DNA Mega Thread

[rhino 2]

Has anyone found a way to "mount" their Harley with limited leg mobility? I have to stand on a short stool with my left foot, sit my butt down as close as possible on the solo seat, have my wife remove my right shoe and lift my right leg over the tank and onto the running board. She then puts my shoe on and I am able to ride around the neighborhood. Reverse the process to get off. I have given some thought to some type of "trapeze" in the garage to lift my lardass up and over but that may be overthinking the issue.

Any suggestions or ideas will definitely be appreciated and considered.

John

When you are on the seat can you reach down with your right hand grab the cuff of your pants and then pull your leg up and over the tank….When “I” blew out my knee a few years ago that’s what did…

 

[jonnyhd]

Im trying to change broken belt on my Dna trike,ive undone all the bolts in the rear drive pulley housing and the grub screws holding the housing to the axle BUT cannot separate housing to fit my new belt???What do i do? or is it maybe corroded into place on the axle?Any help would great,cheers all,Jon

 

[TxHarleyRider]

I’m converting a 2002 Road King Classic with a mototeks axel, same as the DNA, the biggest thing I need help with is the belt. Mine is a 70T 139T and the belt is short, it looks like the axel needs to move reward by about 2 maybe 3 inches I have no idea what belt size I need for it to work. As you can see in one of the pics the swingarm mounting plates are in the center line of the axel so it has to move back.

I’m having a few other fitment issues, I’ve searched and searched for pics of trike builds and there are very few videos or images to review, no images of shock mounts, alignment, or anything. It looks like I will have to use a spacer on one of the shocks, I included a pic with the axel brackets that weld to the axel in place, regardless of which side they are on it looks like a spacer will be needed, you can see in one pic the bottom of the left shock is against the pumpkin.

If I want to use my saddle bags do I have to relocate them, I believe Paughco trikes sells a relocation kit.

Any information or tips, pics, anything that could help me out.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Papa Zook]

Welcome Kelly,

Have you tried contacting Mototeks for support on your fitment issues? Was the kit you ordered just the rear axle alone or did you purcase the trike swingarm from them as well? And if so, did they not send the correct swingarm assembly?

 

[TxHarleyRider]

Waiting to hear from Mototeks, will call them again Monday. I ordered the swingarm from them as well, I’m certain it is the correct arm. The belt being to short is the main problem right now, I hope they can tell me which one I will need and I’m having a hard time finding one I think will be long enough.

 

[Papa Zook]

Waiting to hear from Mototeks, will call them a

gain Monday. I ordered the swingarm from them as well, I’m certain it is the correct arm. The belt being to short is the main problem right now, I hope they can tell me which one I will need and I’m having a hard time finding one I think will be long enough.

When you find out the size, let me know. I may have the belt you need.

 

[oldschool]

Hi all,

I'm been looking over trike kits and I'm leaning toward a DNA trike kit.

Now I have looked at the other trike kits and still currently am. I'm leaning toward the DNA kit because it's more of a hands on kit which the kind of stuff I enjoy working on.

Not ruling out any kits quite yet just trying to make the best choice that suites me, which is not always the easy way I go after.

So my questions are there any owners out there that have installed or in the process of installing one of these kits, do you regret it, how many years of ownership, etc..

Thanks in advance!

 

[oldschool]

Thanks again guys!

How bout them DNA owners? Anyone left on here that can chim in on this set up!

Thx..

 

[Papa Zook]

Welcome Ed,

Scroll down through this, the Harley Trike Conversions Forum, and you'll find quite a few helpful threads by DNA trike owners/builders. I have not personally built any DNA Trikes, but I am a long time dealer for their complete product line and have had a few customers order their trike rear axle and swing arm setup from me for their trike project. I would suggest you do your homework, research it well, as their kits are by no means a turn key, complete, all inclusive package.

 

[oldschool]

Welcome Ed,

Scroll down through this, the Harley Trikes Forum and you'll find quite a few helpful threads by DNA trike owners/builders. I have not personally built any DNA Trikes, but I am a long time dealer for their complete product line and have had a few customers order their trike rear axle and swing arm setup from me for their trike project. I would suggest you do your homework, research it well, as their kits are by no means a turn key, complete, all inclusive package.

Hey thanks Zook I'll do that!

As far as the kit, yeah I'm looking at all options at the moment.

 

[oldschool]

I'd let papa do the work for you, this way you know it's been done right the first time, without much down time...........

Ronnie

4/19/24

I'm at the beginning stage of owning a trike, so I haven't really decided which route that I am taking as of yet. I'm still able to ride 2 wheels however, my 2nd back surgery has proved challenging this time around.

Thanks for the tip on Papa Zook, there could be a possibility I could contact him at some point to source out an IRS kit if I go that route. I'm still looking in that aspect of it as well.

As far as the installation I'm more than capable to install one however, I know my limitations as well and would need to be comfortable installing one.

If I'm not comfortable then I'll look into the avenue to have one install. Therefore, it's good to know that Papa Zook is the man to see on a trike install.

Thx Ronnie!

 

[brattrike]

Hi all,

I'm been looking over trike kits and I'm leaning toward a DNA trike kit.

Now I have looked at the other trike kits and still currently am. I'm leaning toward the DNA kit because it's more of a hands on kit which the kind of stuff I enjoy working on.

Not ruling out any kits quite yet just trying to make the best choice that suites me, which is not always the easy way I go after.

