The trike I bought recently was discovered to have an oil leak that apparently looked like it was coming from the the differential...more specifically, from the cover plate due to a bad gasket. I called the Roadsmith plant and talked to a tech, explaining there were no oily deposits coming from either of the axles and the boots covering the CV joints(independent suspension). Also none from either end of the drive shaft. The final analysis seemed to be cut and dried....bad cover gasket on the differential. Big problem and even bigger job, the entire rear end had to be dropped to get at it. Two different shops quoted 4 hrs. at $70/hr. plus parts, resulting in a little over $300 for the job.
However, the Roadsmith website has a list of dealers and one is an independent operator only about 11 miles away....as compared to 150 to the next closest one. So I called and arranged to ride it over to his place and leave it. A few days later, I checked with him and was surprised at his simple and honest answer; "I can't see where there's any seepage whatsoever from the gasket so I cleaned the entire area good, dried it and took the bike for a ride. That got the rear end and oil nice and hot and I parked it over some paper in the shop for a couple days to see where the leak originates. I'll be in touch." He assured me he didn't want to jump in and do the gasket repair without first looking further. His thoughts were he didn't want to have me spend a few hundred dollars on repairs only to find I still had the problem a couple hundred miles later. I liked how this man ran his business.
Yesterday we talked and he said it was the drain plug at the bottom of the differential. Nothing else showed any seepage, but the plug had dripped some and the oil ring on the paper was getting bigger every day. He removed the plug, drained the oil(no debris), covered the plug with some thread sealer and reinstalled, refilled the pumpkin then went for a ride. He called this morning and said no drips or seepage from the plug so it's ready to be picked up. Total cost: $77....compared to over $300 if he had just jumped in and dropped the rear end as planned. He has a nice shop set up in an oversize garage adjacent to his house and has done nearly 100 conversions since 2011. For every brand of bike, he goes to the plant that makes the kit and learns first hand how to do THAT particular brand of bike. While he was at it, I asked if there was some way to soften the ride. He later told me the shocks had been set at the highest level, no reason for it unless the PO's wife was a 2-ton tillie. Here's hoping the ride home will be less shocking on the old body....aside from the cold temps now.
Now I can start swapping stuff of the old bike to the trike....and install the license plate which finally came exactly one month after application was emailed. I got the new title & registration in one week, but was 3 wks. later before the tag came. The DMV in Green Bay won't let you do business in person for the foreseeable future, otherwise I could have rec'd. the new tag the same day. Only problem now is the riding season is pretty much over unless we get a hot spell....up here that's anything above 45 degrees according to the locals. Yesterday going into Walmart wearing a hooded sweatshirt, I followed a young girl and her mother....both in shorts. Just have to move south....
