Lehman trike rides very low in rear

[Hank]

Hi- I'm new to forum and requesting any help or info on my problem- I have a 2013 Goldwing with a Lehmans Monarch II conversion-With 2 up at 340 lbs. the mufflers have 3 and 3/8 inch road clearance- the mufflers have met the road to many times- the trailer hitch when installed has 2 and 7/8 inch road clearance ,without a trailer and it to has done the same thing- I have compared the measurements with other trikes company's and the measurements on mine are 2 and 1/2 to 3 inches lower- I have turned the shock adjustment out I more turn to 5 turns out- any more adjustment and the ride is too stiff- I contact lehmans (Bill) and he said he would look into the issue and no reply after a week- Is there a shock extender that would take care of the problem or any other solution ---Thanks for any info---Hank

 

[LadyonaMission]

Hank, I cannot help you, but I can give a big Texas welcome. I am sure someone who knows something will be along soon.

 

[Gorilla]

Welcome aboard Henry. The Lehman expert might pop in here shortly I hope.

 

[rhino 2]

Welcome To Trike-Talk.....Hank......:clapping:

 

[Lee H. Mann]

Hi- I'm new to forum and requesting any help or info on my problem- I have a 2013 Goldwing with a Lehmans Monarch II conversion-With 2 up at 340 lbs. the mufflers have 3 and 3/8 inch road clearance- the mufflers have met the road to many times- the trailer hitch when installed has 2 and 7/8 inch road clearance ,without a trailer and it to has done the same thing- I have compared the measurements with other trikes company's and the measurements on mine are 2 and 1/2 to 3 inches lower- I have turned the shock adjustment out I more turn to 5 turns out- any more adjustment and the ride is too stiff- I contact lehmans (Bill) and he said he would look into the issue and no reply after a week- Is there a shock extender that would take care of the problem or any other solution ---Thanks for any info---Hank

Hank, Welcome to Trike Talk Forum from West Virginia. Do you have the straight axle or the LLS ?

https://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/49735-Monarch-II-LLS-Bottoming-out

 

[radismukes]

:welcome: from South TEXAS :clapping:

 

[Hank]

Hanks low ride trike

The trike is a LLS (independent suspension) A arms replaced at 12k and bike has 41k on it now

 

[tfdeputydawg]

Do the tires visibly look like they lean in at the top?

 

[Hank]

Do the tires visibly look like they lean in at the top?

No- the tires are wearing more in the center-

 

[Lee H. Mann]

The trike is a LLS (independent suspension) A arms replaced at 12k and bike has 41k on it now

Hank, Does yours have the body spacers mentioned in the above link ??:Shrug:

 

[Hank]

Hank, I cannot help you, but I can give a big Texas welcome. I am sure someone who knows something will be along soon.

Thanks for the welcome-I have son and daughter in TX.- their proud Texans.

 

[Hank]

Welcome aboard Henry. The Lehman expert might pop in here shortly I hope.

Thanks for the welcome

 

[Hank]

Welcome To Trike-Talk.....Hank......:clapping:

Thank you

 

[Hank]

:welcome: from South TEXAS :clapping:

Thank you

 

[Hank]

Yes it does have the body spacers and mufflers are located as high as they can get

 

[Hank]

Hanks low ride trike

I contacted Lehmans yesterday to follow up on the problem of (Low Riding Trike) I requested over a week ago-there answer was- there is no problem and that's the way it's designed- I think for me it's a problem- scraping tail pipes , scraping hitch , and very hard to load in my toy hauler problems (with one of the lowest ramp of toy haulers)----I road on a friends bike(same year) for 500 miles (CSC) and didn't notice any scraping of any kind and the ride was noticeably better- it was smother a held the curves very well -With 6 lbs. higher tire pressure than mine ---THE SOLUTION- at this point I think we all know the solution for me is look for another trike and one of my choices wont be a Lehmans------

 

[Mick]

Hank after reading all of this I was just wondering what size rear wheels and tires do you have on your trike?

Hank

I feel your pain. Years ago when I bought my Lehman I had issues and Lehman was as sympathetic as a brick. They basically dump all of their issues on the installers. Mine was factory built but it was the installers problem to fix it. I wound up going through 3 dealers before I found an installer who would look at it and just rolling it into his shop he noticed one issue off the bat. Two weeks later and a several page report on the factories install deficiencies I got her back. The factory told the installer to never do this agin to one of their trikes.

Sadly the guy who fixed mine retired. But Lee H. Mann (Jim Murphy) of M&J trikes has been a great help to me on the phone on occasion . If you can I would say give him a call and maybe see if theres something maybe overlooked. By the way mines an 07 Monarch II straightaxle, a slightly different beast but still a brother to yours.I dont know if any of this helps but hopefully something good comes out of it.

