Home Built Subaru Trike

[Speed Demon]

guessing those back tires are wayyyyyy bigger than the stock subie wheels

that hurts the mechanical advantage a lot

Funny you say that stace. I just a few minutes ago put a bid in on some 14" Buick rally wheels. Those on the trike now are 15's and while they fill the fender real nice they will rub on a turn & dip situation. So yes I am going smaller. They will however still be larger than the original subies.

 

[Speed Demon]

Funny you say that stace. I just a few minutes ago put a bid in on some 14" Buick rally wheels. Those on the trike now are 15's and while they fill the fender real nice they will rub on a turn & dip situation. So yes I am going smaller. They will however still be larger than the original subies.

Well, I got my new (old) wheels last night. Had new tires mounted & balanced today. I am uploading a video of 1 of the wheels I purchased off ebay. Jeeeez ya gotta be careful these days !!

 

[Speed Demon]

Hi guys. I am having a rough time getting the front brakes operational. First it was locating the right mounting brackets for the calipers not knowing what front end was on it other than Honda. I finally got that straightened out. Now I ordered a new chrome handle bar mounted master cylinder and the darn thing won't bench bleed, vacuum bleed, power bleed or create any kind of pressure. What am I missing here ?? I put my air operated vacuum bleeder directly over the outlet port on the m/cyl and it won't pull any fluid from it at all. And yes it has vacuum on the bleeder tip. Any suggestions ?? Anyway I really just wanted to wish all of you in the community a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !!!!

 

[Speed Demon]

Here is the m/cyl I was trying to use. Ordered another 1 today.

 

[LarryA]

reply

speed demon.....I'm thinking that a fluid port is blocked by a missadjusted, or missassembled MC. In theory, fluid should just dribble out of the port by itself. In a auto MC you should get a little burp in the resivour when you begin to actuate the plunger, this shows that the fluid is not trapped in the bore and making pressure when not actuated. The MC should bleed just using your finger over the port,blocking it on the return stroke of the plunger. should bleed within a few strokes if working right. Ive been fighting brakes on vehicles for 50 + yrs, and will no way claim to know 1/2 of what can go wrong.....that said, good luck! hoping others with more knowledge will chime in....larry

 

[Speed Demon]

speed demon.....I'm thinking that a fluid port is blocked by a missadjusted, or missassembled MC. In theory, fluid should just dribble out of the port by itself. In a auto MC you should get a little burp in the resivour when you begin to actuate the plunger, this shows that the fluid is not trapped in the bore and making pressure when not actuated. The MC should bleed just using your finger over the port,blocking it on the return stroke of the plunger. should bleed within a few strokes if working right. Ive been fighting brakes on vehicles for 50 + yrs, and will no way claim to know 1/2 of what can go wrong.....that said, good luck! hoping others with more knowledge will chime in....larry

Hi Larry. I spent about 30 minutes trying to bench bleed (finger over port, pull lever let air out finger back over port and repeat) before going to the vacuum bleed. This is the first time in all my years of wrenching that I have seen this. Usually the m/cyl starts leaking out the ports a little even before starting to bench bleed. This m/cyl has not produced one drop of fluid from the port at any time !! Oh well, another new one will be here Friday. So I will try again. Happy Holidays !!!

 

[Speed Demon]

Engine pics

Here are a few pics of the Subie install. No changes since purchase except for fuel pump. I forgot to mention I finally got front brakes operational and was going to test them out today BUT it would not start and I am still under the weather. It has been sitting for almost a month so I guess its time to put that new master rebuild kit in the carb tomorrow since its not getting fuel into the carb. Happy Holidays all and a prosperous New Year !!!

 

[Speed Demon]

speed demon.....I'm thinking that a fluid port is blocked by a missadjusted, or missassembled MC. In theory, fluid should just dribble out of the port by itself. In a auto MC you should get a little burp in the resivour when you begin to actuate the plunger, this shows that the fluid is not trapped in the bore and making pressure when not actuated. The MC should bleed just using your finger over the port,blocking it on the return stroke of the plunger. should bleed within a few strokes if working right. Ive been fighting brakes on vehicles for 50 + yrs, and will no way claim to know 1/2 of what can go wrong.....that said, good luck! hoping others with more knowledge will chime in....larry

Hi Larry. I put the New New m/cyl on today. It immediately started dripping fluid & bench bled with no problem. It also had the " little burp " in the reservoir you mentioned. Hopefully I can test them out tomorrow.

 

[Speed Demon]

Walk around & engine running

Here are 2 videos of the engine running & a walk around showing the brake hardware installed. Went for a test ride today and while the brakes are better when I get on them hardish the front wheel will slide. OK time for new m/cyl for rear & some weight on front. I discovered today that my brand new fuel pump while audibly running was not pumping any fuel. You will see in the video a pump that is disconnected, that is the dead one. I left the old pump on when I changed to the new on just for a circumstance like this. So I just changed hoses & plugged it in. I also discovered that the throttle shaft is worn & creating a vacuum leak which shows up more in cold weather. So I did not install the carb kit as it would not fix this problem. Off to hunt a new one !!! Yippiee

 

[Speed Demon]

 

[Speed Demon]

Some of you may notice how "NICE" the wiring looks in the engine compartment. I plan to rewire the whole trike before spring so it will be dependable. I have already had it put me on the side of the road due to a faulty connection. I will carry tools at all times !!! And YES I will wire voltage to the electric choke.

