Howdy from Texas, Humble right now

[Bubba_Richard]

I'm preparing to convert my 2009 Harley Fat Bob with a 38" Frankenstein trike rear end. The rear end and tripple tree boxes are in my apartment. Driving out to my sisters house in Cleveland Texas to do the job in her garage and have some hot dogs, sausage and hamburgers . I'm going to fab my own fenders from Leather and fiberglass resin. I will sew the fenders with the same western theme on a lot of non commerical saddlebags and I will than put a nice back coating of fiberglass resin under them. I haven't decided on the tires and wheels yet, will be doing that in the morning when I go to the tire store The Fat Bob is gloss black, now I wish I would have went with the denim black version.
My first motorcycle was a 1984 Kawasaki 85 in 1984. I was trying to make the decision between a sidecar (which I still think look cool) and painting the bike army green (I was in the Army Active and National Guard for 8 years) but decided that the trike would be better for the gravel roads I prefer to take.

Nice to meet ya,
Bubba Richard

 

[katfish16]

First welcome to the board... that sounds really kool on what U want to do.. as U might have read we love pictures so if U have time and can keep us posted with some pictures!!!!!! Alot of good people on this board and some might even be able to give u information or advice since they also put their trikes together..
Best of luck....

 

[Nana]

Hey Bubba Richard. Welcome aboard! and as Katfish says, please post pictures as you go along. If you have questions about posting pictures, or anything else, just ask. I'll be happy to answer and help however I can. So with the rest of the membership . Glad you are here.

 

[John Luciano]

Wow Leather fenders. That will be TEXAS and different !!!

 

[Gorilla]

Welcome aboard sounds like a GREAT project. looking forward to seeing pictures.

 

[FBTRIKE]

Welcome and can't wait to SEE the progress you make.
Pictures....pictures...... pictures, we like pictures......:yes:

 

[Bubba_Richard]

Horrible, Horrible, Horrible! A FatBob's Triple Tree is Wide. Appartently wider than all the rest. After installing the trike rear end and new exhaust system, I discovered the most horrible news, the triple tree from Frankenstein is just a bit narrower than the Fat Bobs. With dual front brakes and the wide front tire, it just will not work. I road the bike around the block and to my dismay, the front tire jerked at ever little bump and rock in the road. I was hopping somebody here could tell me if that is what is meant by the more difficult handling without the raked tripple tree? or maybe I can work on aligning it more and that that is maybe the reason? Anybody.

Thanks,
Bubba

 

[Ozarkryder]

Bubba - welcom to the three world! Sounds like you have an interesting project going there.

A few thoughts on your delimma:

The Fat Bob has a front end designed for dual rotors, and the Frankenstein seems to be a single brake with a narrower tire than the OEM. You might stay with the factory front end and rake that, or go with the single brake and narrower tire of the new kit. Wouldn't worry much about the single brake up front, you effectively gain one in the rear.

The shaking in the bars may be normal. Trikes react differently than 2 wheelers to bumps and dips in the road. A trike will rock front to rear like a 2-wheeler, but they also rock side-to-side. That energy has to go somewhere, and it is felt in the bars shaking to some extent. Most riders get used to it quickly, but it can be very noticeable to someone coming from a bike to a trike. I would have another triker give it a ride or take it in to a shop that does trikes to get thier opinion. According to the Frankenstein website, there is a dealer in Conroe, called Texas Trikes. Might give them a call.

Raking the front end makes the trike easier to steer, (like power steering in a car vs. manual steering) but some say it is a bit "twitchier". Again something you'll get used to soon.

If you haven't found it already, there is a good thread in the general forum with tips from experienced riders. Lots of info there -

http://www.triketalk.com/forum/general-forum/242-experianced-trike-riders-please-post-here.html

Good luck with your project, and have fun!

 

[Bubba_Richard]

Ozarkryder, thanks for the info. I do believe that twitching is a better description of my problem. As far as the tripple tree, Frankenstein offered me my money back on the tree. Maybe I should look for a used dyna to convert.

Thanks,
Bubba

 

[John Luciano]

Raking is not going to eliminate the side to side wobble . Don't keep a death grip on the bike on rough roads. YES it will twitch. Don't forget the 2 wheeler was a rocking horse ( front tire over a bump then the rear.) the trike gets front tire over bump then right rear over bump and if your really lucky left 2 sec later so it twists. Let it wobble I think you have still instilled in your head the tipping over feeling.

 

[Bubba_Richard]

John,
I'm actually a little worried that we may have damaged the front end when we let it down on the jack. I bought a sears craftman jack highly recomended but it's very hard to get it to descend slowly. I had the front fork locked so the front tire wouldn't turn while it was up. I can't relock the front fork and I don't remember unlocking it.

Do ou think it is possible that it isn't lined up correctly?
I've found a possible source for a 49mm raked triple tree,
STORZ PERFORMANCE MOTORCYCLE ACCESSORIES

but I don't know if I have to buy the entire fork or not.

Bubba