Motor trike disappointment

[RidinSunshine]

Never mind. I think I found it and emailed him the link to the thread talking about it. thanks

 

[Molinoman]

One thing to remember in Motor Trikes defense I would imagine that they have not done too many Rocket conversions. Usually their main business is with Harley's and Gold Wings...so it is a learning experience. From what I have heard of Motor Trike they back up their product pretty well...it is one of the reasons that I am also probably getting the Stallion as it is subsidiuary of theirs and the Stallion owners (who have had plenty of "growing" pains with the Stallion...in the beginning) have pretty much said overall that they TMS (Thoroughbred Motor Sports) stand behind their product very well and have bent over backwards to make things right.

It is unfortunate that Bear may have been a "guinea pig" in getting the Rocket right though, as someone mentioned, the fact that is was picked up before the weekend before they closed it may not have gotten the attention it should have gotten in this case. Hopefully the Gold Wing master cylinder fix will work.

Dennis

04 dtg KAF
08 dtg Dubai
09 dtg Home
30 dtg Ray's

Finally...a single digit midget again.

 

[RatBoy]

Darn switch went out on it apparently. This second one
his bike has gone through. I fixed it enough so it will start but going to have to get a new switch from Triumph again.

Hey 'Shine...

I'm on my 3rd switch, but I took the advice of some other folks and bought a H4 Relay Harness from Eastern Beaver electric. For the most part it's plug-n-play... I extended one the socket harnesses to make it fit my needs. The harness uses a 'connector socket' that plugs into the existing wiring harness to drive two relays for hi-lo operations. It's pretty nice for $54 USD.

Link Removed

There's an existing thread that's discussing the pro's and the con's.

I see that you've chimed in on the post already.
Link Removed

Post #14 has a picture of the harness that you'd need to get. $54 and 30 minutes is a lot cheaper than the $ and the frustration of buying yet another switch.

BTW, Triumph warrantied mine even though I've been out of warranty for quite a while. Give it a try.

 

[RidinSunshine]

Thank you for the information. Very much appreciated.

 

[JDuke1980]

Either that or make sure and pick it up plenty before they close and do a full test ride on it? He was rushed because they didn't have it ready much before they closed for the weekend. He saw they 10 miles added on the odometer so he assumed they had tested it. But between you and I...I think they took it for a spin before the alterations. After all who wouldn't....it is a Rocket after all...

If they'd tested it out before they did the mods, then they probably woulda put more than 10 miles on it. I mean, who could get on a rocket and only ride for 10 miles?

 

[RidinSunshine]

Maybe someone that was trying not to get caught? ha ha.

Who know. Anyway, he had to stay home all day waiting on a phone technician but tomorrow the BearMan will be gone probably all day getting his head clear doing a full ride on the trike. Or that is his plans anyway.

 

[William A. Hall]

Bear picked up his Motor Trike converted Rocket III from Troup TX on Friday. They said it wouldn't be available until around 4:30pm. (closing at 5pm). So he drove 700 miles round trip to pick it up. Full of great expectations to ride over the weekend. Well....didn't go so well.

Got in around midnight. Got up early and unloaded it from the trailer. Took off on it and was back shortly. I stated that was a short ride. Let me tell you, he was not happy. Seems the rear brakes don't work. And of course Motor Trike was closed until Monday morning. Ruined his whole weekend!

Before he even agreed to go the conversion route he asked all of the correct questions. One being about the brakes. He was told it would have the stopping power of a Ford Ranger. And when he went to pick the bike up the mechanic informed him that he would have to make real regular adjustments to the brakes because of something to do with a small Triumph master cylinder. Now remember guys when reading this story I am a gal and not going to explain all correctly. But anyway after he calmed down a bit he tinkered with the brakes and checked out what he knew to check out without having to do a major overhaul. Still couldn't get them to work. Said he might as well carry a stick to stop himself. I told him to not do too much because considering what he paid to have a turn-key product he needed to get them to make it right.

Anyway has been waiting around all day for them to get back with him on a solution.

I know there aren't very many Rocket III trikes out there but has anyone else had a similar problem?

No pictures to post yet because he didn't want to take a picture of a piece of *&#$&* at this point.

