Big Daddy Roth Trike

[stray catalyst]

I skipped karate this evening so I could take advantage of the near-70's weather. I now have most of the dashboard fully connected, though I haven't finished the headlights yet - the method used to switch from low-beam to high-beam is a bit silly, a SPDT switch - in the middle, it won't light up the headlights at all, even if power is applied. I think I'll be changing that for a marine-grade SPST, once I start working on the "annoying but not immediately critical" list, which is quite long but won't get touched until well after the maiden voyage.<br />
The previous wiring had some odd features, like a trailer-lights harness mysteriously installed in the middle of everything, but it was connected to power and ignition, not lights - at first I'd thought that he was being clever and making it easier to tow, but I was giving him too much credit... perhaps he felt that it was an anti-theft modification, as he could unplug the harness, and any thief would never think to plug it back in...<br />
So, now I have the gas gage, the blinkers, the running lights, the clearance lights, the starter, and the ignition hooked up. I still have to finish the headlights, though they're only two wires away from completion. I'll have to re-spiral-wrap the harness while it's inside the dashboard, which is likely to be no fun at all, but there's really not that much left to do. A few more connections and I can test it out, and see if I get sparks, silence, or success. In any case, it's progress. Sixteen days to go.<br />
<br />
Stray Catalyst

 

[stray catalyst]

More progress.<br />
Tonight the weather was too nice, so I decided to finish off the electrical work. Hooked up the headlights, the hi-beam switch, and the rest, and then, with deep trepidation... connected the battery. <br />
No sparks.<br />
No smoke.<br />
<br />
I turned the key...<br />
<i>and the engine turned over.</i><br />
<br />
I have no gas in it, and there are other problems I knew I'd need to work on before it will run... but it turned over! The headlights work, the blinkers don't - I'm not sure if it's the switch or I've miswired them. The starter has gone back to clicking but not turning over, but this is one of the problems that I have a mechanic friend coming to diagnose, this weekend. I'm a step closer to the trike's maiden voyage... for a vehicle that's been under construction (or neglected between spates of "under construction") for 37 years, this is a significant milestone! Fifteen days to go.<br />
<br />
Stray Catalyst<br />
<br />
P.S.

I've eliminated the problem of the thick cable that goes from the battery to the starter, as a possible reason why the solenoid would engage but the starter itself wouldn't turn over - that cable has been replaced with some brand new #00 welding wire, with crimp fittings. Anyone have a theory why it would click but not turn? This problem was with me before the electrical work, and the trike <i>did turn over its motor a handful of times</i> when I was testing it... The starter was new when installed, but I don't know how many years ago that was. It's clearly labeled with a sticker that says not to whack it with a hammer - that's usually the first thing I try in this case. Any ideas?

 

[Trikerjim]

Sounding good stray, keep up the good work.. and yea I use a Craftsman #3 ball-peen to work on starters..

 

[stray catalyst]

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<img src="images/misc/quote_icon.png" alt="Quote" /> Originally Posted by <strong>Trikerjim</strong>
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<div class="message">Sounding good stray, keep up the good work.. and yea I use a Craftsman #3 ball-peen to work on starters..<img src="images/smilies/grin.gif" border="0" alt="" title="big grin" class="inlineimg" /></div>

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</div>I put it on the charger overnight, and it turned over a couple of times - I guess the battery is toast. Simple enough fix... I'll post more pictures and progress reports over the weekend.<br />
<br />
Stray Catalyst

 

[stray catalyst]

New battery!<br />
The trike turned over fairly easily this time, but I heard a hissing noise... the sparkplugs were only hand-tight. I snugged them down, tried again, and it hasn't started for me yet, but at least I have it turning over. When my mechanic friend arrives tomorrow, he can get it started, I hope. Fourteen days to go!<br />
<br />
Stray Catalyst

 

[stray catalyst]

