Easy side by side bike instructions?

[Tiffanie5366]

I am really desperate! I just finally was able to get my burning man ticket and now I know there is an easy way to connect my bike with another as I have seen it in years past. It is side by side. Has anyone seen the instructions for something like this? Pleeeeease....

)'(

See you all soon!

[Eric]

http://www.instructables.com/id/brillia ... ndem-bike/

The Google, it knows all.

edit: this is a tandem bike- one in front, one behind. More searching on The Google should get you side-by-side instructions.

[Token]

Google

http://www.bhsi.org/fourwhel.htm

Mid page are some links for plans, instructions and kits.

[Elliot]

(Dang, I'm going to regret getting into this.)

Tiffany, there is no easy way to accomplish this. When two bicycles are assembled side-by-side into a four-wheel "sociable", the matter of steering geometry inevitably crops up.

Steering geometry means that both front wheels need to play well together. (Google "Ackerman".) This is not a slap-it-together-with-a-screwdriver sort'a thing.

I have ridden this sort of vehicle on the Playa, and it worked fabulously. But the guy who built those sociables had the technical background for it.

For a non-technical person to build such a vehicle in the next two weeks, with the bicycle you have now, and an other one similar to it, may not be realistic.

(I really need to NOT hit "post" now.)

[Token]

Dammit Elliot, why you have to fail block.

I like to see folks try and fail. Teaches them some stuff or maybe something.

Firicking Buzz Killinton you are!

[Elliot]

Good point, Token! I had not considered it from that perspective.

Yes, I just gave somebody advice that I would NOT have followed myself!

So.... I'm planning to put a piano on top of my bus, and pitch it to the ground in a joyful display of random noise -- Sunday September 5 at Noon. Will I succeed? Very likely not. But by golly, I'm working on the case.

All right, Tiffany -- start welding and learning!

[Captain Goddammit]

The only way such a setup would be "easy" for a person that lacks fabrication skills is if there were a ready-made kit available with all the engineering already figured out and all the parts pre-made.

If you leave each bike's steering separate, it will be un-ridable by one person and difficult to ride with two.
When the two bikes turn, the one on the outside of the turn travels farther and turns less sharply than the on on the inside. The geometry needed to make the inside wheel turn the correct, sharper amount than the outside wheel is the Ackerman angle that Elliot mentioned.
You'll always be screwing up and coming to a skidding stop if you leave the steering independent and try to ride with someone. Any time you don't both steer exactly the same way, which will be often, skiddd! It will be a pain in the ass to get anywhere.
You can ignore that and just hook 'em both together with a tie bar of some sort, but when you turn the wheels will be fighting each other and while it will sorta work, it will be hard to pedal in a gradual turn and really hard in a tight turn!

If you're not comfortable making metal stuff, I'd advise either buying a pre-made rig if you can find such a thing, finding someone who can build it for you and get it right, or just keep your bikes separate. It'll really suck ass trying to ride on the playa, which is already softer and more difficult to pedal in than pavement, on something that doesn't work right.

[Token]

I think Tiffany wants someone else to pedal the ride while she spreads her legs and goes wheeeeeeeee into the wind.

Not a bad strategy if you ask me.

[Elorrum]

http://www.thegrannybike.com/
This looks pretty straightforward. but nothing super simple... simplest to get a tandem bike?

[Zhust]

I know there is an easy way to connect my bike with another as I have seen it in years past. It is side by side.

The short answer: read about Ackermann steering geometry, go to McMaster-Carr and buy a couple ball joint rod ends of the right size, weld the frames together parallel, use the rod ends to connect the steering, Ackermann-style.

Welding the frames side-by-side, one must consider the motion of each rider's legs so they don't get tangled in the bars to link the two together. If I remember right, Jay Bain's rickshaws had the Ackermann linkages forward, so the linkage was wider than the two frames were apart. You could weld a nut to accommodate the ball joint rod ends to each of the handlebars in the right place, and thread in the rod ends so the pivot hole is along the line from the contact patch of the front wheel to the midpoint of the rear wheels. From there it's just a matter of making a U-shaped linkage to connect the rod ends.

[Elliot]

Hot dog – I built that Granny Thing a few years ago, and didn’t even know it!





But I'm still embarrassed about it.

[Tiffanie5366]

OK, I got it done. It was great, the steering "Ackerman" was awesome could make tighter turns than any other side by side on the playa! ya ya ya, I know you are all shocked. I too know how to use google and had some help building it of course.....

You can check out a picture of the bike if you would like.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6 ... =514251467

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6 ... =514251467

[¡Niers!]

Daayymn!
Girl's got the looks aaand the skills!

[mudpuppy000]

I had to help out a guy that made an enormous 4 wheel bike without the ackerman steering. He had taco'd his front wheels on the first right hand turn. I guess he learned his lesson, haha.

[Elliot]

Way to go, Tiffanie!

[Tiffanie5366]

More than just a hat rack......;-)

Oh, and I had help.

[Zhust]

OK, I got it done. It was great, the steering "Ackerman" was awesome could make tighter turns than any other side by side on the playa! ya ya ya, I know you are all shocked

FANTASTIC! I love to see successes!