Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Apr 11, 2017 22:39:33 GMT -6
Hey Barry, just by dumb luck I noticed your post. I haven't been on this forum in ages. Sold my Sunny pos after she almost killed me after hittin' a pothole with the left front wheel on an evening ride. Didn't see the hole till last second and couldn't steer after the hit, so down I went. Unfortunately I went down to the right but the trike decided at the last second that it wanted to go across the street to the left. My left leg did not take kindly to this trick and I ended up with a spiral fracture of the tibia from just above the ankle to just below the knee. That was in August of last year and I'm still workin' on gettin' it back to 100%. So enough about me and my words of caution. You've got yourself a headache and you want to make the best of it. Soooo... here's some pics(if I can remember how to get them on here) of what I did with a single universal motorcycle steering damper. A few makeshift brackets and a little red-neck engineering and whalah... no more death shakes. Oh yeah, and you mentioned the speedometer. The magnetic sensor is on the left side of the rear wheel. If you follow the wire back towards the front of the trike you'll find a connector near the motor mount. I suspect you have a bad/loose connection there. And you'll definitely want to become intimately familiar with the motor mount and check it for play often. This was most consistent problem I had with mine and if you go back through my threads you'll see that I replaced all the rubber bushings in it with urethane, then it broke in half, then I got it welded back together with reinforcements and finally had the stinkin' thing ridin' pretty damn good just before hittin' that pothole. So good luck, and be safe my friend and I'll try to keep a closer eye on the forums if you have other questions.
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Jul 25, 2016 18:07:11 GMT -6
I rented a Can Am before I got the Sunny trike and they are completely different machines(especially in quality-lol!!).The Can Am does have a wider stance but the biggest difference is that they don't tilt in the turns. So they ride more like a car than a motorcycle and that's what I didn't like about them. Leaning into turns just feels natural, like riding a bike. Feeling like you're gonna launch off the thing on turns without a seatbelt... not so much. Oh yeah, and I saved about $13000 buying the Sunny trike! Although if you factor in all my labor hours trying to keep the thing on the road...
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Jul 24, 2016 22:05:38 GMT -6
I'm not sure if anyone still has one of these reverse trikes, or if anybody cares, but for the last 4 years this 300cc hunk of junk has been a never ending source of frustration. One of the biggest sources of this frustration has been trying to get the "death shakes" out of this thing. At first they would only come in at low speeds(about 25 mph or less) and mostly when braking. Many wheel alignments later and no more low speed shakes but holy crap, if you ever needed to stop on a dime from highway speeds the whole front end wanted to jump in the next lane. The way the front end is designed, with the tie rods at a pretty steep angle instead of flat, when you get on the brakes hard and the front end squats, it actually toes in the front wheels a little and starts them shaking. The fix? A relatively cheap steering damper. Ok, there's actually quite a bit more to it than that, but the steering damper is what eliminates the shakes altogether. The whole fix? 1)Good quality tires properly balanced(I swear by Ride-On tire balancer and sealant). 2)Make sure the rear wheel doesn't have any side to side movement(the motor mount on these things sucks! I've had to have mine welded after it broke, and replaced all bushings with urethane). 3)Make sure everything in the front and rear suspension is tight. 4)Alignment, alignment, alignment! Getting this right is critical. The front wheels have to be parallel to each other and the rear wheel must be centered between the fronts. Also, to get it right it needs to be loaded with the same weight as when you're ridin'. I use two six foot I-beam style levels that I got cheap at Harbor Freight. Strap em to the outside of both front wheels then take measurments between them just behind the wheels and then at the very back. Levels are long enough that you can also measure the distance to the rear wheel. Once you've got the same measurements in front and rear and have the rear wheel centered between the two, your done. 5)Install an adjustable steering damper. I decided to go with a single damper centrally mounted to the bracket the tie rods are attached to. Definitely some red-neck engineering on my part with clamps and home-made brackets, but was able to get it mounted so that it has clearance even when she's leaned over. Dial in the amount of damping you need(just enough to control the shakes-too much makes the steering squirrelly), and then just sit back and wait for the next thing to break on this fine slice of scooterdom!
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Oct 15, 2014 22:59:13 GMT -6
Glad you're still with us Richard after an accident like that. I always liked the looks of the Magna but never knew about the handling issues. And as for putting urethane bushings in my motor mount, sure, they've firmed things up and don't absorb as much shock as the rubber one's but that's what I needed-something that wasn't gonna crack, dryrot, split, or just disintegrate but still has some flex. And if that's what caused this motor mount to fail, then sheesh! Do I have to worry about the suspension arms? The frame? It's a little unnerving knowing this thing can go 70+ mph... She is all back together now with all new urethane bushings in the motor mount and she's ridin' good. I did get a steering damper for her so that's gonna be the next project. I'm still tryin' to figure out the best way to mount the thing. I'll post some pics when I get-er-done.
