Welland Steam Fair by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

None of that electric nonsense. And a lovely kicked out head angle should make it nice and stable. Until the fork collapses. You’d want a go tho wouldn’t you? Once you’d put your affairs in order 🙂

That’s gorgeous – very steampunk, especially the fuel tank.

I’ve wanted to make an autocycle for ages but not sure what the legal issues are and haven’t had time to look into it. That’s really nice apart from the downtube ‘bend’

One of my kids said ‘it hasn’t got any brakes’ to which I replied ‘where that’s going, you’re not going to need brakes’. I think the back to the future reference might not has resonated as I’d hoped 🙂

Legally it’s a moped, so needs plates, tax, insurance, helmet, license, etc etc.

Or just build it for use on private roads 😉

Yeah but mopeds are limited to 28mph (or around that) and that’s just rubbish. I’d want proper speed and it gets a bit vague there

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.vintagebike.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/gallery/raleigh/1955-raleigh-cycle-master-648×570.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vintagebike.co.uk/pictures/1955-raleigh-cycle-master/&h=570&w=648&sz=76&tbnid=A74YDcUYylEV-M:&tbnh=92&tbnw=105&zoom=1&usg=__fB5wg0TpOBvMRfGF_UisCJAVGuw=&docid=kDXHVBa7deg1MM&sa=X&ei=e_3zUZnKIMvw0gWWr4DQBQ&ved=0CFYQ9QEwBw&dur=131

my granny had 2 of these at her place in the 60s – I thought they were cyclomoteur/french but they had the engine sitting in the wheel just like this – it was the sort of place where a small child had to be careful running through the field – some grass clumps were due to cow pats and some had motor bike engines in them and they hurt ….

they also did ones (*I think where the engine dropped down onto the front wheel for hill assist)

no brakes,true, but with no chain either, not such a great problem!

Velosolex, been around for quite sometime now.

[/url] image by bikebouy, on Flickr[/img]

This might be a silly question, but that top one: how does it go? I can’t see a chain, shaft or anything touching the wheel by friction. Is it a petrol powered rocket engine?

scorched in the sun there this morning Alex – brought the kids back home for lunch before they melted and planned on heading back this evening. But now it’s sheeting it down so I think I’ll give it a miss 🙁

phiiiil – its got to be missing it’s chain – no way you could fit a drive shaft and conical/ pinion gear in those ‘chain stays’ 😕

with a bit of googling – that top piccy looks like a Blackburne Ohio engine fitted to a bicycle

Blackburne were a pre-WWI manufacturer of motocycles and motocycle engines

not very quiet bythe sound of this video though

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6MbdkbhzbY[/video]