Got to look at a Champion 2008 Ultra trike conversion yesterday. His rear rotors were much larger than those on my '10 TG. The owner said he could stop on a dime with the rears alone. Many have complained about the lack of stopping power of the rear brakes on the '09 and '10 TGs. Early on, I was comparing the rear brakes of my two-wheel touring bike to those on my TG. The bike being much more responsive. I thought it would be too soon to pass judgement on my TG because of its "newness" and not being entirely broken-in.
Anyone else ridden a conversion and made comparisons with their TG? Are you satisfied with the rear braking after you have put on a couple thousand miles?

 

I never use the rears alone. I use both at all times and doing that I have plenty of stopping power.

My husband did take it into the parking lot and laid on the rear brakes and he left rubber. But for just normal stopping usage, I feel like they are worthless!

 

plenty of stopping power with front and rear together, but the pads on my wife's TG had to be replaced @ 7k (warranty). The pads are wearing uneven (one side gone the other 3/4). Regional HD rep inspected and said normal wear. The dealer did the warranty on their own. Second set of pads, 5k, show the same wear pattern but not as fast.

 

I always use front and rear brakes together as should everyone. I was just making a comparison that perhaps should be addressed.

 

I just had the rear brake pads replaced at 9,400 miles. I thought that was a bit to early, but after looking at the used pads, they were gone. I also thought they were rather small, so thats why they don't stop so well. I have never been able to lock the rear wheels up, without fear of breaking something by pushing so hard. But over all with the use of front brakes, the triglide stops pretty good, even with a trailer on the back.

 

The only conversion that I am very farmiliar with is the DFT and they just use the one brake that is already there. I'm not sure if all conversions have 2 brakes on the rear. I do know that I brake my TG the same way I did my 2 wheeler, 70% front and 30% rear and doing it that way I have plenty stopping power. I have 11,000 miles on my 09 TG and there is plenty rear brake pad left. As soon as Lyndall comes out with rear brake pads for the TG I will replace mine as I feel they are superior pads.

 

I built my own and can stop on a dime at any speed with just the rears and slide to a complete level stop. Installed a pair of radial mounted calipers that are now common on the metric crotch-rocket fronts and pads can be found on e-bay and under just about every bush. But....I have never had to change the pads anyway.

 

Got a Motor Trike conversion done on my 09 Ultra. It has drum brakes on the rear. Does anyone out there know if I can convert them to disc

 

That is exactly what I did on the Lehman kit I have now. Lehman had a disc brake conversion advertised on the market for a while, but pulled it and no longer offers a conversion. They told me I had to purchase a new rear-end for around $4,000 to get the disc brakes and there was no way I could convert the drums I had. Nonsense....the Hot Rod gang does brake conversions every day on any drum brake imaginable and it can certainly be done on a trike set of drums. Check with the manufacturer first to see if they offer a kit. If they do, I am sure it will be a lot more expensive than it's worth.

It took me a while to do the research on how my axle was built and what brand of components were used, but it all boiled down to a Ford system using various types of components from a couple of different Ford designs. Once you determine what you have in the way of bolt pattern and axle tube flange, you can create a conversion using parts to fit that particular axle design.
There may be some machining of parts (like rotors) and you may have to modify (or have someone build) caliper brackets, but calipers are out there by the hundreds that will fit and work very well. The main consideration is matching the total caliper piston area to the brake master cylinder size, which is not rocket science. Most of the work can be done in your shop or garage, but anyone with a good understanding of how brakes work and how to use common hand tools can make the conversion. You may have to outsource a little welding and machining, but I have a set using small-bodied (Ford Thunderbird) rotors and Tokico radial calipers. These are race-bike calipers found on the front of all recent model year metric bikes and they will fit nicely right in behind/inside the wheels.

Yes...it is a bit of work involved, but you can do it or have it done for just a few hundred dollars and the job will look and work like a million dollars. The first thing to do is see if Motor Trike offers a conversion. I think you could have ordered that kit with either drum or disc. If you can't, send me a personal message and I will tell you how I accomplished my conversion. I have the material list as well as detailed drawings and plans.

I don't knock drum brakes.....it was just hard for me to keep them properly adjusted and when I had to hit them in an emergency a time-or-two and wound up being pulled into the opposite lane of the road...I had to do something and a disc brake conversion is what I did.

 

Here are the specs for the TG brakes:

o Caliper Type 32 mm, 4 piston fixed front, 31.75 mm single piston floating rear
o Rotor Type (diameter x width): Patented fixed front rotor, dual fixed rear
o Front (dual) 11.81 in. x .20 in. (299.97 mm x 5.08 mm)
o Rear 9.0 in. x .24 in. (228.60 mm x 6.10 mm)

Question is, why wouldn't they use the same size rotors in rear as front? IMO, stopping efficiency would increase and perhaps wear factor would also change. Since these front rotors/calipers are used on all the touring bikes, cost shouldn't be an issue to use them in the rear of the TGs.


Welcome back, vt! Haven't heard from you in a while.