Hobie Cat Forums

Have Tandem Island in Tampa Bay area, What a great sailing vessel!!! I live 4 blocks from launching site and I am thinking about a Trailex trailer=150lbs + TI @ 192lbs. Total weight = 342lbs. This is nothing to pull behind a car but I am thinking a Cargo Tricycle with an electric assist motor on it. I am looking into legalities about being on the street but I think I am legal. Is there anyone that can give me any advise pro or con. The tricycle is a 5 speed and with the electric assist motor is suppose to be able to haul 250lb cargo at 17 mph. Of course they are trying to sell me the trike and motor. Any comments would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Geege33708
Ps this is my first post.

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Geege33708 Ferretjans

What are the brakes like?

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How steep are the hills? Seriously, it sounds interesting, although I would tend to stay in a low gear and forget about 17mph.. To scary if it goes pear-shape!

add the weight of the rider and the trike and you will be well over 550 pounds. it might work but don't expect much battery life. if you can get a gas assist motor then go for it.

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2011 Golden Papaya TI with a 250 square foot spinnaker!
also a more manageable 100 square foot spinny...
&
the TI3 rear ama mod

Probably need a 48v motor, and I would make sure you have disc brakes on that puppy, especially on front. If you can get metal brake pads, as opposed to the organ I ones that avid and shimano have now you will get better brake life.
I live in hilly Marin, and my cargo fully loaded with three passengers barely made it up my 22% grade road with me pedaling like crazy. Now with 48v battery and controller it is a breeze. I burn through brake pads at about twice the rate with the organics lasting a month or two in winter, and usually all summer. Metal pads last one full season

48 volt I can do. It's a hub type motor in front with a disk brake. Rear wheels will be coaster brakes. My biggest concern is stopping. No hills.

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Geege33708 Ferretjans

Direct drive or geared motor? And is that 250# cargo, or total weight including rider?
If it is total weight, then it is probably pretty dicey- you'd be doubling the spec.
You probably want direct, as the geared have a minimum speed to get going, and that way you don't risk stripping the gears.
Stopping you probably need some distance, but with a DD you'll get resistance, worst case you will have to replace the front pads a lot.
The only thing I would worry about is the front head tube and fork, but if the trike is rated for that weight in cargo, you should e OK there, or at least you aren't totally blowing the weight limits out of the water.

250# is the weight that can be carried on the trike load platform. The weight of the trailer tongue would be a mere fraction of that. The weight of the boat will have little effect on the load the trike can carry, it's the load that it is pulling is the question. (and stopping) I am sure there is some kind of formula for figuring this out. Remember the commercial were the Toyota pulled the space shuttle from the airport to the museum. It's all about pulling power. And what about the guy who pulls the semi truck with his teeth. I guess the only way to find out is to just do it! (Swoosh)

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Geege33708 Ferretjans

I have a TI on the early Trailex 200 trailer (Hobie now uses a more robust trailer for TI, and for car pulling, that's a good idea). The trailer is easy enough to pull around that I think I could do it for several miles on the flat, on good pavement, with my bike and no assist (pant, pant). But I would be in a low gear, and going fairly slowly. My question on the motor would be whether it worked well at low bike speeds, since these hub motors have no gearing. If there were any kind of hills, let alone Marin's 22 grades, I really doubt this would work out. But Florida is about as flat as it gets. I think it will work, and you will get some valuable workout helping out your motor. I think it would be better with some kind of custom trailer using larger diameter, bike type wheels, but you can get the Trailex stock, a big plus.

I would imagine the legality could hinge on not having brake lights and turn signals functioning on a trailer that has them.

The low speed is key-- that's why you need a direct drive, not a geared motor. Direct drive will engage at almost any speed, while the geared motors require a min prior to kicking in.
i have to walk my bike up (when loaded) some of the hills, and the direct drive will help even when starting from a dead stop. My old geared motor wouldn't do that