So my questions are there any owners out there that have installed or in the process of installing one of these kits, do you regret it, how many years of ownership, etc..

Thanks in advance!

I installed a DNA swingarm and axle on a '91 HD Hugger 8 years ago and it has been flawless. It's not a kit, you'll have to do some welding, wiring, brake system designing and other fabricating, but you can make it what you want.

I rescued the bike from a friends backyard where it had sat for 3 years and built this because I'd never driven or owned a trike.

Here's what I built and it's a blast to run around in.

 

[Gorilla]

Nice job

 

[nightster07]

anyone have any experiance with dna trike kits?

 

[brattrike]

anyone have any experiance with dna trike kits?

I think a few people here have put one together.
Do you have a question?

 

[Sundance wmc]

Sure would like to know how you resolved this issue,

 

[Jack Klarich]

I think I saw a video showing you have to split the rear axle

 

[rickster57]

Hi, I converted my flhtk to street sweeper with dna kit. I am getting some issues with it wanting to dart left or right in certain rough road conditions. I replaced swingarm isolators with upgraded Drag Specialties versions; no help.
Question is- if I add a panhard bar (like tri glide) ,will it stop that "darting"?

 

[Marc H]

A pic of the rear suspension would be helpful.Thats said if this is your first trike the darting may be you have too tight a grip or are tensing a bit.The slightest movement of your body transmits to the bars when you do that and results in a darting effect.Relax your grip arms a bit.

 

[rickster57]

Thanks- yeah I have figured out the tensing up part, but thats not the issue here. I'll look for pics- the bike is all together and tough to get those pics.
I changed the triple trees to 6 degrees already.

 

[ROAD DOG]

Good Lookin Trike. Maybe you got the triple tree nut A bit to tight ? I had did that before and it gave it a weird feeling .

 

[rickster57]

Good Lookin Trike. Maybe you got the triple tree nut A bit to tight ? I had did that before and it gave it a weird feeling .

Thanks- I did think about that, but this is happening when a back wheel hits a ridge or dip and seems to try to change direction. Very strange feeling .

I have one other thing I forgot to mention- I used car wheels and tires. Since tge backspacing options were slim, U had to add wheel spacers, AND the diff is offset to get the belt lined up, so the wheel spacers are different thicknesses- 2" on left and 3" on right.

Could be they have upset the geomtry and causing so flexing.....

 

[rickster57]

A pic of the rear suspension would be helpful.Thats said if this is your first trike the darting may be you have too tight a grip or are tensing a bit.The slightest movement of your body transmits to the bars when you do that and results in a darting effect.Relax your grip arms a bit.

Marc, this is the only pic I took during fab.
I feel like adding a panhard to this systen has to help- don't know why they don't come with the kit, for as much as it cost!

 

[Marc H]

That swingarm setup looks like what Champion and others used.Here is a pic of what a Champion for a 1500 Goldwing looks like.No panard bar was used.The conditions that it acts up you are describing make me think your body motion is doing it.You may not even realize cause it happens suddenly but its very easy to do and takes several miles of experience to learn.Its like when a crosswind hits your body.Your trying to hang on andthe wind is trying to move your body sideways.You have to not move the bars while holding on or the movement will move trike around in the lane.For example if the right tire hits a dip it will move your body slightly right and cause you to turn slightly left.It can happen so fast you may not realize it.Its different from tensing up and I have a hard time describing it effectively.

 

[rickster57]

That swingarm setup looks like what Champion and others used.Here is a pic of what a Champion for a 1500 Goldwing looks like.No panard bar was used.The conditions that it acts up you are describing make me think your body motion is doing it.You may not even realize cause it happens suddenly but its very easy to do and takes several miles of experience to learn.Its like when a crosswind hits your body.Your trying to hang on andthe wind is trying to move your body sideways.You have to not move the bars while holding on or the movement will move trike around in the lane.For example if the right tire hits a dip it will move your body slightly right and cause you to turn slightly left.It can happen so fast you may not realize it.Its different from tensing up and I have a hard time describing it effectively.
View attachment 129434

Thanks Marc. I'll go ahead and ride it awhile and see if I can get more relaxed on it.

 

[ROAD DOG]

The champion on a Harley did not have a Panhard bar, they had brackets that went to the top center motor mount to stiffen it up so the motor mount would not brake, you could panel bond them or weld them. I did one that I panel bonded and it broke I road it home about 20 miles that was not fun. check the motor mounts ?

 

[rickster57]

The champion on a Harley did not have a Panhard bar, they had brackets that went to the top center motor mount to stiffen it up so the motor mount would not brake, you could panel bond them or weld them. I did one that I panel bonded and it broke I road it home about 20 miles that was not fun. check the motor mounts ?

Well the rear motor mount is the swingarm pivot. I checked for and slop where it goes through tranny- all good. Rrplaced the outer rubber factory bushings with upgraded urethane ones. No change.

 

[rickster57]

Rickstir,
Now "that's" a very UNeasy feel'n I get when you see your (very love'd) motorcycle, taken apart like that ....GULP!!!

Ronnie
11/19/24

Yeah, it's spooky for sure!

 

[rickster57]

A pic of the rear suspension would be helpful.Thats said if this is your first trike the darting may be you have too tight a grip or are tensing a bit.The slightest movement of your body transmits to the bars when you do that and results in a darting effect.Relax your grip arms a bit.

Marc, do you have a steering damper on yours? I think I'll install one and see if it helps. Any experience with the universal fit ones?