Champion Trike Build - Sportster

[Leathel]

Looking good

[Darth]

More work done on the trike today... got the brakes bled, the fender mounts attached, passenger pegs back on, and the V&H exhaust system back on. Fired the bike up for the first time in months, wanted to turn the axle a few times to re-check the belt tracking and tension along with the pressure sensor for the rear brakes. Next will be mounting the tires and fenders and a road test. Then the front end has to come off to install the rake kit... the end is in sight!

[skuuter]

Looking Better with each addition.....

[Rick Kay]

Looking good!

Thanks for the update! I hope the test ride goes well!

[Marc H]

Lookin awesome.I'm impressed with how well those pieces look.

[Lucky]

Gonna be a great ride. Sure looks like you are having fun. Thanks for the pics.

[Darth]

The trike lives... It now has 25 miles on it!!! About 6:00 pm tonight I rolled it out of the garage and fired it up for the first time in months. Still need to bleed the brakes again, the pedal is pretty spongy. The brakes were more of a challenge than I ever thought possible... just could not get a firm pedal. I had a MityVac on each rear caliper but just could not get all the air out of the lines. I was able to get enough brake to stop, so decided to give up and go for a ride, which was a good thing in the long run. After bouncing around a bit, I bled them again and the pedal firmed up some more. Took it real slow around the block, then re-torqued every bolt. Took it out for a couple of miles at no more than 35 mph, then re-torqued everything again plus checked the belt deflection and tension. Then took it out for 20 mile spin, then came back and checked everything one last time. The best part was that my wife jumped on and took it out for a quick 5 mile ride next (after all it is her bike!)... it was all worth it to see her driving a bike after all she has been through with the hip replacement.

It steers kind of weird since the rake kit is not yet installed, hopefully that will happen this week. I will get some pictures posted once the rake kit and the fenders are installed. The fenders just got painted on Saturday so they need some time to cure before mounting. My first impression is that this bike is going to be a blast to ride... the bike has cams, a high flow A/C, V&H exhaust and a Power Commander tuner which were done before the trike conversion. Both the acceleration and the roll on power are pretty impressive thus far.

[Lucky]

Sounds like you are almost there. RIDE SAFE

[Rick Kay]

The trike lives... It now has 25 miles on it!!! About 6:00 pm tonight I rolled it out of the garage and fired it up for the first time in months. Still need to bleed the brakes again, the pedal is pretty spongy. The brakes were more of a challenge than I ever thought possible... just could not get a firm pedal. I had a MityVac on each rear caliper but just could not get all the air out of the lines. I was able to get enough brake to stop, so decided to give up and go for a ride, which was a good thing in the long run. After bouncing around a bit, I bled them again and the pedal firmed up some more. Took it real slow around the block, then re-torqued every bolt. Took it out for a couple of miles at no more than 35 mph, then re-torqued everything again plus checked the belt deflection and tension. Then took it out for 20 mile spin, then came back and checked everything one last time. The best part was that my wife jumped on and took it out for a quick 5 mile ride next (after all it is her bike!)... it was all worth it to see her driving a bike after all she has been through with the hip replacement.

It steers kind of weird since the rake kit is not yet installed, hopefully that will happen this week. I will get some pictures posted once the rake kit and the fenders are installed. The fenders just got painted on Saturday so they need some time to cure before mounting. My first impression is that this bike is going to be a blast to ride... the bike has cams, a high flow A/C, V&H exhaust and a Power Commander tuner which were done before the trike conversion. Both the acceleration and the roll on power are pretty impressive thus far.

You had a pretty good shakedown! Looking forward to seeing your photos, and maybe some day see it in person.

[skuuter]

The trike lives... It now has 25 miles on it!!! About 6:00 pm tonight I rolled it out of the garage and fired it up for the first time in months. Still need to bleed the brakes again, the pedal is pretty spongy. The brakes were more of a challenge than I ever thought possible... just could not get a firm pedal. I had a MityVac on each rear caliper but just could not get all the air out of the lines. I was able to get enough brake to stop, so decided to give up and go for a ride, which was a good thing in the long run. After bouncing around a bit, I bled them again and the pedal firmed up some more. Took it real slow around the block, then re-torqued every bolt. Took it out for a couple of miles at no more than 35 mph, then re-torqued everything again plus checked the belt deflection and tension. Then took it out for 20 mile spin, then came back and checked everything one last time. The best part was that my wife jumped on and took it out for a quick 5 mile ride next (after all it is her bike!)... it was all worth it to see her driving a bike after all she has been through with the hip replacement.

It steers kind of weird since the rake kit is not yet installed, hopefully that will happen this week. I will get some pictures posted once the rake kit and the fenders are installed. The fenders just got painted on Saturday so they need some time to cure before mounting. My first impression is that this bike is going to be a blast to ride... the bike has cams, a high flow A/C, V&H exhaust and a Power Commander tuner which were done before the trike conversion. Both the acceleration and the roll on power are pretty impressive thus far.

GREAT News.....More Pics soon Please.....

[Darth]

We got to take the trike out for the first big ride today, and my wife loves it! She rode it just a bit last week before I put the rake kit on and it was a handful to steer... but now that the HHI 5 degree rake kit is installed, it handles really nice (Thanks Zook!). She put about 135 miles on it today and every time I looked over, she had a big grin on her face. Here are a couple of pics of the rake kit install and the finished product...





The Finished Product After A 135 Mile Ride Today

[skuuter]

FANTASTIC Trike.....!!!!!!...

[Frozenshrimp]

Excellent Job Kudo's to you!!! Better carry some tooth picks with you so the wife can pick out all them bugs from her teeth from smiling so much while riding..

[Rick Kay]

Nice! She's gorgeous!

[Darth]

Excellent Job Kudo's to you!!! Better carry some tooth picks with you so the wife can pick out all them bugs from her teeth from smiling so much while riding..

She put a windshield on it instead!!!


- - - Updated - - -

That's a beautiful trike! Wonder where ya got that Champion kit from?? Bet you got a good deal on it?

Got a great deal on it!!!

Also got a great deal on an awesome rake kit, you should see it! I'm glad I finally got the rake kit to work, I really wanted that one to work, and some minor machining of the riser and it all worked out. I will send you a PM... I have a suggestion for HHI on their procedure for tightening the neck bearings.

Thanks again!

[John Luciano]

I did not realise Champion made an non bodied trike kit. Looks very nice. Seemed simpler than I thought it would be.

[My Turn]

Great build. Thanks for posting. Did you ever get saddle bags set up on this trike?

[Darth]

Great build. Thanks for posting. Did you ever get saddle bags set up on this trike?

I did... guess I need to post some pics. Here is the link to the second one I built...

http://www.triketalk.com/forum/threa...Build-Underway