Pre Blog Notes and Q&A on the Project

Here's some email correspondence (some editted, some to myself in anticipation of starting my first blog).

4/2/08 wrecked Voyager XII. Power train is sound, but mirrors, fairings, windshield, bags, etc are all toast. Not worthwhile to try to fix in a meaningful way.

~8/15/08 Start looking into ways to save money on gas. Motorcycle is a decent option, but sucks in bad weather. Small car is okay, but prices for those are going up and not very sporty. Enter RT. Spent about 6 weeks investigating options. The main ones were build from scratch, build from scratch using VW front end, or get this partially completed body and frame kit from A. H. in KY.

9/20-21/08 I started tearing off damaged and unnecessary pieces and cleaning off grease and grime. I estimate I've removed 150-200 lbs and the front fairing framework is still in place, and the front forks are still attached.

9/27/08 Bought body and frame kit from A.H. Now I'm fairly committed to the project. My goal is to have it licensed by May 2009.

9/28/08 Spent 4 hrs cleaning the shop and making room for the kit pieces. I got the cycle running, but the engine is missing on the far right cylinder most of the time. It has good spark. My compression tester does not have an adapter that fits; however, I suspect it is not getting fuel (spraying carb cleaner in the air intake increases RPM). Plan to further investigate next weekend. I may end up pulling the carbs and cleaning/disassembling. Also, the bike battery is over a year old and is shot, however, I'm waiting to buy a new battery since I will likely use a small car battery and mount it up front.

10/2/08 Bought $12.50 worth of chemical (Sea Foam and B-12). I put 16 oz in the (empty) tank and added about .5 gallon gas. Ran it, drained carbs, repeat. Left it in carb and will run again this weekend. It seems to run worse - starts and idles ok (still missing on one cylinder), but wants to die if you open the throttle. You can pump the throttle and get the RPM up, also helps to have choke on. The choke always makes the RPM go up. I need to decide whether I want to work to fix this bike (if it starts requiring expensive parts and/or excessive time) or look for another. Certainly I will keep my eyes out for a good deal.

10/4/2008: Plugs/Chem; Carb cleaner, spray and another bottle of SeaFoam, PB, and plugs

10/5/2008 fuel line, chem. Spray carb cleaner and new fuel line. (didn't clean good enough the first time.) Runs better than ever now only a slight hesitation at 3-4K RPM that I am pretty sure is due to the vacuum slides being slow to open. I think it's pulling the front wheel up when winding out 1st gear (of course fairings and other weight are already removed.)

10/10 (email)
The wreck damaged the fairing, bags, trunk, windshield, etc. It still ran afterwards – and the radio works! (no antenna though) I’m hoping the cruise still works too. I don’t have it licensed now, so I can’t really check – though I might try to set it with the bike on the main stand. Everything mechanical seems ok, except the right handlebar is cocked a little.

I picked up a body and frame kit for a FireAero off of Craigslist (see pictures). It has a widened VW frontend. I figured it would save me a lot of time and I wasn’t looking forward to building the body. However, I may have a bit of glass work to do since this body was made for a 750 (I may have to lengthen it or cut a slot to let the rear tire stick out). The guy I bought it from used to own this one: http://www.angelfire.com/pa/fireaerotrikes/page2.html (it’s a slightly different model of the FireAero made for a Goldwing in the back.)

My Kaw had been sitting for a while and wasn’t running well (took a while for my leg to heal (but at least no broken bones) and it had fairing hanging off that had to be removed). I just got the carbs good and clean – running great now, with just a little hesitation when opening her up. I think one or two of the vacuum slides are slow to react. With the trunk, bags, and rear mounting hardware off, the backend is quite light and can be squirrely when she kicks in! Next I need to figure out if my hydraulic clutch master cylinder will work if turned vertical (to mount on the shift lever). Then rip the forks off, get started on mounting it to the FireAero frame, then controls, instruments, lights, brakes, paint, windshield, etc. - lots of work! Not to mention fabricating a reverse and hopefully some doors, but those will be after licensing. In a few years, I may be looking for another XII, depending on how many miles I put on this thing – my Kaw has 104K + on it now.

Scott
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From: K. B. Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 7:21 PM Subject: Reverse trike??

Hi, are you planning to follow the Tri-Magnum style of trike, which involves a frame bolted to the bike frame, drop the front, and use a VW bug (1960-70) front end?
I used to own a 1984 ZN1300, had an accident in 04, have since bought an 01 XII.

Friend bought my old we stripped it down to the good parts, which was the frame, motor, and rear drive.
He got the plans off the net for the Trimagnum.

See below for conversions.

http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en&q=tri+magnum&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

Let me know I am curious.

