DK Custom PROJECT TRI-GLIDE Report w/ Lots of Pics

[DK Custom Products]

"It is quite a different Tri-Glide" than anyone"s. You seem to be one of those breeds that always inventing ways to make it better. Nice work by the way.

Thank you!

Yeah, started with bicycles, then mini-bikes & go-carts, then motorcycles, messed with some cars for awhile, then back to motorcycles.

Kevin

[GoSlo]

The wind deflectors from DK Custom Products showed up the night before we left on our 1,200 mile trip over the weekend. Really like the way they look (much less obvious to someone looking at the trike than the fork mounted ones), and it only took about 15 minutes to install them. I have been running the deflectors that mounted to the forks and loved the way the buffeting to my upper body disappeared using them. That being said, I was extremely happy with how well the new deflectors from Kevin worked. There was no noticeable difference between the old setup and the new deflectors as to how much wind ran up between the lowers and the fairing causing the buffeting. That was the first big test for me and Kevin's new setup passed with flying colors.

As Kevin said, it will drop the engine temperature a bit because of the additional air being directed down onto the engine. In my case it was a dramatic drop, running at least 15-25° cooler. My typical engine temps at highway speed on a +80° day ran in the upper 170's - 180's or higher. On this trip I never went over 160°. Some of that can be attributed to the removal of the fork mounted deflectors and some to the new deflectors directing more air to the engine. Overall, I am thrilled with how well these work. During the ride, temperatures ranged from 43° all the way up to 87°, so I felt they got exposed to a good range of temperatures to test them.

Thanks Kevin....another great product!!

[Yanko]

Kevin,
Want to apologize to you on this forum about criticizing your instruction on oil filter relocate and oil cooler. I realize that if I had read this thread in its entirety I would not have had a problem. Again, sorry and thanks for your responses.
Jack

[geezerglide11441]

Kevin,
Want to apologies to you on this forum about critizing your instruction on oil filter relocate and oil cooler. I realize that if I had read this thread in its entirety I would not have had a problem. Again, sorry and thanks for your responses.
Jack

With your apology, and your gesture. If you do any more business with Kevin's company you will find him to be a great guy/company to do business with.

Good luck with your installations, you will love them!!

Ride safe,

Roger

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin,
Want to apologize to you on this forum about criticizing your instruction on oil filter relocate and oil cooler. I realize that if I had read this thread in its entirety I would not have had a problem. Again, sorry and thanks for your responses.
Jack

No apology needed. I took your post as constructive criticism. We always want to improve the experience someone has when getting a package from us.

A big part of this is that the instructions are complete, easy to understand, making the install go as easily as possible.

Because of your input, and questions, we have improved our instructions, so others will have a better experience. For that we thank you, and apologize that it did not go more smoothly for you. (I do not expect someone to have to read a post on the forum to supplement the instructions)



Kevin

- - - Updated - - -

The wind deflectors from DK Custom Products showed up the night before we left on our 1,200 mile trip over the weekend. Really like the way they look (much less obvious to someone looking at the trike than the fork mounted ones), and it only took about 15 minutes to install them. I have been running the deflectors that mounted to the forks and loved the way the buffeting to my upper body disappeared using them. That being said, I was extremely happy with how well the new deflectors from Kevin worked. There was no noticeable difference between the old setup and the new deflectors as to how much wind ran up between the lowers and the fairing causing the buffeting. That was the first big test for me and Kevin's new setup passed with flying colors.

As Kevin said, it will drop the engine temperature a bit because of the additional air being directed down onto the engine. In my case it was a dramatic drop, running at least 15-25° cooler. My typical engine temps at highway speed on a +80° day ran in the upper 170's - 180's or higher. On this trip I never went over 160°. Some of that can be attributed to the removal of the fork mounted deflectors and some to the new deflectors directing more air to the engine. Overall, I am thrilled with how well these work. During the ride, temperatures ranged from 43° all the way up to 87°, so I felt they got exposed to a good range of temperatures to test them.

Thanks Kevin....another great product!!

Great report!

Thank you.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

A couple of weeks ago we installed some eval slip-on...Hi Rollers from Fuel Moto.

I've been riding for the last couple of weeks with them.




They look really good, have gotten some nice comments on them.

They are Super Deep & Mellow. Almost everyone has asked me about them. They sound a lot like CFR's.

Standing behind the Trike they sound really good at an idle AND when blipping the throttle. While riding on the bike, they are a bit quiet for me, but Mary really likes them.

