three wheeler progress

[Imzz4]

Friends at work were amused when I told them how I spent the morning today wet sanding the body using 1000 grit along with the painter. He said it would be done on Saturday , so I wanted to increase the odds it might really happen. I think it was this Sat, or was it next, one of them..! It's all good.

[CanuckHoss]

Friends at work were amused when I told them how I spent the morning today wet sanding the body using 1000 grit along with the painter. He said it would be done on Saturday , so I wanted to increase the odds it might really happen. I think it was this Sat, or was it next, one of them..! It's all good.

Saturday Octember 41st?????

[Imzz4]

I spent Sat. wet sanding the body with 1500 while he did the tank. Then, he offered me one of the two air buffers. Three different wheels and 3M compounds were used. I only felt comfortable using the "middle" one since I didn't to screw it up. We did manage to have it loaded in my truck late afternoon ,then had a couple beers outside in the sunshine admiring it. We noticed a reflection of the clear on the side had projected a "ghost flame" onto the fender flame. That was cool stuff. Now its coming together again. Sooner than before is about the best I can predict !

[V8Bikers]

Looks great Jeff! Hope you get to take full advantage of the riding season this year.

[Imzz4]

Thanks . And I am so ready for that to happen. Work has me doing 7 days again ,that , and the 6 day weeks don't help much.

[Hoss97]

looks awesome, hopefully you get it back soon, the wait must be killing you, i know it is with mine.


Steve

[Imzz4]

I got some time to get back on it!
I had to make a new passenger backrest frame because the powder coated one just looked odd tight against the paint shade. I can't go wrong with polished SS , and it will match the passenger armrest posts. For now the passenger pad is bolted tight, but, later I will make a pivot setup for it.
I just realized my poor design in the backrest mount setup and think it will be a problem. The two 3/8 bolts and large washers that attach the back rest to the body do very little to offset the torque of the passenger leaning back hard against it. I have an idea for an internal brace setup attached to the spacers I'll need to make and then weld arms onto. That top piece of fiberglass is thick but I need to spread that load to the other internal trunk wall. Its better to do it now while the trunk lid is off although I was ready to just forget it and take it out for a spin since we ended up having sunshine..We took the Harley "brown turd" out instead in tee shirt temps..
As far as the shed pics, I noticed how perfectly clear the reflection in the fender was of my shed in the back yard. So amazed, I measured the distance to be 100 feet away from the trike , and then took a picture of each. All that block sanding from 40 grit to 1500 is evident. Now to see how long it stays before needing a refresh buff...
The rear lights , trunk lid popper , and stereo stuff are up next.

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day !!!

[V-MAN]

Trike is really looking good Jeff! Now put some marks on that wheelie bar ...

[Imzz4]

Thanks V-man. I managed to screw up the backrest trying to add more bend in it. So it's been salvaged and ready to weld it again. I finally set the tank on and have about zero clearance between the back of it and the front of the body as its raised up , or lowered . But it doesn't hit, so that's progress. Lots of time into that once stock 2001 tank. Six inches longer and five inches narrower. And the snail creeps forward .

[knockdolian]

Very nice that. Well done. Looking forward to seeing you " marking the wheely bar. Looks so much better with the radiator fan behind and a nice grill. Good things do come to those who wait. The paint looks stunning

[Imzz4]

I had a novelty butane lighter given to me as a joke by a friends wife since I liked NOS on the 2 wheeler. I'm just going to tell people it's a "1HP shot". I redid the passenger backrest and put the flag from my old Low Rider on it. I think it will be on the road before the 4th and I can call it 99% done ! ( the trunk lid went back for another 1500 sand and buff) I can duct tape a black trash bag over the hole if need be.

[V8Norm]

The NOS bottle looks great.. Love it

What an awesome you have done

[Iron Maiden]

Jeff that is hilarious - I love the NOS bottle and the attention to detail !!

[Imzz4]

I have been driving the new machine for a few days now trying to build confidence in it. Before leaving the garage the other day, now that the body and everything was done, I put another 2 1/2 gallons in it since I didn't know how much it had from previous gallons added . Of course by now you can tell that Yes I ran out of gas after calibrating the speedo and only showing 25 miles on it.wtf. Just before returning home and out on the highway ,close to where my wife would hear the pipes, I rolled into pretty good. She heard the big WAAAAAAwaaaaaaaaa. I turned around and noticed it surge then not, then surge, kinda like it was running out of gas...denial denial 25 miles ??? I was able to coast off the main road and get within 200 yards of home and left it parked all by its lonesome . The fuel pressure gauge can be seen easily when you're standing next to it. Up to 20 and back to zero. I did the walk of 'shame on you dumbass' past some neighbors. My wife said "Wow that's quiet, didn't hear you pull up but heard you on the highway ".
I have two problems with it. I ordered another set of rear springs for the shocks since it bottoms out on the bump stops too easily. 175s should have worked according to the numbers but 250lbs are going on next. The other problem is its far too hard to turn at speed. Straight is dead on perfect and nearly hands free. My 38.5 degree rake and 5.5 inches of true trail is not working. After a conversation yesterday with Am. Susp. and giving him the numbers, a set of 3 degree trees will reduce true trail to 3 inches. That's probably gonna be a must have because its more of a "chore" to drive than fun , unless I decide to start lifting weights.
But pretty much everything else is ok for now. It needs more adjusting here and there but springs first. The trunk lid was repainted and its on now which makes the speakers sound a little better too.
Oh yea,,, I forgot to mention how I hate no windshield . So that's on the list. At 70 my cheeks flap back to my ears.

