This is a 1981 HMV Freeway.
Sorry for the terrible picture, but this is one of the many weird, amusing vehicles produced as a result of the fuel panic of the 70s. The 340 cc freeway (the version I have) was guaranteed to get 100 miles-per-gallon at 40 miles/hour on flat ground.
It has a literal lawn mower engine, manufactured by Tecumseh, with quite janky steering system, and a bizarre belt-CVT based powertrain that is effectively stolen directly from a snowmobile.
It made a blazing 12 horsepower (when new!) to the single rear wheel. Since it’s 3-wheeled, California treats it as a motorcycle.
So far, I’ve mostly been doing work on it, because while it worked, it had a number of issues. I’m starting this blog mostly to track the project, because if it amuses me enough I figure it might amuse someone else as well.
I have a lot of things that need to be tweaked before it’s something I’d consider daily drivable:
Immediate priority:
- The fuel tank has a leak somewhere, making the cabin reek of gasoline. I need to rework the whole fuel system to seal it properly
High Priority:
- I’m too tall to sit comfortably in the thing. The seat needs to be lowered and moved back.
- Additionally, since this is technically a motorcycle, I’d like to at least be able to fit comfortably while wearing a skullcap helmet. The previous owner said he drove it without one all the time, but I figure safer then sorry. Also that means if a cop pulls me over I’m completely legit.
- Whoever did a rebuild of this last redid the wiring, and I don’t trust any of it. I’m going to rewire the entire thing. It works, but I have picky standards.
- This thing originally had a 3-point seatbelt. It’s not installed anymore. Reinstall it.
- The door hinge is a bit wallered out, as it’s a plain hole in steel with a steel pin as the hinge. This means you have to lift the door to have it latch properly. I’d like to add a proper bushing or hinge to it.
Longer Term:
- I’d like to completely replace the engine & powertrain. The current engine and drivetrain is mounted on a subframe that is bolted to the main frame with rubber isolators. I suspect this is because the big single cylinder Tecumseh vibrates a LOT, and was an attempt to isolate it. I’d like to get a proper motorcycle, and graft most of the frame + engine + rear wheel in place of the current drivetrain.
- Reverse! This doesn’t have one, and it means parking can be challenging. It is not easy to push backwards, due to the awkward door and the fact that it’s ~700 lbs.
- Front end suspension geometry is absolutely terrible.
The front end’s steering and suspension geometry is really bad, it has horrible bump steer and can be rather frightening to drive at speed. I’d like to re-engineer the entire front-end to a proper wishbone system.
There is also a location I could potentially install a steering stabilizer. Do that too.
