Utility Cycling - Mexican pickup, two-in-front truck-cycle

Anybody ever built or bought one of those tricycles with two wheels and a really big bed in the front? I've heard of plenty of them down in mexico, used as pedicabs or pickups, but only seen one of them in the states, hanging in a kansas bike shop. I'd like to build one but am concerned that the huge amount of tubing and welding involved in the bed will kill me.

Work or industrial cycles.
Worksman Cycles (http://www.worksman.com/) NY company been around for over 100 years now.
Atlas is the Taiwanese knock-off.
Here (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=267965) is a thread from commuting dealing with such cycles.

Anybody ever built or bought one of those tricycles with two wheels and a really big bed in the front? I've heard of plenty of them down in mexico, used as pedicabs or pickups, but only seen one of them in the states, hanging in a kansas bike shop. I'd like to build one but am concerned that the huge amount of tubing and welding involved in the bed will kill me.

Kill you how, like cost wise? I guess if you're going to pay a custom frame builder to make it out of triple butted chromoly it's gonna get spendy, but otherwise I don't see why you couldn't do it. I bought a 8 foot piece of 1" surplus pipe from a local Metal place for like $1.50, if you scavenge it won't cost a dime.

They have those at Disneyland, but they carry ice cream.

Some Dutch (i think) company make them.

One was featured in Jack Black's last movie, Nacho Libre. It was motorized.

http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0457510/033.jpg.html
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0457510/460.jpg.html

Kill you how, like cost wise?.

No, I just don't really know how to weld (yet). I've done a little on my buddie's MIG, and I just inherited a Lincoln tombstone welder, which will of course be nearly useless for any tubing welding, at least at my skill level: stick welding time = zero

Thanks, Those Worksman cycles gave me some great ideas, for instance putting the headset under the box, not behind it.

Atomic Zombie's bike building book has a how to section . I think he called his the hammerhead. He also made tandem one also, it's worth checking out and reading up on building one.

That's what a lot of ice cream bikes are, basically. Here's some I made:

http://www.johnnypayphone.net/ghana/enwa1t.jpg

http://www.johnnypayphone.net/ghana/babyenwa1.jpg

http://non.primate.net/chopper/grillbike01.jpg

Here's a beautiful one by Per, who taught me and has made a dozen. He usually uses a bus bench and a flipped snowmobile front end to make a functional pedicab (or cyclo). This one is like the one he made where the bench collapsed and you could scoop up someone in a wheelchair. The frame is two flipped girls frames. Imagine how the forks would stick out up and down. He then bends the blades outward to form four arms that then serve as suspension.

http://www.chicagofreakbike.org/bikes/meatwagon01.jpg




Hints:

-your headtube should be exactly at 90 degrees to the ground. Otherwise the bike will fall into itself the minute you step off of it.
-two front caliper brakes are helpful for steering, like in F-Zero. Use your rear one as a drag.
-Make sure your front wheels are parallel, level, and plumb.
-you can make one of these in a day with some box steel. Since there are so many welds, but they are easy ones, I find somebody who wants to learn/practice and make them do the welding, then I go over it where it needs it. Since you're learning to weld, these welds line up nice and straight and this is great practice.
-I fabricated a long steer tube for the grillbike, and put a small-tallbike 20" bmx on the back. This makes the hinge much stronger.
-I would recommend never using wheels above 20" on any cargo bike. This lowers your top speed but increases strength and pickup. Who needs to go fast with 300 lbs?
-I made a simple hinge at front and put springs in back, see the meatwagon.
-four square tube posts coming out of the bed allow you to mount any attachment- a grill, a throne, a fire barrell, a drumkit

http://non.primate.net/chopper/drumbike01.jpg

P.S. The term "mexican pickup" makes me cringe. Can I call an SUV a "white people's lard-cart"?

Sure... it are what it is. :)

That Meatwagon is da Bomb !!
100% pulled pork !!
:beer:

Vt. RaT PaTroL rep.

P.S. The term "mexican pickup" makes me cringe. Can I call an SUV a "white people's lard-cart"?

Hehe, me too, but it's a pretty apt name since you see the things all over in Mexico. I'm sure they're all over in other countries too, but I knew exactly what he was talking about when I read the thread title. Maybe "Mexican Vendor Bike" would be better. Either way, I want one.

PS: +millions for the F-Zero reference in your other post. Thanks for the good info too, as aways.

