My wife had knee replacement surgery and isn't comfortable on her sporty anymore I would like to put a kit on it . I'm just looking for the axel, swing arm and any pulleys I might need .I will do the wheels & build the truck & fenders myself. Anyone know of a kit that's reasonably priced.

Thanks

 

Check out Frankenstein. I've heard people rave about it and have talked to one owner who loves her Sporty Frankenstein trike. Looks to be good quality and you can assemble it yourself.
http://www.frankensteintrikes.com/

 

Everyone here who has triked their bike has their kit in mind. They all seem to be well built and easy to install.
I recently triked my wifes Sporty and used the Frankenstein kit. It is very well built, easy to install if you are somewhat mechanically inclined and have basic shop tools. Those guys put a lot of thought into this kit. All of the internal parts are available at the local auto parts store.
One thing though. Whatever kit you buy, make sure you get the raked triple trees for a trike. Frankenstein uses a 5 degree rake, which I think is the standard. I didn't believe that 5 degrees of rake would make a difference, but it does. A lot.
Right now they sell everything you need; rear end kit, pipes and trees for $5985 plus shipping. This may seem like a lot of money but you are about to embark on an expensive journey with the Sporty. Make it easy on yourself. Al

 

Thanks for the Info , I found a partial kit ,axle with disk brakes & pulley, swing arm & 5 degree triple tree's for $3,060.00 from paughco anyone deal with these guy's or their kit or is there anything else out there
thanks again

 

Clyde, look a paughco closly. They have been around a long time, but most of the stuff(which was very little) I bought from them was junk. I did notice that they said the axle assembly was American made. Can you buy the bearings and such local to you? Things do break and even new parts go bad early. These are the things I considered before buying the trike kit for my wife. You can do what you want, but your wife is depending on you to make the right decision, and putting her on a safe and reliable ride she can be proud of. I think all of the kits available are build up, one piece at a time so you don't have to get a bank loan to do the project. Check out Lehman (probably the best) Champion (heard they were great) and Frankenstien (own one and love it).
Can anyone else chime in and help this guy out?

 

AlCherry thanks for the information I will check things out before buying , That's what I'm doing here ,I'm looking to save some coin but I don't want junk and will spend more for quality. I just started checking into this project I don't plan on starting it till this fall, but would like to gather as much info as I can. I have my own metal fab shop so I plan on building a trunk , fenders and painting it myself. The frankenstien kit sounds good and I have heard good reviews it is on my list but it's still early and I'm looking into as many options as I can find . Has anyone else used another brand that may have some do's and don'ts that might help. Any help at all is appreciated
thanks
Clyde

 

Chech our what Mystery Designs offers,I believe you can get the straight azle setup with fenders and tiers and wheels for around 5k,,,well I know you can because I just did for a Sproster I'm building,,,,,make sure you get the trees. they will run you around 600,,,good luck

 

Please understand, I am not a factory trained mech. Just a common, ordinary, run of the mill, garden variety guy that does my own work.
I just started a thread on this forum ( and am a new commer) about converting my bike myself ok?

The moment i say anything against paucho someone will come back and tell me they love it, so i won't say anything bad. I seen some of them, some like em!

I would Just tell you to look closer into what you want to acheive, and the hidden costs involved?
Pauchco sells two axles, one they make and an imported axle.

On the imported axle, "I" didn't see a way to conveinently mount shocks,
The axle will require some welding after the alighnment on the front and rear pulley is acheived. They also didn't make a swing arm for a bike as old as mine.

Besides the raked tripple trees (real good Idea, Make it easier for her to ride and you won't be wasting your time), You must remember that the top motor mount should be reinforced.

Your bike was never desighned to be a trike and harley, rubber mounts it's engines.
As a result the engine tries to twist in the frame when applying torque through the application of throttle. Ever heard of someones trike's horn honking when turning a corner? That's the culprit. The top mounts likley broke.

I looked into a paucho conversion for my tour glide before ordering the champion kit, because i liked the idea of keeping my saddle bags and the price was attractive.(there are allot of choices for complete kits to address trike issues.)

By the time i added up hidden costs, spending a might more for the kit i bought turned out to be a more attractive and in my opinion safer ride, with longevety SEEMINGLY more attractive. (did i do that gently enough?)

You may wan't to find a kit that uses lighter weight axles specifically made for a trike as some versions use a car axle and the weight may dissapoint you on performance on a sportster?
The pauhco kit will ( likley) require you to relocate the battery?
The frankenstien kits a good choice also.
You will have to change around the exhaust, Some kits come with exhaust, wheels, tires etc.
I like the idea of constructing your own box and fenders. Thats where a guy can get creative.
Best wishes, have fun!

 

have had a few customers get triggs trikes kit. not sure if this is helpful since i am not that familiar with the product, but it looks inexpensive as well. heres a link, again i know nothing about that but once they have on the site and the feedback fram a few customers that have bought from them... http://www.triggtrikekits.com/

 

I have a Frankenstein axle and swingarm on my Crossbones. It is well designed and well built and looks great. Their customer service is top notch too. I'm doing a raked stem kit for my springer soon to reduce front end wobble. My only regret is the way the solid axle rides. It's rough over bad pavement and transmits road irregularities right to the handlebars. The raked stem should help this but it won't improve the ride. Think of it like this, the suspension and rear end moves up and down in a single plane and the solid axle acts like a side to side lever on uneven surfaces. It makes the ride harsh and effects steering. A solid axle on a car or truck is not as bad because the axle is longer and only attached to the vehicle with the suspension which has more travel and is more outboard which allows for semi-independent up and down action of each wheel. It is very noticeable on the bike because the axle is solidly mounted to the swingarm in the middle and road irregularities pivot the entire bike instead of just the suspension. This results in a rougher ride and most road irregularities go right to the handlebars. If I had it to do over I would have spent the extra $2k and bought the Mystery Designs IRS rear but its not so bad that I'm going to spend more money for the upgrade now. Just some thoughts on going the cheaper route vs. spending more up front.