With my knees and ankles etc. it has finally come down to either three wheels or a car only. No way am I going to take the wind out of my hair, so I purchased a trike.

Some of the new people don't know me, but I've been subscribed here since 2008 when I got my ZX14.

Here it is sitting patiently waiting to go on another ride.

I put a Baker Drivetrain F6R transmission on it to get mechanical reverse, don't like using a starter motor for reverse.

It has everything but the kitchen sink on it. Throttle-by-wire with integrated cruise control. LED display panel that does navigation, radio, Sirius/XM with NavWeather and NavTraffic, phone, etc. The seat is heated, the grips are heated, it has great wind protection and handles very well for a trike.

No racing around on this, but in May 2016 its going to California (from east coast) to Monterey, so I can retrieve my TimeOut camper trailer and spend a week with my Vietnam buddy.

Over the winter I'm going to put the Kuryakyn hitch on it, and the plug-n-play wiring harness. Its got a full CANBUS system, so I can't tap anything for the brake signal until it gets into the trailer wiring harness. Which is ok, that works just fine.

I'll probably spend at least 1/2 of the 2016 riding season on the road, and rack up some mileage.

Looks pretty cool.Hope all is well.

New or used? 2008 and under, the twinkie has a cam chain failure at about 30k. The screaming eagle cam chain update is the fix?

2016, Hub.

When it gets closer to May 2016 (I leave for the left coast on May 1) I'll post the Spotwalla website link for my travel page. I'll be running Bubbler on my old android phone that I also use to control the heated seats and gear, and it will update my position every hour or so as I travel across the country.

I'm going out the southern route but will still have to wear my heated liners crossing the Continental Divide and possibly if I ride into the evening hours while in desert areas.

Will just stay in motels on the way out, but on the way back I'll have my TimeOut trailer again, and will camp my way back. Actually motels like Motel 8 are probably less expensive in some cases, but I like to camp.

Once back, I have about a week turnaround time and then have to leave for TN for a MotoCampers event, and then right off to the COG National at Helen GA. After that I'm headed to South Carolina to see a friend, and scout out a good place to move to. Need to be close to a VA clinic and Medical Center, and so have specific areas I'm looking at.

Then home a while, pack up, sell a bunch of furniture etc., and head back down to a nice little apartment or small house.

I got my 100% from the VA, so I only need to be in the Washington DC area over the winter because we are going to the Board of Veterans' Appeals in Washington DC to force VA to pay all the back pay, because they shorted me. If I win that, and there is more than a good chance I will, I'll use the money to buy a small house out in the sticks in South Carolina, but close to a major road that goes to a VA Medical Center.

Then it will be the life of a motorcycle gypsy for me.

"crossing the Continental Divide"...is this at Marias Pass?Hwy 2?

Okay...I see it.Guess you won't be up at Marias Pass then.Hope you have a killer ride...sounds like it.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 11/24/2015 @ 7:14 AM *

Enjoy the ride, all of them :) .....snd good luck with DC..

Got the pneumatic version of this, so instead of a foot pump, I hook it up to my air compressor.

* Last updated by: privateer on 12/1/2015 @ 4:53 PM *

The trike has air suspension shock in the rear. To change the pressure you have to remove the right side panel and use a specific Harley-Davidson hand pump to reach the fitting. Meh.

So I purchased a compressor kit from MotorTrikes that mounts on the frame under the passenger seat area, and has an LED control on the handlebars so you can adjust it from there.

HD trikes tend to drag the exhaust tips on slanted driveways and some speed bumps and such. I already put a lift kit on the back which raised the tips 1-1/2" and makes it ride and handle a bit better, but wanted the ability to add or remove air pressure from the rear shock easily based on how much I'm packing, and for when I have the passenger, and for when I'm towing my camping trailer.

Here is the control unit on the handlebars -

Rode it down to the VA Medical Center in West Virginia this morning. Left while it was still dark, so I could get there by 7 a.m. (0700).

My heated liners were great, I was toasty. She has plenty of juice for heated seat, grips, liners, etc. because I had the optional factory stator / regulator installed to give me more wattage. With everything going the headlamps don't dim and the voltmeter is steady so all is good.

