The trike....it's alive.

[John Schmidt]

Finally had enough warm days recently so I could spend time working on putting it all back together. Today I put the final touchs on it after some wiring changes and additions. Recall I had rebuilt the carbs on the old bike last summer and had swapped them over to the trike. In general, the trike had been neglected but was basically a good ride as best I could tell. After working on it off & on the last few months....off when cold and on when warm enough for the IR heaters to warm the garage enough to allow me to work out there. Finally today I got it all back together with the exception of the pods with the fog lights. I siphoned gas from the tank going on the old bike and used it in the trike, made sure it was in neutral and with a little choke....hit the starter. It turned over real good but since the bowls were dry it didn't fire right away. I killed the ignition then turned it back on so the Dan Marc would open up to fill the carbs. Again with a bit of choke I hit the starter and it fired so quick it actually startled me. I let it run for about a minute and shut it down, then looked all over for any sign of leaks, drips, whatever. None...great! Started it again and was thrilled as how quick it fired up, something it didn't do before. After it had run enough to settle down and was able to kill the choke, I adjusted the idle to a point just below 1k rpm...so far it just sits and runs like it should. Crack the throttle and it's instant. So there I am with a big stupid grin wishing it would warm up and quit raining so I can road test it. When I do take it on the road, my son-in-law will be following me for a while....just in case. At present it doesn't have a back seat or the trunk mounted back rest. Both are in Texas being dressed up to match the front seat and tank bib. I created the back seat by cutting the rear portion off the stock one piece seat, trimmed it to fit and sent it south. I was able to move the tank over from the old bike, along with the front wheel, fender, brakes, and Corbin side covers. If I can catch up with The Mountain Man, I'll have him add some painting to the fairing, rear fenders & trunk. Here's a couple pics taken this afternoon. Not much to show really but you can't imagine the feeling to have it crank up and run good after all this time.





The handlebars are Wild 1 WO508, 1 1/4", still waiting on some support doodads to clamp on the bars to run the wiring & hydraulic lines through. Right now the wiring is just hanging and doesn't look good. Soon as I get the replacement fog light switch I'll mount the pods, then a good clean and polish. Also can't wait to check the cruise control operation, it's set up like it was on the old bike so should work fine.

[Rams]

Lov'n it when a plan comes together!!   

Rams

[John Schmidt]

Still need to bleed the clutch and front brakes. They're a handy accessory to have...especially when working right. 

[JimC]

Good job John!

Jim

[Avanti]

Good to see all is well and running. Soon you will be flying in the wind.

[Warlock]

Looking good. Wished you lived closer for some rides.
David (Warlock)

[Valkorado]

 

It looks like a chip off the old block -- or vise versa!  And that's about the best compliment I can give a trike -- or a bike.   

Beautiful, and with more of that leatherwork it'll be magnificent.  You can tote the kitchen sink, too!

[DDT (12)]

John,

Well done! Looking forward to seeing the final product...

DDT

[matt]

That's awesome John, I been waiting for pics.

[OnaWingandaPrayer]

It's great to see your project coming to a finish so the rides can begin. Enjoy the miles.

[old2soon]

           So would have been a mucho better time line had winter NOT sucked so-your expletive(s) here-bad. Couldn't swap the bars and controls from the old scoot?? Lookin like yer on the right path anywho there John. I git up there again is that resturant open where we went in 20? Still rememberin that marble rye bread!  And hey-didja ever git my texts? Stay well my Friend. RIDE SAFE.

[John Schmidt]

           So would have been a mucho better time line had winter NOT sucked so-your expletive(s) here-bad. Couldn't swap the bars and controls from the old scoot?? Lookin like yer on the right path anywho there John. I git up there again is that resturant open where we went in 20? Still rememberin that marble rye bread!  And hey-didja ever git my texts? Stay well my Friend. RIDE SAFE.

I tried but remember those controls were HD and took some special work to adapt to Honda. When I went looking for the instructions to adapt them to the I/S, they were nowhere to be found and I decided I didn't want to reinvent the wheel so went with OEM controls. I still tried running the wiring inside but even after some major cuts to allow a larger bundle to go through, it still didn't look good or work out right so I dumped the old bars for new ones. They're the same 1 1/4" model bars, just new and look better...old ones had nearly 15 yrs. of wear and had major cuts underneath. The new bars are almost an exact match to OEM I/S bars but I like the feel more than the stock. All I had to do was drill a small hole on the bottom for the small tab in the controls that keeps them in place. Just need some hangers to run wiring and hoses through so they aren't just hanging there.

