New trike

[vwbug72501]

VWBuild,

You don't necessarily have to replace the wheel or the neck to get front brakes. First, find out what Harley the spool came from and look at the rotor(s) for that spool. Then check out the calipers for both the Harley and GL1100. Here are pictures of the front end that is going on my mid-engine trike. It consists of a GL1500 Easy-Steer triple tree, CBR900RR forks (45mm dia), CBR900RR calipers, and a Harley VRSC wheel and rotors. I had to fabricate an axle to go from metric (25mm) to SAE (1 in)and some caliper repositioning plates to get the Honda calipers correctly positioned on the Harley rotors. You can probably use the repositioning plates to adjust the caliper to rotor fit.

[DeathBySnuSnu]

I have the front from my 85 wing.
I am changing to a springer styled leading link and a kasawaki front wheel.
The wing front wheel is a 16 inch diameter.

[vw driver]

Attachment 25989Attachment 25990Attachment 25991Attachment 25992Attachment 25993Attachment 25994Attachment 25995
Hi--I purchased this trike sight unseen and have some issues to address. Every time I take my foot off the brake on the floorboard to push on the gas I roll back. I live in the mountains where everything is hilly. I believe my front end is an Honda 1200. Is there a different front end I could buy or does anyone have ideas what to do for a brake??? 2nd. problem is the steering is really heavy to the right and the left. Is this normal or is it how this trike was built? What I mean by heavy is that when I steer all the way to the left or right, it is difficult bringing the steering back to driving straight. Any idea why this would be. Just need some help with things I wish were a little different. Thanks much.

It's difficult to tell from the pictures but it appears your axle may positioned on the back side of the sliders.

[vwbuild]

VWBuild,

You don't necessarily have to replace the wheel or the neck to get front brakes. First, find out what Harley the spool came from and look at the rotor(s) for that spool. Then check out the calipers for both the Harley and GL1100. Here are pictures of the front end that is going on my mid-engine trike. It consists of a GL1500 Easy-Steer triple tree, CBR900RR forks (45mm dia), CBR900RR calipers, and a Harley VRSC wheel and rotors. I had to fabricate an axle to go from metric (25mm) to SAE (1 in)and some caliper repositioning plates to get the Honda calipers correctly positioned on the Harley rotors. You can probably use the repositioning plates to adjust the caliper to rotor fit.

Rider--I was to drive 200 miles tomorrow to look at parts for this trike until you mentioned that there are caliper repositioning plates that could correct my brakes. My wheel is a Ridewright wheel and there are rotors available for it. The years that this wheel fits are 1984 to 1999 Harley. The models include FXST-B&D, FLSTN-C-SC, All FLH D/D front, ALL FLH S/D front and ALL FXDX and XL D/D front. Most of these I have no idea as to what they are. I found out that if I change the front wheel and buy all the brake parts, the brake handle/reservoir from the Honda GL1100 wont fit on my 1" Harley handlebars. Now the guy is telling me that I need a Harley reservoir for my 1" bars because the GL1100 has 7/8" bars. I haven't purchased anything as of now. Where do I find these repositioning plates you mention? Hope to hear from you today before I invest in another front wheel. Thanks

[vwbuild]

VWBuild,

You don't necessarily have to replace the wheel or the neck to get front brakes. First, find out what Harley the spool came from and look at the rotor(s) for that spool. Then check out the calipers for both the Harley and GL1100. Here are pictures of the front end that is going on my mid-engine trike. It consists of a GL1500 Easy-Steer triple tree, CBR900RR forks (45mm dia), CBR900RR calipers, and a Harley VRSC wheel and rotors. I had to fabricate an axle to go from metric (25mm) to SAE (1 in)and some caliper repositioning plates to get the Honda calipers correctly positioned on the Harley rotors. You can probably use the repositioning plates to adjust the caliper to rotor fit.

