Hi All,

My Brother-in-Law had a liver transplant and lost a great deal of his ability to hold his bike up so I converted it to a trike. It is an 06 Dyna FXDWG. I used a DNA rear axle kit and so far it looks and runs very well but there is a problem and I don't know if it is just because we are just not used to riding a trike or not.
If you are going down the road with a high crown or if the road happens to be un-level side-to-side with an incline the trike pulls very hard to the low side. The first time I rode it after the build I went across a rail road crossing and down a street with the tracks going down the center of the road. Unexpecting the way it was going to handle I ran completely off the road into someones yard to the right and almost crapped my pants. You really have to have a strong hold on it to keep going straight on an incline.
Now, is this because of the longer rake on the Wide Glide front forks? The DNA is a solid axle utilizing the existing springs on the bike. It looks very good with the longer Wide Glide rake but the handling really sucks.
On flat, level roads it is as true as an arrow. I need some recommendations on this. Because of his loss of muscle due to the liver transplant he might not be able to ever ride again if I am unable to resolve this issue.
Thanks in advance for any help and information.

 

I'm not familiar with DNA axles but I can tell you a trike does handle a lot different than a solo bike. At times the steering can feel very heavy, that's why we change the trees to raked trees. Raked trees do not remove all the heavy feel but reduce it greatly. My Frankenstein tips with the camber of the road as well.

Make sure the axle is square, if it's out a little you could feel a pull one direction or the other. Hopefully someone here knows the DNA axle and can give you better advise than I can.

 

When I converted mine, the Frankenstein directions stated the triple tree stem bolt needs to be tighter for a trike then you would have it for a two wheeler. I'm not sure if this is the issue but If you haven't already you may want to add raked triple trees so the trail is between 3 and 4 inches and tighten this stem bolt more. Per Harley's website the wideglide trail is 5.2" stock. The Frankenstein website states a 5% raked triple tree is needed. Below is from the instructions if this helps. Good Luck.
Tighten top triple tree bolt more than what is for a stock two wheeler. There needs to be more pre load on the neck bearings. Make sure that the triple tree will turn. If the triple tree will not turn loosen the stem bolt a little. Turn the triple tree, if the triple tree turns good tighten up the triple tree stem pinch bolt.

 

Thanks guys,

I wanted to see if others were having some of the same problems. I notice the factory trikes have a steering damper on them and was wondering if I should try one.

I knew about the tighter pre-load but haven't tried it as of yet. Something else I am pondering. I have seen eccentrics for adding more rake to triple trees. I am thinking I could get a set of them and reverse them to take out some of the rake. I think they are supposed to be good for about 3 Deg.

It makes sense that with the longer rake that the front wheel would have a tendency to try and turn to follow an incline. Thanks for chiming in.