Question on rear wheels alignment ...

[Barry]

Hi all, i wonder if anyone has a comment on outrigger trikes, ie, some of them have the rear wheel lining up with the two outrigger wheels, and a few of them have moved the two outer wheels 5 to 6 inches to the rear. My thinking tells me this would create quite a bit of drag when turning, especially at slow speed, and possibly you would also feel it at higher speeds...i'm not too sure about this. I'm thinking of triking my Valkyrie and before i start the build i'd like to hear if anyone has experienced the two different setups.

[dadztoy]

Great incite Barry... Actually, there is a great deal of "scrubbing" that occurs on all the tires with a trike setup, but more so with a outrigger type as there is no differential involved.. The bike's rear tire is also subject to quite a bit of wear because it is being scrubbed in either direction of a turn as it is not allowed to lean either way - same is true of front wheel...

That was one of the reasons I chose to go darkside (car tire on rear) was to try and obtain additional mileage out of the rear tire... When I first installed my Tow Pac, my Bridegestone G704/709 only last 8K miles, so be prepared to replace tires more frequently than you have been without the trike kit...

Les

[RTwing]

I would agree a CT is a good move with any trike setup. On the outrigger units there is a fine balance between outrigger down force and center tire traction and the outriggers do not turn like an RT wheel setup so yes there will be some scrub. I would assume a mild positive toe adjustment is also preferred as this is also common all all trikes.

[M2102]

I would like to know if their is an adjustment that can be done. I think both my rear tires look like the inside tread is wearing. Rest of tire looks still new.

[stacebg]

the further the out riggers are for or aft of the bike wheel the more scrubbing there will be

never seen any adjustment on any.. i would think if the wheels were set at 0 camber, which i would think they are made that way the crown in the road might tend to wear the inside a tad...

depending on how the axles are attached you might be able to shim them or possibly bend the bracket...course depending how bad your tire wear out probably not a great idea to go to that extent

[dadztoy]

On the Tow Pac kit, you can shim the wheels if you so desire by placing shims, washers, etc more under the outside (or inside) of the adjustment plates... I have actually done this on the starboard side... FWIW, it doesn't make a huge difference in tire wear... Even with this done, the center seems to wear out first and honestly, given the cost of the 12" tires, it's not a real show stopper for me...

Probably more important is the tire parallelism in regard to the rear tire... My experience shows that tires will wear much faster if this is not darn near perfect, and even more important than that, fender vibration is quite severe at speeds over 70 mph if tire alignment is out much more than a 1/16"... Kinda makes sense when you realize that your trying to drag the tire sideways down the Interstate at 70+ MPH!!!

Every time I remove or reinstall my TP kit, I check this alignment and it usually needs a bit of tweaking which I do...

Les