Rider--I just did a search for rotor sizes. The man at Ridewright that sells my wheel and rotors told me I need a 13" rotor. I did a search for 84-99 applicable Harleys and found 11.5" rotors. I did a search for GL1100 rotors and found 276mm rotors which measures 10.8661417". I just don't see how my GL1100 fork with calipers could fit any of the Harley rotors unless it's how they measure from wheel center. My wheel is 21". Not sure what size wheel is on Harley or Honda. I'm sure this would make a difference but too complicated for my pea brain. Thanks again.

[vwbuild]

Rider--I just did a search for rotor sizes. The man at Ridewright that sells my wheel and rotors told me I need a 13" rotor. I did a search for 84-99 applicable Harleys and found 11.5" rotors. I did a search for GL1100 rotors and found 276mm rotors which measures 10.8661417". I just don't see how my GL1100 fork with calipers could fit any of the Harley rotors unless it's how they measure from wheel center. My wheel is 21". Not sure what size wheel is on Harley or Honda. I'm sure this would make a difference but too complicated for my pea brain. Thanks again.

Rider--correction already. Ridewright did tell me 11.5 mesh rotor. Not the 13" mesh rotor I stated above.

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Ok..
I am gonna try to help. Don't get mad at me, I can be a bit blunt.

Stiff steering.
A wing has LOTS of trail to begin with. Made for straight highways and speeds to match.
It has been "raked". Tilted farther out. This makes even more trail. The rim/tire has been changed from 16 to 21 inch. This increases trail even more.
So you have huge amounts of trail. This makes it stiff to steer. Lucky for you that you have a rear engine and light front so it is rideable. Engineering error in frame design.
Live with it or change the front end.

Front brake.
Get the aftermarket harley brake complete.
As far as I know "they" don't make adapter brackets. That would be the part you make. That is why these are called "custom".
Typically build out of a mix and match assortment of parts that were never meant to fit together. The only reason anything works on a custom is because you made it work. Most of the guys with home built customs really enjoy this challenge of making things work.
Hang in there and become a custom guy or switch to a store bought.
Personally I would get out the tools, do the math, and build a new leading link front end complete with brakes and all the correct geometry for your specific app. A fun challenge and well worth it because you have a good looking trike to start with. You have already begun going down the custom path. You have researched the differences in the different makes of parts. A critical first step.

[vwbuild]

Ok..
I am gonna try to help. Don't get mad at me, I can be a bit blunt.

Stiff steering.
A wing has LOTS of trail to begin with. Made for straight highways and speeds to match.
It has been "raked". Tilted farther out. This makes even more trail. The rim/tire has been changed from 16 to 21 inch. This increases trail even more.
So you have huge amounts of trail. This makes it stiff to steer. Lucky for you that you have a rear engine and light front so it is rideable. Engineering error in frame design.
Live with it or change the front end.

Front brake.
Get the aftermarket harley brake complete.
As far as I know "they" don't make adapter brackets. That would be the part you make. That is why these are called "custom".
Typically build out of a mix and match assortment of parts that were never meant to fit together. The only reason anything works on a custom is because you made it work. Most of the guys with home built customs really enjoy this challenge of making things work.
Hang in there and become a custom guy or switch to a store bought.
Personally I would get out the tools, do the math, and build a new leading link front end complete with brakes and all the correct geometry for your specific app. A fun challenge and well worth it because you have a good looking trike to start with. You have already begun going down the custom path. You have researched the differences in the different makes of parts. A critical first step.

Death by SNU SNU--I welcome blunt--no problem. I know you guys out there are trying to help me and I welcome any input I can get. I have been working on the Harley part tonight. I'm so busy these days and can't seem to find much time to get anything done. Wish I knew someone in this neck of the woods that could help me out. I have only seen one VW trike around here is the last 19 years. Everything depends on the help I get from this forum. Thanks again.

[DeathBySnuSnu]

http://www.choppercompendium.com/ccf...dcfc0ef450c7ae

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http://www.angelfire.com/rebellion/t...ding-link.html

[stinger608]

First; there is some great information here.

Where do I find these repositioning plates you mention?

I would imagine that he made these or had them made. You might have to have someone down your way build these. You would probably have to have the rotors and calipers in hand in order to fab these plates up properly. Any decent machine shop should be able to build them fairly quick. Probably going to be a bit pricey though.