 

[CrystalPistol]

If you find out how tall those spacers are, make your own from wood like press treated plywood. If seldom sees rain, regular wood would work well. 1800s look like they have fat mufflers anyways.

Do your rear tires ever rub in the fender well tops? My hitch (Class 1 receiver I made) is tucked up as far as possible, but occasionally would drag so I added a "skid".

Love my Lehman, but it's SA on a 1500. Has two Progressive type 416 air / spring shocks.

 

[Lee H. Mann]

Hank after reading all of this I was just wondering what size rear wheels and tires do you have on your trike?

As near as I can figure, unless the bushings in the A-arms are totally missing, it must be a tire size problem.

 

[Hank]

Hanks low ride trike

Good morning and thanks for the suggestions- When I purchased the trike it had 1900 miles on it in 2015 and I was told it was a factory install- It didn't have the body spacers and I installed them- the tire size is 205/70R15 by Dunlop an I did have a tire rubbing issue till I installed body spacers- I installed 1 in. fork tube extenders which brought the front suspension up- My measurement yesterday after turning shocks out to 5 turns are ,front of engine 3 5/8in. ,rear brace for floor boards 2 1/2in. ,mufflers rear 3in. ---I don't understand when a company advertises as being No.1 , the best, and whatever else they put on there adds can't follow up with consistent good products and SERVICE- When we pay $40,000 more or less for a new trike and have a multitude of issues to take care of- How about less money on adds and more on customers- After all that I do feel a lot better- Thanks for all the replies---

 

[Lee H. Mann]

Well, I sure can't help any more without seeing the trike in person.:Shrug:

 

[Hank]

Hanks low ride trike

Thanks again for all the suggestions- Hank

 

[TTNW]

Riding low

Good Day Lee:

I have this same issue. But mine is a solid axle. I've seen a couple of Lehman kits and they sit fairly high. Mine doesn't really. I've installed the new overload spring on the Aux Shock and yes, that helped but I'm still dragging the pipes and the hitch. I've worked with a Navy Welder and we've designed a new receiver hitch and will have to wait and see on Thursday how that will go. But I saw a 2008 GW just this past weekend and her kit was highter than mine. So, I wonder, is there a way to install airbags on this kit? Or, is there a way to convert over to an AirShock on the Aux Shock. I would like to use the airbags if possible. Makes changing easy depending on what we're doing and such. TIA

Chuck

Hank, Welcome to Trike Talk Forum from West Virginia. Do you have the straight axle or the LLS ?

https://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/49735-Monarch-II-LLS-Bottoming-out

 

[paws]

We had a 2008 GW which was triked new at the dealer with the Lehman Monarch II solid axle kit. It never sagged, dragged, bottomed-out. It was a really nice trike - handled well in the twisties and comfortable to ride. In fact, I had a hard time deciding whether to keep it or the 2008 GW Motor Trike Adventure kit when it came time to let one of them go. I chose to keep the MotorTrike simply because it was already custom set up for my comfort and I would be the driver going forth.

I’m sorry to hear these trikes are having a saggy condition. Just wanted you to know that not all of this trike make had problems. Sure hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[Lee H. Mann]

Good Day Lee:

I have this same issue. But mine is a solid axle. I've seen a couple of Lehman kits and they sit fairly high. Mine doesn't really. I've installed the new overload spring on the Aux Shock and yes, that helped but I'm still dragging the pipes and the hitch. I've worked with a Navy Welder and we've designed a new receiver hitch and will have to wait and see on Thursday how that will go. But I saw a 2008 GW just this past weekend and her kit was highter than mine. So, I wonder, is there a way to install airbags on this kit? Or, is there a way to convert over to an AirShock on the Aux Shock. I would like to use the airbags if possible. Makes changing easy depending on what we're doing and such. TIA

Chuck

Chuck, I built kits early 2004 - 2005 that also seemed to sit lower. After 2006, all of (my) kits seemed to sit higher than any others that even the Lehman Factory had on their Show Truck. At first I thought it may have been a redesign of the swingarm but I now think that the OEM Honda spring that I was replacing with an 1100# spring was not being done by many dealers or the factory. I think that your OEM spring may be needing replacement.

If you examine the suspension of the Monarch II you can see that all of the suspension is attached to the front of the swingarm and the rear axle is isolated so that road impact is not transmitted into the rider seat or rear frame section. There is a lot of stress on the front of the swingarm and rider and passenger weight exceeding 450#, and any modification to the swingarm support will eventually have an adverse effect on the swingarm. Putting airbags to help support the ride height will diminish the ride but could save a fatigue in the swingarm construction.

