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| 3 Wheeled Metro - Help | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 11 2011, 03:34 PM (3,810 Views) | |
| nerys | Aug 11 2011, 03:34 PM Post #1 |
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Grr
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OK I have had it up to here with Insurance companies. I am tired of paying $600 a year for a stinking Geo Metro. When insurance reaches "purchase price" of the car I have a problem with that. their reason for the latest $100 price increase? Because We Can. you heard me right that is their reason. So I canceled. got till 9/22 to get a new policy so far NOT MUCH cheaper. this is insane. 35yo never lapsed even a single day since 16 no tickets no accidents no claims NOTHING squeaky clean. what freaking gives? anyone I got a WILD idea. I want to send a BIG F U to the insurance companies. I want to convert my metro into a 3 wheeler and re-title as a motorcycle. Then get motorcycle insurance and say F U to the insurance companies. SO how do I do it? feasible options? I am HARD CORE serious about doing this if its remotely within my means. I have a mechanic willing to help me and we can weld if need be. concerns. Mass (upwards of 3000 pounds sometimes and I tow a trailer) Tilt. I regularly ride with 3 people in the car (total) so I am concerned about it "tilting" funny when like this (the 3rd person can not sit in the middle I am large enough that I need my seat back far enough to preclude anyone occupying that space remotely comfortably. COST and DURABILITY. ie I want to use a NORMAL STANDARD cheap readily available WIDE tire. this will handle the load better and handle the tilt issue better. also be more stable I would think. Here is my "idea" take a "trailer" and bolt it under the car essentially. a trailer is a straight axle with leaf sprints. I would build a square tube frame with leaf springs and an axle. bolt this into the current control arm/rod bolt holes on the car now since they are already designed for these loads. hole in the subfloor the shape of the tire and a custom well to cover it up. if I do it right I will lose my spare tire well but not any cargo space (ideally) that parts easy. now for the hard part. I need a RIM that the axle would PASS THROUGH completely (like a motorcycle rim) this would also allow me to use a motorcycle brake system to replace the ebrake. a motorcycle seems like it might work. are any large enough to accept a normal car tire? any that can handle the mass load? why? this dramatically simplifies substructure design and construction it would literally just BOLT IN with no mods to the metro except Remote the existing tires and struts (just a few bolts) Run the brake cable. Hole in subfloor to fit tire. Is there a better way to do this? ANYTHING you guys can provide in info etc.. would be greatly appreciated. My only conditions are it needs to be Cheap Use a normal wide cheap common auto tire Minimize how much of my cargo space I lose (don't care about spare tire space) I found this one which is almost exactly what I want. I was not sure a SINGLE MOUNT like that would be stable. http://threewheelmotorcyclemetro.shutterfly.com/ anyone know anything about this metro? looks like a VERY simple conversion job he did. I wonder how well it handles how its holding up etc.. etc.. but THAT is essentially what I want. I would want to use a 14inch rim with a low profile tire (but not so special that it gets uncommon or expensive) IE to minimize how TALL the tire is to try and stay out of my cargo area. any help would be greatly appreciated. Is this eco? will save me $500 a year I call that pretty good ecomodding with a huge and nearly immediate return. |
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| Scoobs | Aug 11 2011, 03:43 PM Post #2 |
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:D
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Just dont build your wheel in the front, then youll have a reliant robin reincarnated..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQh56geU0X8 |
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| Memphis metro | Aug 11 2011, 03:45 PM Post #3 |
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Forget it. No insurance company is going to register that as a motorcycle or for that matter even sell you insurance for it. |
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| honestabe | Aug 11 2011, 03:45 PM Post #4 |
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I'd first check to see if you even can re-title your Metro as a motorcycle if you make it a 3-wheeler. The way that Metro was done would be the right style, although the fabrication was definitely half-assed. Nothing is protected from rust by any sort of coating and it seems to be done in a not-so strong manner. I'd do something similar though. Using a front strut and wheel hub setup but have it be un-steerable (build in some sort of adjustment so you can make sure it stays perfectly straight). Make the design a bit stronger, replace the gas tank with a fuel cell and do a couple other minor improvements and you're golden. Use a steel wheel for strength though since you do drive so heavy (people + cargo and trailer). |
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| wizard93 | Aug 11 2011, 03:45 PM Post #5 |
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Only thing I wouldn't like about a 3-wheeled car is the fact that I wouldn't be able to straddle anything that's lying in the road, like a truck tire tread or a dead dog or raccoon. If I were lucky enough to clear it with the two front tires, I'd surely hit it with the rear tire. Some things are impossible to drive around. |
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| Wobblybob | Aug 11 2011, 04:03 PM Post #6 |
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nerys, How about one of these with a Metro drive train? They say they're licensed as a motorcycle.![]() To see more about it go to http://www.rqriley.com/xr3.htm |
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| lafter | Aug 11 2011, 04:12 PM Post #7 |
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That is a very real issue .. a friend of mine has a bum leg an rides a 3wheel Harley .. just the other day he was talking about how hard it is to avoid road trash. |
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| metromizer | Aug 11 2011, 04:21 PM Post #8 |
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I remembered being part of the discussion and found it again, check this out! http://threewheelmotorcyclemetro.shutterfly.com/22 and this: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/anyone-see-3-wheeled-metro-6257.html Edited by metromizer, Aug 11 2011, 04:31 PM.
