thinking of installing air shocks on rear of trike

[butchvoss]

Hi all, well after a summer of working the bugs out of grocery getter i think im going to eliminate the rear coil overs for air shocks. Im thinking i can use a on board compressor to adjust ride and adjust for road crown pull.. The road crown pull on the back roads of NH is a pain in the butt for my shoulders. Thinking i can compensate left and right hand pull by adding or removing air from side of direction of pull. Im thinking of a set of inexpensive Gabriel high jacker shocks with a control board on my dash for each shock .,,,try this way first to see if it helps before investing in a more reliable system..... Any thoughts guys.

[vw driver]

I have air shocks on my VW trike and I really like them. I plumbed them into a tee so the pressure is equal on both sides, 50 psi of air. The on-board compressor sounds like a good idea if it will do the job.

[dirtdobber]

The road changes and the crown.
What idea are you thinking of that would allow you to add/remove air from each side as quickly as the road may change?
wow, that was a mouth full. LOL

[stacebg]

i find with the trail fairly short, dont get a wicked lot of pull from the crown
i seem to find 1.5 - 2.5 is pretty good..

but just the same i like to have pretty much no pull at all
my first attempt was air shocks from a motorcycle and changing the air in one side made a difference

now i have some sort of lean control on all my trikes and sidecars... and would not build one with out it

if you get set up so the back roads are ok and get on the highway .. with less crown or want to travel in the left lane you are back to the fight... and vise versa..
..
its not so much a constant changing thing..more being able to adjust for the current condition kinda like "trim" like a plane or boat
i find i dont mess with it much but going from highway to back roads..


hope that helps

[slick rick]

It shouldn't be a problem but you could always run leveling valves the same as big trucks have . It may take a small air tank and of course a air compressor but before I did that I would just drop a few lbs. of air in my left tire.

[butchvoss]

I bought some monroe air shocks and installed them. I did not like the way the shocks looked stressed. I was hoping to eliminate the coils shocks on the trike. What i found was that with out coils shock air bags looked like they where going to burst from the 800 #s they supported .I added the coil overs back with air shocks and rear suspension to ridged even with no air. So now back to square one lol............................ I am going to install a bearing kit in the fork head stock so i can use taper bearings and get the ball bearings out. Maybe i can tighten the steering up a tad with the taper bearings installed.???

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i find with the trail fairly short, dont get a wicked lot of pull from the crown
i seem to find 1.5 - 2.5 is pretty good..

but just the same i like to have pretty much no pull at all
my first attempt was air shocks from a motorcycle and changing the air in one side made a difference

now i have some sort of lean control on all my trikes and sidecars... and would not build one with out it

if you get set up so the back roads are ok and get on the highway .. with less crown or want to travel in the left lane you are back to the fight... and vise versa..
..
its not so much a constant changing thing..more being able to adjust for the current condition kinda like "trim" like a plane or boat
i find i dont mess with it much but going from highway to back roads..


hope that helps

I have a 1000# on the real when on the trike. You think the set u r using could work on my trike. . thanks

[stacebg]

I ......... I am going to install a bearing kit in the fork head stock so i can use taper bearings and get the ball bearings out. Maybe i can tighten the steering up a tad with the taper bearings installed.??? - - - Updated - - - I have a 1000# on the real when on the trike. You think the set u r using could work on my trike. . thanks

1000 lbs on the front wheel???
what are you hoping to gain changing the bearings??

[butchvoss]

1000 lbs on the front wheel???
what are you hoping to gain changing the bearings??

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Its 1000 on rear with driver and 650 on front. I was just thinking i could tightent the front end up a littler more with the taper bearings add some preload to steering that i cant with ball bearings.

[stacebg]

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Its 1000 on rear with driver and 650 on front. I was just thinking i could tightent the front end up a littler more with the taper bearings add some preload to steering that i cant with ball bearings.

mixed feelings about ball vs taperd
what are you hoping to gain making them tighter??

[butchvoss]

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mixed feelings about ball vs taperd
what are you hoping to gain making them tighter??

Talking to a friend who runs a side car and claims tightening up helps the control of pull of side car where as the rollers do not seem to friction up like tapers do when tightening

[slick rick]

Tightening head bearings will help with wheel flop on a springer but too tight then it gets hard to steer , there is a fine line between the two . I simply put new bearings in mine this summer and made a great difference eventhough they show to be good .

[butchvoss]

Tightening head bearings will help with wheel flop on a springer but too tight then it gets hard to steer , there is a fine line between the two . I simply put new bearings in mine this summer and made a great difference eventhough they show to be good .

I bought the all balls kit last summer. Converts to taper rollers. Im going to pull front end apart and instal them I have a lot of weight up front and thinking the all balls kit will be a better setup

[slick rick]

,,,Good luck and let me know what you think about the kit .

