Removing the Tri-Glide Body - Photos & Video

[Jack Klarich]

Kevin, you will like the comfort treads

They were 1 of our hottest selling tires before I retired

Never had any problems with them, they wear as good as Michelin's IMO

[520fd]

Before our upcoming summer trip I wanted to replace the heim joints on my panhard rod. To do this, removing the body is required.

There are only 8 bolts and some wires that need disconnecting.

Here are some photo's from yesterday-



...body sitting on some sawhorses...yeah, it's filthy, needs a good cleaning, and some wax.



Here you can see one end of the panhard rod, where the dealership sprayed some sort of lubricant that really attracted a lot of road dirt.



Panhard rod removed-



Panhard rod reinstalled with new heim joints.



The old heim joints had quite a bit of play in them, so it will be nice to ride it without that slack in them.

I also left the body off, sometime in the next few days I'll be mounting the video camera to the rear of the frame and taking some video to watch the 14" Trike Series Shocks in action while riding. Will post it up here when done.

Kevin

Kevin. Is that scissor jack that you are using, stout enough to lift a trike to install a Comfort lift kit? With the body on?

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin. Is that scissor jack that you are using, stout enough to lift a trike to install a Comfort lift kit? With the body on?

Yes, but it is not stable enough. I prefer to have two jack stands on the outside sides of a cross brace.

When working on the Comfort Lift™ install, you are cranking pretty good on the bolts on each side, and if you did that with just that one scissor jack, you would get some side to side teeter totter movement.

The link below is to the instructions on the lift kit install...that is how I do it.

http://www.dkcustomproducts.com/medi...structions.pdf

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, you will like the comfort treads

They were 1 of our hottest selling tires before I retired

Never had any problems with them, they wear as good as Michelin's IMO

Cool! I've read good things about them....looking forward to experiencing them.

Kevin

[nevtat]

I have a 2012 Triglide. What should I be looking for that tells me this sway bar needs service/new joints?

[DK Custom Products]

I have a 2012 Triglide. What should I be looking for that tells me this sway bar needs service/new joints?

If you grab hold of it, and try and move it right to left, or up and down, if it clicks or you feel the rod move independent of the trike, then that indicates the heim joints are worn and should be replaced.

Kevin

[Capt.Bob]

Tri Glides can sure be "knee knockers' when going over railroad crossings. The other day, I was coming up on a crossing and it looked fairly flat but when I went over it, the tank slapped the crap out of my knee caps. Yikes, it was as if I didn't have a Panhard bar and/or shocks. Ouch!

[DK Custom Products]

Video of 14" Trike Series Shocks w/ Comfort Lift™ in action coming later this week.



Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Below is one of the videos we made with the body off.

This photo shows how strange it looks.





Kevin

[Capt.Bob]

Is this the new DK Customs quick shock adjustment setup where you don't have to bend down much to change the shock settings? Sort of like your oil filter relocation setup? I bet the trike's mileage would improve significantly with this new strategy

[DK Custom Products]

Is this the new DK Customs quick shock adjustment setup where you don't have to bend down much to change the shock settings? Sort of like your oil filter relocation setup? I bet the trike's mileage would improve significantly with this new strategy

Yeah, did not think about the MPG, but would definitely be better without that parachute sticking out both sides. Rode it like this again yesterday...taking a few more videos, and showing to the folks at the shop. Body goes back on this afternoon though.

Kevin

[Capt.Bob]

Yeah, did not think about the MPG, but would definitely be better without that parachute sticking out both sides. Rode it like this again yesterday...taking a few more videos, and showing to the folks at the shop. Body goes back on this afternoon though.

Kevin

Kevin, That has got to be one of the best videos for showing off how effective your Pro Action shocks are. I wish you could have shown how the HD air shocks handle similar conditions. I suspect it would be a bit of an eye opener for some of us? I went to your website to get a read on how much these suckers cost. I ride solo most of the time so am not sure how much improvement I would experience but at times when I go over obstacles like RR tracks, I am sure that your shock solution handily beats Harley's solution with our "bleep" air shocks.

