Trike build

[wizzkitt]

Maybe we'll get you on 3 wheels yet then Wizz!

Only if I have another combination.

We built a trike a couple of years ago. Swapped for an R1 before we'd even ridden it. 

[Manky Monkey]

I seem to remember something Capri based back in the AWOL days?

[wizzkitt]

That was actually BSH, and the Capri motor is still in Paul Pointy Wizard Hat Fabrications' garage (although he did get the name for his firm after I coined it in an article).

I went and bought another Capri which seemed a far more sensible thing to do.

[Manky Monkey]

Too big & heavy a motor. Youd've been much happier with a Reliant you know.
Size ain't everything.

[triker-taz]

on the axle! on the diff housing.

Had a look but cant see out .. Any way been propping the bits up today on bits of wood to see haw it all looks and think it will be ok just a couple more questions.

How high is the lower frame off the ground where the engine sits on your trikes because with the forks I have to keep the frame level (as it would have been on the bike) they are about 8" off the ground (think this is a bit high as my other trike is about 3" lower)
  Other trike does have bandit forks with smaller wheel but dont think it would make that much differance.

Or is it because there is no weight on the forks so at the mo they are at full length if so any ideas how much I should compress them before I start chopping things about (saw a bike build in BSH where he was on about this but cant find it at the mo)

[Manky Monkey]

Hiya Taz.
My own trike's got 5 inches of ground clearance under the sump at the moment, but I'm building around an empty engine -no internals, just a spare set of casings bolted together. I've set the front of the frame about an inch high to compensate for that. Our forks are kicked out at about 45 degrees, which mean they don't compress much in normal use. If you set your frame up deliberately high at the front & it turned out to be too much once it's finished, you could slide the fork tubes up a bit through the top yoke to drop it back down.
Flap has just 3 inches of clearance on the orange Flapster. At last year's Berkshire Triumph Owners' show he couldn't make it over the big rubber speed bump in the entrance to the carpark! 

[triker-taz]

Thanks Manky think thats what I will do, fork angle is same as bike was so will prob compress quite a bit, pitbull seems to compress almost 2" and its ground clearance not 100% sure as the engine and pipes hang slightly lower than the frame but thats about 5" off the ground ..

Any idea how much to get fork stantions re cromed as the ones im thinking of using arnt as good as I thought. , or would it be cheaper to buy second hand ones in good nick

[Manky Monkey]

Wynne at JW Motorcycles, (in the Links page of the main site), sells new replacement tubes. Might be as cheap as getting yours rechromed. It's hard chrome, not normal show chrome. It's applied then turned down to size on a lathe.
If you're going for longish forks, a brace is a good idea. I've got one on mine that clamps to the top of the fork bottoms, just above the front mudguard. Ska Man's having a very nice billet ally one made by for his by SaddleBags at the moment.