And on to the next problem.<br />
My mechanic got it started, and the oil leak turned into a steady squirt - the guy who built the engine forgot the oil pump gasket. Not as big a problem as I'd feared, because I can fix this - I'm lousy at figuring out why an engine won't work, but I can replace parts easily enough - and the oil pump on the VW engine is located in an easy-to-reach spot (unless it's mounted in the car, where sheet metal gets in the way) so I'll pick up those gaskets tomorrow (or Tuesday if they have to order them). We didn't keep it running long enough for diagnostics or tuneup, but it runs! <br />
So, one more obstacle struck from the list. Unless I take the oil pump cover off and find unexpected damage, I've reduced my list of critical tasks to four:<br />
<div style="margin-left:40px">1. Get my motorcycle license - This one might trip me up, if I can't get into any of the courses on time. To get a bike license in this state (required for trikes, too) you can either bring a registered, inspected motorcycle, IN A TRUCK, to the DMV and take the test on it, or you can take a three day course that awards you a license if you pass. I don't have a motorcycle, registered or otherwise. In the motorcycle course, the state provides a running, reliable bike - all I need to bring is a helmet, and I have that already.<br />
2. Stop the oil leak. My task for the next few days, as all the car parts stores are closed in this area on Sunday.

If this requires anything more than a gasket, it could be a dealbreaker - I can probably afford to replace the pump, at this point, but I can't afford (nor do I have time!) to take the engine apart to deal with some deeper issue.<br />
3. Get the seat made and installed, then tighten down the handlebars once they're in a good position. At this point they're snugged down, but can still be moved - I can't really know where I'll want the controls until I can sit in it without getting fiberglass-patterns on my buns.<br />
4. Register it, which will involve asking a cop to come out and look it over, to confirm that it is what it claims to be. The local police can usually answer such a call within a few hours, if it's during the week, so this shouldn't be a problem.</div><br />
I still have a bazillion minor problems to solve - clutch petal, front brake adjustment, brake lights, and blinkers have to be finished before the trip (though I might skip the blinkers and just use hand signals if I have to...) but the other stuff - paint job, prettier fenders, better headlight arrangement, marine-grade switches for the controls, proper wheelie-bars, foot-pegs for the passenger, and the like will all have to wait - they aren't needed for the maiden voyage. Twelve days to go!<br />
<br />
Stray Catalyst<br />
<br />
P.S. If we can keep our weather this nice for the next several days, I might even get to accomplish some of the non-vital stuff, if there's time left between vital projects.

 

[Trikerjim]

Those little things seem huge when there are many. Just take em one by one and you'll get there. glad the engine ran, that's a big plus. My dad was a VW mechanic for years (late 50s-early 70s) I used to laugh at some of the language he came up with while he worked on them.. He always told me "You have to cuss a Volkswagen to make it run right"..Keep it up Stray.

 

[stray catalyst]

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<img src="images/misc/quote_icon.png" alt="Quote" /> Originally Posted by <strong>Trikerjim</strong>
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<div class="message"> I used to laugh at some of the language he came up with while he worked on them.. He always told me "You have to cuss a Volkswagen to make it run right"..Keep it up Stray.</div>

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</div>Oh, he's right - machines work better if you swear at them in their language of origin. <img src="images/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smile" class="inlineimg" /> The oil pump is a trivial problem, as it's one I can solve without assistance. Getting the motor started was a bigger problem, as I'm lousy at diagnosing problems like that. I'm still on track to be riding this in 12 days.<br />
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Stray Catalyst

 

[stray catalyst]

Took another poke at some of the electrical wiring I've neglected before now. With the assistance of a nearby 12-year-old, I have the right-side blinkers working correctly, and the test light showed me that the brake-light switch is dead... *sigh* at least it's a cheap part.<br />
I've found a guy in California who has a reasonably priced oil pump, with gaskets, new - that costs about the same as buying the gaskets WITHOUT the pump, including the shipping. So I'll buy from him, and that way I have a spare oil pump, in case the one I have is deceased, or it's scored its cover plate too deeply. <br />
I also sent off the $110 for the motorcycle course, but I've tried to get in pretty late in line for this weekend... On the bright side, I listed nine different towns I'd be willing to travel to, to take this course - as long as there's at least one opening in ANY of those towns, I'm in. If not, I'll show up at one of them on Friday afternoon and "standby" in the hopes that somebody fails to show up, which is (according to one of their instructors) VERY common, more than half the time. If there's an opening, I'll take it - it's 20 hours of classes and riding over the course of a weekend, but it's one of the few remaining obstacles between me and riding to Beltane. Eleven days to go!<br />
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Stray Catalyst

 

[Ozarkryder]

I never tried to swear at The Blue Trike when we had it in German - Finnish seemed to do just fine. Especially the first time I adjusted the valves and found a swivel head, a ball head and 2 solid rocker arms on the same cylinder head. At least they were all the same ratio.

