Automatic differentials?

[KiZ]

He did actually say that he wasnt gonna put in a diff any more. probably just the one driving wheel now, as well.

[Zack]

Hey, dr_dav.
Me and my brother's plans so far:
Two wheels at the front, for steering, spinning indepentantly.
One wheel on the back, nice and thick with a motorcycle-style sprocket attached.
Mid-mounted transverse 3-5 HP engine, with motorcycle, ATV, small tractor or Go-Kart clutch and transmission. Chain leaves the tranny to the rear wheel sprocket, just like a motorcycle.
Two reclining straddle seats, with clutch pedal and gear shifter on the left, accelerator on the right, steering wheel in front that controls some sort of rack-and-pinion or parallelogram steering.
The brake pedal will be beside the gas pedal, and it should have three cables branching out from it, one to each wheel brake caliper.

Right now the biggest issues are going to be the steering system and brakes, I believe.
A couple questions about the braking system:
a) will it be too hard to press a brake pedal when it has all three cables attached to it?
b) do motorcycles use plain cable brakes? If so, I'm smiling because I can buy motorycle wheels for all and rip brakes from em' too.

[Dr_Davenstein]

Most older motorcycles use a cable brake system. Alot of newer bikes use hydraulic brakes, but most dirtbikes use cable... You should be able to find some without too much searching.


Oh, and it shouldn't be too hard to press the brake, unless the cables are rusty or something. But even then, you can always lube 'em up with WD-40 or something.

[KiZ]

But even then, you can always lube 'em up with WD-40 or something.

Just DONT lube the brake pads! :o

[Zack]

But even then, you can always lube 'em up with WD-40 or something.

Just DONT lube the brake pads! :o

Hahahah

OK, good, so motorcycle wheels and brakes.
As an adaptation of the wheeling system, how does this sound:
One wheel in the back, driven.
Slightly ahead of that wheel, and outward, a wheel on each side.
Far in front (like a low-rider motorcycle) one wheel, attached to handlebars for steering.
So I get good balance and simple steering without the need for a differential. And I'd just brake the rear (driven) and front wheel (steering) wheel.
Like this: