Every Day Adventurers

Talk about DIY. Larry, of BikeForth.org, details his Xtracycle canopy, Conastoga-style solar panel roof and future micro-car project. Very fun, inspiring design and tinkering. :D

Bike Forth » Blog Archive » Bike Wagon Takes Form.

Editor Update: This is a semi-permanent solution for getting Footsies to work with KickBack. If you want to use WideLoaders, you’ll have to remove the bolts holding the Footsies on, so only do this mod if a) you’re fine voiding your warranty and b) don’t use WideLoaders.

KickBack is all the rage these days regarding our DIT tutorials. Our most recent tutorial focused on extending the peg platform of KickBack by using the handles off a Razor scooter. You can read up on that post here.

Taking passenger appeasement a step further, I wanted to explore a fast, simple solution to get your Footsies to play nice with KickBack. This mod will void your Footsie warranty, so proceed with caution (and if not installed properly, may void your KickBack warranty, too). Let’s begin!

Footsies modified to play nice with KickBack

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In a recent How-To post about carrying passengers on your Xtracycle, Don tossed a tip our way about using Razor scooter handlebars to get an ‘xtra 2″ of peg space. Intrigued, and always excited for new mini-projects, I started scouring the local 2nd hand stores and re-use depots looking for forlorn Razors.

Scooter's got some chic factor and I've got some pegs

Sadly, working scooters, let alone busted, broke-down ones were either in happy use or languishing under 10-years of other fads. Figuring that one would land in my lap at some point, I decided to leave the pot to boil on its own.

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Footsies have an image problem. Not only did KickBack relegate Footsies to second most popular Xtracycle product, KickBack also kept Footsies from coming along for the ride.

RootsRadical, Josh Larios, not content to let his passengers use KickBack’s foot posts, modified his well-loved Footsies to play nice with KickBack. Here’s his advice and info should you want to get Footsies back on their feet:

Footsies and KickBack, Happy At Last

Using 7/8″ OD aluminum pipe salvaged from a broken jogger/stroller I found at the side of the road, I’ve modified my Xtracycle’s Footsies to be compatible with the Kickback center stand.

If I had any decent plywood, this would have been a completely new build. As it was, I reused the platforms from the original Footsies and fabricated everything else. I have plenty of tubing left over, though, so I may build a new set later, completely from scratch. There are some elements of this prototype that I’m not particularly happy with (spacers, loose tolerances leading to difficulty attaching/removing).

Note: Due to the farther standoff caused by KickBack, the heels of your existing Footsies will need to be angled in to reach the FreeRadical chainstay to properly velcro in place.

Visit Josh’s flickr page for all his build photos and share-away your own Footsie DITs!

Ride On!

Maker Faire Bay Area 2009 is the World’s big DIY (Do-It-Yourself) event. Each year over 600 do-it-yourselvers get together to show off their stuff - things they’ve created and invented on their own.  The event started in 2006 and is in its third year of existence

Sponsored by Make Magazine, the event is DIY creativity and resourcefulness at its fine-ist!

In our neck of the woods it was hosted on the San Mateo County Expo Center grounds in California for two full days (May 30th and 31st) of play and innovation. Certainly not enough time to see how much resourcefulness and creativity there is here in the Bay. But so inspiring none the less. You leave wanting more - with your own creative juices fully flowing.

This year’s theme “ReMake America - Building a Sustainable Future,” was based on President Obama’s call to action to become part of a new era of Do-It-Yourself.

Some of the DIY themes and projects this year included bicycle powered spin art, hydrogen powered rockets, creating power from everyday waste, making your own robot from recycled products, building electric go carts, building bikes with discarded stuff, how to grow your own mushrooms and food! Glorious food!

Xtracycle donated the use of our Fleet of Radishes for the crew of the Maker Fair to help them move their stuff and people around. From the smiles and hooping and hollaring - we sure could tell they were having fun, while working it  - thanks to the Radish!

More fun then a barrel of monkeys and a faster than your averaged life sized snail.