Hello new trikester here

[wendal]

I have a 02 Harley sporster/trike.
I bought my trike kit off ebay. Well pulling in my drive way one day my wheel fell off. After a loser inspection I found this. The guy that built this rear end welded ford 9 inch axial shafts to the spendals. It broke at the weld. Real bad idea. So I have mouser machine build me some axial shaves. I am now waiting on a local machine shoe to do some welding. The new axial shaves are using a ford big bearing. It is larger than my old bearing so i need some machine work done.
I have a few question for you all.
Do you recommend the ez-steer?
What air pressure do you run in your rear tires?
I get some front end wobble or slap when riding. A lot when going through a dip.
I was also wondering what would be another good bike for a trike conversion. Harley of course. I would like to upgrade to a bigger bike.
With that in mind what trike conversion do you recommend?
Is changing the rake needed? I like how it looks.
I am the major learning stage.
I will post some pictures of my trike when I get her back.
thanks again

 

[0pini0nated]

Welcome To Trike Talk.com :wave4: No one else tackled this yet, so I will.

There's a lot of Sportster trike owners on TrikeTalk.com. Regarding the suitability of a Sportster to trike, I have a XL1200 that fits me fine. Go to Welcome To The Paughco, Inc. Web Site > New For 2013. for trike-specific parts.

If you have a 883, I have no opinion on that, but some of the other commenters own them and like them.

Regarding ez-steer, rakes, and front-end wobble, when I bought mine (used) it wobbled constantly.

1) I experimented with tire pressures (Lee H. Mann helped there) and settled on 38 PSI on my front tire, and 18 PSI in the rear tires.

2) I bought / installed a 5° triple-tree clamps. The 5° rake seemed to be the norm, so I went with the flow. It's a "must-buy" . . .

3) I bought / installed a front fork brace and balanced the tires.

In the end, I didn't buy a steering damper ~ I didn't need it after all the work was done.

You wouldn't be able to post pictures until you post more (5?). So, keep the posts coming!

 

[wendal]

thank you sir
If I had it to do over again I would diffidently do thing differently.
Anyway a quick question if I where to look at different bike would a wide-glide be a good choice? Would the rake on it be good for a trike?
Once I get my bike back I will probably be to deep in it. I will have to ride the crap out of it. Which is fine. I do not go real far from home. I am going to build my own tour pack for trips.
Anyway sounds like I will need to start saving money to rake my trike out. About what does that cost?
thanks again for the help

 

[wendal]

looks like 500 will start it and some special tools

 

[Oldmsocko]

Welcome to Trike Talk. Post often.

 

[Bikerbozo]

Welcome Wendal. What you've already read about rake makes a big difference in steering. I like a steering damper for those bumps and low speed wobbles. For an idea what that looks like, go into an HD dealer and look at Drnt end on TriGlide. The damper comes off front of frame to fork.

 

[wendal]

cool I have never herd of a steering damper for a bike. Are they expensive?
thanks again

 

[Rick Kay]

Welcome from Michigan! :wave4:

 

[wendal]

How much does 5 degree of rake move the front tire?
thanks
wendal

 

[0pini0nated]

A few answers (I hope)

Regarding "...would a wide-glide be a good choice?" most Sportsters have 39 mm front fork tubes, which flex. That's why I bought a fork brace. If you buy a (used?) wide-glide from (on eBay.com?) you'll end up with a 41mm or 49mm fork tubes. That may minimize the tube flexing.

Regarding steering damper, go back to my suggestion: Welcome To The www.Paughco.com > New For 2013. for trike-specific parts.

Finally, regarding rake, it's not about extending your front end. It's about front end geometry. Try http://lehmantrikes.com/img/techbook_master.pdf , page 10 ~ 12. Good reading over your morning corn flakes ThumbUp

 

[wendal]

10-4 thank you
I will spend more time on that site.
thanks again

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Welcome from sunny Northern California. Enjoy the site, it's great.

