The Black Museum

The Black Museum of Trike Builds. Read on it may save your life.
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gtr-trike
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Post by gtr-trike »

Chop it up and keep v5 thats worth a few hndred quid ;)
heavy is good, heavy is reliable, and if it does fail, then hit them with it :caveman:
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Dr Death
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Location: Hinton, Northants, near oxfordshire border

Post by Dr Death »

Sorry folkks this is hijacking .....do it by PM or in the for sale section
There are things out there that scare even me
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swirl
Moved in and now we can't get rid
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Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2012 5:43 pm
Location: ellesmere port

Post by swirl »

sorry doc, think were sorted ;)
63gbs
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whoops

Post by 63gbs »

Woops got carried away - sorry:naughty:
levvin

Post by levvin »

Right....

This new section is aimed at showing pitfalls and pure lazy b*****d shortcuts that new trikerlings should look out for when viewing a potential trike purchase....

or indeed things they SHOULDNT do when constructing their own triple wheeled steed....

SOOO.......

Heres a subtle taster of something i found recently whilst working on a mates' newly aquired trike....

No names...no pack drill....thats the rules.

Take a close look at this piccy...

[ATTACH]10487[/ATTACH]

Cant spot the potential killer there?

OK......heres a closer look.......

[ATTACH]10488[/ATTACH]

YES! Thats right!

Go to the top of the class!

Yes, it really IS a friggin brass hollow banjo brake line bolt....

HOLDING ON THE REAR SHOCK ABSORBER!!!!!!:caveman::furious:

I replaced it with the correct sized stainless bolt with nyloc nut and washers...

and it cost all of £1.50....

value of a LIFE? what can i say??

C'MON....lets see some more....

Lev:respek:

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levvin

Post by levvin »

Same trike rebuild...different fault....

not directly a potential killer....but very much enough to piss you off miles from home in the rain...at night....in banjo butt plugging territory...

although loss of control of the machine easily could have dire consequences....

This particular piece of utter crap someone parted with their hard earned cash for had recieved absolutely NO regular maintenance.....

its the owner/riders duty to carry out basic repairs and care to the controls of the machine...

Its really NOT hard for even the most mechanically illiterate amongst us to operate an oil can.....

its easier than logging on to bleedin' ebay!!

Every one of us should spend half an hour...even just once a YEAR....with an oil can...NOT wd40...it will cause problems as its not strictly a lubricant...

oiling the control cables on your trike.

the clutch cable, and the throttle cable NEED some oil dribbled down inside their outer sleeves to stop them rusting up and fraying...and ultimately seizing or snapping on you.

the throttle twistgrip should pull easily and snap back smartly....

it must NEVER be stiff or slow to return...incidentally the throttle cable was rusted so badly i renewed it without even entertaining oiling it...£9.00...

imagine approaching a busy junction and you back off the throttle only for the carbs to stay wide open propelling your screaming trike and self under that passing 18 wheeler....

OR...As in this case...

[ATTACH]10489[/ATTACH]

the clutch cable was so dry it locked up in its sleeve actually snapping off the cable adjuster at the handle bars...causing total loss of clutch control and NO neutral gear....

also damned dangerous approaching a busy junction...

if anyone on here reckons they could think and react so quickly to hit the kill switch and steer into a kerb when their clutch suddenly gives way without warning on top of a junction....

is a bloody liar.:finger:

Check the freeness of the clutch and throttle on any potential trike purchase...its a dead giveaway to a regular maintenance regime or a neglected piece of crap...:hissyfit:

And oil your cables ...even if its once a year at the end of season....

most of us spend countless hours tinkering on the trike...

just grab an old fashioned oil can and save yourself some grief.

Lev:respek:



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levvin

Post by levvin »

Ever wondered what would happen if that propshaft spinning at loads of RPM right below your arse should suddenly SNAP??

Providing your prop has been made to fit the trike correctly and safely...

I took mine to an engineering firm who turned it, welded it and balanced it in a lathe...i sure as hell dont trust my own shed builder skills THAT much!!....

then you should never have a problem.

when buying an unknown trike, push it fore and aft in neutral and look at the universal joints in the propshaft...

they should have NO free play in them, no wobbly movements :alkies: and no notchyness...

they should in an ideal world look greasy but clean....

