Am new owner of a rickshaw, also called a pedicab, originally from China. We want to put an motor or engine on it. Does anyone have any experience with this? It is
similar to a trike, but it weighs about 150 pounds, and is designed to carry about 300 to 400 pounds counting driver and 1-2 passengers. We are trying to figure out if an electric or gas motor would be adaptable.It has 2 gears right now. The hard part is going up small inclines. Trying to figure out if it could turn into a part-time summer job, but it is too hard to pedal now. Thoughts? All ideas welcome! Lyn

Not sure how your rear sprocket is set up, but people have done trikes before. I believe there was some welding involved, but as I said, not sure how your sprocket mounts, can you shoot us a photo?

As far as power, I would definitely suggest the Gas engine.

Thanks for the reply! Here is a picture I found that is close to it. Will this help?
Welding is not a problem as I know a welder. - there is room to weld something under the carrier seat.

There is one front crank with two sprockets. There is one sprocket on the back axle. These are connected by a chain.

It has front brakes & rear hand brake.
•27" x 1.75 Tires
•Entire Size 95" L x 42" W x 73"H
•Carrier/Seat Size 42" L x 35" W x 30" H

Someone told me a gas motor would make it sound like a motorcycle. Is that true?

I could try to take a picture of the undercarriage if that would help.

sorry it wasnt jpg, here it is in word.

Can't seem to view it....the hard part is mounting the driven sprocket. You'll have to improvise to mount it to the rear axle.

The gas engines sound like a moped more than a motorcycle...well, maybe like a small, quiet dirtbike.

I got the file in the correct format. That machine is beautiful! It would be REALLY helpful if you could take pictures of the underside of the carriage. Please also measure the thickness of the drive axle. We need to see how to mount a driven sprocket and what size it would need to be. Motorizing a bicycle requires gear reduction. generally around 18:1 is a good number. The low torque and low horsepower of a small engine needs to be amplified to the rear wheel. If, for instance, your engine has an output drive cog that measures 1" and you send the power straight back to a drive sprocket with a 10" diameter, your gear reduction is only 10:1. Therefore further gear reduction would be required. Maybe something like a gearbox, or jack-shaft.

Cheers, Roland

Hi Roland,
I was out of town for a week, but am now working on getting pictures and measurement of the undercarriage. I should have them up by Monday.
I appreciated your suggestion to measure the drive axle and sprocket.
LM

Hi Roland,
Here are pictures of the front, back and side of the undercarriage.
We are interested in attaching a gas or an electric motor. My son said that electric should be significantly quieter. Since this rickshaw would be used for scenic rides, the noise element is an important consideration for passenger comfort.
From these pictures, does it look like we could weld a gas or metal engine/booster under the passenger foot ramp or under the back passenger seat, or I guess attach it to the frame in front frame (least attractive option.)
Lyn

hmm, pictures too large message. I will try to post two at a time.

Post edited by: Murphy, at: 2008/03/24 21:17

check other mailbox.