Dang, that is one hella cool meatwagon.
Is that a Frank Gehry building I see in the background of the drum-mobile? where was that taken? I ask because we've got one here in Seattle, but that doesn't look quite like the EMP

P.S. The term "mexican pickup" makes me cringe. Can I call an SUV a "white people's lard-cart"?
It'll make some people cringe, but go ahead.

Last January we had a memorial ride for Isaiah who was killed riding his chopper down Western. I took the grillbike with a fire as a sort of pyre. The cops swarmed in to break up our candlelight vigil. Coming back from getting the Rat Patrol out of jail, I got doored while riding with the fire and some drunk in a land-yacht came pretty close to a lapful of hot coals. But the rear end broke off the grillbike and I had to redo it.

I fabricated a long headtube and steertube for extra leverage. The rest is just a small-tall. Five speeds and three brakes- left, right, and drag. Eventually I'll make the drag a footbrake on the right chainstay. The 20" wheel is good for strength, and the short wheelbase makes the bike more manuverab- maneuvera- turn more tightly. I call this bike "Fire Bike With Me" but everybody just refers to it as "the grillbike".

You'd think 35 gallons of grill would be enough, but once we get the corn, sausage, rabbit, and kebabs on there there's no room for the veggie burgers. I keep encouraging the vegetarian-vegan crowd to make another one so we can separate the meat and vegetables and that way we won't have to hear about how there's bacon grease dripping on somebody's organic soy macrobiotic vegan tofu blandburger. You should see the original Meatwagon, it's been used for so much chicken grillin' it's just caked in grease. A grill changes "we rode to the beach" to "we grilled out on the beach", you should seriously think about building one. It can transform a summer.

http://non.primate.net/chopper/grillbike03.jpg

http://non.primate.net/chopper/grillbike04.jpg

All bearings and hinges are lubricated with bacon grease...

http://non.primate.net/chopper/grillbike05.jpg

The ultimate grill bike.

After seeing nacho libre... I am going to have to build one of these.

Any ideas for max width for road use... and stability? Is there a half way between leaving space to get passed and having something tipsy?

No, I just don't really know how to weld (yet). I've done a little on my buddie's MIG, and I just inherited a Lincoln tombstone welder, which will of course be nearly useless for any tubing welding, at least at my skill level: stick welding time = zero

You might have some trouble welding thin stuff with a stick, but the kind of tubing used for these builds is pretty thick. Little issue with blow thru. If you don't have a scrap yard around, you can get black steel plumbing pipe from a hardware store for around a buck a foot(If you get the ten foot sticks) The stuff is heavy but is easy to weld, grind, and will fit a Harbor Freight(Super cheap) tubing bender.

Call them Fiesta carts if you want to be PC.

They have those at Disneyland, but they carry ice cream.

Like this?

http://www.800buycart.com/images/v-its.jpg

Once again, Worksman (http://www.800buycart.com/icreamtrikes.html).

Take a look at this article from Mother Earth News Jan/Feb 1977.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1977-01-01/More-on-the-Mexican-Pickup-Diagrams.aspx

These things are commercially made by more than one manufacturer. Mercurio makes them in Mexico, and they are imported into the US under the Husky brand. Google "Husky bicycle" and you should turn up the website.

These show up every once in a while on Craigslist. Most recently, a guy down in Houston had two or three new ones for sale. I've heard you can buy them for like $250 in Mexico, but that's a long ways down there, too.

JP, I can't help but cringe at the combination of a meat grinder, grill, and the name "Rat Patrol."

Plus, I'd say the SUV is the "equal-opportunity lard wagon" as white folk aren't the only ones abusing them.

http://www.bici10.org/2009/04/los-ciclotaxis-causan-sensacion-en-el.html

Here's a foto of the new ciclotaxis in Mexico City's downtown area. They are new this year. The old ones had seats in the front, with a cheap mountain bike for power. The new ones are not the utility haulers that carried everything.

When we lived there we bought some furniture from one of the utility bikes. He could carry a bed frame, or night stands, or tables, etc.

Pretty sharp...I also liked that little bicycle messenger video on the right side of that page. I love it when he eats that door. :roflmao2:

It'll make some people cringe, but go ahead.

Glad to have your 'ok' Mr. Limbaugh.

I'm gonna put a lock on this zombie thread's coffin.

If y'all think it should be reopened PM me and I'll let it out.