Removing the Tri-Glide Body - Photos & Video

[DK Custom Products]

Is this the new DK Customs quick shock adjustment setup where you don't have to bend down much to change the shock settings? Sort of like your oil filter relocation setup? I bet the trike's mileage would improve significantly with this new strategy

:laugh:

Yeah, did not think about the MPG, but would definitely be better without that parachute sticking out both sides. Rode it like this again yesterday...taking a few more videos, and showing to the folks at the shop. Body goes back on this afternoon though.

Kevin

 

[Capt.Bob]

:laugh:

Yeah, did not think about the MPG, but would definitely be better without that parachute sticking out both sides. Rode it like this again yesterday...taking a few more videos, and showing to the folks at the shop. Body goes back on this afternoon though.

Kevin

Kevin, That has got to be one of the best videos for showing off how effective your Pro Action shocks are. I wish you could have shown how the HD air shocks handle similar conditions. I suspect it would be a bit of an eye opener for some of us? I went to your website to get a read on how much these suckers cost. I ride solo most of the time so am not sure how much improvement I would experience but at times when I go over obstacles like RR tracks, I am sure that your shock solution handily beats Harley's solution with our "bleep" air shocks.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, That has got to be one of the best videos for showing off how effective your Pro Action shocks are. I wish you could have shown how the HD air shocks handle similar conditions. I suspect it would be a bit of an eye opener for some of us? I went to your website to get a read on how much these suckers cost. I ride solo most of the time so am not sure how much improvement I would experience but at times when I go over obstacles like RR tracks, I am sure that your shock solution handily beats Harley's solution with our "bleep" air shocks.

Dadgum....I did not think of that...and we just finished putting the body back on...or I would be out doing it right now.

That is a really good idea, to put the factory shocks on and do a video of the same course at the same speed.

Believe me, it would be nasty rough...the difference is really substantial...even 1 up.

Yeah, I read your post about banging your knees crossing the railroad tracks and thought to myself, he needs some 14" shocks.

But, it's not just the big bumps...having that extra travel lets us valve the shocks much differently, so all the little imperfections in the road disappear, but because of the extra travel, we don't need to worry about them be so soft that they bottom out on the bigger bumps.

Kevin

 

[trikermutha]

Are you changing the drive belt too?

One of the pictures may have showed the belt separating?

 

[trikermutha]

:laugh: Thanks man! Mary was happier too when I told here I was going to go ahead and replace them.

Tomorrow am getting the Goodyear Comfortreds installed, along with Dyna Beads for balancing. Will be interesting, have only run the factory Dunlops up to now.

Kevin

I have run the confortreads on the TRI and bought the wrong size made the ride way better too. Used the beads to but used counteract beads

 

[DK Custom Products]

Are you changing the drive belt too?

One of the pictures may have showed the belt separating?

I have run the confortreads on the TRI and bought the wrong size made the ride way better too. Used the beads to but used counteract beads

I have not seen any belt problem....and yesterday we spend quite a bit of time attempting to video wheelies, so I checked the belt again after that.

btw, with the body off, there is not really enough weight in the rear to counterbalance all the weight up front, so it was pretty much a bust. I tried to get someone to sit in the passenger seat....lol...no one wanted to. :laugh:

I've ridden about 100 miles with the Comfortreds, but they've all been without the body. Difficult to tell any difference...I'll know soon now.

Kevin

 

[stacebg]

pan hard bar

assuming the suspension has a swingarm similar to a 2 wheeler... imho that bar is putting extra load on the swingarm bearings... maybe not much but seems the pivots should be as close to the same height as possible.. sorta like bump steer .. just an observation

 

[DK Custom Products]

I started a separate thread for what we did about the defective bearing retainer plates that were allowing the bearings (and the wheels and the axles) to bang around in the axle housing.

https://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/49013-Rear-Axle-Bearing-Retainer-Plates

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

We're going to have the video done in the next day or so. Here's a photo capture from some of the video we've been shooting.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Here's a video we put together of us having a bit of fun on the Tri-Glide after we made the video on how the shocks work going down the road.

Some folks are concerned about the stability of the HD Trikes.

In this video you can see us purposely lifting one of the rear tires off the ground.

.

A few things to be aware of before watching this video-

1. We cannot recommend these activities.

2. Pulling the rear tire off the ground can be done by either using some body english, or by going into a corner very fast.

While the tire will come up about 4-6 inches and then have a lot of resistance to going any further....if you do go further, the likelihood is high it will go all the way and flip over.

Absent turning the handlebars very sharply in a corner, or going far over the speed limit in a curve, the tire will not lift off the ground. But if it does, it is still very stable...unless you go past that initial resistance point (4-6 inches).

3. Doing wheelies always brings the risk of twisting the crank or breaking a belt. It is not recommended.

4. If you do wheelies, as you will hear in the video, the exhaust will scrape and keep you from going all the way over, but it also can really grind down the bottom back of your slip-ons. (I'll post a pic soon of what mine look like right now.)

.

We had a blast making this video...enjoy!



Kevin

 

[Capt.Bob]

Kevin, For some reason, the video is just one big blank black box on my screen?

 

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, For some reason, the video is just one big blank black box on my screen?

Not sure why that would be.

Go to this youtube link to see it-

www. youtube.com/watch?v=3Z4HN6Lv3ko

delete the space between the "." and the "y" when you paste it into your browser.

Or you can go to our Youtube page at the following link and see it there-

https://www.youtube.com/user/DKCustomProducts/videos

Kevin

 

[Capt.Bob]

Kevin, That was sooooooo much fun to watch. Hey, you may not know it but I am in the clutch business and I think you might be a great candidate for some new clutch plates in the near future :qpnmt: Just kidding!

 

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, That was sooooooo much fun to watch. Hey, you may not know it but I am in the clutch business and I think you might be a great candidate for some new clutch plates in the near future :qpnmt: Just kidding!

:laugh::laugh::laugh: Yeah, we gave that clutch a work out! Don't know how many times we tried to pull that front wheel up with no body on it, but it was a bunch.

It always comes up so easy with the body on it, it was surprising that we could not get it to happen with no body...so we just kept trying, figuring we would find a different technique that would work. NOT.


Glad you enjoyed! I find it a bit mesmerizing to watch those shocks in action.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Fortunately I have the luxury of doing things to test, and being able to write off expenses, that I would not be able to do otherwise if not in the business.

HiRoller End Caps after the other day of videoing wheelies-

Flattening out-

These are not so bad yet...in the past I have drug some Rush Slip-ons so much that they wore a hole all the way thru.

Kevin

 

[Tammy Triker]

Kevin,

This is Jeff. Tammy's maintenance guy and husband. We got the 14" shocks in today and seeing your body off Sure looked like it would make the process easier. While it off I could easily put on the shocks, swap out the comfort lift brackets. Just give it a good check over and cleaning before the Sturgis vacation. In looking things over I found the body mounting tab on the right hand side, the one you get to under the side cover is broken. My big question is do all these wires just unplug someplace? Looks like yours does but I am not so sure on the 2010 model year. They sure changed that bracket design. I checked out a 2013 and it is part of the body. I think it would be an easy job except for the wiring. Any knowledge on the old body style out there?

Thanks

Jeff & Tammy

 

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin,

This is Jeff. Tammy's maintenance guy and husband. We got the 14" shocks in today and seeing your body off Sure looked like it would make the process easier. While it off I could easily put on the shocks, swap out the comfort lift brackets. Just give it a good check over and cleaning before the Sturgis vacation. In looking things over I found the body mounting tab on the right hand side, the one you get to under the side cover is broken. My big question is do all these wires just unplug someplace? Looks like yours does but I am not so sure on the 2010 model year. They sure changed that bracket design. I checked out a 2013 and it is part of the body. I think it would be an easy job except for the wiring. Any knowledge on the old body style out there?

Thanks

Jeff & Tammy

Hey Jeff, all the wires to the truck and Tour-Pak are easily disconnected via connectors. On the later models they are between the back the seat and the front of the Tour-Pak, but if I recall, on the earlier models the wires come forward from the Tour-Pak, under the seat and all disconnect under the seat.

Just follow the bundle of wires from the TP, pull the seat, and I believe you will find they all disconnect on the left side under the passenger seat. Each connector is different, so you cannot plug it back together wrong...but you could always use labeled masking tape to make sure you reconnect them how they were.

 

[Tammy Triker]

Thanks Kevin,

I will check again, but I sure did not see them the first time. There is one for each side under the seat but it looks like one more each side with no connector. Heading back out to the shop now.

Thanks again.

