To rake or not to rake

[guatdoc]

How important is it to rake the trike. I just bought a 2001 GoldwinG with CSC conversion. There is significant shake when I decelerate especially going downhill. But it is manageable. Now the previous owner put 100,000 miles on the bike. I am not sure when the conversion was done. But what is the danger of the shimmy versus the wear on the front tire?I don't feel a loss of control when it shakes but it is a little disconcerting. What's your opinion.

 

[Lucky]

Don't understand what the post has to do with a rake kit. Sounds you may have a tire or stering head bearing issue to me. Maybe someone that know more will chime in. Ride Safe

 

[Gold Rush]

How important is it to rake the trike. I just bought a 2001 GoldwinG with CSC conversion. There is significant shake when I decelerate especially going downhill. But it is manageable. Now the previous owner put 100,000 miles on the bike. I am not sure when the conversion was done. But what is the danger of the shimmy versus the wear on the front tire?I don't feel a loss of control when it shakes but it is a little disconcerting. What's your opinion.

Phil, what lucky says is quite possible. GL1800s are known to have head shake (mostly between 45 and 35 mph) when slowing down. If your '01 still has the bicycle bearings in the steering head, replacing them with roller bearings will help.

If you are considering a rake kit (which I personally recommend) I'd bet your head shake will be history.

A side note: if your front tire is nearing replacement I recommend the AVON COBRA 71 TRIKE tire. Read the thread I started the other day FMI:xszpv: :xszpv:

If you ever get down to San Angelo give me a shout!!

 

[Ed Hobgood]

I will chime in on the rake question. On my Goldwing that I had, it didn't have a rake on it and when I sold it the dealer put a rake kit on it. Well I rode the trike after he added the rake and it was like power steering and no power steering. Replacing the head bearing would be a good idea if you are not going to rake your trike.

 

[Papa Zook]

If you are going to the trouble of replacing the head bearings and races which will require a front end tear down, why not add a rake kit (if it does not already have one) You'd be money ahead to do so and the results would be well worth the cost and it would cure your head shake at the same time. First, investigate to make sure there is not already a rake kit installed and if there is, then re-torque the bearings. Also check the rear tire pressure and set it at 22 lbs and see if that helps. If you have any questions feel free to call me at (334)648-0157.

 

[tfdeputydawg]

I would add a rake kit.
CONTACT Randy(Bazooka) on this forum for advice on which degree to get. Good time for tapered head bearings and fork extensions to level trike

 

[paid4c4]

I've never rode a trike that wasn't raked so I can't really compare. I can tell you that my 2006 GW Motor Trike which has been raked drives like a dream. No shake or shimmy and very east to turn even a slow speed. Good luck with your problem.

Bill

 

[tfdeputydawg]

If you are going to the trouble of replacing the head bearings and races which will require a front end tear down, why not add a rake kit (if it does not already have one) You'd be money ahead to do so and the results would be well worth the cost and it would cure your head shake at the same time. First, investigate to make sure there is not already a rake kit installed and if there is, then re-torque the bearings. Also check the rear tire pressure and set it at 22 lbs and see if that helps. If you have any questions feel free to call me at (334)648-0157.

I would add a rake kit.
CONTACT Randy(Bazooka) on this forum for advice on which degree to get. Good time for tapered head bearings and fork extensions to level trike

Looks like Zook and I were posting at the same time!ThumbUp

 

[oahe]

I've never rode a trike that wasn't raked so I can't really compare. I can tell you that my 2006 GW Motor Trike which has been raked drives like a dream. No shake or shimmy and very east to turn even a slow speed. Good luck with your problem.

Bill

I say the same about my 2009 GW/Motor Trike without a rake. Steers easy as can be! On the other hand, a friend has a raked Brand X that steers like my Dad's old '54 Cevy farm truck. It all depends!

 

[CrystalPistol]

To rake or not .....?

In 2004 we bought our 1997 GL1500 SE with Lehman GTL kit that was converted by dear friends when they started their new business in 1998 when the bike was young. It had stock oem front end still, they never had raked it. I mentioned it, asked why, they just didn't ..... said they were used to it. By then, they were doing Champions too and he had raked a couple Champions, but not Lehmans. By then, he was usually on a two wheel Valk and she rode the Trike alone, she was light, she didn't know better as she had not ridden one with rake kit.

