Home Built Subaru Trike

[Speed Demon]

Some of you may notice how "NICE" the wiring looks in the engine compartment. I plan to rewire the whole trike before spring so it will be dependable. I have already had it put me on the side of the road due to a faulty connection. I will carry tools at all times !!! And YES I will wire voltage to the electric choke.

 

[Speed Demon]

Spring Fever

Hello everyone. Man I am getting spring fever already !! Can't wait to start putting some miles on the trike. Any of you out there within a few hundred miles of me interested in meeting up for a weekend ride when spring gets here? Maybe have a mini Trikefest ?? Would be great to ride some the Blue Ridge Parkway for a weekend. Message me if any of you are interested.

 

[Speed Demon]

Brake Test FINALLY

Hi all. It has been a while since my last post. I finally got the front brakes on and working after much aggravation. I also had a back injury that put a long delay working on the trike. I drove it today (8/05/2018) to test the front brakes. It made a MAJOR difference in the stopping power however you have to be very careful using them. They will lock up if applied to aggressively but stop great using moderation. I have been riding my bikes the last few weeks so I had to relearn that the front brake m/cyl (located on the left side) is not the clutch so I locked up the brakes a few times trying to "disengage" the clutch until I got the hang of it. I feel there would be an issue on wet pavement as they are now. I have a new hydraulic m/cyl for the rear brakes but have not installed it yet as I have been on the mend. The m/cyl will be installed in the next 2 weeks and hopefully that will solve the rest of the braking issues. It was fun driving it today knowing that it would stop. Slowly but surely progress is happening again.

 

[Speed Demon]

Thanks Fuzzy

 

[Speed Demon]

Who needs a neutral starter switch ?? Not ME !!

Hello all. well here is the latest on the trike. I was piddling around on the trike around 10:30 am yesterday morning (8/7/18). I was leaning over from the left side with left hand on throttle, right hand on ign switch and went to start it up. I did not realize that it was in gear, first gear (must have hit it with my leg cause I had been cranking it a few minutes earlier and it WAS in neutral then) and did not realize the throttle was stuck wide open. I thought it felt a little funny. Anyway it fired off as soon as the starter engaged and took off, with me still hanging on the left side and ran straight into the side of the house at an angle and proceeded to throw me off. You can see in the video the front tire was about 3 feet in the air when it hit and repeatedly tried to climb the wall jumping like a frog. Luckily I managed to get back to the trike to switch it off before any more damage was done. The trike was wedged between the house and the carport post. I have a busted right arm, tweaked right leg and back pain. If I had been on the right side or not have been thrown off it would have caused catastrophic injuries no doubt. I am counting my blessings !! Also if the trike had been 3 feet to the left it would have taken out 2 more bikes with it. I will install a neutral starter switch to prevent this from happening again. It's built on a 1964 VW beetle rear so no factory switch. Here is a video of the incident. I tried posting pics yesterday but they would not upload. As for damage you can see right fender is screwed ( I pulled it off of the tire so I could get it back in the driveway), left fender tweaked and lower fascia bent and also broke the right inner cv joint so needless to say it wont move under its own power. The right caliper and axle also hit the wall so when the wheel gets to a certain position it gets in a bind. So bent caliper or rotor or who the hell knows, I will let the repair shop figure that out. Back to square 453. For those of you who are curious, I really don't know what happened exactly because it all happened so fast. What I think happened is I did not release the throttle fast enough so when it took off I just helped it go wide open by holding it. I did notice the return spring on the carb is no longer there. I will give another update after body work, paint job and mechanical work. Oh yea, the burgundy part of the paint is a burgundy with lots and lots of black specs to make it look like kind of a smoke color. Good luck matching that !! :>

 

[paws]

Greg... so sorry this happened. Thank goodness you were not hurt any worse. Such a unique design and paint job....wishing you the best for getting her back together.

 

[Speed Demon]

Greg... so sorry this happened. Thank goodness you were not hurt any worse. Such a unique design and paint job....wishing you the best for getting her back together.

Thanks paws, I am glad too. I think I am finding out that when you pass the "60" year mark, you probably need to pay more attention to things that you do that involve risk.... such as working on a trike. I am still in awe of how fast this happened, no more than 3 to 4 SECONDS from start to finish !!!

 

[LarryA]

Greg....Bummer...we always say it coulda been worse!.. well heal fast, and good luck with the trike repair. I did wire in a switch for the clutch, glad I did because I have have pushed into gear by accident a few times. Many folks have been run over, hand cranking old tractors left in gear. It still happens! Well best of luck to you! Larry

 

[Speed Demon]

Greg....Bummer...we always say it coulda been worse!.. well heal fast, and good luck with the trike repair. I did wire in a switch for the clutch, glad I did because I have have pushed into gear by accident a few times. Many folks have been run over, hand cranking old tractors left in gear. It still happens! Well best of luck to you! Larry

Thanks Larry. Gonna take a week or so to get over this one. Trike should be back in shape before the weather breaks cooler. I wanna ride some of the Blue Ridge Parkway when the leaves change color. Should be ready by then (hopefully) Will keep y'all updated !!

 

[Fowler]

Sorry to hear about the wreck man.

I know how that sucks

I ended up wrecking the other day myself.

A car was passing on a curve and in my lane. It was either go head on with the car or take the ditch

I ended up in the ditch.

Bent my steering a little, will try to fix it this weekend

Im still riding though just have to compensate for the steering being off to the right a little

 

[Speed Demon]

Sorry to hear about the wreck man.

I know how that sucks

I ended up wrecking the other day myself.

A car was passing on a curve and in my lane. It was either go head on with the car or take the ditch

I ended up in the ditch.

Bent my steering a little, will try to fix it this weekend

Im still riding though just have to compensate for the steering being off to the right a little

Hi Fowler. I am glad you got out your situation without major injuries. Material things can always be replaced or repaired. One thing about riding bikes and trikes, you have to pay attention 110 % of the time to everything around you (which I didn't do this time)!! Hope your repairs go smoothly.

 

[peteg59]

Greg, Sorry to read about your "mishap".

You may have already discovered this, but after looking at your video it appears the rear you are running is IRS, (independent), meaning it's going to be 1968 up vs 1964 (swing axle), that would not have CV type axles.

Good luck on your recovery & trike repairs.

 

[Speed Demon]

Greg, Sorry to read about your "mishap".

You may have already discovered this, but after looking at your video it appears the rear you are running is IRS, (independent), meaning it's going to be 1968 up vs 1964 (swing axle), that would not have CV type axles.

Good luck on your recovery & trike repairs.

Hi Peteg59. You are correct. The trike is titled as a 1964 but does have a 68 up transaxle in it that does have replaceable axles with cv joints.

 

[Speed Demon]

Time For A Change

Hi all. Well it is time for me to end my trike experiment. About a week after the incident I started getting severe ankle pain so severe the I could barely walk. This has been going on for over 3 weeks now. It comes and goes and is on both ankles. `Today I received the insurance check for the damages so I am going to sell the trike at a discounted rate as is and get myself back healthy. As I mentioned in a previous post, at my age (60+) healing takes a lot longer than it used to. I just wanted to thank all of you wonderful people for all the help & advice ya'll gave me over the time I have been on this site. I hope the best for anyone that may be in (or was in) the path of Hurricane Florence. My prayers are with you !! Greg