 

[pcombe]

I have a 02 Harley sporster/trike.
I bought my trike kit off ebay. Well pulling in my drive way one day my wheel fell off. After a loser inspection I found this. The guy that built this rear end welded ford 9 inch axial shafts to the spendals. It broke at the weld. Real bad idea. So I have mouser machine build me some axial shaves. I am now waiting on a local machine shoe to do some welding. The new axial shaves are using a ford big bearing. It is larger than my old bearing so i need some machine work done.
I have a few question for you all.
Do you recommend the ez-steer?
What air pressure do you run in your rear tires?
I get some front end wobble or slap when riding. A lot when going through a dip.
I was also wondering what would be another good bike for a trike conversion. Harley of course. I would like to upgrade to a bigger bike.
With that in mind what trike conversion do you recommend?
Is changing the rake needed? I like how it looks.
I am the major learning stage.
I will post some pictures of my trike when I get her back.
thanks again

Welcome wendal:

First off I would recommend that you check out the right hand side of the forum where the advertisements are and find the one for front end raked triple trees. Type in the bike and check out the recommendations. you can quiz the dealer if you wish.
Also being a member of the forum offers discounts on parts. The hog halter trees are a good choice, I installed them on my old tour glide and they are half the cost of the ez-steer.

Tire inflation is a critical area for consideration on a trike, It affects handling and in part is a factor in ride, almost like suspension. I run 28lbs. in my rear tires and run the full recommended inflation (marked on the side of the tire) on the front.
The brace is probably a good idea on the sportster to help prevent fork flex.

Next is the issue of beefing up the top motor mount on your engine,
Harley davidson for the most part rubber mounts its engines, A motorcycle was never intended to be a trike and when you take off or get on it, the engine want's to twist in the frame and will eventually break the top motor mount and wreak havoc.
A top motor mount beef up kit can be purchased from many sources including Paugco.
They are not that difficult to install. They consist of braces that fit with your original mounts and are fastened to the frame with epoxy.

The next issue to consider is rear suspension. I'm an old coot and don't wish to be beaten up when i ride, I would recommend air assisted shocks. The one on my old tour glide suit the purpose.

If you decide to trike another Harley, Be aware that the springer front ends can be raked with a raked fork stem instead of a raked triple tree.

As always, I would warn that the only protection you have on a trike build is the integrity of it's builder as you have recently discovered.

There are many trike kits on the market (you can check them out on the right side of the forum) The Thing you need to make sure of is that you get a newer model.
I recently worked on a bike that someone else built with an older version independant suspension (the kit was a new leftover version and lacked critical improvements) The installer had no idea what he was doing and when the trike turned out to be dangerous he unloaded it and it came close to killing a friend of mine's wife.

If you do the conversion yourself i recommend that you always have the motor manual for your particular bike open and at hand and closely follow the trike kits recommendations.
Lastly, Paughco will sell individual parts to assemble a trike but i recommend that you purchase the entire kit ready to be assembled from the manufacturer.

If you wish to see what took place on my trike build, google-- pcombe library/photobucket

There is more than one person on this forum that has built a trike and i have found them to be knowledgeable,friendly and more than willing to help you keep from making a mistake, and have the experience to ease the conversion.

 

[wendal]

thanks good info. I never thought about the motor mount.
Do you guys run stabilizers and a damper? Probably depends on the bike but I see they are different.
thanks again

 

[pcombe]

thanks good info. I never thought about the motor mount.
Do you guys run stabilizers and a damper? Probably depends on the bike but I see they are different.
thanks again

I haven't found it necessary on my tour glide to run a stabilizer.
It wouldn't hurt but i dont have much trouble with head shake. Every trike is going to have some head shake at some point. I doubt you can eliminate it completely but you can lessen it with a stabilizer, a raked triple tree and proper tire inflation.

