Hi Everyone,
Again I apologize for the delay. I have been in the hospital due to my back. I’m going to be OK, but it looks like my riding season is over for now.
My Cass County Trike kit is now installed on my 93 1200 Sporty. The installation was done by my Harley dealer, Baer Sports in Honesdale Pa.
The instillation manual supplied with the kit provides the basic information needed, but the mechanics said that more step by step photos would be very helpful. Also, the quality of the photos needs to be improved.
Cass County says that the kits bolts on directly without needing additional parts. However the stock rear belt sprocket did not fit on the kit’s axel, and the stock belt was too short. A newer sprocket is needed, as well as a belt several inches longer. The axel spacers with the kit also had to be modified to bring everything in line.
The tolerances of the kit are very close. For instance, there is less than ¼” between the drive belt and the trike kit, and even less between the rear brake caliber and other parts. Due to the rim kit I used, the fender struts and the tires are also very close.
The above has all been overcome with some ingenuity on the part of my mechanics, and are just being mentioned as an FYI for anyone considering purchasing this particular kit. My mechanics called CCC several times for assistance. Depending on which mechanic I spoke to, Ron of CCC was either very helpful or not helpful at all. I was not present during those calls, so I do not know what transpired. My personal experience is that Ron always returned my calls, and was very helpful to me.
The one thing I am NOT happy about is that there is rust showing up on the kit. This was totally unexpected as I was under the impression that the entire thing was aluminum. The rust is NOT on the axel, but on the kit itself. I still do not know how to get photos uploaded so I cannot show any. As soon as someone shows me how to do this, I will send them. Had I known that a part was subject to rusting, I would have had it painted, or something, before it was installed.
I have had the kit up to 50 MPH on local country roads so far, and as of this time, it rides very well. Because of the front trees still being stock, steering is hard. I did not see any tree options for the kit on the CC website. The only way to find them is to google raked trees, Cass County Choppers, and THEN they come up. IMHO, the trees should be shown with the kit info, not hidden somewhere. I will be having either some form of raked tree installed, or convert to a raked Springer, as I like the look of those, and this is something I was planning on doing anyways at some point, even before I decided to go with a trike. Paughco has springers raked up to 3 degrees.
Cass County Choppers is a fairly new company, so one should expect some “bugs”. However the sign of a good company is how they address said “bugs”. Ron appears to be sincere so I look forward to see how these issues are fixed. The kits are definitely workable, and are affordable, even with the extra needed parts. With the exception of the raked trees, I am three wheeling for under $5500.00 total. My suggestion is that if you are considering a CCC kit, call Ron and ask him what he has done to address the above issues. So long as he has addressed them, then the CCC kit is a great bang for the buck. I hope this helps everyone.
Ride safe & Take care,
Bear