Hi Guys,

New to this fourm and this is my first post - So be gentle with me

Recently bought a new bike, its a kinda hybred Road/Mountian bike - VIKING Urban Trail from a local shop Price £176



My last NEW bike was bought for me by my dad when I was about 12yrs costing a whopping £26.10 Shillings (My how times and prices have changed) - (Need to get a photo of old racing bike to post)

I bought this bike to get a bit of exercise and see if it would help in anyway sort/fix/help out the ciculation problems Im having with my legs? ( Im not 12yrs any more I'll be 52 next month 15/12/1956 ). I also use the bike for getting a bit of shopping etc.
I fitted out the bike with a 12V 6watt Dynamo I got off ebay (cant seem to get this working properly?) and a pannier rack (again ebay). I was looking for a saddle bag for the back but (call me old fasioned) they dont seem to make them any more? so I had to settle on a pannier.
After a few weeks my thoughts turned to fishing/camping trips etc. Humm! Rods tied to bike, rucksack full of fishing tackle - camping stove - tent - sleeping bag - food & drink - warm clothes ----- this list is endless? I then thought all that stuff could be put in a trailer and would save weight on the bike.

So I started looking at bike trailers and there price Humm! quiet expensive some of them and not to my likeing!

After many restless nights sleep I thought BUILD MY OWN. So I begain looking at numerious websites dealing with trailers. After a couple of weeks of loking at trailers I made a sort of list of what stuff I'd need to build my own.

Here is how the past couple of months have went...

WHEELS.
While cycling around I spotted a bike laying abandoned near my mates house. Missing a good many parts but had a GOOD front wheel - 26in.
I bought another 26in wheel £3 at Blochairn Market (we go every sunday) -http://www.dennistoun.co.uk/Page.asp...Title=Whats+On.
After I got home I did a bit more research. Humm! BIG WHEELS are a No No?

Back to the drawingboard.

More research - a few trailer makers are using 16in wheels. Off to local shop and see what these would cost? I looked around the shop at various kiddies bikes while another guy was being served (Saw one whit 16in wheels price £69) then it was my turn...
Shop Owner.
How can I help you?

BossCat.
How much for a pair of FRONT 16in wheels - tyres N tubes fitted?

Shop Owner.
Oh let me see he said flicking through a big book. Flick Flick Flick. Best I can do is £25 a wheel.

BossCat.
£25 a wheel? christ almighty mate youve got a FULL bike hanging up there for £69. I could buy that and take the wheels off then resell the bike?

Shop Owner.
Best I can do!

BossCat.
I'll sleep on it. I then left the shop wondering where I would get a pair of 16in wheels?

The following Saturday while visiting another market - The Barras http://www.glasgow-barrowland.com/market/barras.htm I bought a kiddies bike (Full working bike) with 16in wheels £7 - Big difference from £50

Home with bike I took wheels off and blew them up - Perfect.

You'll have to keep in mind that while I was looking for Wheels I was also looking around for other stuff for the trailer. I have BIG ideas?

TRAILER FRAME.
I remembered I had a large angle iron frame at the side on my shed. I too the wire mesh off it years ago for my aviary. That'll do nicely I though.
So if was of to my mate Peter's house (he has a welder) with the FRAME and WHEELS. After a few hours I had a HITCH fitting attchment for the back of my bike pluse a FRAME with 16in WHEELS.
NOTE...I didn't want one of those long arm type attchements that fit onto the side of the back wheel, nore would a long arm under the seatpost be any good as there would be no point in having a pannier on the bike?
I tried out the bike and trailer in Peters back garden. Humm! Poor handling - Snaking - Hitch problem?
The hitch was just a makeshift job to test out the trailer. It consisted of a hollow tube attached to my bike hitch attchment. An Lshaped bar from the trailer dropped down inside the tube on the bike. Great side to side movement BUT No up & Down movement ie going over bumps etc?

Back to the drawing board?

THE HITCH.
I scowered though my odds n ends trying to modify/fix the hitch. Testing out one I had made I took a trip with bike & trailer around to my other mate house. While I was there and we were discussing the trailer his nextdoor neighbour came for a look see. I told him I was on the lookout for something that would emulate the ball type hitch on the back of a car? Leave it with me he said.

The following week I went back around to my mates and low and behold there in his shed was a flexable joint type thing?. No idea what its intended use was for but it looked the part.

Over the next couple of weeks I had to get Peter to Reweld my bike/trailer attchment as the weld broke. The Flexable joint was also drilled out and a plate weleded up to take the Flexy joint. I had trouble sourcing out a BIG bolt that would attach the trailer to the Flexy joint. I got one last Sunday at Blochairn Market. This has since been drilled out to take a Bolt/Pin or Padlock.
Im starting to think Peter's getting fed up at the sight of me as every time I visit his house his boxes & boxes of drill bits end up blunt .

The Trailer.
Gone is the fist trailer I made? Its sitting out my back garden. I thought it was to heavy a material. I started looking at wooden trailers? Then at angle iron again only lighter.

Last week while in B&Q Stirling I spotted nice lightish angle iron I bought a section. - Perfect.
Now all I have to do is raid the piggybank and buy a few sections of it plus some plywood sheeting and im back at the building stage.

I'll take and post a couple of photos of PROTOTYPE trailers that I have made.

Once complete my trailer will be a type of Trailer Camping Tent type thing?

My plan is to do away with carrying a TENT? The trailer itself will be the tent. I will have a removable lid/roof that will be raised higher on poles - Solar panel on roof charging a Deep Cycle battery that arrived today? God this is one heavy battery? I also looked at Stepper moters and Dymanos etc to charge up this and other batterys I have coming but tinkering with diodes and resitors and the like is not my strong point? Will need to find someone with electrical knowhow? It'll carry a one of those mini fridges to keep food cool. lights Front/Back & inside - indicators (have a set of bike indicators from ebay which I'll wire up to other indicator type lights on trailer).

All in all a little mobil home? Any thoughts anyone?

PS... While browsing around I found this trailer fourm and had to join. I have noted while browsing this thread that two of the members trailers combind would fall into the type of thing im trying to build Astronomerroyal & Dinges - http://picasaweb.google.com/motorcon...icycleTrailer#. Also a mention must goto Astronomerroyal about his Hitch? Seems great minds think alike mate as my Flexy joint thing is like yous

Thanks for your patience in taking time to read all my drivel

Tom

Updates & Pictures as they happen