New " Used" VW Trike

[bigjoey38]

Hi All

Well I picked up my new " used" trike and drove it home 525 miles on Sunday.
The ride itself was good. I maintained my speeds from 65-70 MPH.
The weather was not to good. Ran into a few light showers and it was very windy. I think that effected my fuel mileage since I was against the wind
all the way. I had a shorty helmet ( big mistake) ,.. I needed a helmet with a
least a face sheild... By the time I got home my ears were plug and my face
was beat... I must admit I was so tired had a good nights rest.

1) What type of helmet do you have?

 

[Gorilla]

congrats on the purchase. I ride with a 1/2 helmet and have a modular flipup for bad weather.

 

[bigjoey38]

Sometime down the line would like to get a new speedometer... Where do you guys get one?

 

[Gorilla]

I use a magnetic pickup universal speedo from England off e-bay.

 

[RSW]

I use a magnetic pickup universal speedo from England off e-bay.

Can you post a link to what you are talking about?? I searched but did not find :Shrug:

 

[Gorilla]

If I can find one again I will.

 

[rbourne3]

My next speedo will be one of these
GPS Speedometers Gauge, Hot Rod Street Gauges Legacy Series by SpeedHut

 

[bigjoey38]

My next speedo will be one of these
GPS Speedometers Gauge, Hot Rod Street Gauges Legacy Series by SpeedHut

I have been looking at those.

 

[champsman97045]

that is very nice and then I can replace my bad speedo easier than thought

 

[bigjoey38]

well I took the trike to the mechanic because it seems to spatter and not running write. He took a brief look at it and said it may be a couple of things. Since I picked up the bike in Ks ( elevation 821 ft) compare to my home elevation ( 3935 Ft) this may be a factor. He also talked a bit about the carb and timing and will make adjustments on Thursday to see if it will help.


I just got back from the shop and the mechanic made some adjustments to the carburetor, adjust timing, change fuel filter. He checked everything else plugs/points/etc and said everything looks good. He said it was running rich. I test drove it for 20 minutes and it is running way better. I picked up my speed to 65 MPH easily. Before it seem to struggle to get to that speed...The weather is cool today so the test will be when it is warm to see how it performs. It might need a very little, little increase in adjustment we will see but overall I am

 

[Ozarkryder]

If you have a VW trike it would behoove you to get "The Idiot Book"

Amazon.com: How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive 19 Ed: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot (9781566913102): John Muir, Tosh Gregg, Peter Aschwanden: Books

It is how to keep a VW alive, step by step maintinance procedures. With a trike just the engine/transmission section is directly usable, but the whole book is a good read in a '60s hippy style,, the drawings are worth the price of admission and a lot of the other info is handy to have. You can confidantly rebuild an engine following this book, and simple things that need doing like adjusting the valves (don't let #3 ght tight!) are made easy. I was glad to have the book when we had The Blue Trike, a TrikeShop Runabout with a 1835 dual port Bug motor.

 

[bigjoey38]

I did get the same book two days ago.

 

[bigjoey38]

yes

 

[superfox1]

For my speedo, I found an App on my Android phone that is a GPS Speedometer. It is pretty accdurate. I found a nice handlebar case for the phone, so I position it facing me, turn on the Speedo and ride away into the sunset.
I hacked an old charger and now am able to charge the phone while I am riding as well, so if I'm on a long drive, I dont have to worry about my battery dying.

The App is called UlysseSpeedometer. It is a free app and like I said, works great!

 

[Shadowlord]

For my speedo, I found an App on my Android phone that is a GPS Speedometer. It is pretty accdurate. I found a nice handlebar case for the phone, so I position it facing me, turn on the Speedo and ride away into the sunset.
I hacked an old charger and now am able to charge the phone while I am riding as well, so if I'm on a long drive, I dont have to worry about my battery dying.

The App is called UlysseSpeedometer. It is a free app and like I said, works great!

Thanks for the info Superfox1,

I downloaded and used the "UlysseSpeedometer" app today. Loved it!! Only issue I see with using it all the time is... What do you do when there is no signal. :AGGHH: but as a free app i'm hooked and will be using it.
... another improvement would be if it would also tell the temp somewere on the dashboard.

 

[bigjoey38]

Just got back from out of State and thanks for the info on the UlysseSpeedometer

 

[superfox1]

The only time I didnt get a signal was driving on I85 past the airport, other than that, I have never had a problem. I just slowed down a bit until I got signal again.