Son's new-to-him trike

[Kruzn]

My son just picked up this VW trike for $900. We've been told that he got a really good buy.

It is in overall solid shape, but needs some work. Plus, he wants to rebuild it in steampunk style. Or at least 1930's art deco look.

It has '74 1600 dual port. We are told the frame is from Wild Man Trikes and the springer is Sugar Bear. The guy had it running last year.

The plan is to replace the springer with a standard fork and reduce the frame rake. The sucker is 13' long!

Right now it is sitting on the trailer with a tarp over it since it won't currently fit in the shop. Will have to wait for spring!









This makes us a three-trike family! I am looking forward to a fun father-son project!

2015 Indian Roadmaster Trike

2002 Boss Hoss V8 Trike

1982 Honda/VW Trike (the VW has a Honda title)

[David357]

Great project to dive into, Dave.

The trike looks spectacular and should be a lot of fun helping your son to really make it custom.

[Gorilla]

WOW a fun project for rebuild. Have fun

[ol' school]

Looks good! A fun project!

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Looks good

Leave it long, it will ride smoother long. That is if you can stand the bouncyness of a springer.

It dont quite look like one of Steve's finished frames. The shape of the down tubes looks a lot like his. Maybe it was a basic unwelded kit frame from him.

Also have doubts on Al Myers.

But none of that matters anyway....it does look like good stuff.

It looks like the rear suspension and yoke are a one year only vw. 1969 the first year for irs.

Eventually you will need to do something with the oil cooler and fan housing situation.

Get it cleaned up and cranked. Play with it a little before deciding what to change on it. There is a lot there to like without changing much of anything.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Get it cleaned up and cranked. Play with it a little before deciding what to change on it. There is a lot there to like without changing much of anything.

+1 ... Always best to see what you have before you change it. JMHO

[Kruzn]

Looks good

Leave it long, it will ride smoother long. That is if you can stand the bouncyness of a springer.

It dont quite look like one of Steve's finished frames. The shape of the down tubes looks a lot like his. Maybe it was a basic unwelded kit frame from him.

Also have doubts on Al Myers.

But none of that matters anyway....it does look like good stuff.

It looks like the rear suspension and yoke are a one year only vw. 1969 the first year for irs.

Eventually you will need to do something with the oil cooler and fan housing situation.

Get it cleaned up and cranked. Play with it a little before deciding what to change on it. There is a lot there to like without changing much of anything.

Thanks for the advice. Can you elaborate on the fan housing and oil cooler? I assume maybe the cooler needs to be moved off the housing for better airflow?

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Ok....

The vw oil cooler is small and forced air.

The early one were completely inside the fan housing. Air had to go through it to get to the heads.

When the engines got bigger (1600 dual port) the oil cooling was separated from the engine cooling. The oil cooler got larger and was put on an offset mount to move it outside of the engine air.

Then a wider fan was used and a separate duct just for the oil cooler.

This larger offset set up is called the "dog house" oil cooler.

Now that is an aftermarket fan housing made to use without any factory oil cooler. It is meant to have a remote larger cooler with it's own electric fan out on hoses mounted elsewhere. It probably also uses the smaller fan.

So what you have is a non cooler fan housing with a hole in the back of it and a dog house cooler with no fan. If it was under the hood of a beetle the oil would overheat and the engine seize.

As it is in a trike with plenty of fresh air you will get by with it......until you get out on the highway at least.

Oil temperature and head temperature DO NOT particularly relate to each other.

2 ways to go.

One....put the correct fan housing on it to go with the cooler.

Two.....put a remote cooler on it somewhere in the wind, preferably with a thermostat control electric fan.

Somewhere in its past someone put a cool looking chrome fan housing on it but did not have a clue about vw's and/or cooling requirements.

The oil ain't gonna get horribly hot until you get get on the highway and hold some rpm for a period of time.

Get it running and see the condition of the engine first.

It dont look hot rodded.....just bolt on goodies.....some of which are wrong application.

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Dog house forced air cooler.

You have the cooler but not the fan or housing.

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Remote cooler with electric fan.

You have the fan housing with cooler delete.

[Kruzn]

Thanks! Much appreciated. We will address that!

[Zammy]

Looks like a fun project Dave, that scoot is definitely a long one.

[chopptrk]

Hey Dave, nice ride and seems like a great price. I sorta like those long raked-out bikes and trikes, guess it's the "old school" look that I like. Your springer looks more like a Denver's Chopper with custom made rockers, I could be wrong. I don't think Sugar Bear ever used twisted metal, that's sorta Denver's thing. Either way I still like it. If set-up correctly I think springers ride great and looks even better. My trike is 13' long, 52 degree rake with a 30" over sugar bear, very soft ride but not a racer, especially in the curves lol. Good luck and Merry Christmas

[Burnerboy]

I don't really know too much about VW trikes......BUT one thing I do know that what you got there is very, very cool!

Ronnie

[Kruzn]

Found out the springer is definitely not a Sugar Bear. Asked the man himself. He confirmed that he never used twisted legs.

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Yeah...I had doubts that Al built that one.

But it dont matter.....all is cool as is.

Go over your trail measurements when you are rebuilding it.

[Kruzn]

Well, after a long winter and long, wet spring...the trike is finally out from under the tarp and off the trailer!

Since we never heard it run when we bought it, we decided that was the first thing to do...fire 'er up! Well, not so fast...

Battery was shot, so we hooked up jumper cables and hit the key. Starter went "thump!" Oh oh! Pulled belt guard off, put breaker bar on crank...no turn! Now we are sweating a bit thinking we'd bought a frozen motor! It seemed in too good shape to have major issues, but you never know. I backed the breaker up and the crank turned slightly in opposite direction. So we pulled the plugs, squirted some WD-40 in the cylinders and gently rocked the crank back & forth until it freed up. Turned it a few revolutions with the breaker, then cranked it over with the starter. Now it was turning!

Screwed the plugs back in, grabbed the starting fluid and she started right up...well almost. It took a little bit to get it to fire, but it finally did! It started but would not idle or run with choke open. We pulled the carb, disassembled & cleaned (Duh! Should have done that first! ). Started it back up, did a little carb and timing tuning and she purred like a kitten! No blue smoke, idles and revs great, sounds healthy! Now we were happy campers...err...trikers!

Here is a short video...before we cleaned the carb.

https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.spro...4302513384756/

So, it runs and the clutch works. Now we can start addressing the stuff that needs fixing! My son is feeling much better about his purchase!

[Kruzn]

So, my son being computer-literate (IE: genius), threw together this virtual concept of his vision for the trike. Kind of 30's art-deco with some steakpunk elements thrown in.



Probably won't end up exactly like this, but that is the general idea.