Lockwood powered bicycle

[resosys]

Even though our shop and warehouse are completely packed and in limbo, I got enough stuff together to build a vehicle for this weekend's 4th of July fun out at Black Rock Desert in Nevada.

It's a sidecar bicycle my wife and I built to ride around Burning Man last least. We tested the pulsejet out last weekend and it worked well, pushing the bike easily. After about 10mph, it really wants to go. It tracks straight and is stable and easy to turn.

We had two problems during the tests. First, the cops came, so we had to close up the warehouse for the second run. They didn't seem to mind as long as we quit before midnight. Then, during a late night run, the side of the combustion chamber tore open and it died. I'll be putting another engine on it and taking a spare to the desert, along with 6 full propane tanks. I fully expect to blow both of the other engines apart by the end of the weekend.

Good stuff!

[El-Kablooey]

Hey man, cool trike! You think I could get the dimensions for your little lockwood? thats a perfect size for a couple of projects I've had in mind! thanks!

[mk]

Very nice, Chris!

Like it.

[larry cottrill]

Yes, Chris, I also like this very much! Looks like a nice job and very logical design.

I have just one reservation from an engineering standpoint: Have you done anything to augment the usual braking capability of the original bike? This could be important, because you have significantly increased the overall machine mass, naturally.

But, that's my only question. It looks really good, and I especially like it that you have managed to keep the engine mass down low in doing it. Most jet bikes and karts have the engine too high. A bike, especially, benefits from keeping things low as much as possible, since the CG of the operator is high and his mass is such a significant part of the whole.

I would love to see this wrapped in a custom-designed lightweight streamlined shell, but you might think that would ruin it.

Nice work!

L Cottrill

[steve]

Hey man, cool trike! You think I could get the dimensions for your little lockwood? thats a perfect size for a couple of projects I've had in mind! thanks!

I posted dimentions for a lockwood about that size about halfway down this page:
http://www.pulse-jets.com/phpbb2/viewto ... 66&start=0

[Lawrence]

nice work!

I'm also working on a lockwood powered vehicle, involving some new fuel injection stuff. All engine related work should be finished by tomorrow, after that it's only building a subframe to put the engines on the vehicle, and a connect a lot of cables, wires, tubes, etc.

[resosys]

Thanks all, for the comments.

Larry,

No brake enhancement has been done. This is just a quick lash up for desert rides. I doubt it will ever see much speed. My lockwood design isn't super powerful, although it has pushed our largest studio mate around with two tanks feeding it.

Anyhow, it'll be good fun and if we need better brakes, we'll jam a 2x4 in the front wheel...hehe.

Hopefully I'll have some video in a week or so.

[ed knesl]

Chris,

Since the engine is offset from thr bycicle c/l, it is going to create a moment on engines arm ( a distance from the c/l ) and swirl the vehicle to the
left and you may not have enough steering grip to counteract such
moment. Also you would sit on the left, which produces more drag - braking and other wheel is pretty much unloaded. This vehicle should be quite
unstable and dangerous.

I would do two bycicles side by side with linked hadle bars. The four wheeler
should be lot more stable. Do you remember ATC's, now out of business ?
And they were symetrical along long axis.

Please, revisit your project concept !

Ed

[resosys]

Since the engine is offset from thr bycicle c/l, it is going to create a moment on engines arm ( a distance from the c/l ) and swirl the vehicle to the
left and you may not have enough steering grip to counteract such
moment. Also you would sit on the left, which produces more drag - braking and other wheel is pretty much unloaded. This vehicle should be quite
unstable and dangerous.

Ed, It is a bit dangerous, but that's half the fun. There won't be any 50mph runs or anything solid to run into. If it gets past 20mph, I'll be amazed. The drag of the fine silt desert, a wimpy lockwood design with no augmentors, and a limited amount of propane gas will keep things mellow. It's more just to have some fun than to try and break records. I've ridden it in our warehouse and it doesn't pull or push the bike to the side at all.

The bike was another project and the pulsejet just mounted perfectly with zero modifications to either part.

We'll be careful, either way.

Chris

[ed knesl]

I wish you the best of luck !

I know that you are pretty experienced - just keep the speed at
these 20 MPH . The damn Lockwood will be quite hot - burns, auch !

Tell us ASAP, how she was doing .

Ed

[resosys]

Ed,

Heh, experienced yes, smart, well.... Just to put this weekend's mayhem into perspective....

We will be:

Playing shotgun golf, which is in Hunter S. Thomspon's last ESPN article
Firing all sorts of guns including many California illegal assault rifles (nice thing about Nevada)
Windsailing on various wind vehicles (far more dangerous than the bike)
Firing off propane and liquid fuel flame thrower/cannons and other pulsejets
And lighting 2 pallets of mortar type fireworks, roman candles, etc...

We have the permits for all of it and everyone involved is very safety concious. I'm sure there will be some minor injuries from the wind sailing and tripping over rebar tent stakes.

We have experienced range masters for the shooting parts and experienced and licensed pyro folks for the fireworks. We're very good about rules, numbers of folks in groups doing dangerous things, and control of alcohol and other substances when doing stupid things.

The last thing I want to hear is "Hold my beer and watch this". That's the beginning of every Darwin award ever handed out.

So yeah, safety is key!

Video, pictures, and medical reports will be available when I get home.

Anyone in the area is welcome to come out and camp with us...

Chris

[steve]

OOOh! it sounds like heaven!! I wish I could be there. I havent been to a shooting range in nearly 6 months so I'm starting to get an itchy trigger finger. needless to say I'm very jealous. Get some pics of the full autos for me!!!

[resosys]

Quick report.

The bike was a dismal failure due to way too much moisture on the desert. The alkali is like glue when it's wet so the rolling resistance was huge. It went, but not more than 5 mph. The wind was pretty high too, which made it tough. Since it didn't go, we didn't bother with the video. There may be some pictures somewhere though. I'll check for them.

No windsailing injuries!

Shotgun Golf was a huge success with many sore and bruised shoulders. The other shooting went well too, with many folks bringing many guns. I'll post a picture or two when I get them, but my camera wasn't there.

The fireworks were great, as was the flaming toilet paper roll soccer and the roman candle fights. Lots of scorched shoes, missing leg hair, and bruised egos. The toilet paper was dipped in gasoline and throw across an open flame. Half of the rolls had 2" mortar fireworks in them. Good fun and big booms. I'll try to find pictures and video from this, because it's nuts.

One woman was taken to the hospital after tearing her shin open on a rebar tent stake.

All in all, a wonderful weekend.

[ed knesl]

Yes, Chris !

5 MPH is safe speed for jets !!!
Glad, it did not go faster - would be no fun.

Ed