[ATTACH]10491[/ATTACH]

the Universal joint on this trike was totally T.C.O....Clunked badly on drive take up, and was visably slack.

it took me ages to remove the bone dry, seized up and collapsed joint from the prop...

i had to use heat and a vice to press it out...

[ATTACH]10490[/ATTACH]

but renewed it with a nice new joint,

and it now is as smooth as silk.

if possible, pop into your local garage and ask them to pump some fresh grease into the nipple on the UJ...

itll save you money and hassle.

oh yeah...

and might save your nadgers too!:dummy:

Lev

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beardyman13
Moved in and now we can't get rid
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Post by beardyman13 »

for any newbies reading this an thinking all trikes are death traps dont!!!! there are hundreds of members on here an most of em have never had a problem with there rides these are the unfortunate examples (an yes mines one of em) of the bodgers out there that will pray on the uninitiated(yep that was me again) so please dont panic oh an lev re the throttle cable ive been there riding out of work towards the main road on me bsa tracker125 when it jammed wide open fortunately i managed to rip the ht lead off the plug (not to be recomended) which is why im here today to annoy everyone. so thats the first job on the list when i get mine ready for the road soon :respek:
levvin

Post by levvin »

IT NEVER RAINS, EH?

The last job i had to do on a certain members trike over a week ago was a final tune up and carb balance on the yam xj700 motor i'd rebuilt totally last autumn...

all ready for its mot before being repatriated...

yeah.

NOT!:caveman:

I noticed the tuning wasnt going too well, running very badly...

id totally rebuilt the carbs....they were fine...

upped the jets to compensate for pod filters and 4-2-1 zorst...

and it HAD been running as sweet as a nut...( Where DOES that come from? my nuts sure aint sweet!)

but now its running like a bag of bolts!

hmmmmm...check the exhausts' downpipes first...

quick squirt of wd40 on the hottest bends...

no.1, 3,4.....smokey!!

no.2.....wet!!!

its not firing on number 2 cylinder...(like that old skool bikers tip? i have used wee in the past for same reason...no wd40 and on a rally...but this aint my trike to slash over!))

ok...why not?....check plug cap methinks.

i pull off the brand new shiny black sparkplug cap.....

AND THE F@*%ING SPARK PLUG CAME OUT WITH IT!!!

No effort at all!!

and there was a bodged 'insert' still attatched to the plug too...bollocks!

that means someone had overtightened the plug in the past, and ripped the sparkplug threads out of the alloy head...then tried a DIY thread repair kit...

load of shite...theyd buggered up the threads on the insert when theyd tapped the inserts outer thread into the cylinder head...

meaning that i couldnt helicoil the head to fit new stainless plug threads.

yeah, i was a tad tetchy after finding that.:furious:

Anyway, i went to our famous local machine shop again...real good old cornish place...chickens running around the yard, swallows nest inside the place during summer...brilliant!

Weldspray engineering....wheal Honey, near Liskeard.

the guys there who run the machining are awesome.

I spoke to the head honcho, Mike, who did some measuring, and is machining up a bespoke insert, 14 x 1.25mm inner thread, for the plug, and some obscure imperial thread for the outer thread, so the head can be re tapped properly without taking out much metal.

im waiting for Mike to call when hes done the new insert.

moral of this story, dont overtighten spark plugs.

spin them in by hand, get them started with a bit of rubber pipe shoved on em..you cant strip or cross thread using that method,

And tighten up just a gnats 'gentleman's sausage....with a small ratchet..gently!

Lev:niceone:
Haggis
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Post by Haggis »

Now now fellas. Remember this page is supposed to be about badly constructed trikes. Now how do we know that this one is badly constructed???
Ok I agree its not a pretty design but someone has put a lot of effort into building it and is obviously quite happy with what he has done.

Remember without people making the first effort to build a trike or bike there would not be any crazy looking ones out there. Most of us ride trikes or chops etc to be different from the crowd. And this one is certainly different. Ugly but different.

Rant over :respek:
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