Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Its delayed and its serious

According to www.dftv.gov.uk the weight limit is 410 kg unladen. If the MTW is around or above 500 kg, it seems that
it has to go through an extensive weight loss program. I only hope they don't try to use the chassis tubes as exhaust pipes

Harald

To get the weight down they'll have to build them out of unobtanium.

Is that the one near to notobtainable ?

I think the company have got too much riding on the M3w now to be put off, and I rather suspect that they will want to go ahead in the present form, ie with the S&S engine and Mazda box, it shouldn't be too much trouble to make it lighter, maybe by using thinner and lighter chassis tubing and other bits and pieces, after all 50 -75kgs isn't the end of the world,....................is it? Maybe they should be speaking to Caterham Cars who have just progressed into an engineering consultancy. Actually, and in all seriousness, maybe I should send an email to Ansar Ali, the very go ahead MD of Caterham?

Soleng - interesting link.

I knew class 3 MOT limit was 450kg, but didn't realise the current weight limit for motor-bike three wheelers was 410kg.

90kg is a lot for Morgan to shave off.

Funny how history repeats itself. In days gone by, the weight limit for a three wheeled light car was a lot less and slowly increased over the years to the present. Morgan always had bother meeting the weight limits, and typically, cars were weighed dry of all petrol, oil and water. Even then it is suspected a 'selected' car was weighed...

Some rebuilt three wheelers are very much overweight, usually as a result of the rebuilder using excessive amounts of ash and plywood, both of which are very heavy compared to tulip wood, American whitewood or poplar which should used extensively.

Interestingly, the 1939 Citroen 2CV 4-door salon prototype weighed in at just 400 kg with its magnesium axle arms and lightweight aluminium bodywork. Later additions of an electrical starter, a passenger compartment heater, and a steel bodywork and chassis increased the weight a lot. On an expensive three-wheeler and with use of modern materials, the 410 kg dry weight limit should certainly be possible.

Harald

I can imagine deliveries being made with hordes of helium-filled balloons attached at the three corners!

Had a very interesting conversation with Steve, Operations Director of MMC, today.

It would seem there is a lot of misinformation being spread; I'm not sure if this is typical internet chatter or perhaps, in some cases, has a far more vindictive undercurrent.

Customer Morgan Three Wheelers are currently in-build. Chassis are being assembled, bodies painted and engines are fitted last. The current time scale is to have customer cars dispatched within the next 4-weeks.

The issue with weight would seem to be affecting road tax, rather than anything else; however, I am waiting for further comment on this.

As for correspondence from the factory and official information, the dealers all received a letter last week, asking for them to pay for their M3Ws, so that MMC could deliver them. This was the latest correspondence and the factory were not aware of any letter sent to the dealers (based around the dates that the OP mentioned - October 11th), which could have been construed in the manner mentioned in the first post.

The comment about going back to a Harley engine is utterly and completely false. A contract has been signed with S&S and they will be supplying the engines.

Lastly, MMC have a working solution to the vibration issue mentioned and have done extensive testing in the factory M3W (2,000 miles in the last week alone) to ensure the resolution is satisfactory.

I hope this is of assistance to those who have genuine questions regarding the new Morgan Three Wheeler.

Well done Simon, pretty much as I had thought. I'm expecting my 3W to be delivered soon, but still hope to visit the Works this week just to see where it stands in the production cycle.

It is good to get information direct, rather than from second or in the case of MogWire - third-hand information.

That is really good news for you prospective owners after what must have seemed a nightmare with the disinformation around. I guess the old saying stands true no information is better than the wrong variety.
Well done Simon on behalf of the new "to be" owners.