As is typical with Slip-ons, I lost a good amount of my low & mid range torque, also lost about 3 mpg in non-interstate riding.

A few days ago I removed about 6" of the fiberglass matting, and that got me just a bit louder, and I installed some W158 Thunder Torque Inserts. Thankfully, the TTI's got all my low & mid range power back, and my MPG went back up also!

So it looks like these are the slip-ons I am going to be running for awhile.


I will try and get a video clip on on the sound in the next few days.


I added a Power Port in the Tour-Pak a while ago...just realized I had not posted a pic of it.

Picked it up at Wally-World, and wired it directly to the battery, with an inline fuse. That way I can use it, even if the ignition is not on.

The reason I put it up high is so that when we're on a trip and the Tour-Pak is full, I can easily plug in whatever I need charged without digging thru a bunch of stuff. It has worked out really well in that location. At times I've had two phones and two camera batteries charging at the same time.




More to come soon!

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Here is a video of the new muffs I'm running.


The first part of the clip is stock, the second is with the 6" of batting removed.


Most folks will probably like the stock sound, I just wanted something with some more bite to the exhaust note.




The first runs down the road are stock, the second batch of runs down the road are with 6" of batting removed.


These are some good looking slip-ons, and with the TTI's in them they produce good power, the sound is easily adjustable, although most will probably like them with all the batting in them.


I'm planning on running them the next 10k miles, at least.


Oh, and the tips will rotate 180*, letting you have a slash up or slash down look.








Kevin

[jwkhd1]

Here is a video of the new muffs I'm running.


The first part of the clip is stock, the second is with the 6" of batting removed.


Most folks will probably like the stock sound, I just wanted something with some more bite to the exhaust note.




The first runs down the road are stock, the second batch of runs down the road are with 6" of batting removed.


These are some good looking slip-ons, and with the TTI's in them they produce good power, the sound is easily adjustable, although most will probably like them with all the batting in them.


I'm planning on running them the next 10k miles, at least.


Oh, and the tips will rotate 180*, letting you have a slash up or slash down look.








Kevin

Hey kevin ,those sound real sweet!!

[DK Custom Products]

Hey kevin ,those sound real sweet!!

Thanks!

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Just installed some Custom Billet Aluminum Floorboards. They have a brass plate in the center that will have some custom engraving in them.

We took the brass plates into a local engraver last Thursday. He said he would have them done for us by Saturday. Today he still did not have them done.

So I just installed them blank for now.

While we are on the road we will find an engraver and get them done.

They are rubber mounted, comfortable, and I'm liking how they turned out.

Will get some better pictures, outside, in the next day or so...big thunderstorm going on right now.







Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

We are on the road, but I found an engraver and they did a little engraving in the brass for me.


Not what I would like in the end, but I just have these prototypes on for testing during our trip.


I already have some ideas on improvements.





Kevin

[clint44]

Looks good,Kev. Can the boards be bought without the center badges?

[DK Custom Products]

Looks good,Kev. Can the boards be bought without the center badges?

Hey Clint,

These are something we are working on. Whether they ever become a product that we sell....we'll see. They still need some work. But, yes, we have talked about if we do make them available they will be with or without center badges, and also in a variety of finishes.


Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Not been doing any work on the TG, just putting miles on it!

All the mods are doing well. Later this month we'll be back at finishing up this Project.

Until then, check out the Ride Report (see link below) of where the Project Tri-Glide has been recently.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

I will be doing a re-cap on all the performance/cooling mods done to the TG soon. In the meantime, at this LINK you can see most all that we do with all of our Twin Cam bikes/trikes to keep them running cool and strong.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

The following are the mods I've done to the Tri-Glide in relation to engine performance and cooling:


1. Removed left side thigh protector for better air flow. Details HERE.

2. Replace stock headers that have a catalytic converter with 2-1-2 Power Dual Headers for less felt heat. See them HERE.

3. I have run quite a few different slip-on exhausts. The ones I am currently running are the HiRollers with Thunder Torque Inserts in them. This reduces the work, and thus the heat, that they engine has to do to expel the exhaust gasses. At the same time it increases the net power for the amount of gasoline being used, resulting in less heat for the same forward movement. See video



4.

Installed a 1.5" Tank Lift with Deluxe Option for better air flow. See HERE.

5. Installed Cooling Deflector Wings for better air flow. See HERE.

6. Installed a Chrome 7 Spoke 606 Air Cleaner. This lets a free flow of air into the intake, helping the engine run more efficiently, resulting in less heat, more power, & better MPG. See HERE.