Jeff

 

[DK Custom Products]

Thanks Kevin,

I will check again, but I sure did not see them the first time. There is one for each side under the seat but it looks like one more each side with no connector. Heading back out to the shop now.

Thanks again.

Jeff

All the factory wiring has connectors...just keep following the wire til you get to them. Of course, it is possible that someone hardwired something aftermarket in...that would be another situation. If that was the case, I would cut the wires and put connectors in, so that you don't run into that challenge again.

Kevin

 

[Tammy Triker]

Decided to wait on that project did not want to mess will all the wires just yet. The ones coming out of the speaker pods go up into a master larger harness and no connectors seen. That set of wires have the intercom, radio, CB, volume etc and did not want to mess with it. Decided to just put it on the lift and install the shocks and inspect from the underside. From what I could tell from below everything looked good. Got the 14" shocks on and took it for a test rid. Nice! big difference. Then Tammy got to try it out. She likes it!!

Thanks!

Jeff and Tammy.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Decided to wait on that project did not want to mess will all the wires just yet. The ones coming out of the speaker pods go up into a master larger harness and no connectors seen. That set of wires have the intercom, radio, CB, volume etc and did not want to mess with it. Decided to just put it on the lift and install the shocks and inspect from the underside. From what I could tell from below everything looked good. Got the 14" shocks on and took it for a test rid. Nice! big difference. Then Tammy got to try it out. She likes it!!

Thanks!

Jeff and Tammy.

Glad you're liking them!

I've installed countless lift kits and shocks from the bottom, without removing the body. As you saw, it's a pretty simple task.

We appreciate your business, and you feedback!

Kevin

 

[1dn5up]

Decided to wait on that project did not want to mess will all the wires just yet. The ones coming out of the speaker pods go up into a master larger harness and no connectors seen. That set of wires have the intercom, radio, CB, volume etc and did not want to mess with it. Decided to just put it on the lift and install the shocks and inspect from the underside. From what I could tell from below everything looked good. Got the 14" shocks on and took it for a test rid. Nice! big difference. Then Tammy got to try it out. She likes it!!

Thanks!

Jeff and Tammy.

Jeff, if she rides solo and finds the ride bouncy, you can soften it up a bit. I found it easier to just remove the wheels and the upper shock bolt, swing the shock to loosen the clamp and only go one round at a time . I got the old 13” , so it took me twice to dial them in.

 

[Tammy Triker]

I think Kevin and crew hit them pretty close with the pre adjustment. It rides really good. I have a table lift so installing them from below was no problem at all. My reasoning for wanting to take the body off was just a general inspection. (It is a 2010) and to check that panhard bar Kevin replaced the end couplers on. But the big reason is she has a busted body mount on the right side. I wanted to get a better look at that. It is the one that goes under the right side cover. From what I can tell HD must of had some issues as they changed the design for the 2013 and newer. Maybe earlier years. I could not find anything earlier than a 13 to look at. I was going to fab / fix that bracket and it would have been easier with the body removed. But it looks like I will make a bracket "patch" and wait until after riding season to pull the body. From what I can tell the bracket is bonded to the body somehow. This model year 2010 that tab is metal. On the 13 and up it looks to be made of body material. I was just hoping to do everything at once.But the new shocks are great! Now wonder what would work on my Electra Glide Limited ......:clapping:

 

[Gorilla]

I think Kevin and crew hit them pretty close with the pre adjustment. It rides really good. I have a table lift so installing them from below was no problem at all. My reasoning for wanting to take the body off was just a general inspection. (It is a 2010) and to check that panhard bar Kevin replaced the end couplers on. But the big reason is she has a busted body mount on the right side. I wanted to get a better look at that. It is the one that goes under the right side cover. From what I can tell HD must of had some issues as they changed the design for the 2013 and newer. Maybe earlier years. I could not find anything earlier than a 13 to look at. I was going to fab / fix that bracket and it would have been easier with the body removed. But it looks like I will make a bracket "patch" and wait until after riding season to pull the body. From what I can tell the bracket is bonded to the body somehow. This model year 2010 that tab is metal. On the 13 and up it looks to be made of body material. I was just hoping to do everything at once.But the new shocks are great! Now wonder what would work on my Electra Glide Limited ......:clapping:

Tammy just FYI the 2009 and 2010 were assembled by Lehman Trikes under contact to HD. HD took over full production in 2011. That might be when they did the change.