....I converted a two-wheeled bent to a trike....it's rideable but I haven't repainted it. Maybe I need to get busy!
Larry

 

Looks great. I have started an AZ street fox that I need to get back to.

 

Great looking ride! I am partial to the delta layout.
A both rear wheels driven? I can't tell from the pictures.

 

Hi Larry, I am just now priming and painting my AZ Warrior.......I have been riding it since 2012....too much fun to stop and paint it!

Rob
rv3maker

 

Hi Uncle Chuck,

The Aurora has two independent rear axle, but only the left side is driven. Having two axles gives it a differential effect. I have pans to add an electric motor to the right side axle in the near future.

He's a better pic of rear and a photo of a fellow atomic zombie builder (River) and how he added a similar electric drive to right side axle (pic is upside down).





Rob
rv3maker

 

I am a newbie here, and to the world of recumbents in general. I am hoping to build from an Atomic Zombie plan, and have got my eye on either a Timberwolf or Aurora delta trike. In both cases, the rear wheel hubs are welded to a solid axle, which rotates in pillow-block bearings. These are claimed to last for the life of the trike. Similarly, the cassette has to be mounted on one end of the (split) rear axle. Atomic Zombie used to offer specially made adapters for this : the FDAX34 delta trike axle freewheel adapter, and a similar one for setting up a disc brake on the axle itself. Unfortunately, they no longer offer this service. The plans do give workshop drawings for their fabrication one-off by a specialist. However, I was wondering if anyone knows of any commercial source of supply of these parts ready-made; there must surely be a small but steady demand for them. I also wondered if anybody with experience of them can confirm the alleged longevity of the pillow-block bearings, especially since one approach to mounting the freewheel adapter is to weld a steel version of it to the axle in the same way as the hubs. It's there for life. I'd prefer to through-bolt the aluminium version if I can get hold of one!
Many thanks for any comments or advice you may have.

 

Creaky,

There are some sources for axle adapters. From there you can put on a freewheel or buy a thread on disc brake mounting flange. Here are some links to some different sizes by searching freewheel axle adaptor delta trike.

http://sickbikeparts.com/freewheel-adapter/
http://www.staton-inc.com/store/index.php?p=catalog&parent=73&pg=1 Look at the pages here for a large variety of axle sizes and different adaptors for freewheels, drive gears and disc brake mounts

Cheers!
Rob
RV3maker

 

RV3maker
Thank you very much for this. I'll follow it up, and hopefully speed up the build process - I did think that this particular stage might prove the most awkward one.
Best wishes
Creaky

 

I am thinking about building an AZ Aurora or a Timberwolf - what are the differences between the two? I'm also wondering about the track width, as I live on a bike path and anything much wider (overall) than 30" has a tough time getting between some of the bollards.
Thanks!
-Ethan

 

Too bad no specs are posted on the website (track width, seat height, etc.) to help with comparing, although it does seem that many people don't follow the plans to the letter and modify things to suit themselves. My sense was that the Timberwolf has a higher seat (and the Loderunner, higher still). I couldn't really tell, trackwidth-wise. I will most likely do their 3 plans for $18 deal, but I'm not sure that I would buy both of those just to compare. I'd like to get as much variety for my $18 as I can, and am hoping that I can gather the info I need through things like this thread.