Old newbie back to my roots

[kerryb]

Hi, i'm new here, been lurking for all of ten minutes! Recently acquired a 1600 dp type 1 engine (1970) with a Wil-Mac trike wrapped around it. Had to dig out my "idiots manual" from the mid seventies, glad I kept it! Wish I had kept one or two of my old beetles or better yet the '67 bus, but alas, they are gone. But I'll be reading a lot and asking some questions about keeping my new engine in good health 'cause I plan to drive the rings off it and have a great adventure.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Very clean looking! I noticed the wheelie bars so it must have some "guts" to the engine.

Lee

[kerryb]

I don't know how much "guts" the motor was given during the rebuild, but the wheelie bars aren't for show. They are however, too high. Speaking of too high, I can't get it to idle at less than 21° of initial advance. Is this bad for my engine? Could it have anything to do with my Duralast electrinic ignition?

[Ol'fogasaurus]

20180610_183735[1] copy.jpg

So... it looks like you are using coil-over shocks (or something similar) for your wheelie bars. Not a bad idea just lightly thinking about it as it should absorb the shock of them hitting the ground but then they would allow more "nose up angle" in doing it.

To state the obvious: block the rear wheels to stop movement then block the front end up in the air to measure just how high you want to allow (feel comfortable) to rise then do some measuring. Allow for the springs/shock to collapse before coming up with a fix. "SOP" for solving problems like this. The lower bar's connection to the engine cage... spherical rod ends? You also have to deal with the suspension travel which might be the reason it is sitting where it is.

You also want to ensure that the caster angle of the small wheels in the wheelie bar is kept close to what it is. Removing some of the caster might give you some "wiggle" with the front wheel in the air.

You might make new pivots a bit longer to drop the lower bar down some along with longer coil-overs but then you would/could lose a lot of strength there. Add the negative to that the bar would/could be closer to the ground inhibiting ground clearance.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

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It looks like you rear suspension is swing axle... correct.

The pivots do look pretty basic and shouldn't be too hard to replace if you wanted to lower the arm somewhat but I think I would look at basing it on a rectangular tube when doing it.

[kerryb]

All good points to consider on the rebuild, but the major hurdle will be making them viable and correct while working around a trailer hitch for my teardrop camping trailer. Maybe just leave the nosewheel of the trailer down some.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

All good points to consider on the rebuild, but the major hurdle will be making them viable and correct while working around a trailer hitch for my teardrop camping trailer. Maybe just leave the nosewheel of the trailer down some.

Woof! That IS another big thing (pun intended) to contemplate as the trailer is going to be so close to the weight of the trike.

http://www.boatus.com/magazine/traileri ... ct-tow.asp

https://www.cyclefish.com/forums/topic/ ... motorcycle

Setting up a trailer to tow is hard to start with but more so when doing it with a bike or trike. On the second URL they talk about moving the trailer axle back (or forward) to get good tongue weight.

I've been a passenger a couple of times where the trailer tried to drive the tow vehicle. When motorhoming we saw a lot of bad setups on the move plus talked to some very tired (or now broke) drivers when they finally got to their destination.

I do occasionally tow my car trailer and loading/balancing the load is so important to a relaxing drive. I have had to stop and rearrange things a bit after feeling the loading problem; one of the reasons I use the spring lines (a marine thing) but that is not something you will have to deal with.

Since this is the year for a new deck, packing the wheel bearing and grease seals plus checking the wiring (it sits a lot now days) I plan on making one addition to the electrical system and that is to put a pair of lights, one on each side that shine down, at an angle, onto the pavement to indicate where the rear of the trailer is when backing up at night or even passing during dark hours (you do have a working reverse don't you ).

I don't envy you your job but when done to perfection you will be so happy!

Lee

[kerryb]

I should have prefaced that with an explanation of the trailer. 220 lbs. Fully loaded with a tongue weight of about 25-30 lbs. Pulled it with my '83 Goldwing right now (1100 cc motor).

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Not what I thought you were talking about (my bad).

Balance and tongue weight are still important though as when it is attached and loaded it can affect the trike's overall ride and handling too.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Got thinking about this and did some looking up of things.

http://www.motoreagles.com/blog/towing- ... otorcycle/

Check your states rules for towing, the same for other states you will be towing through. When doing some searching I found a lot of specific info but not on motorcycle or trike towing a trailer but there are general rules on towing from the DOT and each state. When towing through CA I had a lot of rules to follow, the same with some other states. States with no reduced speed limits for towing you still have to be safe; speed and loading comes in to play there also.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=fed+specs ... f6ceb01700

There is a lot here but for some reason I cannot open some of the URLs.

https://www.askthe.police.uk/Content/Q482.htm This is from the UK... for what it is worth.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/MCTraile ... 2118569058

I found this and it might have some interest.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/MCTraile ... listMode=1

Interesting!

https://www.bing.com/search?q=motorcycl ... FORM=QSRE2

Some of the above came from here.