K. B.

10/19
I think we must think alike – I’m considered much of the below. I hadn’t thought of modifying the boot to get to the shaft, but sounds hard and may open it up to contaminants. The problem I’ve heard with using starter (or any other) motor, is that it’s simply ON-OFF which can be jerky, but it still seems that it might be the easiest. I’ve recently considered getting a cheap winch (Harbor Freight has for $50) and mounting a small tire to the spool (which should already have bearing that are meant for heavy load) and then having a mechanism push it against a tire.

My leading idea is still to mount a 2-3” cylinder with bearings on a shaft and use a linear actuator (electric) or a linkage attached somewhere near the main stand to push the cylinder against the front of the rear tire while letting out the clutch. Then theory has it that the rear tire will climb up on the cylinder rising off the ground, and now you’re riding on the cylinder under engine power in reverse. I may need to have a emergency brake attached to the front wheel to make this work, but maybe not since the only time I’d use reverse is at worst if the bike is level, but likely it wants to roll forward (then the cylinder would chuck the rear tire). The front brake may be necessary to get it down from the cylinder though. This is still so far down the road that I haven’t put serious thought into it yet, but I like using the engine’s power and clutch.

Scott


From: K. B.
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 3:39 PM
Subject: Re: Reverse trike??

When Don got his tub together, he went and installed a short steering shaft with a quick release steering wheel, much better for getting in and out., he put the clutch, brake, and gas at his feet, and the shifter on the left (European style)
For reverse he is looking at a small starter, modify the boot between the motor and swing arm shaft, and run reverse with a chain- he is trying to find the right free-wheeling clutch and gear ratio at the moment.

Take your time, I would consider that project a stress releaser from regular job, and enjoy it.

I am looking forward to building my workshop/garage within next 2 yrs just for that.

If you could find the controls and compressor off a 1300 or goldwing, or even a plain compressor on a switch, you could have remote for the rear air shock.

While you are building, you may already have considered LCD lighting, allows much more lights with less drain on alternator and battery.

Later

K.B
----- Original Message -----
From: Scot
To: 'K.B.
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 8:49 AM
Subject: RE: Reverse trike??

Re: Master Cylinder Mounting.
The brake MC (probably from a VW) will be on the floor linking the front and rear, with a proportioning valve limiting pressure to the rear. The clutch is to be on the shift lever. I took off the reservoir cap and looked at the drawing in the manual. The port is on the bottom of the reservoir on the side of the lever, so if it is mounted with the lever down and the reservoir up, I thought it would still work. I ran it Friday night with the handlebar end off and the lever/MC vertical and cycled the clutch about 30-40 times and it seemed to work fine. So I think I will continue down this path.

Testing the cruise on the main stand didn’t work – Brain fart: The front wheel needs to turn to input the speed that the cruise is trying to maintain. Oh well, I’ll find out once its together on the trike.

I’m going to see if I can post a journal w/pictures somewhere on the net – I’ll let you know. I’ve never done anything like that before. If you have suggestions, let me know.

Scott

From: K. B.
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2008 5:25 PM
Subject: Re: Reverse trike??

Scott
I don't think the master cylinder was meant to work vertical, something about the holes being on the bottom.

Another option is to place the master cylinder at your feet because the front wheels will require more fluid to apply than
the calipers on the bike.
Looks like a keeper to me, best of luck with the fabrication, and do try to keep that rear wheel from spinning ;-)

K.B.
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Email from me: 10/13/08
I never had an aftermarket fork brace - I lived with the shimmy at around 25-30 mph for 46K miles (the bike has 104.5K). I could never justify the cost of an aftermarket brace when a firm grip on the handlebars took care of it. However, when I put the new Marathon front tire on about 800 miles ago it seemed to get quite a bit better (less wobble).

Not certain about "never before attempted." I read on someone's blog (or somewhere online) how a voyager was a good choice due to low gearing and 15" rear tire that a narrow car tire could be mounted on - I will probably mount a 155R70-15.

As far as posting pictures, etc., I'll see if I can get my wife to figure out how/where to put up an online diary/journal for this project - whatever the internet term for that is. As for now, here's a few pictures of the kit I bought (which doesn't mount up to the Kaw without mods).

Scott
VA

-----Original Message-----
From: M.K
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2008 11:04 PM
To: Scott
Subject: voyager parts

Hi Scott, Just noticed your ad for Voyager parts for sale. I am interested in an aftermarket fork brace. Also, am curious about your reverse trike project. Certainly a concept never before attempted with a Voyager. When will you be sharing photos, etc., with the curious
Voyager nation? Thanks, M. K.