xs1100 turning into a trike

[bikerphil]

Avon tires, free shipping....

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...T.ac=SLIsearch

+1 on the heavier 20W fork oil. You can always add some PVC preload spacers to your fork springs to stiffen up the front if needed.

[fredintoon]

Ok thanks for the reply. I am replacing the seals and was just asking if a heavier spring is needed for triking it. also where can I get the avon tire?

Hi 'racer,
Dennis Kirk's replacements are a tad stiffer than stock, you can increase their preload by cutting the spacer tubes longer than they recommend plus the Special forks have air assist if you want to pump them up.
Google "Avon sidecar universal" to get 757,000 hits, here's one of the first:-
http://www.jcmotors.com/p-28127-avon...rsal-tire.aspx.

[DCracer25]

build

Do you put the spacer on top of the spring then the cap or on the bottom then the spring? and thanks for the places to get the front tire from. Also how long would you make the spacers?

[petejw]

theres a washer that needs to go between the spring
and the spacer,
the only problem with increasing the length of the spacer
is that u start reducing suspension sag which isnt a real
good thing,
front suspension sag from memory is around 35mm
give or take a few mm's.

[fredintoon]

Do you put the spacer on top of the spring then the cap or on the bottom then the spring? and thanks for the places to get the front tire from. Also how long would you make the spacers?

Hi 'racer,
the spacer goes on top of the spring. Theoretically it don't matter but it's way easier to take the spacer out again that way.
My sidecar rig most likely has the same load on it's forks as your trike will and it rides nice with the spacers cut the exact length Progressive recommends & 5psi air pressure.

[DCracer25]

build

I have mounted the forks on the bike and front wheel for now and I'll tell ya it is different there is at least 1 3/4 inch difference in the rake. does anyone have the speedo gear that goes on the wheel for a special?

[fredintoon]

Watch your terminology!

I have mounted the forks on the bike and front wheel for now and I'll tell ya it is different there is at least 1 3/4 inch difference in the rake. does anyone have the speedo gear that goes on the wheel for a special?

Hi 'racer,
you did NOT change the rake. The only way to do that is to cut & re-weld the steering head. What you did was to decrease the trail by moving the front axle forwards.
Andreas is the most likely to have a Special speedo drive.

[petejw]

i thought the speedo drivers were
interchangable for both models
is that not right?

[crazy steve]

Nope, the standard drive won't clear the special slider; the cable comes out at a different angle. The cable is different too; while the standard cable screws to the drive (like at the speedo end), the special cable has a bracket and bolts on.

You can fit the special drive/cable to standard forks, but not the other way....

[petejw]

Nope, the standard drive won't clear the special slider; the cable comes out at a different angle. The cable is different too; while the standard cable screws to the drive (like at the speedo end), the special cable has a bracket and bolts on.

You can fit the special drive/cable to standard forks, but not the other way....

no worries, have them both here, just never tried swapping them.

[Lonerider62]

While I love my wirefeed welder, I'm pretty careful about where I use it. While most are rated to weld up to 1/4" material (more if you have a 230v unit), you simply won't get the penetration you should have in a high-strength application with thicker material. You also get slightly more reduced penetration when running flux-core wire. Yeah, I know lots of guys have built all sorts of stuff with these, up to and including trailers, but I've also seen more than a few weld failures. Mine is rated to 1/4", but I won't use it if the material is any thicker than 1/8". For structural welding on a motorcycle frame, no way would I use one unless it's fairly thin stock, say .090" or less.

The XS frame and swingarm was factory welded using an arc process, and that was for strength purposes. I'll be honest and say that if your new swingarm and frame mods were done with a wirefeed, you're really taking a chance IMO. You noted that it's really hard to break the welds, but a properly-done arc weld will be all-but-impossible to break, and on thicker material the weld won't fail; the parent metal will first. Your design will be putting a lot of torsional stress on many of the welds, and those are the type of stresses that wirefeed is the weakest on.

My rule of thumb is if the machine can't burn a hole in the material, you're not getting enough penetration.

I don't want to see anyone get hurt....

I see that some welders on here don't think much of wirefeed welders but today there are some darned good wirefeed welders that can handle 1/4" materail with no problem. By the way, Draw-tite used to be one of my customers and they build their hitches with wirefeed welders (at least in the Detroit area). I have a Century wirefeed that I've used for quite a while on everything from farm equipment to go-karts and it has worked well. From my experience, the prep. work before the welder even touches the material will have more of an impact on the integrity of the weld than how it appears on the outside. I had a go-kart that broke a weld at the suspension joint for the rear because of a weak weld. I cleaned it up, beveled it and re-welded it. Wasn't pretty but that was seven years ago and it's still going strong. I think this project will be just fine and hopefully teach us all something.

[DCracer25]

build

Ok thanks about the trail I am still learning about this, but the difference is very visable, and when I measured the distance from the same point on the frame to the axle it showed about a 1 3/4 inch difference. Wheel farther out. I am hoping from all that I have read about the rake and trail that this will help with the steering, I am also thinking of putting a fork brace on as well.

[DCracer25]

build

I thank you for your vote of confidence as I have stated I always test weld pieces of the metal I am going to use to see if I can burn through it then set the welder accordinly, Oh by the way my welder is made by miller and is set up to run both types of wire. And I worked weekends at a local racetrack using the same welder putting cars back together that were tore up racing and never had any complaints. and they usually made it through the main event with no problems. And I have built 2 trailers from scratch and still using 1 today after 6 yrs of hard use, the other one still being used as well. also built 5 different stockcars with this welder and the last car I built saved my life when I was spun out of control and was hit headon as well being t boned, the roll cage I built did it job with out any injury to me. the car was back on the track 2 weeks later with new sheet metal and a few new bars that were bent but welds never broke. As very well stated preperation is the key to any thing you do. now enough about my poor looking welds as I stated I grind then weld regrind and weld again.

[DCracer25]

build

OK now another problem to take care of, what is the best way to clean the rust out of the gas tank and then seal it? also I contacted george fix for the petcock rebuild kits and he is telling me there no such animal as a 81 venture xs1100. I have 2 petcocks that are the same on the tank and most all the kits supply enough for 2 but the diafram. And it is the big tank.

[bikerphil]

If you are going to seal it, there are sealers where you just leave the rust alone, no need to clean it. Other route is just get rid of the rust by electrolysis and no sealer. Search "electrolysis".

It's an 81 Venturer, just tell him 78-81 Standard.