Hi Len thanks for your interesting pictures and article:-) Here are pictures of the GT3 Folding trike - pictures of some of our tandem trikes are on our web site. I have a customer, Richard Guy Briggs, who has come close to what you are doing!! Please check out his web site. http://www.tricolour.net/gtvs6.html Note the pictures of his Tandem Trike with canoe on top! It strikes me that you could carry a couple of inflatable pontoons on top the the Tandem, or as a trailer with clamp on wheels, and then the tandem could go on top of the pontoons, with say a rear propeller unit which bolts in, instead of the rear wheel. If the trike was low enough in the water, then you could use our composite front wheels for steering ;-) This would mean that you would be using your more powerful leg muscles, rather than your arm muscles, for boating. I think this might be better than trying to fit a trike into an inflatable canoe. FWIIW we have changed over to using stainless steel for nearly all of our fittings now, and stainless steel chain is available. Pluss the powder coating on our trikes is extremely good, and seem to stand up to snow and salt in the roads in the northern USA, UK, Austria, & Canada. Regards, Ian. Ian Sims, GREENSPEED Recumbent Trikes & HPVs, 69 Mountain Gate Drive, Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156, AUSTRALIA Phone +61 3 9758 5541, Fax +61 3 9752 4115, Email ian@greenspeed.com.au Web pages http://www.greenspeed.com.au ----- Original Message ----- From: "Len Stanley" To: Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 1:49 PM Subject: Scaling up a Kayak And Bike, Integrated, Trailer-Assisted Transport (KABITAT) system to a two person rig. Dear Ian, Re. our phone conversation today I'm sending you this copy of a recent email I posted to 'hpv-boats'. I'm also attaching a composite image file (108kb) showing different configurations of the current, one person, KABITAT system. For my purpose, the width of a folded trike is the most critical dimension to be considered. A value of 39cm or less would be ideal as it would give me a wide choice of boats into which the 'bent could be packed. As you will read below, I'm also interested in using pedal power in the boat and I wonder if you have any thoughts on this subject? Anyway, I'll appreciate any information you can give me about your products (old & new) as to how they might be able to fit in with my plans Regards Len Stanley In my email to 'hpv-boats' I wrote: Over the past few years I've developed a KABITAT system which currently utilises a Birdy folding bicycle and an inflatable Helios kayak in a rig designed for integrated, amphibious, combination transport. A kayak cart, which has been modified to become a bike trailer, allows me to bike the deflated and bagged kayak to the water's edge. In fifteen minutes or so, the kayak can be made ready for the water with the bike folded in a protective pack and stowed in the forward space which could otherwise be used by another paddler. Similarly, the bike trailer is disassembled and stowed with the bike. The system works well. The rig provides me with multi-mode flexible transportation for paddling and pedaling. I can even hike with it, if I stack the folded bike and folded kayak on the trailer and tow them by hand. The all up weight of KABITAT in 'walkabout' mode is just over 90 lb (41 Kg) This breaks down to 66 lb (30 Kg) for the fully loaded trailer with its tow bar. The Birdy folder weighs 24 lb (11 Kg). The full complement of gear on the trailer includes: the kayak in its bag, a double bladed 4 piece fiberglass paddle, a pump for inflating the kayak, a set of modified shock-corded fiberglass tent poles - which run along the boat's gunwales and are used for securing its load. a 'Sherpak Go' car-top baggage carrier, which gives the Birdy a second protective skin when on the water. The 'standard' Birdy rucksack and a 'Big Zip' Ortlieb hold-all are the other packs loaded on the trailer. I typically use the KABITAT system for day trips from home to the waters of Sydney harbour. Living as I do in a leafy bushland environment on the northern fringes of Sydney it takes me just 30 minutes to pedal (via local and motorway cycleways) to one of the rivers which flows into Sydney Harbour. A five kilometer paddle downstream takes me out into the harbour where there are many kilometers of waterways waiting to be explored. Encounters with harbour traffic - commercial shipping, sailing craft, and fast moving ferries add an extra spice of adventure to my day's trip. Sometimes, after a paddle down the harbour and under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I come ashore near the Opera House and cycle through the historic 'Rocks' area, pedalling across 'The Bridge' to catch an electric train from North Sydney back to my home suburb. So, I'm very happy with my KABITAT Adventure Rig - but I want to implement the concept as an upscaled two person system. I'm particularly interested in exploring the possibility of using pedal powered propulsion and have recently become aware of (from reading through HPV Boat archives) of Tom McGuinness' exciting 'Tailboat' invention and also Bob Stuart's SwimFin lightweight propeller unit. In order to cope with the heavier trailer load which a two seater inflatable, or folding, kayak will impose, I expect that the road transport component of my upscaled system will require more low speed gear options than the nine which are available in my current system. This factor is leading me to give serious consideration to using a recumbent trike which can be disassembled and stowed for water transportation. I might even consider incorporating a tandem recumbent trike in the new rig. Using a solo 'bent trike in conjunction with the Birdy folder will be a less expensive solution and is therefore probably my best choice. If I do choose to use a 'bent trike for the new rig I'll probably change its name and call it a KARTIFACT (This is an acronym for: Kayak And Recumbent Trike Integrated For Amphibious, Combination Transportation) - instead of a KABITAT system Now, if it were possible to re-use some of the recumbent trike's components, (e.g. - the seat and/or the pedalling system) when the system is configured as water transport, this could bring about significant reductions in that most important of factors - the rig's weight. The thought of being able to do this is certainly attractive, though I'd have to factor in to any such design decisions, the consideration of how expensive and corrosion prone equipment could be affected by a harsh marine environment. Finally the major design decision to be made is - what combination of boat and power transmission do I use? Currently a SeaEagle 435ps PaddleSki using the Tailboat propulsion unit is the favoured contender, but I don't yet know whether this is a practical possibility and what the pros and cons of such a combination would be. I'm going to have many more enjoyable hours cogitating on all these issues and I invite anybody who has similar inclinations to contribute their thoughts on the subject. I will be grateful for any constructive suggestion or information you can provide. Regards Len (Kabitat) Stanley