The little restaurant is open 7-1, same crew(and gals Tina & Carla), same food. And yes, I think I did get your texts, not sure why I didn't respond...life sometimes get in the way and I forget. 

[TJ]

Looking GREAT for what an old Buzzard working on it....  LOOKS GREAT   

[Bret SD]

Nice work John! That's gonna be an awesome machine to go out and get your fun on 

[Ken aka Oil Burner]

Lookin good John. The only thing good about cold miserable winters is the awakening in Spring. And I mean the ONLY thing.

Hope you enjoy the trike!

[flsix]

John it's really good that you were able to keep a lot of your original custom bits and add them to the trike. She's looking good. It's going to feel so good to get the wind again.
When is the rest of the leather going to be done?

[Thunderbolt]

Looks good John.  Glad you had a project to keep the wheels between your ears rolling while the others could not.

[John Schmidt]

John it's really good that you were able to keep a lot of your original custom bits and add them to the trike. She's looking good. It's going to feel so good to get the wind again.
When is the rest of the leather going to be done?

My friend told me it should be ready in time for me to install before InZane. He's already started on it, I'll be interested to see how he matches it up with the front seat and backrest. He told me he keeps all the patterns he creates.

After bleeding the clutch and front brakes this afternoon, I took it for a spin around the parking lot here at the apts. It's pretty good size so gave me a chance to goose it a couple times and I was pleased with the response. Plenty of power now, on the way home after buying it last fall it didn't have enough power to pull a settin' hen off her nest. Twist the throttle and it would slowly accelerate. Now it really scoots after replacing belts, installing a 4 deg. T/W, swapping my rebuilt carbs to it from the old bike and in the process getting rid of intake leaks at the cylinder head on every cylinder. While I had the carbs out, I replaced the t'stat(& gasket) with a new one....same stock temp just a hi-flo version. While in there...you have to clean and clean and clean....then clean some more. Still more needed, it was really neglected. I did find a replacement fog light switch, a simple on/off rocker at Ace Hardware. Had to enlongate the hole a bit, the harness was messed up next to it so built a new one. When it warms up a bit I'll have my son-in-law follow me and give it a good test run, need to check out the CC for the trip south in two months.

[Farside]

That is coming right along John. The finished project will be a nice accomplishment. Hope to see it and you at InZane. 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Reb check out the paint looks like the same person painted John's that painted yours.

[Rams]

When it warms up a bit I'll have my son-in-law follow me and give it a good test run, need to check out the CC for the trip south in two months.

Looking forward to seeing your work and to meeting you.   Ride safe, I'm also re-learning to ride.   My new (to me) acquistion is also a trike and the curves are a whole new experience than on two wheels. 
Switching back and forth from two to three wheels and back ain't helping with that learning curve either.   

Rams

[John Schmidt]

Reb check out the paint looks like the same person painted John's that painted yours.

For reference, mine was painted by Mike Lamborne, a/k/a The Mountain Man. My wife was part Cherokee, that's why I chose to do the Native American theme. Plan to have more painting done to the trike.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Reb check out the paint looks like the same person painted John's that painted yours.

For reference, mine was painted by Mike Lamborne, a/k/a The Mountain Man. My wife was part Cherokee, that's why I chose to do the Native American theme. Plan to have more painting done to the trike.

Hope Reb see's this thread and post a picture of his Interstate.

[Reb]

Uncle's Interstate was done by a feller named Van Gough (Not the one-eared feller named Vincent) during an open house even at our local Honda dealer - Niehouse in Litchfield Illinois.


Mountain man did the 6 headed dragon on my blower bike many moons ago (way prior to my ownership of it). I've since removed it as it was really starting to show it's 20+ year age.

[Charlie McCready]

Good job John. Lookin forward to seeing it in Ohio !!

[John Schmidt]

I recall seeing that tank painting a long time ago. I have a painting on the front fender that The Mountain Man did at IZ 3 in '03 and it still looks good. Here's a shot taken just a couple months ago....excuse the bright light reflection down the center near the bottom.

[_Sheffjs_]

John, I think this is awesome!