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Oct 4, 2014 18:40:59 GMT -6
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Sept 18, 2014 8:29:10 GMT -6
Yeah, it's steel... if you want to call it that. The thing is two years old so even if it was still under warranty what are they gonna do, give me another POS motor mount? If you've seen my other posts you'll know that I already replaced all the bushings in this thing with urethane. Guess I'll have to reengineer this whole thing now. Sucks...
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Sept 17, 2014 20:24:08 GMT -6
So I'm ridin' the trike the other day and I kept gettin' a wiggle in the front end if I let off the gas quick. So I checked for "wag" from the rear wheel when I got home and sure enough lots of it. Figured it was just gonne be some loose motor mount nuts again but nooooo. The flippin' motor mount broke apart! What a piece of crap! Has anyone else had something like this happen? Here's a pic of the quality POS--
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Aug 24, 2014 19:12:09 GMT -6
Woo-Hoo!!! "Death shakes" are gone after installing the new steering shaft u-joint and takin' my time and gettin' the alignment right! But I've been here before, and so have other Sunny reverse trike owners. Everything seems peachy right after the wheel alignment, then in a couple hundred miles that friggin' vibration starts kreepin' back. Well if it was kreepin' back due to the steering u-joint I've got it licked. But I think there are other factors goin' on here. Even though the main "death shakes" are gone I can feel a slight oscillation begin when coming to a stop on a bumpy road or if I hit a bump as coming to a stop. So thanks Alley for remindin' me about the guy who installed steering dampers on his trike. I do think there is a need for them on this beast and am looking into them now. I would much rather use a single centrally located damper than one on each spindle like that guy did. If anybody has some recommendations they would be welcome because there's a million of these things and there's no way I'm spendin' $400 bucks on one! $100 maybe, but that's my limit.
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Aug 22, 2014 22:34:29 GMT -6
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Aug 22, 2014 22:20:25 GMT -6
Here's a couple pics of the new and improved lower steering shaft with the new u-joint welded on. The welding was done by a young mechanic from the Subaru dealership where I work who also has his own shop. He did a really nice job with the welding. I slipped it on to size it up and it's perfect. Will fully install and hopefully get the alignment right tomorrow. I'll post the results...sure hope this gets rid of the shakes(although I have been enjoying riding my motorcycle the last couple of days--at least that's one thing I've got that's trouble free!)
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Aug 20, 2014 20:47:59 GMT -6
If plan comes together will have her back together this weekend. Got a new high quality u-joint on line and a guy at work is gonna cut the shaft off the old joint and weld it onto the new one. Then I've just gotta get the alignment right and she'll be trouble free... (did you actually buy that?)
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Mileage
by: new2scootn - Aug 15, 2014 17:16:09 GMT -6
Post by new2scootn on Aug 15, 2014 17:16:09 GMT -6
I'm sure the motor could see that but I'm not sure if anyone's been able to keep one on the road long enough to put it to the test(LOL!!). I've had mine 2 years now and I'm still gettin the bugs out of her. But if this new steering shaft u-joint gets the "death shakes" out I'll be puttin a lot more miles on her this fall.
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Aug 9, 2014 13:54:33 GMT -6
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Aug 8, 2014 14:59:57 GMT -6
Thanks guys. I actually was messaging with that guy back when he was installing that stuff but don't you think that adjustable shocks would accomplish the same thing?
|
|
Senior Clinician
Currently Offline
This trike you fly!
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Joined: Jul 29, 2012 10:18:39 GMT -6
|
Post by new2scootn on Aug 7, 2014 18:39:43 GMT -6
Epic fail!!! Worked on the bleepin' thing all day saturday and it's worse than ever! Don't have sockets quite big enough to tighten the king pins but I convinced myself that the slight amount of play couldn't be the source of my shakes so I set about to realign the wheels. Which I did thank you very much. Flippin' vibration/shake/oscillation was worse than ever!! And I was so carefull with my measurements. Redid everything with pretty much the same results. Messed with the preload settings on the shocks...nothin'. Figured I'd try to dial in some toe out...got a little better. Dialed in a bit more... maybe a little better. A bit more and she really became squirrelly and my patience and motivation were now gone. Bring on the beer and dinner with the wife and that's where this story ends for now. I keep glaring at her now and then in the garage but haven't gotten bit by the bug to dive in again yet. Oh I've got ideas as to why my alignment didn't go as planned(put rubber pads on straight edges to lift them off of and protect the rims so they may be compressing differently from front to back and screwing with my measurements) so that's the first order of business, but this is an oscillation that once it starts can become pretty violent and doesn't stop until either the trike comes to a complete stop or you accelerate hard. And I've been thinkin' about that and obviously when you accelerate you're unloading the front suspension and when you're braking you're loading it up making it "squat". Also the oscillation seems to start from hitting a bump or roughness in the road while coming to a stop. If it's perfectly smooth then at least most of the time so would the stop. So I'm thinking that the finger needs to start to get pointed at those front shocks maybe. Don't think they're dampening like they should be but the front end's so light that you can't just jounce 'em like you can with a car and check for excessive bounce. Anybody know of a way to check these things? Or recommend a good source for replacement adjustable shocks?
|
|