Riding in Style

 Finally got around to starting work on the cruising essentials a couple of days ago.  Our goals were just fixing up the trike with some lights and a sound system so that it's ready to take on the night.  I started laying out where all the lights are going to go, and securing them on the frame.  I went with my favorite blue lights to go with the white frame.  While laying everything out, I just used a separate 12v battery pack to power all the extra electronics.

I also thew on some red underglow lighting up under the seat.  They're tied into momentary switches in the brake levers so that when I brake, the lights turn on.  It actually gives a pretty cool effect driving on the road at night with the brake light underglow.

MUSIC

Some days I just miss riding around back home with the radio on in my car, so I had to fix up a sound system on the cruising trike.  I started with an old radio that I found, and took it apart.

I removed everything from the plastic housing and separated the cassette tape portion of the player.  The speakers still worked nicely, and the tuner still picked up radio stations.

I liked the size of the two 4"x4" circular speakers, and mounted them inside of the electronics box on the trike.

There was the perfect amount of space for them to fit side by side on the lid of the box with clearance on the inside, so I bolted them right there.  I figured that even if they weren't that loud, at least I'd be able to hear the music with the speakers aimed right up at my face.  

I measured out and drilled a bunch of air flow holes on a grid right in the middle of the speakers:

The tuner from the radio took up a lot of space, so I ended up not putting it in the box.  I wanted to be able to at least play my ipod, so I went with the amplifier board from an old set of computer desk speakers instead.

There was a sufficient amount of space in the front compartment of the box, so I put the amplifier circuit up there.  I drilled holes in the top so that the rider can easily adjust the volume and tone control knobs. 

I then had another field day riveting some sheet metal brackets on the top edges of the box, and then put velcro from that surface to the bottom of the lid. The lid had previously just been constrained by getting squeezed under the seat, but the velcro did a good job of holding it down and preventing the lid and speakers from sliding around.  I ran the headphone jack out the holes in the side with the motor and throttle cables so that it's easily accessible while driving.  Roberto set me up with his Reggaeton playlist, so now it's really ready to go.  It can't quite compare to the tailgating machine we had back home, but the sound is still decently high quality.  Between the lights and the music, the trike's starting to get pretty good at attracting the attention of people passing by at night.

Now it's starting to come together!