 

[toutlnone1]

Hi- I'm new to forum and requesting any help or info on my problem- I have a 2013 Goldwing with a Lehmans Monarch II conversion-With 2 up at 340 lbs. the mufflers have 3 and 3/8 inch road clearance- the mufflers have met the road to many times- the trailer hitch when installed has 2 and 7/8 inch road clearance ,without a trailer and it to has done the same thing- I have compared the measurements with other trikes company's and the measurements on mine are 2 and 1/2 to 3 inches lower- I have turned the shock adjustment out I more turn to 5 turns out- any more adjustment and the ride is too stiff- I contact lehmans (Bill) and he said he would look into the issue and no reply after a week- Is there a shock extender that would take care of the problem or any other solution ---Thanks for any info---Hank

I put 1 inch pvc rigid cap underneath air bags made a big difference

 

[rodekyll]

I think Lee H. is on the right track with his spring comment. Increasing preload on an out-of-range spring will give a harsh ride without improving sag. BTDT, got the t-shirt greasy.

I have a homebuilt, loosely based on the Motortrike IRS. I was unable to get the azz end up to a neutral A-arm angle with my preload wound up tight and 45# of airbag assist. And of course it rode like a dried cob.

I found my spring specs and discovered that on their lowest setting they sagged one inch at a load of 120#. At the highest setting they compressed an inch with 170#. But the weight on a rear corner is about 370#. So even though the springs were spec'd for me by an "expert", they were wildly out of range.

The other thing I noticed via the spec sheets is that on a conventional, spring-over Progressive shock, one adjustment click is about 10# of preload.

So I went back to school and found springs of the right length that did better - 270/315. They're still not perfect, but with an eye to overall length and total suspension travel they were the best off the shelf option.

Note to self - heavy springs are a medieval adventure in installation. Do not attempt in the prescence of wimmins, childs, and preacher folk.

The difference in deck height was very noticeable as soon as it was off the jacks -- almost 2" on a yardstick. The a-arms are slightly positive. I can get to my 1/3 of travel sag with 15# of airbags where 45# didn't do it before. I can see sidewall behind the fenders now. Best of all, the ride feels "solid" without being as harsh as before, and it corners better.

 

[Lee H. Mann]

This is how a Lehman should sit without rider or passenger.

This is a 2008 straight axle Monarch II

 

[TTNW]

Fender heigth

This is how a Lehman should sit without rider or passenger.

This is a 2008 straight axle Monarch II

View attachment 60164View attachment 60165

Lee:

I checked the distance on my trike and it sits 23.5 inches. I've installed the Overload Spring on the Aux Shock per our discussion and now I'm of the belief that the folks who installed the kit did NOT install the OEM Overload Spring as directed. Oh, and it should be noted that the preload is at 25 but it didn't start to lift until 11. I'll be working on that this winter. I believe that I will look into ordering the overload spring and see what happens. Remember, mine is the solid axle Monarch II. Once again, looking for your valued input...

Chuck

 

[2Trikez]

Lee:

I checked the distance on my trike and it sits 23.5 inches. I've installed the Overload Spring on the Aux Shock per our discussion and now I'm of the belief that the folks who installed the kit did NOT install the OEM Overload Spring as directed. Oh, and it should be noted that the preload is at 25 but it didn't start to lift until 11. I'll be working on that this winter. I believe that I will look into ordering the overload spring and see what happens. Remember, mine is the solid axle Monarch II. Once again, looking for your valued input...

Chuck

Chuck, I have a friend with this same issue on MonarchII (sagging body)on his 2006 GL1800 and he asked for my help to get it fixed. Your install of the "overload spring" more than likely is what my friend needs as well. I was hoping this might be the best item to look at 1st and go from there. And now I know that we were in the ball park. I also found some swing arm welds "cracked" from stress as well. So at this point we are taking it apart to confirm everything at this point. I also would like to ask: Is the stock shock re-build-able? Kinda reminds me of the "Pro-Link" style (shock) set-up on my 2 1985 V-4 Sabre's, but they also had air in them. I also was looking at Progressive Suspension for a "spring" with the right "rate". Seems they have them for 1100#/1200#. These will probably be just right for my friend & wife. They are "big" people. He's has this set-up since 2006 so I figger that shock spring was already "sagging" years ago. Just took a good PA pothole to help make it fail & tire rub (thru the body) on the one side. Hope to hear back quickly just to know we are in the ball park. And yes, I've (we) have built a few trikes (from scratch) with solid axles. Was just not sure about GL1800's at this time...as never had experience will those swingarm set-ups.

2Trikez

Barry