7. Installed a Premium Catch Can External Breather System (EBS). This prevents hot, oily, oxygen depleted air from entering the intake system. This helps the engine run more efficiently, with more power, better mpg, and less heat.

It also extends the life of the engine by reducing carbon build-up. See HERE.


8. I am using a Power Vision Flash Tuner and a tune that was developed specifically for Stage I Twin-Cooled Tri-Glides. Alan (Fuzzy) did a tremendous amount of work getting this dialed in, myself and a few others helped a bit. This helps the engine run stronger, get very good MPG, while reducing the heat. See HERE.

9. I relocated the oil filter so that it is now out in the wind. This helps reduce the heat of the oil/engine. It also makes for much easier oil changes. See HERE.

10.

I use a Permanent High Performance Oil Filter. This reduces drag on the engine, which reduces heat & increases power & MPG. It also filters better, increasing engine longevity. See HERE.

11. Installed a Dual-Cool Oil Cooler, specifically designed for Twin-Cooled engines. This drops oil/engine temperatures significantly. See Details HERE.

12. Installed Wards Parts Werks Cooling Fans. This drops engine temperatures significantly, especially in stop-n-go traffic. See HERE.

13.

I have also installed Floorboard extenders for myself. This does not reduce heat at all, but it does reduce Felt heat, and is more comfortable. See details HERE.

14. Also installed are adjustable passenger pegs. These do not reduce heat, but do reduce felt heat for Mary, also gives here a larger variety of foot positions. See HERE.

I believe the above is all that I have done in reducing heat, improving performance (both power & MPG), & increasing engine longevity. I will update if other things come to mind.

Kevin

[ctdair]

If I wanted all these as one kit/package deal
Is that possible for you.

[DK Custom Products]

If I wanted all these as one kit/package deal
Is that possible for you.

Yes, send me an email and I will work up a special package price for you.

Kevin@DKCustomProducts.com

[charley]

Thanks

This 2014 Tri-Glide was purchased in May of 2014.



It now has close to 25k miles on it.

After it was purchased, no real thought was put into what would be done to it. Basically we took everything off the 2011 that we could and put in on the 2014.

The 2011 was a hodge-podge of mods, that were added along the way. Not saying that no thought was put into it...but to digress a bit-


In August of 2010 an F250 hit me on the interstate (going the wrong way). I came to a stop 300 feet down the road from where the truck abruptly separated me from my Ultra.

After 22 broken bones, 2 surgeries, 2 metal plates, many screws, & 4 months in bed, I was barely walking with a cane when I took a ride around the block on my Sportster in mid December. Took my first ride of 40 miles on the Sporty on December 30th.

I was way ahead of schedule in healing up, but the doctors all said, I would never have even 50% strength in my right foot or ankle.

No way I could ever ride a Touring bike, 2 up and fully loaded.

I was angry, I was embarrassed, but I realized for Mary and I to be able to travel together, I would need to get a Trike. That is how we came to buy the 2011 Tri-Glide (at what I felt was 20 years earlier than expected)

All that to say...

It took me well over a year of owning and riding the 2011 Tri-Glide before I finally came to peace about it...before I quit being embarrassed about being on a Trike and started enjoying it without reservation.

Since most of the mods done to the 2011 were during the time when I was NOT HAPPY about being on a trike, they were done with basic performance in mind, and with pure utility of our trips in mind. No real sitting down and looking at it as a canvas and what could be done to it.

This was replicated on the 2014.



You can see what all has been done to the 2014 at this thread-

http://www.triketalk.com/forum/threa...he-differences


************************************

So now we are sitting down, looking at the Tri-Glide, appreciating it, and viewing it as a canvas that we can really make into something fun, something that is more than just a utility touring machine, something cool.

We have done this with many 2 wheel bikes, and are excited about doing it with the Tri-Glide.

Many of the mods already done to it are staying, some will be tweaked, and there will be some that are totally new.

Here is what it looked like when we decided to make it our next Project.




We have already completed a couple of small mods to it, and there are many more coming.*

Some already in various stages of prototype testing, others still just on a sheet of paper, and others that we have not even thought of yet!


Right now our focus is in 6 areas-

Performance/Power
Longevity/Reliability
Rider/Passenger Comfort
Handling
Safety/Security
Looks (nothing radical, not show bike level, but a step up from where it is)

We have 5-10 hours a week budgeted to working on this.

As there are things to report I will be updating this thread.

It won't be a lightening fast transformation, but will hopefully be something significant over the next 4-6 months.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Thanks

Very cool! Bet it was an adventure to remember!

Kevin