SHIRLEY C. BOATMAN/The Luminary Steve Young, of Muncy, models the battery-operated recumbent tricycle he recently made. He will finish his project by adding a comfortable seat and headrest to the trike.

Steve Young spent “about 100 hours” building a battery-powered recumbent tricycle. You might see him wheeling around his neighborhood in Muncy, no peddling required. Steve explains what this recumbent tricycle is all about. “The bike is often called a trike (3 wheels) or a reverse trike, in that the two front wheels steer and the rear wheel is powered, as opposed to a tricycle which is the opposite. The back end of the frame is the rear section of a regular 12-speed bicycle frame. Front of the frame is made from automotive exhaust pipe and other metal stock purchased from Surplus City. The steering tie rods were made from tubing cut from old bicycle frames.”

Steve purchased the rear wheel, with electric motor in the hub, battery, motor controller and throttle in a conversion kit online. The front wheels, disc brakes and frame scraps are from used stock of Bicycle Recycle located in the Pajama Factory in Williamsport. He found the brake cables at Earl’s Bicycle Store in Lewisburg. Do all that search, find and tinker and that’s how you end up with a battery-powered recumbent tricycle in which you can sit, lean back and enjoy the ride.

Steve has done a lot of building over the years, including model airplanes, mostly hand-launched gliders and electric-powered scale models. He also likes to turn segmented wooden bowls on a lathe.

“I’ve been tinkering for as long as I can remember,” he said. Which is about 70 years’ worth of memories. He says that growing up, he and his three brothers were interested in anything with wheels. “When we approached our parents about purchasing something we wanted badly our father would say, ‘I won’t buy it for you, but if you want to build it, I’ll help you.'”

Because Steve has a colorful style of story-telling, read on to hear his own words about his early tinkering experiences.

Steve Young, at around age 6, sits on his first self-made roller. PHOTO PROVIDED

STEVE: My first roller was a coaster made from scraps of wood, and wheels from an old Radio Flyer wagon. I got tired of pulling it back uphill and decided to put a motor on it. I found an old lawn mower motor that I got running somehow and put it on my coaster but got the gearing wrong and it basically shook itself apart. I had access to scrap metal and an electric welder, so I decided to build a scooter to put the motor on. My first welding attempts were pretty ugly. An old master welder–and fun teacher and coach who worked for my father–told me he had a pet chicken that could weld better than me. My father thought my scooter was dangerous, so we four boys found an old go-cart frame in a junk yard and came up with a used chain saw motor and a transmission from a junk Indian motorcycle and proceeded to tear up our gravel driveway. I also got good at changing out the drum rollers on our heavy duty electric dryer which was prone to wear out frequently with laundry from nine people (I also have three sisters). Meanwhile, I got interested in electrical stuff, including building a crystal radio and finding ways to get my brothers to shock themselves. Growing up in Pennsdale in the 1950’s was one adventure after another!

SCB: You have an MBA in business, so that probably didn’t contribute much to your hobby. You’re self-taught?

SY: Yep. The only actual building instruction was shop class at Muncy High School. I learned by imagining, watching, listening and experimenting.

SCB: Did your career life fit in with those interests?

SY: At one point I was a working supervisor of a shop that built custom ambulances and another shop that built commercial air compressor systems. We subsequently moved to Boston where I worked at MIT, tasked with keeping specialized critical equipment running. Through the 32 years we spent in the Boston area, I moved up to facilities management while continuing to look for ways to improve working conditions and worker efficiency through equipment modifications from an ergonomics standpoint. So I’d say yes, the interests overlapped.

In 1981, while working at MIT, I became interested in Human-Powered Vehicles (HPV) and met an HPV guru and professor of engineering, David Gordon Wilson. I showed him the recumbent bicycle I had built with used bike parts and a frame I had welded together of electrical conduit ($5 invested). He invited me to bring my bike to one of his classes to show his students.

That was encouraging to Steve’s efforts. “When I recently got interested in electric bicycles, my first attempt took this route: I bought a kit to convert a regular bike to electric assist. The kit included a 48 volt battery pack, an electric motor controller, and a 26 inch front wheel with a 1,000 watt motor in the hub. I soon discovered that the torque on the axle overpowered the front fork of my wife’s bicycle, causing the wheel to come loose. Luckily, I wasn’t going very fast when the wheel fell off. To confirm the problem, I had to experience it twice, of course. That’s how the recumbent tricycle came into being. I wanted something more stable and closer to the ground.”

Steve’s other hobbies include volunteering at the Williamsport Bicycle Recycle, pickleball, sailing, discus launch gliders and carpentry. He and his wife, Bobi (Wetherill) Young, also enjoy camping trips in their 17-foot Jayco Jay Feather.

Copyright © Muncy Luminary | https://www.muncyluminary.com | 1025 Route 405 Highway, Hughesville, PA 17737 | 570-584-2134 | Ogden Newspapers | The Nutting Company