Check your lug nut torque before you ride again. Every single one of you.
#1
Check your lug nut torque before you ride again. Every single one of you.
Before you get on your trike next time, torque your lug nuts. Don't ride until you do. Also feel for rear end play of any kind, and make sure the front wheel axle nuts are tight.
If you feel anything unusual, unstable or awry, or just just suspect something is amiss, pull over immediately and stop, then check to see what it is.
We lost a local Harley trike brother here today. According to the sheriff report he was going down the road and must have had some instability, because he pulled to the side of the road but kept going. About a mile later something happened (the report said a rear wheel came off) and it pitched the trike off into the ditch and him from it.
This is all from several reports, I don't have direct knowledge of exactly what happened, but the fact remains that these checks must be done regularly. I sure don't want to see it happen to us or anyone else. I didn't know the guy.
I already check ours "frequently" but I'll be more deliberate about it from now on. As we should all.
If you feel anything unusual, unstable or awry, or just just suspect something is amiss, pull over immediately and stop, then check to see what it is.
We lost a local Harley trike brother here today. According to the sheriff report he was going down the road and must have had some instability, because he pulled to the side of the road but kept going. About a mile later something happened (the report said a rear wheel came off) and it pitched the trike off into the ditch and him from it.
This is all from several reports, I don't have direct knowledge of exactly what happened, but the fact remains that these checks must be done regularly. I sure don't want to see it happen to us or anyone else. I didn't know the guy.
I already check ours "frequently" but I'll be more deliberate about it from now on. As we should all.
#2
#3
Without going into much detail, my riding partner was doing some work to one of his vehicles and being so meticulous, he used a very high quality, name brand torque wrench to replace the lug nuts on his stock aluminum wheels.
We were on a trip and we had split up in order to cover as many H-D dealerships as possible to collect poker chips.
When we met later that Friday evening, I was already at the meeting point and when he came in to the parking lot and pulled by me I noticed that he had lost the center cap off of his front RH wheel.
I mentioned it to his as soon as he got out of his vehicle and he said "yeah, it feels weird and I'm gonna check it".
We walked around to the RF corner of his vehicle, and in addition to the missing center cap, he had 3 studs/lugnuts gone, one stud/lugnut so loose that it would "spin" in the hub, but the 5th stud/lugnut was still seemed to be tight!!!
What was so frightening was that he/we were in NC, one the hilly, curvy, mountain roads and usually going a bit over the posted speed limit!
He risked (very slowly, with me behind him) the short 1/4 drive to the nearest motel and the following morning, he drove it to the dealership, which did not do any mechanical work on Saturday's, only oil changes.
The bad news was that no one had the stock lugs and nuts in stock, but the good news was there was a small shop in town and another dealership not too far away had a complete hub assembly so they ran a guy over to pick it up.
Now here's the kicker; my friend, being an old fart (like many of us) misread the instructions regarding the proper torque (ft lbs vs NM) for the lug nuts and had over-torqued them to approximately 140lbs, basically "stretching" the studs apart!
Sometimes too much is really too much and can be just as, if not more dangerous than not enough!
If you don't carry a torque wrench (who does) in your tool kit, use one when you torque your wheels so you can get an idea of what the proper torque feels like.
It is also important to be careful when you are mounting a wheel onto the hub/studs to make sure the wheel is "flush" against the hub and finger tighten the nuts as much as you can before using a lug wrench or ratchet to properly torque the wheel(s) and then check them after a few miles of riding.
We were on a trip and we had split up in order to cover as many H-D dealerships as possible to collect poker chips.
When we met later that Friday evening, I was already at the meeting point and when he came in to the parking lot and pulled by me I noticed that he had lost the center cap off of his front RH wheel.
I mentioned it to his as soon as he got out of his vehicle and he said "yeah, it feels weird and I'm gonna check it".
We walked around to the RF corner of his vehicle, and in addition to the missing center cap, he had 3 studs/lugnuts gone, one stud/lugnut so loose that it would "spin" in the hub, but the 5th stud/lugnut was still seemed to be tight!!!
What was so frightening was that he/we were in NC, one the hilly, curvy, mountain roads and usually going a bit over the posted speed limit!
He risked (very slowly, with me behind him) the short 1/4 drive to the nearest motel and the following morning, he drove it to the dealership, which did not do any mechanical work on Saturday's, only oil changes.
The bad news was that no one had the stock lugs and nuts in stock, but the good news was there was a small shop in town and another dealership not too far away had a complete hub assembly so they ran a guy over to pick it up.
Now here's the kicker; my friend, being an old fart (like many of us) misread the instructions regarding the proper torque (ft lbs vs NM) for the lug nuts and had over-torqued them to approximately 140lbs, basically "stretching" the studs apart!
Sometimes too much is really too much and can be just as, if not more dangerous than not enough!
If you don't carry a torque wrench (who does) in your tool kit, use one when you torque your wheels so you can get an idea of what the proper torque feels like.
It is also important to be careful when you are mounting a wheel onto the hub/studs to make sure the wheel is "flush" against the hub and finger tighten the nuts as much as you can before using a lug wrench or ratchet to properly torque the wheel(s) and then check them after a few miles of riding.
Last edited by 2AMGuy; 04-09-2019 at 12:34 AM.
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#4
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04ctd (04-12-2019)
#5
Torque
Flushed all hydraulic fluids several weeks ago, so i had rear wheels off. Torqued to 100 ft/lb, just checked torque still good after 400+ miles on mostly two lane farm roads. Another thread had several complaints of hub caps falling off. I put anti skid tape (the 3M stuff for steps etc) on several of the fingers/ flanges before reinstalling cap. Made it tighter.
Last edited by harley roadking; 04-09-2019 at 10:45 AM. Reason: Add to
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TOHOG (04-20-2019)
#6
#7
Correct
That's what the manual states. After 22,000 miles, and having the wheels off numerous times I felt fairly secure that my initial torque was good enough. Whenever i clean the trike/wheels, which is at least weekly, i check the wheels like you check for loose bearings on a truck/car.
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#8
#9
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If a wheels been off I re-torque at 50 miles, then again at 100 miles. This has served me well...a few times at 50 miles I've had some that turned a bit to get back to the 100 ft. lbs. Never had any turn at the 100 mile check, but I'll keep doing that.
#10