General Category => Simplex Trucks => Topic started by: Ricks on December 31, 2012, 11:35:10 AM
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I wonder how much of this is original? The motor # indicates a 1956, the center drive pulley is unlike any other I have ever seen. There are no idler pulleys on the final drive belts. The frame looks 1952 or earlier, as indicated by the brake pedal and single fill gas tank.
In 1952, Simplex had not come out with their automatic transmission, but used one sourced from Salisbury. Bill Erickson's truck has one of these. Bills truck also has a wood box, and this has a metal one?
Many questions and so many things wrong, it makes one question if it is even genuine, or one of the many copies people have built over the years.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Other-Makes-Simplex-Servi-Cycle-Rare-1949-1953-Original-Simplex-Servi-Cycle-3-Wheel-Truck-1-of-15-/290837882827?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item43b749e7cb#v4-40
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In an older issue of the VMBC magazine, there's a small article about Wayne helping a guy build a truck from parts. I wonder if this could be the same one.
Doesn't appear to be any way to maintain belt tension on the back (notice how close the rear tire is to the back loop).
Mike Sal
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I notice in the ad that he mentions a "new" flywheel cover. Does Wayne have NOS or repop ones?....and if so, does he have them for the Phelon style mag?
Mike Sal
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I notice in the ad that he mentions a "new" flywheel cover. Does Wayne have NOS or repop ones?....and if so, does he have them for the Phelon style mag?
Mike Sal
I believe he does. I know he has them for the wico, and Bill E. has one for the 150cc Simplex Sportsman.
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In an older issue of the VMBC magazine, there's a small article about Wayne helping a guy build a truck from parts. I wonder if this could be the same one.
Doesn't appear to be any way to maintain belt tension on the back (notice how close the rear tire is to the back loop).
Mike Sal
I saw that article, but the box looks much older than 10 years.
The belt looks like it just sits on the pulleys. Like I said, no idler pulleys at all.
I think it would easy to build a truck and nobody would be the wiser except the builder. I could put a Simplex motor in mine, and pass it off, and probably get big money for it.
Mike, did you see that other truck from Gary's collection I posted the other day?
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Rick ,
Look to the left side of this pic . That looks like an idler pulley to me .
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$(KGrHqZHJEMFDR1V92YdBQ4M6bMm7!~~60_3.JPG)
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Rick ,
Look to the left side of this pic . That looks like an idler pulley to me .
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$(KGrHqZHJEMFDR1V92YdBQ4M6bMm7!~~60_3.JPG)
I was speaking of idler pulleys at the final drive belts out by the wheels. I don't believe there should be an idler on the secondary belt at all. When I get home later, I will post photos of what should be there.
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So , that truck has it just backwards . Like a 'regular' bike .
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So , that truck has it just backwards . Like a 'regular' bike .
I would not call it backwards, but unnecessary. The belt that is getting tensioned on that truck doesn't need it. It is tensioning the belt on the torque converter, which is a variable size pulley. The belt is short and is tensioned against the motor primary belt and the spring on the transmission. The belts to the wheels have no visible signs of tensioning, so I would think they would slip quite a bit.
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You may be right ( same thing I occasionally say to my wife ;) ) , Rick .
But , I think this truck is set up like a standard bike , with the obvious exception of the jack shaft . It seems to me that if each wheel were adjusted to tighten each drive belt , there would be minimal slippage .
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You may be right ( same thing I occasionally say to my wife ;) ) , Rick .
But , I think this truck is set up like a standard bike , with the obvious exception of the jack shaft . It seems to me that if each wheel were adjusted to tighten each drive belt , there would be minimal slippage .
Ah, there is the fly in the ointment, there is no adjustment to move the rear wheel forward or back! The rear wheels on the trucks are mounted in a fixed position.
When I get home today on a computer, I will start a new section for 3 wheel trucks, and maybe we can get some info and pictures posted over there, so it can be found in the future.
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Good idea . :)
That would be helpful and interesting .
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I noticed that one wheel has the clip on sheave and the other doesn't .
And , it almost looks like there might be some spacing under the jack shaft bearing mounts , but I can't really see well enough to be sure .
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pictures added for future reference.
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more pics
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PD, if you look in this thread: http://www.simplexservi-cycle.com/index.php?topic=538.0, you can see how someone tried to solve the belt tensioning problem a different way.
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It appears the owner of this truck knows more than he is telling. The following pictures are when it was posted for sale within the last year. You can see the manual clutch that was in it at the time.
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Is it even the same motor in those older photos?
Mike Sal
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Is it even the same motor in those older photos?
Mike Sal
Not sure. That's a problem with photos from ebay, they are really small.
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Rick , Are you saving the pics in a hosting account or 'borrowing' them from ebay ?
