Trailers for Bicycles and Mopeds Two-wheeled trailers in any of a number of configurations can be pulled behind bicycles and mopeds. The trailers are commonly made of steel tubing with wooden or metal bot~ toms, but two less utilitarian American models and a Swedish design use fabric over steel tubing. The trailers require technical expertise no greater than that of a good high school shop project to build, yet sell at prices of over $100 and often nearer the equivalent of $200. The straightforward constr~ction and high cost make good arguments for local produc~10n or for home construction from kits. Manufacturers of trailer prototypes exist all over Europe, particularly Austria and Switzerland, but also in Germany, France, Sweden and the Netherlands; they can be located in a number of European catalogues or by doing a little in-depth reference library wo~k. The Swiss postal service is using what is pro?ably ~he ultimate bicycle-trailer combination. The sturdy bicycle is a step-through design fitted with large tires, a drum brake on the front wheel, and a three-speed rear hub with coaster brake. The trailer which it pulls is made of aluminum, divided into compartments, provided with handles so that it may be used as a push cart, and fitted with hand-actuate_d drum brakes. For several Swiss-made trailers, consult Alternatzv Katalog 2 (SFr 27 from BIKU, Post-fach 223, CH 3098 Koniz). Trailers are most often secured to the towing bicycle or moped by a ball hitch, which range fro_m simple an~ functional stampings from Austria to elegant castmgs from Switzerland under the Inca and Haerri names (ca. SFr 15-35 or $10-25, from Inca SA, La Chaux-de-Fonds or Injecta AG, 5723 Teufenthal). Tricycles An adult's enlarged version of the child's trike is manufactured by Schwinn and can be helpful to those who find it hard to balance a bicycle. Of more general interest are tricycles with January 1979 RAIN Page 13 two steering wheels forward on an articulated frame and a single driven wheel aft. The payload area between the front wheels is sufficiently large to be useful to delivery services, groundskeepers, or (in the student quarter of Leiden) to poor but energetic people who are moving their earthly goods from one residence to another. The "Monark" model is built in Sweden by Monark-Crescen AB (Kyrkog 15, 432 00 Varberg) while a larger type is reportedly still being made in the Netherlands, perhaps by De "Elephant" Fabrieken in Eindhoven. Motorized Tricycles The humble moped, held by law and popular opinion to be somewhere between fish and fowl, can be elevated to respectable status by replacing the front wheel with a pair of wheels with a cargo platform above them. This yields a particularly handy and versatile vehicle both for delivery work and in-supporting laborers. I know of three manufacturers. There are probably more. Monark-Crescent AB, Kyrkog 15, 432 00 Varberg, Sweden Steyr-Daimler-Puch, Kiirtner Ring 7, 1011 Vienna, Austria N.V. "Cyrus", Rijwiel-en Motorrijielfabriek, Helbeek 28, P.B. 21, Venlo, Netherlands These moped tricycles are elegantly suited to a tight urban landscape. Their counterparts which are suited to rural work are found in the two-wheeled tractor ("roto-tiller") conversions of Greece, in which either a cart ·is added behind the tractor to yield a tricycle configuration or the tractor's powerplant is added to a three-wheeled cart. The cart can then roll on down the road to or from the field and the engine can be removed to perform fieldwork. An excepti~nally rugged and strong vehicle can be constructed by attachmg a two-wheeled trailer with a live axle to a two-wheeled tractor. The tractor powers not only its own tires but also the rear tires through splined shafts and a gearbox. The obvious beauty of ~hese hybrids is their adaptability in performing several agricultural chores. Less obvious is the real.ization that the components of the vehicles may be manufactured on a local, regional, or national scale as appropriate and that the final configuration of an individual unit can be determined by the owner and ass em bled locally. The largest of the motorized tricycles are the urban trucks of Italy and Greece. They are approximately equivalent in size to the smallest of the imported pickups found in the U.S., though slower and unsuited to interc~ty transp_ort._ They ~re quite compact units, have good carryi_ng _capacity_ m rela~_1on to their size and weight, and with their tight turnmg radu are well suited to congested or narrow streets. They are real workhorses and appear with many different engine configurations. LessThanFourCylinders by Gregg Shadduck Two-wheel tractor and trailer in Greece. hr,•p-.,.,h,,•P1 n10torized cart which the engine and gearing assembly has been removed and is powering the two-wheeled tractor in the background. Crete.
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