How To Build An Electric Leaning Reverse Trike

How To Build An Electric Leaning Reverse Trike. Get the plans: https://www.resystech.com/cyber-trike---electric-lrt.html
In this video I build a custom electric leaning reverse trike. Get the best of both worlds and hit the trail with this powerful electric reverse trike. With the leaning ability and twice the torque of an avg sport motorcycle, and double the traction and stability at the front wheels, you'll be cornering faster and can easily navigate around obstacles on the trail. This machine rides like a motorcycle, but handles better.

It's technically a (Frankenstein) conversion, using a modified late 1980's Suzuki 250 Quadrunner chassis, and Yamaha Banshee hubs, brakes, and steering knuckles, though a Banshee or Raptor chassis would be better because it would require less modification to adapt to a leaning suspension and incorporate a swingarm (I used what I already had for parts to keep the costs as low as possible).

The A arms are custom built to a certain specification to make the leaning suspension work properly without negatively affecting things like camber or caster, or create too much tire scrub/wear, which is detailed in the plans that are available at the link above. Their geometry can be adapted to almost any chassis you choose, just be sure that the original steering uses Ackerman geometry and maintain it with the new design mod's. This ensures that each front wheel is angled properly during a low speed turn. In other words, because the 'inside' wheel is travelling around a smaller radius than the outside wheel when turning left or right, it needs to be angled in the direction of the turn a few degrees more than the outside wheel to navigate the turn easily and minimize tire wear.

​All of the heim joints in the front suspension are high quality/heavy duty, and incorporate high misalignment spacers where required to allow for a full 30° lean in either direction (there are different grades of heim joint - don't use the cheapest or they will break!). The swingarm is attached to and supports the main frame with a rear shock absorber from a Suzuki GSXR 1000 motorcycle, which includes a dog bone progressive dampening linkage (a KTM progressive dampening shock absorber is a good substitute for the GSXR shock and linkage). The plans include a full list of all of the components and materials needed to build the leaning suspension and the rest of the trike as shown in the video. ​

The drive system uses a 12 kW/24 kWp (30 hp) electric QS hub motor mounted in a 17"x6" alloy wheel:
https://www.qsmotor.com/product/17-inch-12kw-hub-motor/

The motor is controlled by a KLS72601-8080H programmable controller with regenerative braking, forward and reverse features from Kelly Controls:
https://www.kellycontroller.com/shop/kls-8080h/

Total cost for me to build this trike was around $4500 CAD. The build was spanned out over a few months, working the odd evening while waiting for parts to be delivered (COVID shipping delays). But I estimate that in total the work would haven taken approximately 2-3 weeks to finish if I had worked on it every day consecutively.

Trike Specs
Power: 12 kW continuous, 24 kW peak (~30 hp)
Top speed: 112 kph (programmable to 150 kph)
Torque: 300 nm (200 ft-lb)
Battery: Grepow LiFePo4, 74V, 4.3 kWh
Charge time: ~ 1 hour @ 59 amps
Driving range per charge: 100 km
Motor: brushless, gearless QS 273 12 kW/24 kWp, 17" hub motor
Controller: programmable Kelly KLS72601-8080H
w/ regenerative braking, forward & reverse features
Wheelbase: 59”
Front wheel track: 40”
Wheels:
front - 10x5” MASSFX Yamaha Banshee alloy rims (4x156 BP)
Pneumatico Deli tire 150/80-10
back - 17x6” alloy rim w/ QS 273 hub motor
Metzler Karoo Street tire 180/55-17
Lean angle: 30° in either direction

Don't like ads? Neither do I. I hate them. That's why I signed up for a premium Youtube account for $12/month so that I never have to see another ad on this site again, and feel good knowing that I'm contributing to the creators I like so that they keep posting more great content. I highly recommend it. If you're just here to watch my videos, that's cool too. You can help support me specifically by signing up for a channel membership instead. Then just keep an eye on the community tab to watch these videos free of advertisements. You'll also get other perks, too. Check out the links below if you're interested.

Youtube premium account:
https://www.youtube.com/premium?ybp=Sg0IBhIJdW5saW1pdGVk

Support RST specifically:
http://www.patreon.com/resystech
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtrf6ZiE6hw3k77hGpnuQWg/join

Follow RST on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/RenewableSystemsTechnology