Engineering Excellence
RTR LAD CPD Engineering Project – Drift Trike build
The finished trike
Colin Furze - Drift Trike http://www.colinfurze.com/drift-trike.html Build team – Cfn Isherwood (VM2), Cfn Gray (RM3), WO1 (ASM) Bush. Welding instructors – Capt C Milne (previous EME), Cpl Rostron (RM1). Scribes – Cfn Isherwood and WO1 (ASM) Bush. EME – Capt G McKenna. WO1 (ASM) Bush If you are looking for an interesting project that will enhance your engineering skills with a great toy as the resultant product have a look at Colin Furze on YouTube. Some of his builds are completed with basic tool kits opening them up to those new to engineering and perfect for REME engineers of all competencies. His version is built without the use of welding equipment
simplifying it, we decided to use a welder to teach the skill. During the national lockdown I spent some time looking for a project to test the engineering skills of some of the junior tradesmen within the LAD once we could return to work in a more normal capacity. The Colin Furze Drift Trike looked like an interesting build and the most fun once completed. Recruiting a build team was easy once the YouTube instructional video had been seen by all, Cfn Isherwood and Gray offered their help immediately. We then set about sourcing the parts required and planning the build. Cfn Isherwood After watching the video, I wanted in. The opportunity to build something like this from scratch looked amazing and just what I needed when returning to work after a period of being dispersed. Essentially this build is the front end of a BMX, the rear axle of a go-kart held together by a bespoke fabricated chassis made from box and angle iron, a 110cc pit bike engine to power it and UPVC sleeves fitted to the rear tyres. The sleeves serve three purposes; firstly, for fun, drifting this trike is great fun and secondly to prevent the trike reaching its max speed of 60mph. So, safety has been considered. Thirdly from an engineering perspective they replace the differential or freely rotating hubs by allowing power to be lost through less friction with the road surface. Chassis Made from box and angle measuring, cutting and welding were key to this. We had to consider: • The chassis length would accommodate the engine. Wide enough to support the axle and house the bearings. • Ground clearance. • How to fix it to the BMX.
Drift trike 711s
10 craftsmaneditor@reme-rhq.org.uk
Rear axle and rolling chassis The next stage was to attach the chassis to the BMX this involved cutting an arc into the box to maximise the material contact with the BMX crank housing and welding them together.
