On Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:43:33 -0700, Tim Wescott
wrote:

On 10/04/2010 06:19 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:43:54 -0700, Tim
wrote:

On 10/04/2010 12:36 PM, Leon Fisk wrote:
On Sun, 3 Oct 2010 18:00:03 -0500
wrote:

snip
It would be a lot easier that way , without drive components complicating
things . If you can find that snapshot I'd appreciate it ! My reply-to is
good ...

It took some digging...

This is the web page that Wes made:

http://garage-machinist.com/BuckleyOldeEngineShow/2008/

Take a look at the first four pictures. Not quite how I remembered it
but maybe it will give you some ideas...

It sure looks cool!

I would have done the same thing with a double wishbone suspension, and
maybe little car tires. If you go that way, keep in mind that the
geometry that's right for a single motorcycle wheel may lead to
horrendous bump steer and other difficulties on a vehicle that will
essentially handle like a car.

But it sure looks cool.
Put a "bug" front axle on it. You can narrow it easily - and lighten
the torsion rods (or remove them and install coil-overs)

There's a lot of options there. Just about anything from out of a car
would be hard to make look good. Whomping up a dual-wishbone IFS from
tubing would look good -- even painted it'd look good -- but would take
some time in jigging, and you'd be at the mercy of your own ignorance
with the handling. You could do a straight axle, at the cost of some
really horrendous and hard to control oversteer. You could do a "1960's
Ford pickup" style front axle, i.e. a straight axle that's been split
and the ends overlapped, for a simplified, but probably still
prone-to-oversteer front end.

So Snag: When it comes to oversteer vs. understeer, does your wife
prefer to go into the pucker brush front-first, or back-first?

Spindles would be an issue, wouldn't they? You could make 'em, and take
the "wannabe" out of your tag line when you're done. Or you could try
to find a suitable donor car (egad).

Other than the bug I can't think of many really small rear-wheel drive
cars, unless you want to cruise the junk yards looking for Toyotas &c
from the early 70's. Or maybe something like a Honda or Mazda rear
spindle could be adapted? I have Absolutely No Clue (TM) how much of a
pain this would be -- you'd almost want to have a spindle part that you
kept, then machine off all the features on the back and bolt it to a
backing plate/steering adapter with the same bolts that would normally
bolt the brakes on.

Motorcycle spindles wouldn't work 'cause they're designed to hang the
axle on both sides.

Etc.
Unless you get a uni-strut / uni-fork type MC suspension.