Additional lighting on Tow Pac Insta Trike

[dadztoy]

Great news WIllem - glad to hear you found the parts... You can post photos two different ways on this site... You can use a photo hosting site like Photo Bucket or similar, or you can attach directly from your computer... For attaching, click on the little paper clip symbol and follow those directions...

If your using PhotoBucket, just copy and paste the .img link from PhotoBucket for your picture...

I didn't use any other lighting on the Tow Pac as my bike is pretty well lit up in the front to start with... I have ring of fire rotor covers and the reflector on both sides of the front fender has been converted to LED lighting and I also have strip LED lights just above my cylinder heads... I also have saddle bag and trunk LED's as well as the rear fender reflector also being converted to LED lighting...

Hope you can post photos when your done - looking forward to seeing your results...

Les

 

[willem]

The tail lights are working perfectly. one thing though that bothers me. the ride is very harsh. it seems that I feel every stone on the road. I do have a CT on the rear but the tyre airpresure is not up to 40 yet.
Dadstoy and all who can. I notice that the kit has lots of places that can be adjusted. the manual and the instructions does not help in any way. The left outrigger wheel leaned in and was out by about 1 and a half inch. I emailed a q to towpac but have not recieved any responce. the troubleshooting guide just mention a shim.So I put a shim at the outside bolt where you adjust the tow-in which rectified the lean in.I am not sure if I shimmed at the right bolts.
Any help please

 

[dadztoy]

Hi Willem, hey, the bike looks great with the Tow Pac - love the color!!! Wasn't that called Pearl Royal Magenta or is that a custom color???

OK - lets start with adjustments...



1 1/2" out sounds a little extreme to me - might want to check the sub-frame alignment to make sure everything is seated properly...

If the 1500 Tow Pac is like the 1800, the wheel alignment is handled by a rectangular plate on the independent suspension arm that looks like this...



Slightly loosening the 1/2" bolts should enable you to then use the set screws (2 long bolts with jam nuts) to move the trike wheels into a parallel position with the bike rear wheel...

Use the adjustment jig from a previous post to do that...

Camber, or the Tow Pac trike kits vertical wheel position, is pretty much fixed and as far as I know, there is no adjustment for that to my knowledge...

My trike wheels are just a bit tilted in at the top, but the tires are wearing pretty evenly at this point in time with about 5K miles or so currently on the Tow Pac kit...

As to the bike riding harshly, two questions come to mind... What tire pressure are you using in the Tow Pac tires, and what is your rear air suspension set to on the bike??? I run 40 PSI in my Tow Pac tires and could probably go down to 35 PSI although I have not tried that yet... 50 PSI as recommended by Tow Pac seems high to most of us and I think most Tow Pac owners are running 40PSI or lower...

Reducing air pressure on the bike's suspension, will preload the Tow Pac a bit more and put more weight on it's tires... Have you tried the "tugging on the trike tire" yet as I suggested previously??? If you can't move the trike tire, you have it preloaded too heavily...

Try increasing the air pressure in the bike's rear suspension... On my 1800, I run with the suspension at 5, although the 1800 suspension is a bit different than the 1500 as it employs no air bladder as the 1500 does, but rather varies tension on the rear suspension spring via a hydraulic actuator...

Additionally, what car tire are you using, and is it a run flat, or non-run flat??? I have a Yokohama Avid Envigor ZPS on mine and it is a run flat, and I run 32 PSI in it currently... If your using a run flat at 40 PSI, that is probably way too much pressure and will harshen the ride...

Let me know what your answers and we will go from there...

You will feel bumps and road irregularities a bit more with the trike as you have an asymmetrical setup now as opposed to only 2 wheels, so take that into consideration as well...

Les

 

[willem]

Tx my friend
You have the colour right and it is still original.It has custom handpainted dreamcatchers and buffalo heads with Indian beads on, which has turned a couple of heads also in the US on our tour over there. I tried to contact one of the PO's. I think because we are in Africa it scares them off and got no response on a fb request.
I will love to make contact with the PO.
The kits differs a lot. One of my problems is definitly preload, which I wil adjust during the week.
The sidewheels mounts with only 2 bolts to the frame. this is also the bolts you have to loosen to adjust the toe in, which I did and the wheels are parallel to the bike rear wheel.
In the troubleshooting manual they specify to shim if the wheels lean

 

[willem]

sorry I posted the former post without finishing. Tp sugests you shim the axleplates. now I shimmed only the outside bolt which rectified my problem. I am now worried that both the bolts do not pull absolutely straight which might put unnecessary strain on the bolts and plates as the two plates does not ly flat against each other because of the shims.
My rear tire is a 175x75 - 16 Continental light truck.. it is not a runflat. I also have a Battlax 045 rear tire I will mount in due time
I hope my explaining make sense

 

[dadztoy]

No worries Willem - have read all your posts... One thing I am wondering is why the TP kit is so different from the 1800 to the 1500, especially in the wheel adjusting area...

It almost sounds like you purchased the E-Trike kit rather than the Insta Trike, but the pictures of your bike from the rear really do look like an InstaTrike kit with the wrap around frame... Am I missing something here, or are the two kits that much different??? Wondering if you perhaps got an old version of the TP or maybe the two models are just that different...

My good riding buddy and former Chapter Director had a 95 1500 in the Pearl Magenta Color - it was sharp - always liked that color... I'm going to give you a link to my Photo Bucket page where you can look at my old 1993 Aspy 1500... It was done in an all Native American theme and was a really sharp bike... Guess I should have kept it as my wife and granddaughter keep telling me they really miss the bike...

Anyway here is the link and please let me know if in fact you might have an E-Trike kit as opposed to the InstaTrike kit - I don't think so but now I'm not sure...

http://s19.photobucket.com/user/noma...?sort=3&page=1

Les

ON EDIT - I just checked your photograph again and that sure looks like an InstaTrike kit to me!!! Guess maybe they are just that different...

BTW, those pictures of me in Photobucket were taken quite a few years ago... I'm quite a few pounds heavier than that now, but I still look
just as handsome!!! epper: :laugh: