had a fire this morning.

[JaysGone]

Just calculated everything thing up. Looks like 2500.00 in parts. Plus my labor. Been looking at the new yamaha transcontinental but nobody is making a trike kit for it yet. Don't know how far along they are at doing it. So i might be doing this anyway. Looks like the main harness isn't that difficult. Btw you done a great job on that valk.

A lot of the parts on these bikes are more or less plug N play. As long as you don't have to do any real mechanical work. As in the engine or say clutch.

Its take off old part reinstall new one.

Now being realistic. Insurance wont pay you squat for your bike. 214K is just about the breaking in point of the 1500 motor some say.

Ive always thought of the 1500 engine as a 250K mile motor. So your fairly close to what would be my personal sell by date.

As for the new Yamaha. Do you really want to spend $25K plus a kit.

Kits will be out soon enough.

Honestly. There are so many bikes out there for sale now. Its a buyers market.

Id like to put my 2010 GW / Motor Trike kit up for sale. I'm afraid it wont sell. Too many used trikes out there.

Im in need of a car too.............my 2 cars are also a bit aged. But I use the bikes more then the cars so its a personal dilemma.

Im not ready to give up riding yet.

It might make ALOT more sense for you to look for a used trike at this stage in the riding game. So many used out there.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Saw This ...

https://www.acesmotorcycles.com/inve...0525-10199185i

[3W-lonerider]

thats deffinatly sweet.

talked to the insurance person today. i have full coverage with no deductable.

after she found out what my bike is worth even with 214,000 miles on it she was shocked.

they are sending a person to my house that has knowledge of vehicle fires to do an estimate. so i still have to wait on them. should know something by the end of the week.

[Marc H]

Just calculated everything thing up. Looks like 2500.00 in parts. Plus my labor. Been looking at the new yamaha transcontinental but nobody is making a trike kit for it yet. Don't know how far along they are at doing it. So i might be doing this anyway. Looks like the main harness isn't that difficult. Btw you done a great job on that valk.

My opinion here but with the way kits for bikes other than Harley or Goldwing seem to be going away I wouldn't hold my breathe for the engineering dollars being spent on the Yamaha.I think it would be a cool bike but I just don't see it happening.At least not by the big conversion companies.

[3W-lonerider]

Insurance adjuster coming tomorrow. I'll keep everybody updated.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Insurance adjuster coming tomorrow. I'll keep everybody updated.

Good Luck

[3W-lonerider]

insurance adjuster just left, he took pics and said the same conclusion i came to. the main cable going to the alternator is what caused it. being the hefty wire that it is. once it started melting there was no fuze blowing that was going to stop it.should know what is gonna happen by the end of next week.

[3W-lonerider]

I just realised i left this thread without an ending. We ended up totalling the trike. Insurance gave me 15,400 for it. I'm getting a 2019 kawasaki voyager with a csc kit. Its at csc right now being triked. Should have it in a week or two.

[paws]

I just realised i left this thread without an ending. We ended up totalling the trike. Insurance gave me 15,400 for it. I'm getting a 2019 kawasaki voyager with a csc kit. Its at csc right now being triked. Should have it in a week or two.

Actually... somewhere you did post this info as I was SHOCKED to read at the time that the insurance gave you so much for that trike. That settlement was unheard of! Be sure you stay insured with that bunch!

A Merry Early Christmas wish to you!

[JaysGone]

Why would you be so surprised??

Id expect to get the replacement value of the bike. Plus the cost of the kit installed.

Im reasonably sure that is how mine is insured. At least that is how I understand it to be.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I just realised i left this thread without an ending. We ended up totalling the trike. Insurance gave me 15,400 for it. I'm getting a 2019 kawasaki voyager with a csc kit. Its at csc right now being triked. Should have it in a week or two.

I had an idea, but, too late now ... you could of bought your Valk bak from the insurance company, and a used Valk, taken the trike kit off your old one and on to the new to you ... but the new Kawie sounds like a fun ride as well.

Actually... somewhere you did post this info as I was SHOCKED to read at the time that the insurance gave you so much for that trike. That settlement was unheard of! Be sure you stay insured with that bunch!

A Merry Early Christmas wish to you!

Valk's have kept their value very well ... guessing because it was a very popular bike. I'm guessing the kit would be 9-12k painted. So I can see that.

[paws]

Why would you be so surprised??

Id expect to get the replacement value of the bike. Plus the cost of the kit installed.

Im reasonably sure that is how mine is insured. At least that is how I understand it to be.

Because of the age and mileage of just the Valk....1999 with 214,000 miles on the clock.

I did not look up what the value of this age/mileage Valk is... just thought it would be worth extremely little in the eyes of an insurance company ...

And maybe a lot of depreciation of trike kit due to age.

Sure glad for him that the settlement ended up so nice.

[3W-lonerider]

I had an idea, but, too late now ... you could of bought your Valk bak from the insurance company, and a used Valk, taken the trike kit off your old one and on to the new to you ... but the new Kawie sounds like a fun ride as well.

