rake on lehman conversion

[winger76]

I recently got a 98 gl1500 with the lehman trike conversion. I find the steering very hard and heavy. How can I determine if it has had a rake kit installed?
It pulls to the right constantly any ideas on where to look for the possible reason?
thanks
winger76

 

[Gold Rush]

I recently got a 98 gl1500 with the lehman trike conversion. I find the steering very hard and heavy. How can I determine if it has had a rake kit installed?

It pulls to the right constantly any ideas on where to look for the possible reason?

thanks

winger76

First of all, welcome to Trike Talk and the three wheel world. I am sure you will enjoy both.

The easiest way to tell if a GL1500 or 1800 has a rake kit installed is to look at the triple trees. If they are milled aluminum you have a rake kit. OEM is steel painted black. If you find no rake I strongly recommend doing it. Our founder (BAZOOKA) has sold many of us kits for very reasonable prices. I personally have installed several of them in my friends trikes. They are top shelf kits!!

The pulling can be caused by several things.

Most frequent is low rear tire pressure or dragging brake on the side it pulls toward. A crowned road surface, defective or out of adjusted suspension, and even an out of adjusted kit itself can also cause pulling.

I hope that helps some. No doubt you will get plenty of suggestions. Keep asking questions and we'll keep sending suggestions. :xszpv::xszpv:

 

[Gorilla]

welcome aboard +1 on the answer above

 

[CrystalPistol]

Without a rake kit the front acts like a "long caster". Like when you push a Walmart buggy across the parking lot that's on a side hill grade, it constantly wants to fall off to the low side.

Rake kit will halve that caster's length by moving the front wheel contact closer to the steering axis at the ground. It'll remove much of the pull you feel and feel like power steering. 6 degrees is good on a GL1500 with Lehman GTL kit.

On left is Champion 6 degree EZSteer kit in 2004, on right is stock GL1500.

 

[Lee H. Mann]

I recently got a 98 gl1500 with the lehman trike conversion. I find the steering very hard and heavy. How can I determine if it has had a rake kit installed?
It pulls to the right constantly any ideas on where to look for the possible reason?
thanks
winger76

Not knowing the history of the trike, mileage etc, check the air pressures in the tires. 20psi rear and 40 psi front and examine front tire for unusual wear. After adjusting the pressures take it for a test ride. Low or improperly inflated tires or unusually worn tires will cause a pull and heavy steering.
Visually look at the trike sitting on level ground, make sure it also sits level.

If everything is adjusted and the pulling to the right is diminished then I would consider a triple tree to cure the hard steering.