Rebuilding a Gift

[Cleatusj]

An old friend asked me to remove a VW trike from his car port so that he and the wife would not have to see the hurt/pain on their daughters and granddaughters faces every time they came over. The trike belonged to their son in law, that was killed in a car wreck while running from the LEO.

This is what it looked like when hauling it home.



Starting the new frame.



I built new forks, but had to cut off these caliper mounts, as I had them to close to the upper arms for the rockers to swing up enough.



This is how it sits today. Still need to finish second tank mount and wire to be able to test drive.

 

[Gorilla]

Should be a nice ride when you are done. Be safe

 

[Bugman]

Should be a great trike you you a lot to work with. Enjoy

 

[stinger608]

Looking awesome man!!!!!

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Looking Good

 

[Cleatusj]

Turns out that the axle seals were leaking badly and brake shoes were soaked. Replaced the seals and shoes and torqued the axle nut. It was then I realized that the backing plate was not drilled with adjusting holes. This first side will be drilled in place, as I am not removing that axle nut again. The other side will let me know where to drill when it comes apart in the morning.

 

[Doug D.]

Lookin' sweet! That front end is badazz!

 

[David357]

Nice lookin' machine.ThumbUp

 

[chopptrk]

Looks good man, nice rebuild. Long and lean.

 

[loosenut]

Nice trike, Like your front forks,what's your rake? Your brake drums should have an access hole to adjust the brakes with.

 

[Cleatusj]

The should have and have do not match in this case.

The rake is line of sight straight through head tube when seated. I seem to remember it being right at 45deg.

 

[Cleatusj]

Easy to see that there never was adjustment holes, but there is now.



These two adaptors and one spacer will be going as quick as I decide which 5 on 205 wheels to buy.

 

[Cleatusj]

It's legal

Passed inspection and re registered the '91 assembled MC Trike title today. Will get a few road miles on it this weekend.

 

[David357]

:Congrats:

Now it's saddle time..ThumbUp

 

[peteg59]

Looks good Keith.

Has the state of Texas softened their stance on homebuilt trikes?

Not long ago, folks in Texas were being denied new tags for them when re~registration came due...:Shrug:

 

[Cleatusj]

I think part of some folks problem is that they did not have their titles reflect the fact that they had altered their machines. I assembled my original trike in '91 and took it to the DMV and received an assembled mc trike title. Some are just running with no change to their title to show trike.

 

[Cleatusj]

Took my first ride off the block and the bugspray still has a bog, when the accelerator pump runs out of fuel. I think it will not seem as bad when I get some shorter tires than the 265/75r15.

The other vw trikes I've built ran smaller tires and took off without a shutter like this one does, even taking off in second.

 

[Cleatusj]

Ended up mounting 195/70r14 tires on some old Buick wheels. these are 25" tall as compared to 30" for the 265/75r15. Taking off is so much better now, but the bog/stumble is still there. After a lot of reading I've come to believe I need a new carb/carbs, if I continue with the 009 or drill a vacuum port, in the bugspray and a new distributor, like a Pertronics 1 svda.

I know most would say get rid of the bugspray, but I want to run a single carb, as I will be running a lot of gravel roads and 2 track. So lots of dust and vibrations.

Am willing to accept other thoughts.