A trike handles much different in town than on the highway.
Also there is a big difference between a straight axle and an independant suspension.

The Harley tri-glide has a straight axle and i have one on my tour glide with the type of champion kit i put on it.
Ask yourself if you want to build a bar hopper or a distance machine?

One of the prettiest trikes i have ever ridden was a springer softail with a lehman kit on it. But you couldn't ride more than fifty miles without extreme fatigue.
I rode it the whole time i was building mine and would have liked to buy it!
A raked front end and air shocks would have made it a really sweet ride.

Another thing to look for when you get your trike back is to see if it shakes more when you are lugging the motor?
I have ridden a couple trikes that have less opportunity to start that nonsense when i am keeping it in a gear where it is always pulling a little bit. and when it does start to wobble a little throttle will bring it out of it.

By the way? what is make ( who manufactured ) the kit is on your sporster?

 

[KindaOldTriker]

FRANKENSTEIN TRIKES sells raked front triple trees for Sportsters . They decide on rake degrees by size of your front tire/wheel.
Frankenstein Trikes Harley-Davidson Trike Kits
They are very helpful and answer emails well.

 

[wendal]

His name is Rick Yelle, W. Monrow, NY 13167
I have several emails form him and it sounded all good. I did call hem after I had my mishap. He said that if I sent it back to him he would fix it. I spent some time talking to several people and easily decided that how he was doing it was not safe. So I spent a ton of money to have them done right. About $655 just for the axial shaves.
What little I have rode my trike I can see that it does handle differently in town. It is almost not fun in town but on the highway I liked it. I rode it about a 100 miles. The only problem I have was my right had wanted to go num and the mirrors vibrated so bad I could not see anything out of them. I think I have way to much air pressure in my rear tires.
I looked at damper and the motor mount and they seem reasonable in price. The rake kit is a bit higher. I have not priced air shocks yet.
I have read that most people run a rear motorcycle tire on the front of the trike. I will keeep this in mind when I need a new one.
Does anyone ever go with a fatter tire or a different size?
I think my trike would look better with a little fatter tire but I am not changing that. I am going to be breaking the budget as it is now.
My trike has a solid axial. It is kinda a sport trike. I do plan to mount a tour pack on it later for trips.
I would like to upgrade my seat some time. My buddy has a sun-downer on his bike and I like it.
anyway thanks again

 

[bentrider2249]

Wendal, Welcome to TT. Let me know when you want to go for a ride, P-Burg is only a sort drive to meet up.h

 

[pcombe]

His name is Rick Yelle, W. Monrow, NY 13167
I have several emails form him and it sounded all good. I did call hem after I had my mishap. He said that if I sent it back to him he would fix it. I spent some time talking to several people and easily decided that how he was doing it was not safe. So I spent a ton of money to have them done right. About $655 just for the axial shaves.
What little I have rode my trike I can see that it does handle differently in town. It is almost not fun in town but on the highway I liked it. I rode it about a 100 miles. The only problem I have was my right had wanted to go num and the mirrors vibrated so bad I could not see anything out of them. I think I have way to much air pressure in my rear tires.
I looked at damper and the motor mount and they seem reasonable in price. The rake kit is a bit higher. I have not priced air shocks yet.
I have read that most people run a rear motorcycle tire on the front of the trike. I will keeep this in mind when I need a new one.
Does anyone ever go with a fatter tire or a different size?
I think my trike would look better with a little fatter tire but I am not changing that. I am going to be breaking the budget as it is now.
My trike has a solid axial. It is kinda a sport trike. I do plan to mount a tour pack on it later for trips.
I would like to upgrade my seat some time. My buddy has a sun-downer on his bike and I like it.
anyway thanks again

I was wondering who made the kit? ( frankenstien? etc.)

If you get brand specific you may find more folks with experience on that trike model?

 

[wendal]

I will post some pic some time. Its based of a ford 9 inch.