I must get at least one email a week about fitting a CURVE kit on a TerraTrike.  And it was probably almost a year ago that Jim and I made a couple of day trips up to Mike's Bikes in Sequim to take TerraTrike seat frame pictures and measurements.  

Getting this relatively simple bracket right has been quite an exercise.  The first prototype looked neat, but involved multiple individual pieces that had to be welded and holes to be tapped.  The quote to fabricate the bracket was $64...I thought it was a typo.  So I started over with prototype 2...no bending, no tapping holes, no seam welds.

Now that Dale at Angle Lake Cycles is a TerraTrike dealer life's a lot simpler.  He's just a short ferry ride away, and he stocks plenty of TerraTrike, Catrike, ICE and HP Velotechnikit trikes in addition to a goodly supply of Rans and Bacchetta 2-wheelers.  So it's no longer an expedition to try fitting my prototypes and new accessories.  

Yesterday I hopped on the ferry and headed down there to try out prototype bracket #2 on a Rover.  Three pieces of good news - the bracket's a very simple build, it works perfectly and version #3 (the final item) will be about 1/3 smaller.  I should be able to get the new one made and be sure it works within the next week.  

With some luck the TerraTrike kits can be available by mid to late October, just in time to bring the trikes indoors and use them as lounge chairs while watching tv.  

I realize that speed hasn't been my greatest strength, and not just with these brackets.  Back-ordered parts continue to be a nagging problem.  And the worst of it is that I never know when, for example, stems will be out of stock for a month.  

Since I'm mostly doing all this for fun I try to look at this micro-industrial complex as a great learning experience about manufacturing.  I have most of the same challenges I'd have if the business was 1000X larger...just with less to lose (or gain) financially.  Size aside, I hate having to explain delays to customers, and I don't want anyone to think I'm not grateful off the charts for their patience and understanding.  In some ways being small presents more challenges - one in particular is trying to find providers of certain services consider doing work for me as fill-in for them...something they'll get around to at some point when they have time between large jobs.  I understand their realities, but that doesn't help me.  Still, I'm pretty sure I'll figure all this out.

Recently a couple of folks asked whether the side mount kit would fit on the new Catrike Villager with the adjustable seat.  Well it fits just fine.  Dale has a great selection of Villagers in stock, and my toughest decision was choosing on which color Villager to try the kit.

Time to get some orders filled.