Need info on triple trees ...

[connie madagain]

Hi all,

First, I did a search but could not find my answers.

I just purchased a VW Trike with a 1995 Honda CB750 front end.

After riding I found "the wobble" ... After research I looked at the "trail" and found it to be 8 1/2" or at least 3 1/2" to far of the deserable 3" to 5".

I see that adding a "triple tree" will help but this is where my questions start:

1. Will a triple tree reduce the trail far enough?
1a. If no about how much will it reduce it?

2. What year triple tree's are exchangeable with 1995's? (ex: 1980 - 1995)

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

thanks all!!!

PS: this is a kick to drive and a real eye catcher!
Pss: asked this in Honda forum also ...

 

[Frozenshrimp]

Welcome to Trike talk Connie, It mite not be your triple trees cause all motercycles have triple trees,have you checked your front tire for uneven wear,checked the nut on the head bearing where the triple trees are conected to the trike for propper torque,do you have disk brakes on the front cause the roter may need to be turned,wornout forks. Just sugestions on other thing to check.

 

[connie madagain]

Welcome to Trike talk Connie, It mite not be your triple trees cause all motercycles have triple trees,have you checked your front tire for uneven wear,checked the nut on the head bearing where the triple trees are conected to the trike for propper torque,do you have disk brakes on the front cause the roter may need to be turned,wornout forks. Just sugestions on other thing to check.

Thanks ... I will look at the forks again to see if there is a tree already there ... Never thought to look in the first place ...

Even tire wear but the tire is pretty new too ...

Will ck the nut and bearing ...

have disk brakes but they slow down the trike vey smoothly with applied by themselves ...

Forks have no problems pointing to them ...

thank you for all your suggestions !!!

 

[KDHUFF]

Check your rear tire pressure as well as rear tire balance. there are several different things that could cause wobble. jack up the front end and make sure the front end is tight enough so you dont have any up and down movement with the front end at the neck. make sure everything on the front end is as it should be, dont assume anything.
anytime you get a "pre-owned" motorcycle or trike, you should go over it and check for securement and overall maintaince ......just a good thing to do.

 

[Loner]

The primary indicator for rake beyond what is 'ideal' is the amount of muscle it takes to turn the forks when driving. In the Hondas front ends the first adjustment for correcting a wobble is to tighten the fork bearings. That's done at the main nut that hold the front fork stem (that comes through the frame neck) and tighten it until there is a bit of drag on the forks when you turn them while raised off the ground. Usually you will find that takes most if not all of the wobble out - then if it just takes too much muscle to turn the trike when riding you can go into considering reducing the rake (by reducing the frame neck angle or adding 'raked' triple trees depending on you trike design).

If you then think you still need a trail adjustment, we need to know things like; current neck rake, front forks length (over stock), how much weight is on the front wheel, and a good side angle photograph of the whole machine. If you get advice without someone knowing all those things as a basis, your not getting the best advice.

 

[connie madagain]

Thakn you all so much for the advice ... I will check everytihng you both mention and will report back with pictures ...

Check your rear tire pressure as well as rear tire balance. there are several different things that could cause wobble. jack up the front end and make sure the front end is tight enough so you dont have any up and down movement with the front end at the neck. make sure everything on the front end is as it should be, dont assume anything.
anytime you get a "pre-owned" motorcycle or trike, you should go over it and check for securement and overall maintaince ......just a good thing to do.

Tire pressure is right as I ck'd myself bout no idea if balanced ...

Will dbl ck tighness ...

The primary indicator for rake beyond what is 'ideal' is the amount of muscle it takes to turn the forks when driving. In the Hondas front ends the first adjustment for correcting a wobble is to tighten the fork bearings. That's done at the main nut that hold the front fork stem (that comes through the frame neck) and tighten it until there is a bit of drag on the forks when you turn them while raised off the ground. Usually you will find that takes most if not all of the wobble out - then if it just takes too much muscle to turn the trike when riding you can go into considering reducing the rake (by reducing the frame neck angle or adding 'raked' triple trees depending on you trike design).

If you then think you still need a trail adjustment, we need to know things like; current neck rake, front forks length (over stock), how much weight is on the front wheel, and a good side angle photograph of the whole machine. If you get advice without someone knowing all those things as a basis, your not getting the best advice.

will get to work on these suggestions asap!

 

[KDHUFF]

Best to follow Loners advice, he knows a lot more about it than I do. I was only suggesting to check the obvious first. There are several good builders on here that can give you very good advice!!!

 

[connie madagain]

To answer one question ...

the front forks do not have a tree ...

 

[Frozenshrimp]

Connie, I'm apologize if I gave you wrong information on the wobble you fond. I had a wobble with my vw trike and the things I mentioned was what had worked for me except for the roters I had mentioned them becaused I have worked as a auto mechanic and I was basing it on that. Again I apologize!!

 

[Snyiper]

I just purchased a second hand trike project and it had a wobble as well. After much searching I found the triple tree and the bearing cups were not compatible with each other there was actually no bearing in the lower neck!!! Now with a 80 cb750 triple in hand and forlks I am in search of new bearing cups. I hope this solves things.

Glenn

 

[connie madagain]

Connie, I'm apologize if I gave you wrong information on the wobble you fond. I had a wobble with my vw trike and the things I mentioned was what had worked for me except for the roters I had mentioned them becaused I have worked as a auto mechanic and I was basing it on that. Again I apologize!!

NOOOOOO Problem ... thanks to trying to thlep!!!

 

[Triker Ox]

Connie the "trees" are what the fork tube are attatched to the frame neck with.
What you are most likely looking for is a set of "Raked Trees" if they make raked tree's for that front end I am not sure, a place that specializes in Trikes and bikes with sidecars
could tell you. "Raked Trees" are used to correct trail mesurments on trikes, and bike with sidecars sence they have to turned to steer them unlike a bike that you lean it over to turn it.

here is some good info on rake and trail for trikes,
RAKE AND TRAIL FOR TRIKES