Landing Gear NT700

[ted007]

UPDATE II

Weight comes in at 15.6lbs, accurate to the
bathroom scale & computer calculated mass properties.

I can't see it making much difference to handling, it is balanced side to side.
It will add a bit to the front wheel which may not be a bad thing.

Too cold to test ride just now & still waiting on the wheels to arrive.
I designed for 6" dia. but 7" & 8" are also available.
I think future builds would be done with the 8", as these would provide more cornering clearance,
since the mount would be 1" higher.
The adjust-ability in the design would not require any other changes.

 

[Lance Decker]

Thanks for posting this info.

 

[Coyote Chris]

Just wondering how you personally would use this?

 

[ted007]

Just wondering how you personally would use this?

Chris

When approaching a stop, flip a switch on the bars & the gear extends , preventing accidental topples, which usually happen with a larger passenger in the queen seat.
Same switch retracts.

The ones available for large BMW's & Wings etc have speed sensor deployment.
But prices near $4000 keep them out of my reach, besides they aren't made to fit an NT.

I'm hoping some electronic types here will advise on how to do the speed controlled thing.

 

[NewTo700V]

Impressive build, but if the issue is keeping the ride upright at stops, wouldn't it be safer to get a Goldwing with a Tilting Motorworks kit installed instead?

 

[ted007]

Impressive build, but if the issue is keeping the ride upright at stops, wouldn't it be safer to get a Goldwing with a Tilting Motorworks kit installed instead?

YES BUT the cost is prohibitive

 

[Coyote Chris]

Chris

When approaching a stop, flip a switch on the bars & the gear extends , preventing accidental topples, which usually happen with a larger passenger in the queen seat.
Same switch retracts.

The ones available for large BMW's & Wings etc have speed sensor deployment.
But prices near $4000 keep them out of my reach, besides they aren't made to fit an NT.

I'm hoping some electronic types here will advise on how to do the speed controlled thing.

The whole trick is to engineer it so it is fail safe and doesnt get you killed like the side stands killed people before the kill switchs were installed. The horror would be that you would be stopped at a light behind someone and you see a texter come up too fast behind you. You turn the bars and gas it to pull around the car ahead of you and go down cause the gear didnt come up. I am not a Niken person but I am finding lighter smaller bikes make way more sense than my sleepy top heavy FJR. Someone put in lots of bucks engineering the Niken because of the liability of the landing gear. They have a point. I am not saying to give up....I am saying using the landing gear for only certain situations. I know MY balance and other faculties are going south and I can forstall the inevitable by doing X or Y. But I dont think the Landing gear is the right Z for many. I will be interested in seeing a vid of your unit in operation. Mellow will show you how to post it.

 

[ted007]

CHRIS

You make a good point.

You may have missed one of the earlier posts where I mentioned automation is a future
possibility , if I can find the right people to help with the electronics. But first I need to be sure it will
actually work.

There are units on the market which have this now, but they are way too expensive for me
& there none available for the NT.

BTW, my information says the Nikken does not hold itself vertical, unlike the Piaggio MP3
Honda has a patent on a similar 3 wheeler, shown on a Wing & on the NT700.
It is not clear if it locks upright.

All the Best
Ted

 

[NewTo700V]

Chris makes a good point about an interlock. I would think you could install an interlock switch to make or break at deployment and just wire it up in series with the kickstand switch. That way the bike would treat landing gear down the same as kickstand deployment and cut ignition if not in neutral.

 

[ARKNT]

Ted I realize you are still in the see if it works phase. If you get past that be careful with automatic systems and interlocks.
Unintended things could happen and even reliability if you start adding cutouts and such. Sounds like you are on track but I just needed to say that. Safety first (that's why you are adding this in the first place).

Brad

 

[ted007]

Duplicating the kickstand kill feature will cause problems approaching a stop, because as the gear is deploying the engine would cut out. I personally don't want to coast in neutral to a stop, which would be an alternative.

 

[mikesim]

Duplicating the kickstand kill feature will cause problems approaching a stop, because as the gear is deploying the engine would cut out. I personally don't want to coast in neutral to a stop, which would be an alternative.

I don't think you want the wheel deployment to kill the engine, rather you want the wheels to deploy/retract at specified speeds. You may want to incorporate an indicator lamp to illuminate to indicate when the wheels are deployed. Finally deployment cycle time must be factored in to your deployment scheme.

 

[ted007]

Current cycle time is just over 1 second.
I'm NOT happy with this, as I would like sub second deployment,
BUT actuators that fit the design
AND are reasonably priced have not been found YET.

 

[ted007]

THE are videos here, for download.

NT700V LANDING GEAR

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

100_3278

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

Disappointed that wheels are still in transit.

 

[Brillot2000]

THE are videos here, for download.

NT700V LANDING GEAR

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

100_3278

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

Disappointed that wheels are still in transit.

I am quite impressed that you did the PC simulations and then took it into reality in what seemed like a short amount of time. KUDOS to you.

Inquiring minds would like to know the following:

1. Transit time to be fully deployed.
2. Transit time to be fully retracted.
3. Power consumption.
4. Total system cost.

 

[ted007]

Bruce

Thanks.
The time could have been shorter but shipping times & finding fabricators made it what it is.

Deploy & retract time should be just about the same, except for the help gravity gives on deployment.
I'll try to remember to time it after I get the wheels installed.
But for now it's about 1.6 secs ( 100mm @ 60mm/sec)
One could time the video from the click to down to check the actual.
As it turns out the actuator supplier does not guarantee the same speed on each actuator shipped, also does not specify the +/- range,
and the two I have prove that out. The right actuator is slower than the left by 1/10 sec or so
There are faster actuators (ugly), at higher cost & those will require mods to the mating parts.
Power consumption is low 2 x 12v 5A motors running for 1.6 secs ... I think that's ~120 watts
BUT the breaker is 5A, total for both motors , so that would indicate less than 60 watts.
(need to get one of the electrical types to confirm)
I can tell you that it runs from the bike battery (engine off) as well or better than they did in the video.
Total system cost will vary with one's skills & location ( machining & welding req'd + assembly & wiring) & I haven't gotten into the "automatic" portion yet. Also as it sits, it needs upgrading of bearing areas around the pivots for long life. Right now I just want to get it working for a season to iron out any issues. If you know somebody that wants to make them I'd be willing to talk.

Regards
Ted

 

[mikesim]

Ted, any update on your project?

Mike

 

[ted007]

Mike

Have been waiting for warm weather, but the main hold back is the recovery from shoulder replacement surgery. Here in Ontario Canada the Covid situation has caused closure of non-essential business. Physiotherapy is apparently non essential. I see the doc Tues to find out when I get the all clear to turn wrenches. This is taking way longer than I had hoped.

Ted

 

[mikesim]

Mike

Have been waiting for warm weather, but the main hold back is the recovery from shoulder replacement surgery. Here in Ontario Canada the Covid situation has caused closure of non-essential business. Physiotherapy is apparently non essential. I see the doc Tues to find out when I get the all clear to turn wrenches. This is taking way longer than I had hoped.

Ted

I had no idea you were undergoing surgery and with Covid, perfect timing, eh? Hope your recovery goes well and the doc's turn you loose soon!

Mike

 

[Phil Tarman]

Shoulder replacement is one of those things that takes a while to get over! Hang in and do the therapy you can. My next-door-neighbor's wife had shoulder replacement and the good news was that she got over her recovery a lot quicker than he has since he had rotator cuff repair.