 

[Speed Demon]

Spring Fever

Hello everyone. Man I am getting spring fever already !! Can't wait to start putting some miles on the trike. Any of you out there within a few hundred miles of me interested in meeting up for a weekend ride when spring gets here? Maybe have a mini Trikefest ?? Would be great to ride some the Blue Ridge Parkway for a weekend. Message me if any of you are interested.

 

[Speed Demon]

Brake Test FINALLY

Hi all. It has been a while since my last post. I finally got the front brakes on and working after much aggravation. I also had a back injury that put a long delay working on the trike. I drove it today (8/05/2018) to test the front brakes. It made a MAJOR difference in the stopping power however you have to be very careful using them. They will lock up if applied to aggressively but stop great using moderation. I have been riding my bikes the last few weeks so I had to relearn that the front brake m/cyl (located on the left side) is not the clutch so I locked up the brakes a few times trying to "disengage" the clutch until I got the hang of it. I feel there would be an issue on wet pavement as they are now. I have a new hydraulic m/cyl for the rear brakes but have not installed it yet as I have been on the mend. The m/cyl will be installed in the next 2 weeks and hopefully that will solve the rest of the braking issues. It was fun driving it today knowing that it would stop. Slowly but surely progress is happening again.

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Looking and sounding Good.

 

[Speed Demon]

Looking and sounding Good.

Thanks Fuzzy

 

[Speed Demon]

Who needs a neutral starter switch ?? Not ME !!

Hello all. well here is the latest on the trike. I was piddling around on the trike around 10:30 am yesterday morning (8/7/18). I was leaning over from the left side with left hand on throttle, right hand on ign switch and went to start it up. I did not realize that it was in gear, first gear (must have hit it with my leg cause I had been cranking it a few minutes earlier and it WAS in neutral then) and did not realize the throttle was stuck wide open. I thought it felt a little funny. Anyway it fired off as soon as the starter engaged and took off, with me still hanging on the left side and ran straight into the side of the house at an angle and proceeded to throw me off. You can see in the video the front tire was about 3 feet in the air when it hit and repeatedly tried to climb the wall jumping like a frog. Luckily I managed to get back to the trike to switch it off before any more damage was done. The trike was wedged between the house and the carport post. I have a busted right arm, tweaked right leg and back pain. If I had been on the right side or not have been thrown off it would have caused catastrophic injuries no doubt. I am counting my blessings !! Also if the trike had been 3 feet to the left it would have taken out 2 more bikes with it. I will install a neutral starter switch to prevent this from happening again. It's built on a 1964 VW beetle rear so no factory switch. Here is a video of the incident. I tried posting pics yesterday but they would not upload. As for damage you can see right fender is screwed ( I pulled it off of the tire so I could get it back in the driveway), left fender tweaked and lower fascia bent and also broke the right inner cv joint so needless to say it wont move under its own power. The right caliper and axle also hit the wall so when the wheel gets to a certain position it gets in a bind. So bent caliper or rotor or who the hell knows, I will let the repair shop figure that out. Back to square 453. For those of you who are curious, I really don't know what happened exactly because it all happened so fast. What I think happened is I did not release the throttle fast enough so when it took off I just helped it go wide open by holding it. I did notice the return spring on the carb is no longer there. I will give another update after body work, paint job and mechanical work. Oh yea, the burgundy part of the paint is a burgundy with lots and lots of black specs to make it look like kind of a smoke color. Good luck matching that !!

:>

 

[paws]

Greg... so sorry this happened. Thank goodness you were not hurt any worse. Such a unique design and paint job....wishing you the best for getting her back together.

 

[Speed Demon]

Greg... so sorry this happened. Thank goodness you were not hurt any worse. Such a unique design and paint job....wishing you the best for getting her back together.

Thanks paws, I am glad too. I think I am finding out that when you pass the "60" year mark, you probably need to pay more attention to things that you do that involve risk.... such as working on a trike. I am still in awe of how fast this happened, no more than 3 to 4 SECONDS from start to finish !!!

 

[LarryA]

Greg....Bummer...we always say it coulda been worse!.. well heal fast, and good luck with the trike repair. I did wire in a switch for the clutch, glad I did because I have have pushed into gear by accident a few times. Many folks have been run over, hand cranking old tractors left in gear. It still happens! Well best of luck to you! Larry

 

[Speed Demon]

Greg....Bummer...we always say it coulda been worse!.. well heal fast, and good luck with the trike repair. I did wire in a switch for the clutch, glad I did because I have have pushed into gear by accident a few times. Many folks have been run over, hand cranking old tractors left in gear. It still happens! Well best of luck to you! Larry

Thanks Larry. Gonna take a week or so to get over this one. Trike should be back in shape before the weather breaks cooler. I wanna ride some of the Blue Ridge Parkway when the leaves change color. Should be ready by then (hopefully) Will keep y'all updated !!