People will think me bonkers, but last night, having welded up some of the front of my chassis, I thought that I really should be building my Bédélia to run the way the original did, with the steering like a kid's billy-kart (for all that the tyres will scuff, etc) and with a central spring, either instead of or as well as the independent sliding pillars on the wheels. After all, people always say of cyclekarts that if you make your kart the way it was originally made, it should run like the original.
There is however a caveat in my case, because the main compromise I have had to make with mine is that what was a very long wheelbase is now very much shorter, albeit still 5" longer than most karts. I am told by those who have expressed a view that what made the Bédélia run true, despite its steering, was its great length. Ah well! Still worth a go.
This morning Lucy and I watched YouTube videos with our porridge and analysed the nose of the cyclecar, especially in Bedelia BD2 - YouTube.
If it fails, at least it will have been an interesting experiment and I can always change it back to Plan A.
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