Buying it back and installing that kit on another valk was the last thing i wanted to do. I had so much trouble out of that kit it was one big headache. I got so tired of trying to keep that kit functional over the past couple of years that it was frustrating at times. Even with that bike having 214,000 miles on it i was ready to jerk that kit off and install a roadsmith on it. Which was sad because after all the modifications i had to do over the years just to get that kit to function as it should have from the factory. Motortrike makes good products but back when i had it done they wouldn't stand behind their product or make their installers make things right. I'm sure they have changed over the years but not going to find out. If they have or not.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I just thought maybe there was some sentimental reason to keep at least part of the old gal.

[trike lady]

Congrats on the new trike. Post some pics when you can.

[CrystalPistol]

I had an idea, but, too late now ... you could of bought your Valk bak from the insurance company, and a used Valk, taken the trike kit off your old one and on to the new to you ...

A fellow I know had a 1200 he was very fond of & took great care of, he had side car with a AC (used ice or dry ice & alcohol I think) for his wife, then she passed, so he removed the side car & bought a neglected 1200 MT trike that had sat outside a long time, cost him like $1300, he stripped the trike part, repainted it, triked his 1200 and disposed of remains of the neglected one or kept some spares from it. He was happy.

If something were to happen to our '97, motor blowed up, front hit in parking lot, etc, if the '98 trike part was unharmed, I'd look at it.

[3W-lonerider]

A fellow I know had a 1200 he was very fond of & took great care of, he had side car with a AC (used ice or dry ice & alcohol I think) for his wife, then she passed, so he removed the side car & bought a neglected 1200 MT trike that had sat outside a long time, cost him like $1300, he stripped the trike part, repainted it, triked his 1200 and disposed of remains of the neglected one or kept some spares from it. He was happy.

If something were to happen to our '97, motor blowed up, front hit in parking lot, etc, if the '98 trike part was unharmed, I'd look at it.

yep, i was fond of that bike to. and i also kept it in tip top shape. worked on it every winter. i hated to see it go because i did have it so long and it was like a part of me. but in all honesty to buy another valk and take the kit off the back of this one to put on another. i would have had about 10 grand wrapped up in a 20 year old bike. i would have also been dealing with a worn out trike kit that needed both ladder bars replaced, all new heims again. and all new bolts. ladder bars alone were 1500 for the pair and a couple hundred for heims. that trike ment alot to me and i made alot of friends because of its existence. but i feel it is time to move on to something newer and to get my passion for riding back. i love riding but for the last couple of years i was doing less and less because of the issues i was experiencing from the kit. not bashing motortrike here in any way shape or form, but the way the kit was designed it was bound to wear out at some point. and i think i reached that point. just like driving a 20 year old car it takes money to keep them running and on the road. i'm sure theres alot of people here that even though they love what they have that they don't go to the dealer and dream about a new bike. whether its the paint that they drool over or the newest bells and whistles. sometimes ya just have to play the cards that are delt. ok time to get off my soap box. sorry for the rant. but it done me good, guess thats all that matters. LOL..

[CrystalPistol]

Oh, I hear you.

Was just commenting as I had seen you already resolved the issue. I have friends with MTs, good looking trikes, but I've always thought that the idea of the ladder bars and all those heim joints (about 8 I think) just introduced a lot of un-needed wear points. Heim jointed ladder bars on a 3,000HP dragster that gets new heim joints as soon as needed is something else. I told one friend that if it were mine I'd have welded up a set of rigid bars (basically just eliminate the extra heim joints) and just put 2 large heim joints at the OEM swing arm pivot and added some reinforcement to the bike frame there. I'd have welded them to the axle tubes as well as the Z bar. I always thought, (& still think), MT wanted to stay away from a tube with a tunnel for a driveshaft. Not meaning to throw off on them, but I've followed them and seen them lean outward because of added up "play".

Take Care!

[3W-lonerider]

Oh, I hear you.

Was just commenting as I had seen you already resolved the issue. I have friends with MTs, good looking trikes, but I've always thought that the idea of the ladder bars and all those heim joints (about 8 I think) just introduced a lot of un-needed wear points. Heim jointed ladder bars on a 3,000HP dragster that gets new heim joints as soon as needed is something else. I told one friend that if it were mine I'd have welded up a set of rigid bars (basically just eliminate the extra heim joints) and just put 2 large heim joints at the OEM swing arm pivot and added some reinforcement to the bike frame there. I'd have welded them to the axle tubes as well as the Z bar. I always thought, (& still think), MT wanted to stay away from a tube with a tunnel for a driveshaft. Not meaning to throw off on them, but I've followed them and seen them lean outward because of added up "play".

Take Care!

I thought a trike leaning outward in turns was the norm. Are you saying that the irs I'm getting won't do that. Or won't do it to the extreme that the MT done it. Boy if it doesn't lean as bad as the MT. Boy will that ever make the wife happy.

[Montana Lee]

I currently have a Lehman Monarch II . I like it ok but if I were to go back to long distance riding as I used to, I would go right back to a Motor Trike Adventure which is an IRS trike. Best ride I ever had and went nearly 100k with no problems at all. Never had to replace a Heim joint at any time. I think if you do what MT tells you, you won't have problems. That is to use a dry lubricant on them and I always did. Now then, do they lean in corners ?, yes is the short answer but MT also has a feature others don't. It has air suspension that is adjustable on the fly. If you're going to be in the twisties then add air to the bags so it doesn't lean. I never had any problems staying up with anybody with my MT.