Tow Pac Update

dadztoy · Nov 22, 2015

Well just an update on my Tow Pac Instatrike kit guys - nothing new and amazing... I estimate I have in the area of 7-8K miles on my Instatrike kit now and have had it pretty well dialed in for a while now... I have added some rubber bumpers in strategic locations which you can see in another post a few topics down in this forum...

I had to put new wheel bearings and races in this year for some strange reason - not really sure why, but they were all rusty and deteriorated, and showed sign of overheating and water intrusion... Perhaps whatever happened, happened before I bought the kit, as I did buy it as a factory demo... No problems, the bearing/race install didn't take that long, and wasn't all that expensive for the new parts... I have added Centra Matic wheel balancers on the Insta Trike and that has helped with wheel balance... I also have them on the bike's wheels as well...

I have been running 32 PSI in my 12" trike tires with good success now for the last few months... The 50 PSI that TP recommends is just too much pressure for a decent ride... That yields a nice ride and sufficient stability and I still have a few thousand miles left on the OEM trike tires before I will have to change them...

I am running "double darkside" with a Yokohama Avid Envigor ZPS (run flat) in the rear and a Bridgeestone BT-45 Battlax up front mounted in normal configuration...

I have been very well satisfied with the Tow Pac kit and my wife loves it for the increased stability... I am getting up there in years and losing upper and lower body strength so the TP works well for us, especially when towing the cargo trailer on a trip...

I have been toying with the idea of a full trike conversion but I'm not quite ready to do that just yet... Maybe in a few years, we'll see, we'll just play that one day by day, but for now, the Tow Pac is working quite well...

Les

FuzzyWuzHe · Nov 22, 2015

Sounds like you made a good choice for your needs.

Lucky · Nov 23, 2015

Glad that is it working for you. RIDE SAFE

dadztoy · Nov 24, 2015

Thanks for the replies guys - appreciate your comments... Like I said, someday I may go full conversion, but I still enjoy riding on 2 wheels from time to time solo, so the Tow Pac does provide the versatility I desire at this point in time...

I have test ridden a number of different full conversions and the last time I rode them, I was leaning heavily to the Roadsmith conversion with a 6 degree rake kit... When I am ready in the future, I will again ride different setups to see what best fits our needs...

Les

jxmoral · Dec 6, 2015

Les,

Sounds like you have done a very good job of setting up and adjusting your Goldwing and/for your Insta-Trike. Congratulations.

Question: Can you describe or show a photo of how your trailer hitch attaches to the outer frame member? The reason I ask is...

Update: Just this weekend, I now have the used Insta-Trike on a pallet, that I purchased and was shipped to me from a Nebraska MC dealer, in my garage.
I had assumed (apparently incorrectly) that it had a trailer hitch, since virtually every one I've ever seen, or seen photos of, had a trailer hitch.
Surprisingly, mine does not. It does appear to have holes where tow chains would attach however.

I went to TowPacUSA.com, and neither under "accessories" nor under "troubleshooting" etc., do they make any mention of a trailer hitch, or one for sale.
I did find one good photo that seems to indicate that the trailer hitch is a flat "L" shapped piece of steel with holes in it. I may have to make one.

Question 2: How thick is, and what are the dimensions of, your trailer hitch steel plate, if it is L shapped?

dadztoy · Dec 7, 2015

jxmoral said:
Les,

Sounds like you have done a very good job of setting up and adjusting your Goldwing and/for your Insta-Trike. Congratulations.

Question: Can you describe or show a photo of how your trailer hitch attaches to the outer frame member? The reason I ask is...

Update: Just this weekend, I now have the used Insta-Trike on a pallet, that I purchased and was shipped to me from a Nebraska MC dealer, in my garage.
I had assumed (apparently incorrectly) that it had a trailer hitch, since virtually every one I've ever seen, or seen photos of, had a trailer hitch.
Surprisingly, mine does not. It does appear to have holes where tow chains would attach however.

I went to TowPacUSA.com, and neither under "accessories" nor under "troubleshooting" etc., do they make any mention of a trailer hitch, or one for sale.
I did find one good photo that seems to indicate that the trailer hitch is a flat "L" shapped piece of steel with holes in it. I may have to make one.