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, That has got to be one of the best videos for showing off how effective your Pro Action shocks are. I wish you could have shown how the HD air shocks handle similar conditions. I suspect it would be a bit of an eye opener for some of us? I went to your website to get a read on how much these suckers cost. I ride solo most of the time so am not sure how much improvement I would experience but at times when I go over obstacles like RR tracks, I am sure that your shock solution handily beats Harley's solution with our "bleep" air shocks.

Dadgum....I did not think of that...and we just finished putting the body back on...or I would be out doing it right now.

That is a really good idea, to put the factory shocks on and do a video of the same course at the same speed.

Believe me, it would be nasty rough...the difference is really substantial...even 1 up.

Yeah, I read your post about banging your knees crossing the railroad tracks and thought to myself, he needs some 14" shocks.

But, it's not just the big bumps...having that extra travel lets us valve the shocks much differently, so all the little imperfections in the road disappear, but because of the extra travel, we don't need to worry about them be so soft that they bottom out on the bigger bumps.

Kevin

[trikermutha]

Are you changing the drive belt too?

One of the pictures may have showed the belt separating?

[trikermutha]

Thanks man! Mary was happier too when I told here I was going to go ahead and replace them.

Tomorrow am getting the Goodyear Comfortreds installed, along with Dyna Beads for balancing. Will be interesting, have only run the factory Dunlops up to now.

Kevin

I have run the confortreads on the TRI and bought the wrong size made the ride way better too. Used the beads to but used counteract beads

[DK Custom Products]

Are you changing the drive belt too?

One of the pictures may have showed the belt separating?

I have run the confortreads on the TRI and bought the wrong size made the ride way better too. Used the beads to but used counteract beads

I have not seen any belt problem....and yesterday we spend quite a bit of time attempting to video wheelies, so I checked the belt again after that.

btw, with the body off, there is not really enough weight in the rear to counterbalance all the weight up front, so it was pretty much a bust. I tried to get someone to sit in the passenger seat....lol...no one wanted to.

I've ridden about 100 miles with the Comfortreds, but they've all been without the body. Difficult to tell any difference...I'll know soon now.

Kevin

[stacebg]

assuming the suspension has a swingarm similar to a 2 wheeler... imho that bar is putting extra load on the swingarm bearings... maybe not much but seems the pivots should be as close to the same height as possible.. sorta like bump steer .. just an observation

[DK Custom Products]

I started a separate thread for what we did about the defective bearing retainer plates that were allowing the bearings (and the wheels and the axles) to bang around in the axle housing.

https://www.triketalk.com/forum/thre...etainer-Plates

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

We're going to have the video done in the next day or so. Here's a photo capture from some of the video we've been shooting.



Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Here's a video we put together of us having a bit of fun on the Tri-Glide after we made the video on how the shocks work going down the road.

Some folks are concerned about the stability of the HD Trikes.

In this video you can see us purposely lifting one of the rear tires off the ground.

.

A few things to be aware of before watching this video-

1. We cannot recommend these activities.

2. Pulling the rear tire off the ground can be done by either using some body english, or by going into a corner very fast.

While the tire will come up about 4-6 inches and then have a lot of resistance to going any further....if you do go further, the likelihood is high it will go all the way and flip over.

Absent turning the handlebars very sharply in a corner, or going far over the speed limit in a curve, the tire will not lift off the ground. But if it does, it is still very stable...unless you go past that initial resistance point (4-6 inches).

3. Doing wheelies always brings the risk of twisting the crank or breaking a belt. It is not recommended.

4. If you do wheelies, as you will hear in the video, the exhaust will scrape and keep you from going all the way over, but it also can really grind down the bottom back of your slip-ons. (I'll post a pic soon of what mine look like right now.)

.

We had a blast making this video...enjoy!



Kevin