Newbie with some dumb questions

[sarvbill]

I just picked up a 91 Harley Ultra Classic with a Champion trike kit installed on it for the wife. This is definately her bike as I have a Victory Vision and don't feel at all comfortable riding the trike. She basically wanted the bike so she could have a bigger bike (and not worry about the weight) to ride on longer trips and not always be a passenger. The trike is beautiful and in great condition, but just not my cup of tea at this time...but then again, it's for the wife and not me. By the way - she loves it.

Now for the dumb questions...we've only had the trike for a little over a week, but I'm frustrated at not being able to do the simple maintenance tasks on it (and yes I do most of the work on my Victory).

1. Where the hell are the air valves for the air shocks?? I've read that they are behind the right access panel, but all I find there are the ECM connector along with various other electrical connections.

2. I really feel stupid on this one, but I can't remove the seat. According to the manual, you have to raise the rear of the seat above the tour pack (while pushing forward and down on the front of the seat) and then pull the seat to the rear so the front tab comes out of the slot in front of the tank. My problem is I can't get the rear to clear the tour pack - it feels like I'm going to break off the front tab if I try and raise the rear of the seat any higher.

3. How do you get the bike off the ground to remove the wheels?? Can you use a regular motorcycle jack?

4. What type of table can handle a trike?? Will a regular table with the side skirts work, or is there a special table that will work for both a trike and a 2 wheel motorcycle?

5. Her trike has the lower dress kit/running boards/rain shields (or whatever the kit is called). Does this have to come off to jack up the bike? There doesn't appear to be a lot of ground clearance.

I appreciate any help you can provide. I haven't felt this dumb since my first bike years ago.

I'm also going to post this on the Harley board...wasn't sure where I should place this to get the most visibility.

Bill

[Gorilla]

See your Harley Trike thread for my response.

[triwinggirl]

Sounded like very good question to ask after getting your first trikes.


Welcome fellow triker

[americanbadass]

Welcome! Champion has good customer service- so you might consider contacting them for kit specific Q&A. As far as jacking the trike up-as long as you stay on the bikes frame close to the kit, and your jack is rated for the weight -you should carefully be able to jack it up. I use two jacks and jackstands on both rear axels when I ger her in the air. Be carefull not to place jacks or stands on the driveline or belts.. A lot of it is just common sense-if you have a good knowledge of motorcycle maintenence, it will go a long way. Good Luck!

[sarvbill]

Thanks for the responses. I figured the seat removal out...the seat has a drivers backrest which attaches to the frame under the seat (all the ones I've had attached to the seat frame itself). So after removing the backrest, the seat came off easily. This is when I also found the air valves for the shocks, which were located on the frame under the rear of the seat.

I will eventually get all this worked out, I'm just use to working on a bike - not a trike.

Bill