The MSF course is a great learning experiance. I had been riding for 20 years
when I took the basic course - it was easier to get my license when I moved to another state that way. Still learned a lot.

There is an outfit here in town where I take the trike and the bike to be inspected. The owner is a factory (in Germany) trained machanic on the air cooled V-dubs. He always told me you have to drive (or ride) a VW with firmness. He would say you drive an air cooled VW like you're a little bit mad at it. Sure enough, it seemed to run better that way!

 

[stray catalyst]

Nothing to update at this point - I'm waiting for parts to arrive from all over - oil pump gaskets from the south half of my home state, brake light switch from far away (California?), Air filters from Pennsylvania...

I'm too late to get into the motorcycle safety course, but I can still get a permit and take the test normally... which means, I can ride with the permit for up to a month, but at the end of that I have to take the test. I had a motorcycle license in the past, and have many thousand miles of riding experience, so I'm not too worried about passing the test - I'll just have to borrow a registered, inspected bike to take it. If I remember correctly (from about 20 years ago) I won't be able to ride after dark with the permit, but I'm sure they'll fill me in on what I can and can't do legally with it.

Stray Catalyst

 

[stray catalyst]

Eight days left. Eight more days to finish so many small (and large) problems...

I took off the brake lights and blinkers in the rear - I was trying to salvage that part of the old wiring harness, but it's doing strange things when I try to hook it up, so I'm just going for the sure solution - replace the whole sorry mess of wires, from the lights to the switches, and from the switches to the circuitbreakers. The switches themselves I'll keep (if they work) until I can afford to replace them all with marine-grade switches - there are enough marinas and boatyards around here, it shouldn't be hard to find the switches I need with more waterproofing than the previous owner felt was needful. So, starting with the rearmost point: I've brought the light-bar on the rear inside - I'll feed the wires through the same tube that held the old harness, and remove all the old problems.

No other progress to report, I'm waiting for several parts to come from far-away lands. I'll get my motorcycle permit tomorrow after work (leaving early to make it to DMV before they close, of course) and start nagging my friend to make the seat. Eight days to go.

Stray Catalyst

 

[John Luciano]

Check your liciense you never loose your endorsment. Mine was on it for 30 years. I didn't ride for 17 years. Unless you moved out of state and didn't have them move it to the new state and then move it back etc.

 

[stray catalyst]

Check your liciense you never loose your endorsment. Mine was on it for 30 years. I didn't ride for 17 years. Unless you moved out of state and didn't have them move it to the new state and then move it back etc.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what I did - I moved from state to state for a while, and didn't bother to pay the extra to take my motorcycle endorsement with me, since I didn't have a bike at the time. Due to this, all record of my previously having a motorcycle license has vanished, as though it never existed at all.
Seven days!

Stray Catalyst

 

[CCRR]

Hey Stray this is so not right. It is like reading a book and getting to the end only to find the last two pages missing. Please finish the story.

Thanks!

 

[stray catalyst]

Sorry about the delay - amongst other things, my computer died.
The trike is still awaiting parts - some vendors are slower than others, and it seems some aren't moving at all. The lack of license was the dealbreaker - I would have cobbled together what I could, and leaked oil the whole way, but not without a license. I'm continuing to work on it, trying to correct all the problems instead of just patching up the worst ones and ignoring the rest. I'll have more progress to report later, now that I have a computer again. So, I missed my deadline, but I haven't given up yet.

Stray Catalyst

 

[Administrator]

Stray- Everyone here, me included has thoroughly enjoyed your story on your Big Daddy trike restoration! Your unique brand of humor and writing style is great. Thanks for your posts and please keep us informed on the progress.

 

[Trikerjim]

Just keep bangin away Stray and you'll get there. Think how COOL that ride's gonna look like cruising down the street hang in there and keep us posted...

 

[Papa Zook]

Where ya at Stray?