173ABN

Trike guys, I am thinking about picking up a late model Sportster and building a trike for the wifes 60th birthday. My questions are what are the pros and cons on the different brand conversion kits and what is the different opinions on a good kit. I want a rear axel and not the two wheel add ons. Any input would be appreciated.

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HDDon

There is a Sporster Trike conversion on Trike Trader.com. For $11,000 it's looks like it could save you some $$.

banjo picker

Trike's....I have a 2010 FLHTCUTG.A red flag goes up for me.(1)Is the sportster drive train enough power to pull the extra weight of a trike?I have the 103" with the full stage 1 kit and that has helped the power issues.Do you plan on beefing up the engine any on the sportster? (2) Will you do anything for the steering issues for the sportster turned trike? My trike is very driveable now that I have tweeked it out.However,I do miss the two wheel riding.I went down on the 2-wheeler with my wife on the bike with me.Thats the reason I went with the trike.The trikes are a head turner for sure and hopefully your wife can ride and enjoy for many years to come.
BP

Jack Klarich

Sportster trike conversions have been round a while and even an 883 can be triked tho it wont have a lot of snuff

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173ABN

Thanks guys for all the input we are still debating on what to do, Hobbit You are right about the independent susp. Banjo they do make a tree for sporty trike front ends. Don i did look into the trike at trike trader. A sporty trike used and late model will run between $11,000 and $18,000. If I build the sporty will run around $4,500 to $8,000 and the kit fron $4,000 to about $10,000. So now we need to figure out what way we should go. Harley sells a new one for around $29,000 ugh

zoood

I personally chose to build my own. My Trike Build I also went with the DFT independent suspension. Their rear's expensive. Built for comfort. I love it.
There's a couple things not mentioned that you should think about too. If you have ever ridden a bagger, that has the tour-pac. Then you know there's what's called a back draft. The wind actually moves forward as you tool down the road. It's no biggie if you ride a bagger. But if you ride a trike with a body that sits up high like the Tri-Glides. They having a tour-pac. The heat that's generated off your engine. Will in fact contact the body and get sent upwards. The back draft that the body develops, sends that heat forward. So now you have back-draft forcing heat forward with the constant heat off the engine. Its like a constant heat cycle/circle that takes place on both sides of the trike. If you run it with a low body. Like I do on mine. A servi car body. You will still have this constant heat issue. If you run with a stripped trike, as in no body. The back draft isnt there. If you do use a body. The ideal set-up would be to allow the hot air to pass through the body. Another thing that hasnt been covered is the clearance you need for your exhaust pipes. If you run them under the rear, so they head out the back of the trike. The DFT allows for the pipes to mount through its rear's casting.



This gives me 7" of ground clearance. A Tri-Glide has, I think 4". That type of clearance can cause damage when exiting drive-ways.

zoood/RJ

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173ABN

Thanks zoood that is good info to know, I am sure if we do the trike for her we will build

zoood

Heres's my trike build has a lot of info on there and if you have any questions. Feel free to ask in here or email me.

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trike lady

I'm new to this forum and I wish to ad my two cents. I have converted an 883 Sportster for a lady that had some serious medical conditions and while the Frankenstein Kit may not look like much and was more of a 'Hot Rod' trike and something she preferred over a kit with a trunk. They are nicely USA made kits and worth the price.

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FrankenDeuce

Frankenstein makes conversions for the Sportster. They are a solid axle, pretty basic, and very well built. It's a bolt-on which you can do yourself in a day if you're handy. They have fenders and brackets available if you need them. Most conversions recommend raking the triple trees 5-7 deg, which is really important to reduce trail and minimize steering effort, so make sure and include that in your cost estimates. I recently triked my Deuce with a Frankenstein rear and couldn't be happier.