Can't believe its the middle of December in western Maryland I'm still riding. El Nino I guess.

Nice trike keep rolling brother! In a few years if you get to the point this one gets too tough on ya don't forget about convertibles!

Thanks, man! I'll keep this one rolling as long as I can. Hopefully well into my 90s, by which time it will be a bonafide antique, just like me. :)

Here is the J&S Air Lift taking the trike up. Sorry about the noise, I need a bigger air tank.

I've got the Kuryakyn hitch half on and half off atm. For one thing, its been super cold and I don't fancy laying on concrete (even on pads) long enough to finish. And March will be warm enough, and I only need maybe 5 hours more to finish the hitch itself and then 2 or 3 for the isolator / wiring harness. Since the Tri Glide has CANbus, its just plug and play anyway, but I have to make an extension to the trailer side of the harness to reach down to the hitch. The engineering problem is Kuryakyn didn't make the hitch for the 2016, just up to 2015, and in 2016 HD changed the holes in the two rear cross members. So where I need to bolt the forward end of the hitch plate there are only two drain holes (the cross member is a U beam). I need four bolts there, and the hitch came with two backing plates, each taking two bolts. So I have drill two holes in exactly the right place to line up with the plates. And then I have to drill at least one 1/2" drain hole to replace the two I "stole". If it ain't one thing its another.

Rode it up to Chambersburg PA to the dealer this afternoon. Not quite cold enough for electric liners, but a bit cool without them.

Left it there, to have the bike-to-bike communication module installed, and a hidden FM antenna that goes inside the fairing below the windshield.

Spring is right around the corner!

Yep, less than 2 months now before I head to California on it. :)

Here is the SpotWalla link. Starting May 1st, as I travel, I'll update it via satellite a couple times a day. So it will show my progress.

This link will be done being updated on July 1st.

Coast to Coast and Back

Fixed the link. To see more than last 24 hours, hover cursor over JR (trip name) and select Adjustments, then number of days, or ALL

* Last updated by: privateer on 7/5/2016 @ 4:42 PM *

Well, the Kuryakyn hitch went on just fine. Once I removed the mufflers I could see the second set of holes I needed to bolt the front of the hitch to. So no drilling required. /relief/

The MotorTrikes Air Suspension Controller is on and working just fine.

Leave on May 1st.... so not long now!!!

I remember you. Nice trike! I hope you have a great, safe trip and share lots of pics.

Yep, long days because I will stop often when something needs a picture taken of it.

Trike goes to M&S HD tomorrow (Sat) morning to get synthetic oil in crank, primary, and transmission cases. And a once over to make sure all is working good.

Looks like I need to get a service done before I get to California. I have a little time in Roswell NM so if a HD dealership is nearby I'll get it done. IF they can do it in 4 hours. LOL. Normally they can.

Well, I'm a real gypsy now. No fixed address, live in my Time Out camper. In a week or so I'll have a mail drop where packages can be sent, etc., for when I need supplies that aren't in stores.

I'm in the storage unit atm, waiting on a new Tour Pack tether reel since mine jammed and won't retract. Its my fault, I let it open too fast with the rack bag on it, and the weight pulled hard on the tether. Plus I'm waiting for 3 payments due Monday, and then once I deposit them, off I go.

I did over 10k miles in May, 3k in June (stopped a lot camping).

Live in the forests mostly, lots of nice campgrounds in National Forests, especially those east of the Mississippi river. Out west they are mostly primitive.

I'll winter in Florida and surrounding states, many great National Forest campgrounds there, and I can stay 14 days in each, and come back in a loop and repeat.

While at the COG National in GA, we went rafting. Here is my boat setting up for a class 4/5 waterfall -

Some National Forest in the mid-west -

Something I won't ever have to bother with again -

Yes I'm growing a beard. I'll cut it when it matches the ZZ Top guys.

Letting my hair grow too, but it grows slow.

Figure 5 years until it all looks the way I want it to.

Well hey there J, you SOB (surly old bastard )!

Great to see you're finally living the dream!... That's one hell of a set up too!