Not strictly motoring but relevant. Since pedal power is yet to be heavily taxed, are there any restrictions on the size/weight of a pedal powered vehicle?
Just curious if there are any restrictions in place?
I was wondering how feasible it would be to transport my valeting kit in a trailer as the vast majority of my jobs are within 5 miles of home. Just a thought!
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Well there are plenty of Rickshaw companies sprouting up in the cities so would imagine your outfit wouldn't be bigger than that?
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There are some very good trailers available for hitching to push bikes. Have a look on ebay.com (not uk).
It does depend on your ability to schedule your jobs to minimise mileage, as you could still have 10 miles between jobs, which could take an hour if the hills are bad and your kit is heavy.
You could reduce weight by carrying enough of your liquid supplies in smaller amounts, rather than take a full 5/10 litre (or bigger) canister, when you only use a smaller amount in one day.
You might have to insure the combo for theft, but that about £20/year, and you have no other costs per year other than tyres and some kind of annual write-down. I guess it would save you upwards of £1k?
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Not strictly motoring but relevant. Since pedal power is yet to be heavily taxed are there any restrictions on the size/weight of a pedal powered vehicle?
Only what you can pull easily. The best child trailers are very easy to tow, even with a 2.5 stone child in them. The two seaters (not recommended for a solo bike when fully laden) are quite large too. Five miles is no problem, but it will be slower of course. On the up side environmentally friendly valeting could be a selling point.
I recommend Chariot--not cheap but very good indeed (website was very slow for me just now):
www.chariotcarriers.com/
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I would need a space approx the size of a Fiesta load space with seats down, however, most kit would be stackable so could be fitted into a smaller footprint trailer.
Where can you get rickshaws? Are they road legal? Surely there is some form of regulation on what is roadworthy? Is there a width restriction?
My schedule isnt that frantic ( and I would retain the van for longer distance jobs ) and there is plenty of room for making more space between jobs. I dont carry water or generators so thats really the main weight many valeters carry. Hoses weigh a fair bit and I do carry about 10 5 ltr cans of chemicals onboard the van, but these could be reduced but half with some forward planning.
I think it would save a fair bit in terms of fuel. My van uses approx £7-900 in fuel per year but more importantly, if in the future, we are charged per mile, then it would come into its own cost wise I think.
I hadnt thought of the enviro angle from a marketing point of view.
A Rickshaw type vehicle would sure be novel and I recall my customers all loved it when I worked out the back of my old Rialto, it was a real talking point!
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www.londonbicycle.com/rickshaw.htm
Forget the valetting and just take up the Rickshaw! £120 per hour!!!!
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I think you need to figure out what the bare minumum of gear will look like and what it will weigh. Pashley is a company that makes industrial bicycles and may have a model to suit you, though they are generally designed for indoor warehouse work. On the other hand there are plenty of frame builders who may consider building a bespoke tricycle with a load bay. Think hard about how you will keep the centre of balance low. It could be very unstable.
Something like this, which is electric assisted, may be what you're after:
www.pashley.co.uk/products/freightmate.html
This trailer might be better:
www.pashley.co.uk/products/euroload-trailer.html
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