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Old 07-03-12 | 10:27 AM
  #13  
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hotbike
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,788
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From: Long Island, New York

Bikes: a lowrider BMX, a mountain bike, a faired recumbent, and a loaded touring bike

Originally Posted by squirtdad
Hot Bike, my hat is off to you....as always leading edge design and materials.
Thank you. I always post updates on the current status of my prototypes. I want this thread to be a valuable resource for the do-it-yourselfer.

A couple of notes about the materials; 1) Coroplast tm is a lot cheaper than Fiberglass. Coroplast comes in the form of boards, and can be folded. Whereas Fiberglass arrives in a liquid state, and requires a mold, and the mold costs as much as the finished Fairing.
2) Aircraft Plywood is much better than regular everyday lumberyard Plywood. More layers (thiner layers) and waterproof glue holding the plies together. I learnt my lesson from the Type 6 Velomobile, which was ruined after sitting outside for a couple of years, and the 1/4 inch "Luan" plywood (in the bulkheads) rotted out.

I want to note that the fiberglass on the fork, in the above video, has the first two layers wrapped around the fork blade, and joined together on the inside (the side facing the wheel) Then the next three layers wrap around the plywood on the outside, thus "sandwiching" the plywood. I want to pass this tip along as I doubt the structure would hold together otherwise.

This had to be done on account the Coroplast was bowing outwards and the tire was rubbing the bottom of the spoiler/basket. I saved a lot of money by not buying a touring fork.

For information about the 12 volt lighting system, click on the following link:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...adlights/page2

In this case, I used Foam Board, like Poster board, from a local Office Supply store, instead of plywood or coroplast.

Last edited by hotbike; 07-03-12 at 10:36 AM. Reason: add link
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