Rear Differential

[Davidf66]

Howdy folks. My wife's uncle is in the middle of a trike conversion. He found a Kawasaki that had been triked in a salvage yard and plans to use the rear diff for his 88 goldwing. The problem is that the kawasaki's ring gear is either counter clockwise or clockwise and the honda is opposite. He want to remove the tubes on the rearend and swap sides to fix the issue but he can't figure out how to get the tubes out of the rearend housing.

Any suggestions????

Thanks

[stacebg]

assuming it is a straight axle not irs wondering why you want to pull the tube rather than flipping the whole rear?

stace

[Davidf66]

That's what I asked him but he didn't want to remove and re-install the brackets for the swingarm assembly. I think that flipping it would be the easiest thing to do. Nothing that a 4" grinder and a mig welder couldn't handle. Thanks for the input...

[stacebg]

i would have to agree, dont think it is impossible to put the tubes but a toughee

might cut the tubes and reweld but by the time you cut and make sure they are straight seems you could redoe the brackets and be riding

stace

[Gorilla]

Flip the thing way less work

[PhilGilbert]

Hopefully, getting up early this morning isn't causing my brain to malfunction, but, How will flipping the rear axle change the rotational directiom of the differential?

[Nauga Mok]

If he's going to reverse the rotation, the diff HAS to "flip". That puts the pinion gear on the opposite side of the ring gear, causing the reverse rotation. Years ago, we used to "flip" the differentials in the "Push Cats" so they had 3 speeds in reverse & 1 forward -- they needed to go backwards faster than they needed to go forward. Modern Cats have 3 speeds both directions. Unless he flips the diff, it'll be like the old push Cats after modification --it'll go backwards fast!

NM

[stacebg]

Hopefully, getting up early this morning isn't causing my brain to malfunction, but, How will flipping the rear axle change the rotational directiom of the differential?

okay now you really have my curiosity up

what was the original plan if not to "flip" the diff??

[Davidf66]

He talked about removing the tubes and swapping sides along with flipping the diff. That way the brackets should be in the correct position for the swingarm assembly. He's trying to figure out how to save some effort and expense. This is his first trike conversion so it's a trial and error process. I've never been on a trike much less built one. My wife won't ride with me on 2 wheels so there may be a trike in my future.