Here's one I borrowed ( they show 600x800 ):
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$T2eC16NHJIYE9qUcM8dHBQ4M4wBqBQ~~60_3.JPG)
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PD, if you look in this thread: http://www.simplexservi-cycle.com/index.php?topic=538.0, you can see how someone tried to solve the belt tensioning problem a different way.
I saw that . I don't really know if he was trying to adjust belt fit or achieve a different style rear end .
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Rick , Are you saving the pics in a hosting account or 'borrowing' them from ebay ?
Here's one I borrowed ( they show 600x800 ):
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$T2eC16NHJIYE9qUcM8dHBQ4M4wBqBQ~~60_3.JPG)
How do you "borrow" it?
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OK , maybe I just stole it . ;)
By borrow , I mean that as long as ebay keeps that pic available it'll show here .
If I up load that pic to a hosting account , then as long as I keep that account it'll show here . Big difference , IMO .
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OK , maybe I just stole it . ;)
By borrow , I mean that as long as ebay keeps that pic available it'll show here .
If I up load that pic to a hosting account , then as long as I keep that account it'll show here . Big difference , IMO .
Ok, I understand. The only way I can find to keep the pictures forever is to pull them off the print Ebay page, which only have the small photos.
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Are you using an image hosting site ?
If so , you can obtain the 600x800 image url by double clicking that image on ebay . That will high light the image . Then cursor over the image and right click and click 'View Selection Source' . The source page will produce a string like :
<span></span><img index="http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$(KGrHqQOKocE6vsDvpq+BQ4M5Z6I2g~~60_3.JPG" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" src="http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$(KGrHqQOKocE6vsDvpq+BQ4M5Z6I2g~~60_3.JPG" id="i_vv4-39" alt=""></center></div><div id="vv4-39_bdiv" class="ic-p ic-b1" style="height:958px;width:958px;"><div style="display: none;" id="vv4-39_t" class="ic-thr"><span></span></div><div style="display: none;" id="vv4-39_e" class="ic-err"><span>Image not available</span></div></div>
Copy and paste the following part of that string into your hosting up load window :
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$(KGrHqQOKocE6vsDvpq+BQ4M5Z6I2g~~60_3.JPG
That portion of the string will produce the following image :
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$(KGrHqQOKocE6vsDvpq+BQ4M5Z6I2g~~60_3.JPG)
I hope that helps . :)
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Rick ,
Does that ^ work for you ?
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Rick ,
Does that ^ work for you ?
No, because I'm on a Mac and it doesn't allowing highlighting the image.
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I just now noticed that the strap under the tank is cut & they added a bolt in the back to hold up the tank rail.
Mike Sal
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Good eye , Mike .
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It's back! I guess he really wants to sell it, but he wants good money for it. It went to $4200 the last time around, we will see what it gets to this time. It is a shame there isn't some documentation, such as old photos or registration, to show it is a real truck and not a replica. In it's current condition, if it were real, it would probably go for close to $10,000.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Rare-1949-1953-Original-Simplex-Servi-Cycle-3-Wheel-Truck-1-of-15-known-to-exist-/290881672972?forcev4exp=true#ht_1187wt_1167
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I wonder how much the motor jiggles without the head being secured (since the strap was cut off that means the support bracket is doing nothing but holding the plug wires)?
Mike Sal
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I wonder how much the motor jiggles without the head being secured (since the strap was cut off that means the support bracket is doing nothing but holding the plug wires)?
Mike Sal
Mike, I would bet if I messaged him, he would say it runs smoother than with it! He is a BS artist. I don't know why some people have such a hard time telling the truth.
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I have actually seen this bike in person. I bought my bike from him.
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I have actually seen this bike in person. I bought my bike from him.
Did he seem like a straight shooter, or was he as evasive in person as he is on Ebay? I'm not sure why he doesn't just say he put the auto transmission in it.
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He was very nice. I was so excited to buy my bike i really did not study the three wheeler.
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Well, he took another shot at it and did not sell. The price keeps getting in the $4000-5000 range. That would tell me the market thinks that is the value of a 3 wheel truck with questionable authenticity.
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Well I don't know if y'all have seen it yet? But there's another 3 wheel truck for sale on eBay. Its under other makes 1/4 ton truck eBay# 330931833610 and a 12,500.00 price tag. ???
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Here's a link to that ^ auction :
http://tinyurl.com/khb8dk7
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That one belongs to Jim Lokai. It was restored by Gary Wollard, if I am not mistaken. It has a long, extended box that looks a little weird to me.
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Rick,
You are correct - that one did belong to Gary. I took pictures of it while I was visiting Gary in Bradenton, FL.
Mike
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Hmm , No bidding . Just "Buy It Now" .
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Hmm , No bidding . Just "Buy It Now" .
I think Jim is testing the waters. He put it up for sale last year at the same time for the same price just before the Portland meet.
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I guess almost everything could be bought , for the 'right' price .
Pete . :)