Big Daddy Roth Trike

[stray catalyst]

Nothing to update at this point - I'm waiting for parts to arrive from all over - oil pump gaskets from the south half of my home state, brake light switch from far away (California?), Air filters from Pennsylvania...

I'm too late to get into the motorcycle safety course, but I can still get a permit and take the test normally... which means, I can ride with the permit for up to a month, but at the end of that I have to take the test. I had a motorcycle license in the past, and have many thousand miles of riding experience, so I'm not too worried about passing the test - I'll just have to borrow a registered, inspected bike to take it. If I remember correctly (from about 20 years ago) I won't be able to ride after dark with the permit, but I'm sure they'll fill me in on what I can and can't do legally with it.

Stray Catalyst

 

[stray catalyst]

Eight days left. Eight more days to finish so many small (and large) problems...

I took off the brake lights and blinkers in the rear - I was trying to salvage that part of the old wiring harness, but it's doing strange things when I try to hook it up, so I'm just going for the sure solution - replace the whole sorry mess of wires, from the lights to the switches, and from the switches to the circuitbreakers. The switches themselves I'll keep (if they work) until I can afford to replace them all with marine-grade switches - there are enough marinas and boatyards around here, it shouldn't be hard to find the switches I need with more waterproofing than the previous owner felt was needful. So, starting with the rearmost point: I've brought the light-bar on the rear inside - I'll feed the wires through the same tube that held the old harness, and remove all the old problems.

No other progress to report, I'm waiting for several parts to come from far-away lands. I'll get my motorcycle permit tomorrow after work (leaving early to make it to DMV before they close, of course) and start nagging my friend to make the seat. Eight days to go.

Stray Catalyst

 

[John Luciano]

Check your liciense you never loose your endorsment. Mine was on it for 30 years. I didn't ride for 17 years. Unless you moved out of state and didn't have them move it to the new state and then move it back etc.

 

[stray catalyst]

Check your liciense you never loose your endorsment. Mine was on it for 30 years. I didn't ride for 17 years. Unless you moved out of state and didn't have them move it to the new state and then move it back etc.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what I did - I moved from state to state for a while, and didn't bother to pay the extra to take my motorcycle endorsement with me, since I didn't have a bike at the time. Due to this, all record of my previously having a motorcycle license has vanished, as though it never existed at all.
Seven days!

Stray Catalyst

 

[CCRR]

Hey Stray this is so not right. It is like reading a book and getting to the end only to find the last two pages missing. Please finish the story.

Thanks!

 

[stray catalyst]

Sorry about the delay - amongst other things, my computer died.
The trike is still awaiting parts - some vendors are slower than others, and it seems some aren't moving at all. The lack of license was the dealbreaker - I would have cobbled together what I could, and leaked oil the whole way, but not without a license. I'm continuing to work on it, trying to correct all the problems instead of just patching up the worst ones and ignoring the rest. I'll have more progress to report later, now that I have a computer again. So, I missed my deadline, but I haven't given up yet.

Stray Catalyst

 

[Administrator]

Stray- Everyone here, me included has thoroughly enjoyed your story on your Big Daddy trike restoration! Your unique brand of humor and writing style is great. Thanks for your posts and please keep us informed on the progress.

 

[Trikerjim]

Just keep bangin away Stray and you'll get there. Think how COOL that ride's gonna look like cruising down the street hang in there and keep us posted...

 

[Papa Zook]

Where ya at Stray?