Well, we enjoyed the trike but one day a month after we bought it, on a group ride on the BRP, a buddy told me to try his MT with rake .... I did try it out .... and the couple who had owned and triked ours was also on the ride. ASAP as I got off that raked trike I told him to order me a Champion EZSteer 6 degree kit .....

he did and the next weekend I installed it myself. New stem bearings came with machined triple trees and it included short extensions at top of tubes to make up for decrease in height which laying the fork tubes down does.

I installed the extensions on the tunes and positioned the tubes so that the top of the oem tubes were still up maybe 1/4" in the upper tree.

WOW .... what a difference it made. No more tired shoulders after long rides on curvy roads ..... far less tendency to want to fall off the road crown ..... stays straight with no effort now ..... no wandering when hitting those long lengthwise roadway seams where patches ....

when pulling out of parking lots and turning sharp a heavy throttle does not take much effort to maintain turn as the Progressive 11-1112 springs in place of the 11-1152 springs that were in it when I bought it. I tried the 11-1122 springs too, with 3/4" spacers, and they worked very well .....

but the 11-1112s work best holding the front up at rest and going down the road and their higher initial rate to lower stiffer rate is smoother than the 11-1152s.
it did without rake kit when it would take great effort to keep it turned.

The rake kit reduces trail, think of the casters on a shopping cart.

Compare a caster with 3" offset vs one with 1.5" offset between the wheel contact and the center line of that caster's pivot. Now imagine you don't steer that cart by pulling or pushing on handles .... imagine you steer it by a handle bar attached to the caster. Gonna be easier with 1.5" offset ..... just like it's easier for you to steer it by the normal handles with the longer 3" offsets.

I rode our trike about 5 or 6 weeks total without a rake kit, and that was in 2004. I can still recall the huge difference, the hugely improved control under all conditions, the far less fatigue factor that came with that 6 degree rake kit.

It was only enhanced when I discovered how much better it rode with
Progressive # 11-1112 is for Kawasaki KZ1200/1300 (and what I use in my 1500 trike with Champion 6 degree EZ-Steer) ....

20.75 " L <>1.19" OD <> 45/70 Lbs/In. rate

----------------------------------------------

Progressive # 11-1122 is for GL-1200 GoldWings (use of a 1/2" or 3/4" spacer is suggested when used in GL1500 based trikes with rake kits) ....

20.00 " L <>1.34" OD <> 45/70 Lbs/In. rate

----------------------------------------------

Progressive # 11-1152 is for GL-1500 GoldWings ....

20.50 " L <>1.35" OD <> 35/80 Lbs/In. rate

----------------------------------------------

 

[cjmitch]

WOW .... what a difference it made. No more tired shoulders after long rides on curvy roads ...

With all due respect, and not meaning to be a total ass about it...If you didn't have a rake and were/are having tires shoulders, then you were not using the proper technique, that even WITH a rake you should be using.

Stop using your shoulders... Use your BODY to make a turn

I say the same about my 2009 GW/Motor Trike without a rake. Steers easy as can be! On the other hand, a friend has a raked Brand X that steers like my Dad's old '54 Cevy farm truck. It all depends!

Hear hear...

My Dads 2001 MT with a rake was scary to control (to me).

 

[CrystalPistol]

With all due respect, and not meaning to be a total ass about it...

I see nothing that approaches that here ..... :Shrug:

If you didn't have a rake and were/are having tires shoulders, then you were not using the proper technique, that even WITH a rake you should be using.

Stop using your shoulders... Use your BODY to make a turn

Oh .... I know ..... and I do ..... I push out on outer bar and pull in on inner bar and lean my upper body inwards some and to my knowledge, that's how I did it then .... and it wasn't severe fatigue but rather just an annoyance .... just seems to me that they just got a little sore after hours of it on the road before the 6 degrees were added.

Anyway ..... that was before October 6th 2004.