Why didn't you order a trike kit from one of the US suppliers? In the end you might have saved some money and got a better quality kit. Just saying...anyway congratulations on your skills and patience!

 

I live in the UK.

The US kits I have seen cost about the same as what I paid.

On review we thought it best to get independent suspension and not a solid axle.

 

Bike )trike) looks interesting. Good job on getting it all sorted.

I have to say........after reading all this, even if I lived next door and the Casarva kit was 1000 Quid, I wouldn't buy it.
I would never want to deal with all the fitment issues and (apparently) old used parts for that kind of money.

UGH!

Good on ya for seeing it through.

 

I'll just chip in here and say that shipping costs for large/heavy bulky stuff out of the USA is very expensive, on top of which we have to pay at least 20% import-related taxes on the total cost, meaning purchase price plus shipping etc. As a simple example I recently bought a secondhand gas tank from the USA, shipping for which cost as much as the tank, total cost was therefore ~240% of initial purchase price. We Brits don't do this stuff lightly!

 

I have to admire your patience. I would have given up long before it was completed when the first problems arose. Too bad we don't have actual free trade between our countries, it sure would have made your job a lot easier if you could buy a kit anywhere you wanted and not have to pay double to get what you want!

Nice write up and pictures, I hope it ends up riding as nice as it looks and that the parts are durable enough for the long haul.

 

Thank you.

So do I.

We do have resellers for Frankenstein kits at around £5500 but whilst looking we thought the independent rear suspension was better.

I decided to put it together myself based on the sales pitch and the lead time of waiting for it to be built for me.

(Cut and paste on this site doesn't seem to work very well. Goodness only knows why it has put the colour tags in.)

 

Wow - that is a thorough report. Great job.

I feel like I took the easy way out on our sidecar... I rode my 09 FLHX to Buckley, WA and waited at the DMC sidecar shop for the day.

I wonder, could you ship the sporty over and get one done, then ship it back? It's done now I know.

Anyhow, great job, and fantastic writeup.

Hope you got some miles on 'er.

Have fun, ride safe!!

H

 

Since doing the build my partner has put a few hundred miles on it and is doing very well. She still thinks she is sat to one side like a car and so the outside wheel gets very close to the white line on the road.

I have changed the fork yokes (triple trees) for the Frankenstein 4° raked and changed the front wheel.





Beggars can't be choosers with the finish and style of the wheel when you look at the cost of them.

This one came up at a very reasonable price with the tyre and good bearings.

I mentioned to Daniel at Frankenstein and to anyone else looking that the instructions need just a slight tweak.

The manual wants you to set the fork tube 0.42" to 0.5" above the top yoke and therefore it is the top yoke that should be pinched up leaving the bottom loose whilst adjusting the fall away. Therefore para 8 should be:
Install fork tubes and snug up part upper fork tube pinch bolts (C). Do not tighten lower fork tube pinch bolts (D) yet.

This will maintain the correct setting of the fork tubes.

 

Cindy is enjoying her trike!

After Cindy had done a few miles we saw a strange white substance appearing on the belt but couldn't work out right away what the cause was.

What has happened is when Casarva modified the muffler interconnect bracket they put a bracing piece that goes from front to back. This they put directly under the belt. No matter how tight the belt is set it actually flexes up and down a good inch.

The original part has a bend to take the brace away from the belt and then another bend, s bend, to point the brace toward the back of the bracket.

I had a welder come round and modify the bracket but over time the weld at the back failed. After we went over how best to proceed the remade bracket is holding up nicely.

I painted it with Simoniz VHT paint and used the engine to warm it to the 220°C required to cure it and the paint hasn't flaked off yet.

 

The rear cylinder rocker cover gasket has been leaking for a little while. I phoned up Dave at Northants V-Twin and mentioned oil was on the starter motor and he immediately said it is from the rear left corner as that is where they always develop a leak.

We went out the other day when it was very hot. Everything got very hot!

With the trike back in the garage it stayed very hot for a very long time. (Should I be using very as many times as this?)

The next day when I started the job by removing the tank I found the paint had lifted around the filler. Somehow the clear coat has been damaged allowing fuel to get under it.

A call to the painter, Sam Hubbard at AP Customs, reassuringly told us how to stop the fault spreading, it does happen occasionally and to get the tank to him in the morning. It is, for him, a straightforward repair job.

Stripping the tank down and removing the fuel pump I notice the insulation on two of the wires are damaged and have no idea when or how it has happened. The damage is right where the wire leaves the plug they thread through so not even a way to effect a repair. The wiring loom cannot be changed and the base plate cannot be bought with harness, a whole fuel pump module is required. New to you from your local H D dealer £390.

I can't yet find any H D breaker who might have the odd Sportster in stock.

Second hand units readily available from the States but nothing in the UK, which is getting typical now and very old as the Yanks say to how over here we don't have anything like the recycling of parts that goes on in America. With £50 shipping I don't know if I'm willing to take that much of a chance.

The rocker cover gasket however is very easy to change.

As an aside it is the same with air shocks for bikes. In America there is always some for sale costing as little as $100. Shipping to here though another $100 and not always getting shipped as they contain oil. Number of people in the UK getting rid of their air shocks? Zero!