Poor Man's Trike (Extra Wheels cont'd)

This is for general posts and questions concerning only the Voyager XII (1200cc, Four-cylinder) Years 1986 thru 2003.

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RKNY33
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Poor Man's Trike (Extra Wheels cont'd)

Post by RKNY33 »

Well Boys and Girls more than a thousand miles have gone bye on my '93 Voyager with the Trigg Kit installed. My drive shaft leak has stopped since we don't fill it up to the opening anymore and we are using synthetic.

The bike with the 200 pound kit was not happy in the ground clearance area especially two up. Spoke to a fabricator about changing the mounting plate to increase the ground clearance but he was concerned about liability...so

I added more air to the kit tires even though the manufacturer did not recommend it. (I called and spoke to him in Kentucky).
Hard to believe 15 lbs is enough air in a 44 lb rated tire so I upped it to 20.
Less scraping occurred, so I upped it to 25 lbs. The ride was rougher but I figured when we rode two up that would be ok. Not so.

Then I met Tim of Wins Trikes and Cycles in Rutland, Vt while attending the Red Knight Convention. With a quick examination he lifted the front of the bike by the headlight and showed me how much it dropped. He said I needed new springs and heavier oil in the forks. Tim said with the new springs I would gain two more inches of clearance.

I went back two weeks later and had the work done by his fork specialist in Rutland. I got the bike back the same day and took it for a ride. It was remarkably better. It handled better, did not scrape the ground and the stopping ability was much improved (no nose diving).

I rode back to NY taking Route 7 to Route 22 and endured 20 miles on Route 22 of the roughest road in my riding career. The bike did not scrape the ground once. I bailed out to the Taconic Parkway the rest of the way home for a smooth ride with excellent handling.

Progressive Springs were installed and if there is interest I will post the model number and the oil viscosity with pictures.
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Re: Poor Man's Trike (Extra Wheels cont'd)

Post by voyager55 »

otherwise do you Like the trigg? Ever ride a Tow pac trike kit?
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RKNY33
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Re: Poor Man's Trike (Extra Wheels cont'd)

Post by RKNY33 »

Voyager55,
I have ridden full trikes at Americade. Smith and Mototrike I remember. These 3 wheelers were very hard to steer since they did not have a rake kit installed. They also were straight axle rear end which is now rapidly disappearing from kits. Independent suspension is the way to go, with adjustable air ride (some right from the handlebar). It's just that I don't have that kind of money to spend now.
I have not ridden a tow pac kit and I have seen the Voyager kit installed which also had low ground clearance on that bike. I liked the Trigg kit since it had 15" tires and American Racing wheels standard.

I said I would list the front fork springs by Progressive, part # DS222025 were installed and the OEM oil changed from 7.5 weight to 20 weight with new fork seals. Bike now rides 3" higher and the scraping is gone. The bike brakes much better also. Hope that helps.
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