Recumbent - High speed cornering with trikes

Can you do anything close to this with other trikes?:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8cxBkHGaOPg

Can you put a lot of body english into a turn with a Greenspeed, for example?

At what speeds will most (tadpole) trikes tip or flip? -- or what are the approximate limits?

Which trikes are better, which are worse, for higher speeds and faster cornering?

You can lean into the turn FARTHER with a windcheetah because of the joystick steering. It's also a bit lower to the ground, which should help. But I've raced on a greenspeed X5 and been able to lean into turns that I would have slowed down for on a two wheeled bike.

I've brought it up on two wheels a bunch at high speed. I don't think you can say that at "x" speed the trike will flip. It depends on which trike, which person, and how far they're leaning.

There are racing trikes - greenspeed x5, catrike speed and 700, windcheetah. All of those will be good. The cheetah is the king though!

How fast you can corner depends on the rider, the trike, and the setup. It is easy to put a trike on 2 wheels even at relatively low speeds if you want to do a bit of trike riding while still holding all 3 down on fairly high speed corners.

Having said that, flipping a trike is surprisingly easy. I've done it once and had a few close calls -- all cases of rider inexperience/error. Stick with racing trikes if you want to ride fast. The ones that are higher off the ground will not handle as well at speed or be as fast.

Can you do anything close to this with other trikes?:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8cxBkHGaOPg

Can you put a lot of body english into a turn with a Greenspeed, for example?

At what speeds will most (tadpole) trikes tip or flip? -- or what are the approximate limits?

Which trikes are better, which are worse, for higher speeds and faster cornering?
I suspect that a super limber young body could be trained to do that with most any trike. How far you can get yourself off the seat and close to the ground is what matters. The lower the trike the easier it will be. Note that we are not talking about me, though I have managed to out corner a couple of roadies at a speed they were not comfortable with. It was scarier for me than I'd care to repeat without a lot of practice--winding underpass approach with concrete walls if I made a mistake. LoGo trike, by the way.

Chip
recumbenttrikestore.com

Can you do anything close to this with other trikes?:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8cxBkHGaOPg

Can you put a lot of body english into a turn with a Greenspeed, for example?

I think most trikes can do exactly what that windcheeter can do. I mean, if you were leaning out trying to scrape your face on a gutter, then why can't the most unstable trike in the world do that as well :rolleyes: .

Here's my video of my homebuilt. The 1st corner I'm taking at around 45km/h. Maybe not as demonstrative as the windcheeta vid, but you get the idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKl7a24aqtY

I think there are alot of factors that determine how a trike corners. The most important is dimensions and angles. If a trike has a large wheelbase then it's more likely you won't be able to make it dance and adjust it mid-corner like you could with a shorter wheelbase trike.
Track width obviously makes a difference, but not as much as you'd think (a large wheelbase can cover up a potentially unstable track width). That windcheeter video is a good example- the track is pretty small. The more important thing then track width is castor and kingpin inclination angles. Castor in particular, is important. The more castor angle the more the trike itself leans into a turn, obviously helping distribute weight etc.


At what speeds will most (tadpole) trikes tip or flip? -- or what are the approximate limits?I don't think there are approximate limits- most of it depends on the driver, and his/her skill level and bodyweight.
If I were to try to set limits, then I'd say that the smaller the wheel-diameter, the higher the limits. A 20" setup will always lift a wheel before a 16" setup of the same dimensions, for example.


Which trikes are better, which are worse, for higher speeds and faster cornering?Obviously that depends on what the trike is intended for. A sporty handling trike will usually have little ground clearence, a long boom (to move the drivers weight more forward towards the front wheels), low and laid-back seat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TAjNaUhLaM

skip forward to 2:36 ...Actionbent Tadpole Trike

I have been known to corner my GT3 with my head a couple of inches higher than the footpath along side the road, and when trying to find the cornering limits I managed to get far enough out of the trike to lift the OUTSIDE wheel around a tight 90 degree bend at 60 kph, scared the living c..p out of me :).
You can on a smooth corner get the trike to slide all 3 wheels (drift) as you corner.
If you want the ultimate cornering speed you need the seat as low as possible, we had a trike race this weekend and one of the trikes had a seat height around 3", and it could be cornered fast with almost no leaning.
16" front wheels only for ultimate cornering the 20" wheels will flex to much, This only applies for racing or complete loonies.
So to answer your question any sporty type tadpole can be cornered like that, I suspect the side sticks (uss) make it easier.
Aikigreg missed one racing missile the GreenSpeed SLR makes the X5 look like a tourer.
NOTE: they are 16" wheels,gives the height a bit of perspective. :) GS SLR
http://www.greenspeed.com.au/webimages/mod_images/slr_main.jpg

If you want the ultimate cornering speed you need the seat as low as possible, we had a trike race this weekend and one of the trikes had a seat height around 3", and it could be cornered fast with almost no leaning.
How was the RACT Insurance Challenge? You don't happen to be talking about HPRacing's vehicle, Dr NUDGETRUCK? Great vehicle!
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l143/noyza/IMG_0731.jpg

Here's a couple of vids one of the riders sent me. Great battle between Dr NUDGETRUCK and ExPats!
HPRacing into U-Turn (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2026034210)
HPRacing and Ex-Pats going through the warehouse (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2026033278)
HPRacing and Ex-Pats nose to tail through the hairpin (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2026033794)

Aikigreg missed one racing missile the GreenSpeed SLR makes the X5 look like a tourer.
NOTE: they are 16" wheels,gives the height a bit of perspective. :) GS SLRI've ridden a trike based on the exact SLR plans. It handled sooo great. THe wheelbase is a whopping 1250mm :eek: .

How was the RACT Insurance Challenge? You don't happen to be talking about HPRacing's vehicle, Dr NUDGETRUCK? Great vehicle!
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l143/noyza/IMG_0731.jpg

Here's a couple of vids one of the riders sent me. Great battle between Dr NUDGETRUCK and ExPats!
HPRacing into U-Turn (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2026034210)
HPRacing and Ex-Pats going through the warehouse (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2026033278)
HPRacing and Ex-Pats nose to tail through the hairpin (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2026033794)
I've ridden a trike based on the exact SLR plans. It handled sooo great. THe wheelbase is a whopping 1250mm :eek: .

Yes, it was the Salamanca six hour, I liked Dr Nudgetruck but the Greenspeed Skin off had the best handling he would hit the wet painted area on the corner dial in full lock and just slide until he hit the concrete where it would grab an shoot around the corner, never looked like even lifting a wheel.
Hope the boys come back next year we should have a super low streamliner for them to try and catch.

Yes, it was the Salamanca six hour, I liked Dr Nudgetruck but the Greenspeed Skin off had the best handling he would hit the wet painted area on the corner dial in full lock and just slide until he hit the concrete where it would grab an shoot around the corner, never looked like even lifting a wheel.
Hope the boys come back next year we should have a super low streamliner for them to try and catch.Oh, I know the one now! I had a look at it at Wonthaggi. The seat is extremely low :eek: . Couldn't understand the logic behind their fairing though- looks like they put it on backwards :p
http://www.racvenergybreakthrough.net/Gallery-Wont07-c/Greenspeed-Full.JPG

Apparently it is a high speed airfoil that was use on a land speed racer, only 2 problems wrong speed range and leaving the wheels out of the fairing but close enough to it to cause interference drag.
Ahh well if people don't experiment there wil be no advances.

Oh, and re deltas they aren't all slow most are just designed that way :), my tossed together out of scrap one can hang with my GT3 corners and all. I think I have a design that should be able to do the same to an SLR!
If my health ever recovers it's on the list of building projects.