This Blog is dedicated to my passion of designing and building a fully enclosed, leaning reverse trike motorcycle. I hope to log all the steps, problems and solutions as I take on this immense project.

Where to begin?

I guess the best places is at the beginning. Where did the idea come from to build a fully enclosed leaning reverse trike motorcycle. I guess it all started after a motorcycle accident where car crossed the double yellow line on a canyon road outside of Los Angeles, which left me no place to go but straight into him. Fortunately, I somehow managed to fly over the vehicle and land in a road without anybody else hitting me and was able to walk away. My motorcycle was only a month old and was totally demolished. I decided that there were far too many crazy drivers in Los Angeles and far too much traffic to be safe on a motorcycle. I long to ride a bike again and have a economical way to commute to my job. What I want is to combine the safety of the car, with the thrill of riding a motorcycle. The only way I can think of doing this is creating a fully enclosed leaning trike. A lot of my inspiration came from seeing the Carver and I decided that I would buy one when they came into production. Unfortunately that never happened the company went bankrupt and now I find myself lying awake at night trying to figure out how to build one of these for myself. I love solving problems and designing, and have been doodling concepts and researching the Internet for over a year now I have a lot of ideas and a lot more questions. My first job was a motorcycle mechanic. I gave up this job after four years to become professional artist. I now make my living in Los Angeles as an animator. I consider myself mechanically inclined and have experience in gas welding, but other than junior high school metal shop I have little experience in fabrication. I have a huge challenge ahead of me. My desire in this website is to share all the research I am doing, in the hopes that those with a like mind of mine, will also share their knowledge on the pages of meanleanmachine.com. One thing I will say about myself is, if I have a passion to do something it will get done, and I have a passion to build and ride a fully enclosed leaning reverse trike motorcycle.

There are so many things to decide while designing a leaning reverse trike motorcycle. Basic frame design, frame construction method, what engine to use, engine placement, how will it steer, how would lean, should it be a reverse trike with the two wheels in the front or a standard trike with the two wheels in the rear? What drive chain should be used, shaft, belt, or chain. Other things that need to be discussed and learned are gyroscopic principals, electronic sensors for detecting speed and inertia and angles of lean, servos and servo controllers. These are all categories with a multitude of options that needed to be explored and decide upon. As I continue to do my research on my reverse trike, I will post to these different categories and any others I may feel are important, what I find, and eventually report what I decide to use to build my leaning reverse trike motorcycle.

There are some folks who have really pioneered the leaning reverse trike technology, and I hope to dedicate a few pages to them, and hopefully where they may share what they have learned.