Question 2: How thick is, and what are the dimensions of, your trailer hitch steel plate, if it is L shapped?

I'll snap a few photos later on today John... Mine came with it - I did not pay extra for it... I'll mic it in the morning but to me it looks like it's about 1/4" thick or so... I'll take a few closeups of how it attaches to the frame too... Shouldn't be too hard to make if you have oxy/Acetylene torches to heat the steel for bending...

Les

dadztoy · Dec 7, 2015

OK John,

Here are the photos of the ball mount... The mount itself appears to be a circle of 1/4" plate steel bent in half and then mounted to the trike cart...

There are three mounting points... One mounting point goes into the stinger of the hitch, and the other two are thru the cart frame... See attached photos...

The ball mount on my Tow Pac also serves as the attach point for the safety lanyard that attaches to the receiver with a steel wire lop and carbiner...

Les

jxmoral · Dec 7, 2015

Thanks Les,

You take really good photos that make it clear how it works.
I'll let you know what I do.

John

dadztoy · Dec 7, 2015

Good deal John - shouldn't be too hard to fabricate a mount... Like I said before, the toughest part is going to be locating and bending the 1/4 \" plate steel... E Bay is a good source for steel plate...

Regarding photos - just got a new camera, a Samsung WB350 - does pretty good in Macro mode - much better than my last one...

Les

jxmoral · Dec 8, 2015

Les,

It turns out your hitch attachment is a newer one than mine supports.

I phoned Tow Pak and despite the sales department's reluctance to sell parts to me, and at their suggestion, I then phoned Jeremie in Technical Services, and after he looked at the photos I sent him, he sold me one for my older Insta-Trike and is shipping it to me for $49.00. So even though they would not sell me a manual, they are willing to sell me the hitch plate that is supposed to work. Surprise, surprise!

I've got my finger's crossed as they say.

John

dadztoy · Dec 8, 2015

That's great John, glad to hear your making progress... I have found Jeremy to be a pretty decent guy to work with... Can't really say why the Tow Pac organization in general are so difficult to get along with and their customer service is so marginal...

When I dealt with them, they were quite accommodating but I was there in person, so maybe that made the difference...

Anyway, you'll have to post some pictures soon when you get it all together... I just removed mine for a while and have been putting around on 2 wheels again - one of the reasons I like the Tow Pac so much... Think I might make a small mod and permanently bolt the lean stop braces in place with a second bolt... There is a hole in the frame bracket for that and mine haven't changed adjustment in many miles now so I might just do that... You can just barely see it in the photo below...

Les

jxmoral · Dec 15, 2015

Les,

Here's my new hitch now added. Turns out an Insta-Trike made in 2005 has only half of the attachment brackets and points the same as one made in 2012. Most everything is different even though they are both made for the same years GoldWings.

My Insta-Trike is all attached to my bike now. The inner frame bolts are all tightened down.

However, the big outer frame side bolts with the wheel assemblies are snug but are not all tightened down since I do not have any instructions on how to deal with the wiggle room between the inner and outer framework. Knowing also that the measurments you previously posted about measuring from the side of the rear mc tire to the center of the outrigger tire, both front and back, need 1/8" toe-in, is to then be set after that.

If I cannot get better and more detailed instructions on doing this, I'll probably wait on my son (a very bright engine tech. for AVL) to help me in making judgements about how to do this, but he cannot help me until the second week in January.

John

dadztoy · Dec 16, 2015

Hitch looks good John - looks plenty substantial to me... Not sure I understand what you mean about "wiggle room" between inner and outer framework???? Can you post photo of same???

These are what my adjustment brackets look like - how do they compare to yours???

As you can see from the photo below, my lean stop brackets (L shaped brackets) are bolted to the welded brackets on the cart frame, so I have no adjustment there other than the height of the lean stop bracket which essentially adjusts rough wheel height...

Fine adjust for wheel height is accomplished by the adjustment screw on the back of the cart as shown in the photo below...