Sums Taz & I up quite well I think -I'm the quiet little guy, dutifully tagging along behind as she blazes a trail through life. I have bad hair days like that too.
Hurrah! I've finally had a reply from Brian. I know it's a long post, but thought the trikers among us might be interested
Hi Andy,
Yes this was your trike. I've owned it now for about 9 years. I bought it from a guy in the Peak District. He'd acquired it from a guy in Sheffield, who in turn had acquired it from a guy in Lytham St Ann's, near Blackpool -who you sold it to.
I was gobsmacked to see it on your web site as I had very little history of it. When I bought it, it was in a poor state, a non runner, no MOT with damage to the frame and bent half shafts. This didn't become apparent until I managed to get the thing running and it went down the street sideways! It also became apparent that the engine was shot as it wouldn't select 1st or 2nd gear -apparently a common problem with the XS. The electrics were also shot.
I decided to do it properly and stripped the whole thing down at the start of 2003. I found a complete XS, (1980), with only 13k on it, only one owner, who'd come off it in 1996 and not ridden it again, but had left it standing outside for 7 years. All the bits I needed worked so I bought it.
The trike frame needed some work. The arms that support the guards were bent and it looked as though the head stock had been cut off and welded back on badly, certainly not to the standard of the other work on the frame, which is excellent. I can only imagine it had been in an accident, as both half shafts were bent, one much worse than the other. The welding was done by Geoff Madock. He's had bikes featured in 100% biker magazine, in particular his pride and joy, a Norton rotary engined, R1 framed, street fighter. Geoff manufactures custom exhausts for any bike, and is an excellent welder. He did all the repair work on the frame, including some more gusseting/support for the head stock. A mate of mine, Andy Wilson, worked for Mercedes and they put the drive shafts on a press to straighten them out. I put the axle back together with new seals and replaced all the rear brake components, including new stainless fittings and braided hoses, as the original steel fittings had corroded. This was a ridiculous price for what it was. I also replaced the hydraulic brake light switch with a mechanical one. As you commented, the brakes aren't the best but the axle must be 40 or 50 years old and for something moving at 65 - 70 mph its fine. I also replaced and rebuilt the master cylinder from the donor XS and fitted that to the frame.
The biggest issue with the braking was attempting to rebuild the master cylinder for the front brakes. It tuned out to be Honda, but you probably know that! Once I'd worked out the origin I had the alloy polished and I rebuilt the master cylinder with a repair kit from Z Power who helped me identify the original.
The donor engine was media blasted and painted with 2 pack gloss black. When I got it back in the frame it wouldn't run. It had no compression so I re-built the top end with the engine back in the frame. I also added a new clutch and electronic ignition which also involved a full rewire. The carbs that came with the doner engine were re-built but have never worked well, so the engine now runs with the original carbs. These are a slightly larger carb, or the intake is slightly larger than stock. I've had 3 sets on it to date -thank God for Ebay! All the removable parts of the case were removed and polished. I bought a new exhaust from Ebay but you must've shortened the back box as the new old stock stuck out a good 6 inches beyond the original, so it now runs with new old stock down pipes and your back box. I had this powder coated and it's standing up well.
The front end had new seals, dust covers and oil, the top nuts were chromed and I put some lights on the top yoke for oil and neutral. The callipers were rebuilt with new pistons and seals and all were polished. The front wheel was polished and rebuilt with new seals and the shaft chromed -pointless really as nobody sees it!
I am on a 3rd set of handle bars -the first 2 had the electrics running through the bars but the weak spots where the cables entered & exited the bars started to tear, so the set I have on now have external electrics and seem to be holding up well.
All the paint work was done by Esoteric, a custom bike painter in Blackpool.
Hope this clears up some history. Unfortunately I now need to sell the trike as 12 points on my licence is too great a risk to continue. If you need any more info just let me know. Apologies for not having come back to you sooner -this has taken longer than I expected!
Regards, Brian.