 

[William A. Hall]

I'm having Motor Trike problems. A u joint went out on my 2014 Triumph trike, factory $29,000 unit. At 20,000 miles the u joint went out going down the road at 70 mph. Triumph called them & they said no problem they'd warranty it......until they found out it did, so far, around $7,000 worth of damage to the engine. Now, everything is my fault & anything besides the u joint they are not going to pay for. My trike has been sitting at the Triumph dealer now for 2 months. I'm a disabled vet & live on a disability check. My mom passed & left me some money & I bought the trike with that money. Now, the inheritance is all gone & I've not got that kind of money to pay to have it fixed. The Triumph dealer has been great helping me & their mechanic has gotten quite a kick out of the excuses Motor Trike has been giving them since its turned into more than a u joint problem now. They told him the u joint was rusty therefore I hadn't been doing maintenance on it. You can't grease something if there is no grease zerk on it. I big kick I got was when I saw their replacement u joint. It looks homemade. They drilled a hole in the end of one of the caps & put the zerk in it. Sticking out, unprotected, for something to break it off instead of being installed in the trunion where it would be protected. I put a new seat on the trike when I first got it & there was no zerk in/on the u joint, or I would have greased it. It was either a factory sealed u joint or the zerk sticking out of the end of the caps had already been knocked of cause there was no way of greasing it. Anyway, I've got to get a lawyer now & sue them cause I don't have $6,000-$10,000 to pay for all this. It had 4,000 miles on it when I got it. Its got 20,000 or 22,000 miles on it now. Factory press unit that was taken around to places so people could see it & to promote sales. Had full warranty. Now they won't back up their product. For a trike conversion unit that THEY claim is the top of the line, I've not been impressed. I've never heard the engine on my trike for all the rattles starting from the cheapass weatherstripping the use on the trunk compressing & causing rattles. The trunk latch is adjusted as far as it can be. It finally wore a place on the gasket & you can see it was only making contact in one spot instead of sealing the whole trunk lid. The loudest thing on the trike is the buzzing if the air ride control unit. Its cheap made & not screw together. The gizmo that holds the two pieces of the unit together has about 1/16" slack & buzzes like a big dog as well as the air pressure varies constantly 1-4 lbs. Get it out in weather below 40 degrees & the display goes away. The quick remove windshield rattles. Its just a poorly designed & built with cheap components. The angle of the driveshaft is an accident waiting to happen. Especially when put behind a torque monster like the R.R. III. Yeah, I've had problems with Motor Trike Inc & they won't stand behind the product either unless its some little fix like coughing up a new, homemade u joint (just what pops in your head when you look at it Sticking out of the end of one of the u joint caps unprotected. With the angle of the driveshaft being so much, it would take very little movement to bind it up & tear the he'll out of everything. Like mine did. I was in the army for 7 years & this is been like going to PT & doing multiple repetitions of the bend & reach, staying in the bent over position 95% of the time. We all know what happens when a person stays bent over very long........ I've not checked but I think since the trike was a factory unit as opposed to me buying a kit & having it installed, that the fine print many companies put about they're unit causing consequential shouldn't apply. And, as soon as I get it fixed in selling it, cause it will happen again. You can look at the angle of the driveshaft going from the rear end to the engine being so great. Plus this set up being on a torque monster like the RR III....its not logical captain. Look at all the problems listed on Honda units. Driveshaft problems galore. Ended up redesigning it finally according to all the internet info. Wonder if all those Honda people are getting the same great service I am. Hope this helps you see what you have to look forward to going thru. I'm not going to give up & go see a lawyer in 3 days cause my VA disability check is not enough to get me out of this mess. Plus I did nothing wrong except buy the trike for $20,000 & trusted people that aren't keeping their word & basically calling me a liar. This is the world we live in & money has taken the place of pride & keeping ones word. If there is anythong I can do to help, ask away.

 

[William A. Hall]

We don't know who tested it. He just knows someone rode it because it had ten extra miles on the odometer.

 

[William A. Hall]

One other thing I forgot to mention....watch for cats, squirrels, & other animals getting killed from the flywheel. They didn't feel there was a need for a flywheel cover & it would be very easy to put one one it. Its killed my cat & one squirrel so far. Didn't like the cat anyway. But, I've had a scare or two when getting around new highway construction....they use 1/4 mile rolls of binder twine to mark the paint lines to be painted. Can you imagine the twine getting sucked up & wrapped around the flywheel/driveshaft? Wow!!! Somebody lost their thinking cap & then went to work & started designing trike conversions. I grew up around a guy that could fix anything, even if he'd ever seen one before. He'd take things apart, lay it out so he could see what was going on & then when he found the broken part, he'd see why it broke & build it back fixing the weak link & fix it where it wouldn't break again. I turned out a lot like him & although I've never worked on my trike, its easy to see why things break on it. Very poor design. I still can get over the angle the driveshaft has. Especially putting it behind a power house like these Rockets. I've never tried to squall the tires or "pour the coal" to my trike. I was scared it'd break because of how its built & all the torque the engine has. Have you ever had your front tire/front end go into a violent snake at 65 mph & up? Like to never figured this one out. When your back tires get about wore out, this will happen. I spent slot of money & even went to the extent of getting out squaring equipment to make sure the front end wasn't out of square. Finally, by accident, I found out what it was when I put new back tires on the trike. Its very dangerous when this happens so get those back tires changed & the violent shake will go away. I have a video of this incident. I took it around & showed mechanics what was going on when I was trying to find someone to find & fix the problem.