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| nerys | Aug 11 2011, 05:48 PM Post #9 |
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Grr
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its just a "custom trike" no different than a "custom trike" like all the trikes you see on the road. insurance won't be a problem. Especially if your getting low value (IE value of the vehicle) insurance. now if you want $10k valuation ok they might look harder :-) I am less URGENT now that I got insurance (AAA $324 a year !!! nice !!) and they got me my motorcycle insurance back for $75 a year !! I dropped pregressive when they raised their minimum from $75 to $98 "because they can" and was going to goto Bikeline ($78) but AAA got it for the old $75 price. Nice. So I can get my goldwing back on the road !!yeah !! I still want to explore this 3 wheel metro option. I want to try and figure out how to RETAIN my cargo space (I know I will lose my spare tire well thats fine) it would be a car tire not a MC tire. ideally a fat lower profile tire (to keep it shorter ie reduce intrusion into cargo area) |
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| bansheetaz | Aug 11 2011, 06:27 PM Post #10 |
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believe it or not some insurance companies look at credit score |
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| Shinrin | Aug 11 2011, 08:31 PM Post #11 |
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It seems doable, the only real issue I see is the cost of the title. Getting it reclassified and retitled has to cost an arm and a leg. I tried to get a 10 foot boat titled, and it was going to run around $300. I wonder how much it'd be for the car. |
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| nerys | Aug 11 2011, 08:33 PM Post #12 |
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Grr
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not much in PA at least. not much more than a regular process around $100 in paperwork. if your saving $500 a year for the next 10 years even $300 is chump change pretty quickly. |
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| JoeBob | Aug 11 2011, 08:57 PM Post #13 |
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Why you Mutt!
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In the last 40 years, I've rarely paid less per year for insurance than the TOTAL cost of the (usually) two cars I've insured. That's just for liability coverage. I've always considered it part of the price of admission. Auto Club has always given me the best rates. Motorcycle insurance (at least out here) goes up exponentially with displacement...if you converted the Geo to a three wheeler, you might find insurance (if you could get it) more expensive than before. OTOH, you'd have a really unusual (and pretty cool) ride...boattail the back end (who NEEDS luggage space, anyway?) Edited by JoeBob, Aug 11 2011, 08:59 PM.
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| HavsCritiria | Aug 11 2011, 09:29 PM Post #14 |
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Nerys, you've got to be kidding me... You should really take into consideration that some of us are paying 4 times that a year. I pay 200 a MONTH! If you've had it with insurance companies, then I must be on the brink of going postal. |
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| Potter | Aug 11 2011, 10:14 PM Post #15 |
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Col. Potter
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wont work it'll still be a metro... THINK what do you need to register a vehicle? thats right a VIN number... and guess what your VIN says? ITS A CAR! woot you just hacked a metro up to try to save a few bucks on insurance when its still registered as a car ![]() back to square 1... the only way you would be able to register a Geo metro as a M.C would be like this ![]() Now i would ask the DMV how i would register this FIRST before i did it to the car.. but my guess would be to either register it as either a Honda M.C, Geo Metro OR a home made vehicle |
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3:36 AM Jul 11