[vwbug72501]

VWbuild,

Deathbysnusnu is correct. These are custom fabricated plates. You don't necessarily have to have access to a machine shop to fabricate parts, but it sure helps!!!! I lucked out on my fork design and a lot of it lined up perfectly (Rather be lucky than good). In my case, the Harley rotors center to center were 10mm narrower than the CBR900RR caliper spacing. I had an old Kawasaki rotor that was 5mm thick so all I had to do was lay out a plates with 2 holes to line up with the caliper bosses on the downtubes and 2 holes to line up with the caliper mounting holes when the caliper was in the correct position on the rotor. Haven't been down the road with this combination but if it doesn't run out well, I can always get the Harley rotors and build a new set of plates to fit them to the Honda downtubes.

I built the Honda/Harley axle and rotor plates using a $60.00 Harbor Freight drill press, a $50.00 Harbor Freight belt/disk sander, a Sawzall, and various hand type implements of destruction. Not quite Burt Monroe, but close.

Another option is to check out All Balls Racing http://www.allballsracing.com/ for their fork conversion kits. They have a list of bearing kits for putting just about any fork on any frame. The only thing that you would have to check is the top to bottom triple tree dimensions. You might have to fabricate a spacer to get the triple tree spacing correct. You might even come across a good used Harley or custom springer on Ebay or CL that will fix your trail problems.

To me, the research and fabrication techniques learned and problems solved is the fun part (not always when I'm in the midst of a problem). I'm nowhere near Deathbysnusnu's level of competence but I'll get there someday.

Remember, Google is your friend. I have spent a lot of hours and taken a lot of notes and sidestepped a lot of problems with Google.

[vwbuild]

VWbuild,

Deathbysnusnu is correct. These are custom fabricated plates. You don't necessarily have to have access to a machine shop to fabricate parts, but it sure helps!!!! I lucked out on my fork design and a lot of it lined up perfectly (Rather be lucky than good). In my case, the Harley rotors center to center were 10mm narrower than the CBR900RR caliper spacing. I had an old Kawasaki rotor that was 5mm thick so all I had to do was lay out a plates with 2 holes to line up with the caliper bosses on the downtubes and 2 holes to line up with the caliper mounting holes when the caliper was in the correct position on the rotor. Haven't been down the road with this combination but if it doesn't run out well, I can always get the Harley rotors and build a new set of plates to fit them to the Honda downtubes.

I built the Honda/Harley axle and rotor plates using a $60.00 Harbor Freight drill press, a $50.00 Harbor Freight belt/disk sander, a Sawzall, and various hand type implements of destruction. Not quite Burt Monroe, but close.

Another option is to check out All Balls Racing http://www.allballsracing.com/ for their fork conversion kits. They have a list of bearing kits for putting just about any fork on any frame. The only thing that you would have to check is the top to bottom triple tree dimensions. You might have to fabricate a spacer to get the triple tree spacing correct. You might even come across a good used Harley or custom springer on Ebay or CL that will fix your trail problems.

To me, the research and fabrication techniques learned and problems solved is the fun part (not always when I'm in the midst of a problem). I'm nowhere near Deathbysnusnu's level of competence but I'll get there someday.

Remember, Google is your friend. I have spent a lot of hours and taken a lot of notes and sidestepped a lot of problems with Google.

VWBUG--Thanks for this. I went to the bearing site and was amazed at the possibilities of different forks just by changing bearings. No Harleys will work but several other Honda's and Suzuki's. Harley must have a larger diameter neck. I'll keep this in mind.

[stinger608]

Any progress or updates bro? Wondering if you have found out any other information.

[vwbuild]

Any progress or updates bro? Wondering if you have found out any other information.

Been real busy here. Need to transport my 94 year young mom cross country soon and have lots to do. Down the line I'm afraid.

[stinger608]

Been real busy here. Need to transport my 94 year young mom cross country soon and have lots to do. Down the line I'm afraid.

Oh man, I can relate to that bro. Hopefully soon enough.