1997 Heritage Springer Trike

[hat]

View attachment 1837

 

[hat]

Hi Southern man,
I just posted a pix as best I could. I have the Champion kit on this and a tremendous wobble. I am going to talk with Jeri at Jeri's Springers tomorrow and see if he can help me. If he can't, I think I am going to have to send the back springer fork to Liberty Sidecars and have them machine the stem for an additional 5 degree rake and put on a damper. I have tried to sign on to the Springer forum with no success. If you have any ideas, please pass them on.

 

[Southern Man]

Hat:
Here is the link to the HSOA website.

HSOA Home - Heritage Springer Owners Association

From the page that pulls up click on the 5th block to the right to access the forum.
You will need to register but it is easy.
Start a thread and ask questions and you will get a lot of good answers.
For the best results please post an introduction in the new members thread first.

Nice looking ride you have there, 2 of the 7 that I have are 1997's and both have the blue stripe.

I am hoping that our 2011 summer rally in Gettysburg will be the week before or after the trike rally so I can attend both back to back.

I am not sure where you are located but if you are anywhere in the east our fall rally is Oct. 8-9-10 in North Georgia and we would welcome you to join. Last year we had 40 bikes in attendance for it.

Hat, I will go ahead and open a new thread at HSOA asking about your problem.

1997 birch and blue:

 

[hat]

Hey Southern Man,
I still can not access the site and have sent 3 request to the webmaster. I am in North Myrtle Beach, so yes I am definetly one the east coast. Where are you located?

 

[Southern Man]

Hat:<br />
Give me a call and I will try and talk you through getting hooked up on the site.<br />
<br />
You may have to re register. IT is not hard and I hook folks up instantly from my desk all the time.<br />
<br />
MY number is 912-422-7493 and I am in south Georgia.<br />
<br />
Please plan on attending the rally in Dacula Georgia in Oct.<br />
You will glad you did. <br />
<br />
I assure you, you will have the only trike.<br />
<br />
I posted your problem and have 2 answers for you.<br />
<br />
1st, have your wheel trued and the spokes tightened. It is 15 years old.<br />
<br />
If that does not make the ride as smooth as you would like then go to step 2.<br />
<br />
Next look here to have your front end reworked.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.libertysidecars.com/product5.htm" target="_blank">5° Raked Fork Modification for Heritage Springers®</a>

 

[hat]

Hey SM,
The bike only has 4500 miles on it. I have checked into the Liberty 5 degree rake and it may be how I have to go, just going to do some final checking. Thanks for the info. I have sent the webmaster another request and if that does not work I may call, not tonight. Thanks again.
Hat

 

[Southern Man]

Hat:

I just wanted to remind you that the fall HSOA rally is comming up is 3 weeks now.
Oct. 8-9-10 in Dacula, Georgia. If you are interested in attending and showing off that springer please give me a call. 912-422-7493 for all the 411.

 

[Tomturtle]

This sight is awsome !! I just read all the posts on springers and trikes. That was a little dissapointing to read all the cons about springers on trikes. I am triking my 93 Fatboy, WAS going to take the HD springer off my 84 FXST and put it on the trike. But not now. O-well I will still have a two wheel springer to ride also.

 

[Nana]

Hey Tomturtle! Welcome aboard <img src="images/smilies/grin.gif" border="0" alt="" title="big grin" class="inlineimg" />.<br />
But (speaking from experience) you will LOVE your Fat Boy triked!!!

 

[Lucky]

Welcome! Lotta infromation and great folks,Ride Safe

 

[Gorilla]

This sight is awsome !! I just read all the posts on springers and trikes. That was a little dissapointing to read all the cons about springers on trikes. I am triking my 93 Fatboy, WAS going to take the HD springer off my 84 FXST and put it on the trike. But not now. O-well I will still have a two wheel springer to ride also.

Welcome aboard Tomturtle. We aim to provide data for members to use in their decision making process. Remember most posting are from their personal experience.

 

[ThirdWheel]

Tomturtle - Welcome. If it is set up correctly you shouldn't have a problem with the springer.

 

[hat]

Hey Third Wheel,
Can you tell me what I need to do to fix this wobble? Rake the neck? Extend the springer rockers? Any help would certainly be appreciated.
Thanks,
Hat

 

[Greydog]

Have you tightened the neck bearings yet? I understand it's common practice to tighten the bearings enough to reduce the "fall away" to about one swing of the forks. Some of the wrenches here can tell you exactly how much fall away you should have on a trike but I can't remember.

 

[hat]

Yes Greydog, we have tightened the neck bearing. Thanks,
Hat

 

[Loose Nuts]

G'day Hat.
You're on the mark with both (or either) the rockers and the raked trees reducing trail and reducing the wobble.
If you have too much rake, your handle bars will flick left if your right rear wheel is lifted. Let's say you ride off the street and into your drive way. If you approach it square, your steering will be fine. If you approach it at 45 degrees, your steering will flick right as your right wheel hits it, and left as your left wheel hits it. This can be displayed by pushing on your bikes left engine case, your handle bars will turn right. Push on your right engine case, they will turn left. Reducing trail will reduce the amount of leverage your rear wheels will have over your handle bars.

I've read your posts, and I can see you know what trail is, and you understand that either the rockers or trees on your springer front end will alter your trail. If I'm not mistaken, with a telescopic front end, you should be looking for between 2 and 3 inches of trail. With a springer front end, I'd change it with the rockers, and I'd aim for 3 inches, because when you hit a bump with a springer front end, your trail will be reduced more so than with a telescopic front end, and if you have too little trail, your front end will steer too quickly and could over steer badly. Too much trail is uncomfortable but rideable. Too little is dangerous.

In summary, if I were in your shoes, I'd drop my trail back to 3 inches, measured with me sitting on the trike with a full tank of fuel. Also, if you set it up so the centre of the rear hinge of your rocker sits slightly lower than the centre of your front axle, your suspension will work better than if the rocker hinge sits higher than the axle. A steering damper will help. My trike front end has way too much trail, 6 inches or so. It was dangerous, and used to flick violently from left to right over bumps. An $800 ohlins steering damper made it rideable........ so much so that I haven't fixed my trail yet. It doesn't try to spit me off anymore :Yes2:

Hope this helps....

Rick.

 

[Pup]

I have a springer trike and lowering the rear end by 1 inch (shocks) made a ton of differance. It still wobbles at low speeds but not as bad as prior to the drop.