Trike Conversion Completed

[Whozure]

I just finished the Cass County conversion on my 2000 883 Sportster about 3 hours ago and on the trial run I noticed a bit of front end bounce and wobble when hitting the slightest rough spot in the road. Should I be concerned or is this an ordinary occurrence for a bike as light as the Sportster and something I will have to live with?

As far as the hard steering associated with a trike Ron at Cass County Trikes told me his kit has a 2 degree rake built in and the steering shouldn't be all that difficult. Well I agree with him because I do find it rather easy as it now sits. It is much the same as going from my Mercedes to driving my 70 Dodge Challenger that I removed the power steering from ages ago. My son said it was difficult to steer but he rides a two wheeler all the time and it has been 40+ years since I rode a two wheeler.

Thanks for any advice or info given.

 

[Lucky]

Congrats on the build.The fun has just begun.RIDE SAFE

 

[Nana]

If you are happy with your steering, you don't have to add a rake kit, but I believe it would minimize that roughness/bounce in the front end in addition to increasing your ease of steering.

Congratulations! The sportster makes a beautiful trike

 

[Gorilla]

Congrats on the build. Have fun with it.

 

[Teal]

Congrats,, need picts.

 

[rexkaru]

I did a Cass County Trike to my Vulcan 500. I had the Wobble too. 25-35 mph, the handle bars would violently rip out of my hand. I checked on forums like this one and figured I needed a rake change. I called Cass County and didnt speak to "GG" or "Ron. I got the other female, I can't quite remember the female's name. she was younger. I told her the problem. She seemed to be dumbfounded by the issue. I asked to have Ron call me to discuss a rake kit. never got the call back. I called once more and followed up by E-Mail. never got a response to either.

I then noticed that a fellow trike rider in my riding group, CMA, had a flat surface tire on his trike front end. He said it was for more mileage and better surface contact in light of no longer needing to lean for turns. Then I kept searching on the net and found a post saying that the wobble was due to the bike riding onthe tire meant to lean which had a small patch of contact that the bike was jumping left and right trying to decide which direction to lean to, but with no lean possible, the bars wobble. the post said to use side car tires. they are flat and since no lean needed it will bypass the lean and jump attempt your bike is making using a tire that is meant to be leaned on. I bought an AVON side car tire, and no wobble. I never did get a call back from Cass County Trikes.

 

[Whozure]

I did a Cass County Trike to my Vulcan 500. I had the Wobble too. 25-35 mph, the handle bars would violently rip out of my hand. I checked on forums like this one and figured I needed a rake change. I called Cass County and didnt speak to "GG" or "Ron. I got the other female, I can't quite remember the female's name. she was younger. I told her the problem. She seemed to be dumbfounded by the issue. I asked to have Ron call me to discuss a rake kit. never got the call back. I called once more and followed up by E-Mail. never got a response to either. I then noticed that a fellow trike rider in my riding group, CMA, had a flat surface tire on his trike front end. He said it was for more mileage and better surface contact in light of no longer needing to lean for turns. Then I kept searching on the net and found a post saying that the wobble was due to the bike riding onthe tire meant to lean which had a small patch of contact that the bike was jumping left and right trying to decide which direction to lean to, but with no lean possible, the bars wobble. the post said to use side car tires. they are flat and since no lean needed it will bypass the lean and jump attempt your bike is making using a tire that is meant to be leaned on. I bought an AVON side car tire, and no wobble. I never did get a call back from Cass County Trikes.

What you say about the tire makes sense, but I doubt if that is a cure all to the front end wobble. I am going with the rake as suggested by various people in this site and what I read elsewhere.

As far as support and help from Cass County Trikes and Ron, I can't overemphasize the amount of help and input I received from him. He ALWAYS called me back when I needed information or help. That was both before and after I purchased the kit. He never told me something wouldn't work or that I needed this or that. He said to try it out and if I had a question to call him and he would suggest a solution to my problem. I did and he did so thereby I would recommend him and his kit to anybody that would ask.

 

[Lonerbtw]

Check your rear air pressure for too much. Less pressure will give you a much better ride and will cut down on the frount end wip. I can not recomend what I run but most use 20 to 24lbs and it works for them.
Lonerbtw

 

[Whozure]

Congrats,, need picts.

Thanks Teal and here are a few pics of the conversion. I still need to install the fenders and raked triple tree as well as a few other improvements such as a shorter exhaust system, thick padded seat, 8-10 inch rise handlebars, etc.

 

[rexkaru]

My experience with the CASS COUNTY crew was opposite. My problem spanned early April all the way through June just to receive the kit At first they kept stating the kit was all fabricated and sitting on a pallet ready to ship out. They just needed ten business days to have passed from when they had deposited my check for it to clear. I told them I had confirmed with the bank within 4 days the check had been deposited by them and the funds had cleared. Regardless, the kit never shipped at the time as indicated it would. It was well after ten business days later the story changed. I was emailing them and calling. I got no responses, I began to wonder if the company existed and if I had been scammed. On a Thursday they said it was to ship out the Friday coming up. Then I call on the Saturday after that they say it will ship on Monday they don’t ship on weekends. Then the next week goes by and no shipping occurs. Then at that point they said the kit was not fully fabricated. Some key part needed to be made still. I didn’t quite get it since previously they said the kit was just sitting there, on a pallet, ready to ship but they just needed the10 days for my check to clear to pass for them to be able to ship it out. Regardless, finally it shipped & I got it. Upon unpacking the kit, the brake rotor was not included in the kit, nor the bolts for it. That was the only call that received a timely response.I did receive the rotor and bolts promptly I will admit. That was just to receive the kit. From then on it continued. When you call, you will speak to "GG". She is nice I admit. "GG" will tell you that she will have Ron call you at the end of the business day. She will say that is the time he calendars to deal with the calls of the day. Then the call never comes. Days will go by without his call. You call back and get the same line. Ron will call at the end of the day. Also you will get some younger girl that answers the phone and everyone is out to lunch at varying times of the day. She will tell you she will also have Ron or "GG" call you. Prior to buying the kit, I wanted to know more about them since most info I found online seemed to be self promotions on multiple sites on multiple venues. Nothing was available that wasn’t a self promotion parroting the same basic statement. The only non Cass County "ad" type info I found was a post on a Harley forum about how once a customer had an issue with a rake kit neck being too long for his bike. Cass County eventually said this person's frame was the problem. Cass County contended the frame was altered or not stock but and regardless what ever it was, they didnt rectify the issue. That guy had a similar experience regarding communications as I did, when it came to Cass County's response to calls and emails . Eventually he was told to use some washers or spacers. This person felt they paid good money and wanted the right fit without having to modify the rake kit. they paid good money and wanted the custom fit out of the box. I bought the trike kit with knowledge of that experience. Although Cass County represented the kit came with all things necessary to build the kit except the wheels, tires, and fenders on the website. When they said "all necessary parts" were included that was a false representation. When I did finally get the kit, there was no brake line from the master cylinder to the caliper and the banjo bolt to the caliper was not included. The kit had the brake master cylinder, rotor, and the caliper. No brake line. Nothing on the website indicated the brake line was not included. I even spoke to Ron prior to the sale and no mention of the brake line not being included in the kit.The brake line was apparently not one of the "all necessary items". Why the other brake parts were all deemed to be of the "all necessary parts" but the brake line was not a key or necessary part is beyond me. I Ended up buying from them. It was necessary for me to stop the bike and kept me from being able to finish the kit build until I had the part.

 

[Whozure]

Interesting...I didn't get a brake line either and why should I? The original on the bike worked just fine. The original rotor worked also as well as the banjo fitting even though I got a new one with the kit. In other words everything to convert the bike into a trike was included plus a few items I didn't need for the conversion thereby giving me spare parts in case I need them later. The only thing that didn't work was the exhaust system. It was too long and Ron told me beforehand it may or may not work so there again he was completely honest with me. As far as shipping I was only put off 1 day from when

Ron told me it would ship and that could have been my fault because at the last minute I added a set of fenders to my order. I also read that post about the person and his problems with the rake kit and didn't put to much stock in what he had to say to be perfectly honest. That also was before I made my final choice of which kit to buy.

It's too bad you had the problems with Cass County and Ron, but once again I couldn't have asked for a smoother transaction and kit installation as well as prompt and courteous service from Ron and staff.

 

[rexkaru]

The Vulcan 500 only has hydraulic brakes on the front end. The rear brake is a drum that is cable operated. Cass County included a rear master cylinder and the rotor and caliper. The cable hooked into a plunger apparatus that activates the hydraulic brake master cylinder which would send the brake fluid to the brake caliper through the ........ brake line. (that was not included) Given this bike has no oem rear hydraulic brake system from when it was a 2 wheeler, the original hydraulic brake line doesn't exist to be able to use. The same applies to the banjo bolt from the original caliper. Since the bike never had one, one could not just swap the oem one on to the trike's hydraulic system. The designer had to have known there was no original brake line to substitute since they had to design the plunger system that was activated by the original cable system that hooked to the foot activated brake pedal. Ron’s explanation was that there are so many types of lines out there they didn’t include it, but it could be purchased for an additional fee. This was definitely a necessary part that was not included and there was no option of using my bikes original brake line or original banjo bolt. (please note that once assembled, this trike conversion kit can be described as top quality, and fully functional. I further do not indicate there are any un resolved issues. The product is assembled and in use.)

 

[Torchman]

i contacted cass county just to ask a couple ?'s about kit . i also got told i would get a call back for the harder ?'s. never did receive that call. i called frankenstein the next day and you talk about kind and freindly service. these guys answered each and every? i had. very freindly. i ordered their kit wednesday evening through bank transfer (which by the way saved me 50 bucks which i used for a wheel upgrade) and thursday afternoon i got tracking numbers from fed-ex. the kit will be here monday. so far the experience has been good for me. as a first time builder i was very nervous cause thats a lot of cash to lay out on the table. but so far they answered alllll of my ?'s and i had alot. i hope there follow up service is just as good. i love the look of the rear end and have not read any real bad complaints about them. good people so far.

 

[Whozure]

Time to put this discussion to bed. You had a bad experience and I had a good one with Cass County Trikes which actually isn't unusual with other companies and buyers also. I am not apologizing for Ron and Cass County Trikes, but I am sorry you are having your described problems and I hope you get them solved very soon if you haven't already.