Weight Limits And Center Of Gravity?

[zelio]

Wanna small camper?
http://www.openroadoutfitters.com/mini-mate-motorcycle-camper

That's the one I want for my Elio. I have contacted the company to tell them about the Elio and they look forward to seeing the Mini-mate being towed by an Elio. May I be the first. Universe? Make it so! LOL :-) Z

 

[LonePine]

Excellent ! I've been through 47 states, all the lower provinces of Canada, and it'd be a shorter list to name the National Parks I Haven't visited on 2 wheels, in the open air, helmeted and leathered-up from fingers to toes, than to list the ones I Have. I look forward to going back to checking out those places again by Elio !

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

Very nice

 

[MW]

I was reading on another thread about designing reverse trikes. There was a concern about the center of gravity on the Elio being too far back with two occupants and a full tank of gas. Apparently reverse trikes can become unstable at speed if the majority of the weight is not near the front axle. I wonder if there will be occupant weight limits and towing limits too since the tongue weight would effect the center of gravity...

Anyone have any insight into this issue?

I'm not an engineer by any stretch of imagination, nor am I an Elio apologist but I have designed and built a couple of boats and have built an airplane. These very rudimentary experiences have taught me that there are so many variable factors involved that it is hard to get a detailed grasp of what/how one item affects another.

A crude example of this that first comes to mind is restrictions on towing/trailers. If you can assume the hypothetical situation of driving around a sharp turn on a mountain road and happening across an obstacle in the road that requires hard braking (doesn't matter what it is, large boulder or a nun pushing a baby carriage full of orphaned children..) when the brakes are applied weight shifts to the front, unloading the rear wheel and at the same time the trailer is going to want to continue in a straight line, with the trailer hitch providing an extended "arm of moment" providing more leverage behind the back wheel, both further lifting it up as well as trying to push it at an angle. Depending on a bunch of factors that the Elio designer has no control over (trailer weight and geometry, trailer tongue loading, vehicle speed, frictional coefficient of the road surface etc) I could see this leading to a jack knife situation somewhat easily. So many decisions are made not because it is impractical or unsafe to do in most situations but there will be situations that have a chance of occurring that can be consequential to those that unwittingly or not wander in to them.

 

[Critter]

Saw that happen with a Trike pulling a trailer in Tellico Plains, on the road to Bald River Falls. Both occupants went into the river.

 

[MW]

Remember it happens with semi-trailers too! As mentioned (by me, LOL) there are many factors involved and sheer mass is not necessarily one.