[knockdolian]

Very nice that. Well done. I built a Harley trike from the ground up about 15 years ago and am still tinkering with it. There will always be something you want to change. As they say "anyone can go and buy stock" Not surprised your steering is heavy at slow speeds. My BH trike is a converted bike with bike rake (30 degree) and about 5" trail. Very heavy slow speed steering like yours. Having read pretty much all I can find on the subject 1.5" seems to be what I need to aim for so am going to get 6 degree trees but not until the winter so will be very interested to hear how your change works out. I believe Rewaco run about 1" trail. When considering your fuel consumption remember in UK we are paying about $9 a gallon at the moment. Just a little something to make you feel better. Really like the hidden gear indicator and speedo. Good luck with it and please keep posting

[Imzz4]

Thank you . After playing with more rake and trail calculators on the web, I ordered 6 degree trees. It's suppose to change to 1.39 ".
The rear springs didn't arrive yet , so I added some shims to the drive shafts to gain some positive camber at ride height since its apart.

[knockdolian]

Looking forward to hearing what the 6 degree trees do. Good luck

[Imzz4]

Springs and shocks are back on, and the trees are due tomorrow says the Fed Ex message on the machine. It's all ready to see if the new ones will fit with no messing around.

[Imzz4]

The trees went on with no problem. The change in steering is 100% better and it's much easier to steer. The new numbers ( hard to measure exactly) are 1 1/4" trail and 42 degrees rake and a wheelbase increase of 3 7/8". It now sits more like I wanted from the start of this long ass build so I'm glad I messed up(kinda). I can turn it like a normal trike , what ever that is, and still it wants to go nice and straight with no input unless the road is really crowned. I also moved the sway bar to help support the left side with the shorter control arm. The shocks seem fine at 4 clicks toward firm.( I like these QA1's and the help tech gave). No bottoming out with both of us on it. I still have bugs that won't go away after careful attention. An oil weep at the rear manifold is still showing up and running down the block, and an intermittent bad ground for the Dakota unit that makes the oil pressure read 90 instead of 65 and battery voltage higher than it really is. It may be in the unit but I'm not there yet with troubleshooting. Over all, so far , almost there !!! thanks , Jeff

[knockdolian]

Yaa, that is good news on the steering. I'll be putting 6 degrees on mine but with stock rake I'll only end up with 36 begrees. Shame because yours looks the dogs danglers, well done

[Imzz4]

It left my wife and I sitting the other day. It was very hot out and we had only gone about 30 miles when it felt like it was gonna run out of gas ( same as before). I was near a Sunoco and pulled into the shade when it died. (lucky) No fuel pressure again, but it had 8 gallons. The fuel filters and even the tank filler neck were really hot. After 40 minutes of a slight breeze across it, the fuel pressure was back (43) and it started normally. I drove to the pump and put 2 gallons of cool gas in ,then drove home with no issue. These past few days of testing (in cooler temps) has everything feeling normal again. I'll relocate the pressure reg further back away from the cyl head since that may be a small part of the problem. I'm wondering about some shields or perhaps a scoop or two underneath or if that would be feasible. Hard to think the air wouldn't be whipping all around under that body but who knows. It has 155 miles and runs fine when it isn't dead. I shot some temps that day when it was back. trans cooler was 225, gas tank 115, msd box 140, msd coil 135.

[hogv8]

Jeff , I was having problems with vapor lock only when riding in Daytona heat and traffic . So I installed a 5" fan blowing directly on the fuel pump . I know you have fuel injection but this solved my problem since I installed it .

[knockdolian]

Too hot to ride ? A concept unfamiliar to us in the UK. I the weather stops us it's because of water in the electrics !! How are the heavier springs working out on the back ?

[Imzz4]

The springs are fine and I'm glad I ordered the thrust bearings and correct spanner wrenches along with. Adjusting is simple now.
I just started relocating the fuel pump and filters and probably the pressure reg too. Not real excited about still having to re-do stuff to get it to work right. But a friends email today reminded me I forgot "if it has tits or wheels it will give you problems" . Yep.

[SQ4MN]

Jeff, I live in Vegas and its over 110 when I ride mine sometimes. It used to vapor lock all the time in cooler temp than that. I mounted a Holley Red behind the left side cover and it never gave me another lick of trouble. You probably have fuel injection so have a much different pump but I thought I would tell you what happened to mine anyway. I love reading about your problems and your solutions. Beautiful trike.