Do you know what that crazy Howard did today? He bought a 3-wheeled bicycle. In the interest of being completely correct, we should call it a tricycle, but it has bicycle wheels and was made by Columbia, a bicycle company. Yes, this is the kind of 'cycle that Grandma rides to the corner grocery. It even has a basket on the back between the rear wheels. But Howard isn't that old yet, so he plans to convert it to a motorized bi(tri)cycle.

Since it doesn't have motorbike brakes, it can't be very fast, so one engine that could be used is a Maytag washing machine engine with only a fraction of a horsepower. It might go six or eight miles per hour, but that beats walking.

Another good engine is a 1.5 horsepower Briggs and Straton with a side shaft. It's about 30 years old, which isn't very old compared to the Maytag which was new in 1947.

Another possible choice is a Cushman engine with 3.2 horsepower, but that might flash along at 25 or 30 and that's too fast for bicycle brakes on a machine that weighs that much. How much? Who knows, but it must be more than a bicycle, plus the engine that weighs about 45 pounds. And then there is the weight of an adult-sized kid.

Has anybody ever tried anything like this? Howard is no engineer and has no idea how to get the power to the wheels without spending a lot of money on a low-budget project. Any advice will be considered and appreciated.