[stacebg]

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Talking to a friend who runs a side car and claims tightening up helps the control of pull of side car where as the rollers do not seem to friction up like tapers do when tightening

butch...

the key word there is "CLAIMS"!! haven ridden a sidecar for years and done more custom installation of sidecars than i can remember, i can tell you trike and sidecar are similar in reguards to setting up the trail right to get managable steering... the side car has a little tendency to want to wobble so you will see a lot more steering dampers on hacks than trikes, but you will see both.. some of the hacks ive installed didnt need dampers, and neither of the my trikes have any need what so ever of a damper, one trike i built late 80s, i tried everything anyone suggested but still had to have a damper, for the pull i did individual air lines on the shocks but ended up running equal air and puting a bungie cord on the front end to compensate the constant pull from the crown... is wasnt perfect but i found a happy medium, had about 60k since conversion when i sold it..
if the head set bearings are too loose the front end may wobble (more than likely) but its not a good idea to tighten them in place of using a damper...
as for tightening bearing to stop the pull ... not even possible


one way to think of it would be you bike is sitting a little low than u like so you tighten the swing arm bearings... may make it harder to move as in hitting a bump but it wont change the ride height... compare to the front or adding another shock (with no spring)
the shock will sol down the bounce but will not change the ride height..

tighten the headset bearings may make it harder to move the front wheel but the constant pull is still going to be there.
the vmax is my ride of choice, the trail is right around an inch an a half.
also put an electric lean on it to change on the fly...

but hardly ever touch it.. sometime a little less lean for the highway an that can depend on which side you are on..

.been told i am a wuss cuz i like it so easy, yea it to some getting used to changing lanes if you sneeze,
thing is i dont want to be all tuckerd out after a days ride..

weve been know to go to nh for breakfast, portland for lunch an ri for supper.. easy 450 mile day if i were fighting the crown all the time at about 100mile i wouldnt be having fun..
but thats me..

[butchvoss]

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,,,Good luck and let me know what you think about the kit .

I will post here when done and will try and take pictures ..

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Thanks for the info stacebg very informative. luv the bungee cord idea lol My shoulders just cant take the constant effort correcting the pull.. I wish i was confident enough to make a leading link set up

[stacebg]

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I will post here when done and will try and take pictures ..

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Thanks for the info stacebg very informative.

luv the bungee cord idea lol My shoulders just cant take the constant effort correcting the pull.. I wish i was confident enough to make a leading link set up

very welcome wish someone could have clued me in back in the day... they used to tell me i was nuckin futs when i talked about reducing trail and crown in the road... buddy of mine (rip) had a sericare trike it was hard to steer cuz someone raked the frame cours that made it worse he was diabetic an was loosing strength he had been to a couple local outlaw clubs they told him he had too much weight on the front so they put longer forks which move the cpg bag but made it worse ... raising the front INCREASED the trail.... he followed me on my hd driving for miles with one hand ... figured i had figure something out... i took his for a ride... rolled it down a hill an most missed the door it turned so hard so i deraked the frame an made a set of raked trees for him...it was a 1 hander then

i have seen guys with sidecars put an eye in the end of the bars an run the bungie back to lugage behind the seat
what kind of trees are you useing...

i have a used LL iwould sell... fitts honda 750....

might be able to make it work

really not that big of a deal to make one either

[butchvoss]

very welcome wish someone could have clued me in back in the day... they used to tell me i was nuckin futs when i talked about reducing trail and crown in the road... buddy of mine (rip) had a sericare trike it was hard to steer cuz someone raked the frame cours that made it worse he was diabetic an was loosing strength he had been to a couple local outlaw clubs they told him he had too much weight on the front so they put longer forks which move the cpg bag but made it worse ... raising the front INCREASED the trail.... he followed me on my hd driving for miles with one hand ... figured i had figure something out... i took his for a ride... rolled it down a hill an most missed the door it turned so hard so i deraked the frame an made a set of raked trees for him...it was a 1 hander then

i have seen guys with sidecars put an eye in the end of the bars an run the bungie back to lugage behind the seat
what kind of trees are you useing... i have a used LL iwould sell... fitts honda 750....

might be able to make it work

really not that big of a deal to make one either

The tree is off a 86 honda 1200, the tubes are 41 mm air ride.

The right LL and i think would do me good........The wierd thing to me is when i drop the front end with low air pressure i get a woble sometimes when i hit a series of bumps in a row,and steering is a little harder and at high pressure meaning lift front a couple of inch's it goes away,. I extended my bottm t and and steering worked out great. and 60 psi in forks. I tried a pair of taller tires in on rear and it about shook me to death ,thought is was going to loose controls till i slowed down. This has been quite a learning curve with this trike lol. I have access to a machine shop but lack of knowledge to build a LL and have it work right .. At bike week i was all over any LL bike that i saw. My junk got a lot of likes and a lot of WTF lol

[stacebg]

The tree is off a 86 honda 1200, the tubes are 41 mm air ride. The right LL and i think would do me good........The wierd thing to me is when i drop the front end with low air pressure i get a woble sometimes when i hit a series of bumps in a row,and steering is a little harder and at high pressure meaning lift front a couple of inch's it goes away,. I extended my bottm t and and steering worked out great. and 60 psi in forks. I tried a pair of taller tires in on rear and it about shook me to death ,thought is was going to loose controls till i slowed down. This has been quite a learning curve with this trike lol. I have access to a machine shop but lack of knowledge to build a LL and have it work right .. At bike week i was all over any LL bike that i saw. My junk got a lot of likes and a lot of WTF lol

these are 35 mm but you can put a split bushing in. i prefer a lip on the top for ease of installation..
i would not worry about them being smaller than your trees the have a 3/16 wall they are aproximately 7-1/2" cl to cl but if need be would not be a big deal to to widen the cross bar..
like to get $650 for them...
usually get over $1400 if i have to build them from scratch...

you may want to look just buying a set of raked trees...
i used to put a ll on every thing they are very rigid and can be adjusted if you want to change the trail but they are kinda ugly so i have been doing raked trees..