My new wheelie bars

[400ccHomemade]

I totaly redid the rear end on my homemade trike. For those of you that don't know or forgot or don't care or whatever it is a 400cc street bike that I made into an off-road 3 wheeler. Well, anyway, on the first try, I had the rear suspension geometry all off, it rode terrible, and because I did it with a MIG welder, it basically fell apart. Now I've redone the whole thing with an ARC welder, I have lots of travel in the rear now, and it looks better too. I extended the wheelbase a couple inches while I was at it. Yesterday I finished the wheelie bar. It's more for safety than for wheelie suppresion, I like wheelies. Now the new bars are set very high, basically vertical. It scared me the first couple times, (the thing weighs like 350 pounds, I'd really rather not flip it over) but I finally got the guts to go all the way back. Works great. But, if I leave it on the bars longer than 5 or 6 seconds, the float bowls spill and it stalls. Hmmm.....makes you wonder what the oil is doing in there................ :naughty:

[LonesomeTriZ]

When are you going to post some photographs of this thing.

[crackshot]

I because I did it with a MIG welder, it basically fell apart. :



MIG's will weld metal together just fine and hold if you use the correct amperage, prep your work and you get good metal to metal penetration.
I use MIG's to weld shock mounts and steering stabilizers on 4x4's all the time and other types of fabrication.
I built a single axle trailer with a MIG and have not had one single weld crack or break and used 1/4" steel square box tubing.
Was running beads with one pass no problem.

[400ccHomemade]

I've posted pics before, I didn't want to keep showing the same ones. But here's 2 of it before I "updated" it.

[LonesomeTriZ]

That thing looks pretty wild. How does it perform off road?

[400ccHomemade]

MIG's will weld metal together just fine and hold if you use the correct amperage, prep your work and you get good metal to metal penetration.
I use MIG's to weld shock mounts and steering stabilizers on 4x4's all the time and other types of fabrication.
Ya, but this mig welder was a 110 volt P.O.S. that didn't even burn into the metal on full heat. Never buy a cheap welder.

[400ccHomemade]

It performs awesome off road. Only downside is I built it too wide. It's like 52" wide. Handles great, and it does a mean donut, but it is just too wide for woods riding. Here's a few action pics.

[LonesomeTriZ]

That looks pretty damn neat. I was thinking it would bee far too heavy. Appearently I was wrong.

[crackshot]

Ya, but this mig welder was a 110 volt P.O.S. that didn't even burn into the metal on full heat. Never buy a cheap welder.

It's the amperage that is important. I have one of those. It's not a cheap one though.
Old Lincoln with a tweeko stinger using shielded flux core wire.
I blow my welder out with compessed air every month to blow out the metal grinding dust and other debris that get sucked in by the transformer fan.

[400ccHomemade]

Well, it is pretty dern heavy, but it does ok. By the way, in that first pic of the water, the 2 little dots are my head, and my finacee's head. She likes to get muddy too! :Bounce

[LonesomeTriZ]

Well, it is pretty dern heavy, but it does ok. By the way, in that first pic of the water, the 2 little dots are my head, and my finacee's head. She likes to get muddy too! :Bounce


Normally I would say riding with a passenger is not something I consider a good idea. But for a bike that was designed for it I guess it is not all that bad. That is good she does not mind getting dirty. ;)

[kando]

What holds that motor in there, LOL. I know its in there good but in the wheelie picture it looks like it just hanging there. How fast does that thing go?

[bigredhead]

where's your helmet young man ? ( damn i sound like my father !! :p )

[400ccHomemade]

I thought the same thing about the motor hangin out like that when I first got the bike. There's actually a very large bracket on each head, and the motor actually hangs from it. About the helmet, I know. I wear one ALL THE TIME now, I have had a few scares. Mainly I wear one because I don't want my finacee to get hurt. If I don't wear one, she won't. I have a quick helmet story to tell if nobody minds. The picture below is a picture of my lovely finacee Holly sitting on her Tri-moto 125. It was taken the same day as the other pics of me without a helmet you mentioned. We were riding around my field, having a grand ol' time, and then we went inside to eat. Then, Holly said she wanted to go up the dirt road for awhile, she got tired of riding around in circles in the field. I said ok. As we were walking out the door, I stopped and said, "Why don't we grab helmets if we are going on the road." She didn't want to, but we did. We went up the road for a bit, then turned around. I was in front on the homemade, she was on the tri-moto. I looked behind me OFTEN, as she was still pretty new at riding. I looked behind me once, and the trike was upside down, laying on her. The axle was half ripped of the bike, and so was the bodywork. I ran back as fast as I could, threw my helmet in the woods, and finally got up to her. She was yelling for me. The sprocket was resting on her helmet. Let me say that again: the sprocket was resting on her helmet. Huge gouge taken out of it. She was overall ok. Some nasty road rash, some good scars, but nothing broken, etc. Anyone want to guess what would have happened if we didn't stop to put helmets on? I don't want to. I hate helmets, but believe me, we wear one at all times now. I don't mind a lecture on helmets, I appreciate the concern. :beer