tBill

I have an '89 VR that has a shop built conversion. They used the rear, independent suspension and differential out of (I believe) one of those small Mitsubishi or something pickups that are "grey market" over here. It is not fiberglass but sheet steel for the body and fenders. While the bike is heavy, it rides and corners like a luxury car. I'm only getting about 30 mpg on the road but I can run with any group with no effort whatsoever. Steering is exactly as described above. It is quite difficult compared to a 2 wheeler. While it's noticeable, especially on a curvy road, it's not impossible and I have ridden the bike 100 miles at a time with no real problem. I have also ridden conversions with a straight axle and I do believe that the independent suspension is much better.

Here's a prayer for your successful surgery and quick healing!

Well, everything is going really well. Got all the minor TLC stuff done. It now runs beautifully and has amazing power and acceleration for what it is. We figured out that the differential and independent suspension came out of one of the little jap trucks! A guy that was looking at it recognized it because he has one of those trucks. Changed all the fluids again this week and installed full synthetic. That made an amazing difference. Everything quieted down and the engine is so smooth that you can't hear it running except for the exhaust! Thanks for your help!

Very well said!

I appreciate it. Pretty much as I expected. I did manage to get the idle down. Throttle was sticking a bit. Cleaned everything up and now it's doing better. I intend to order kits for the carbs and tackle that next. This trike set-up is really quite heavy. No fiberglass. It's all metal and appears to have been shop built out of left over tank parts! It has a complete rear suspension out of some car including the independent suspension and differential. I'm sure the final ratio is a bit high (numerically) but that probably helps with the weight issue. The old bike performs well and rides like an old, heavy Cadillac! Thanks again,

Noob here. I apologize if this has been discussed somewhere else but I couldn't find anything. I recently acquired an '89 VR that's been triked. Old barn find with only 81,000 miles! Plugs, fluids and lots of TLC and it's running now but still needs the carbs synced. I've determined that the speedo is fast by 5 - 7 mph at road speed, but from reading the forum posts, that sounds pretty normal. I'm not sure the diff ratio is proper. What speed should I be showing at 4000 rpm? It's indicating around 63-65 which is actually a bit shy of 60. That's comfortable but can get you run over in traffic! The fuel mileage has been awful but is improving with a couple of cans of Seafoam and about 500 miles under the tires. Last fill-up, I got right at 30 mpg. Still idling at 1200-1300 after it warms up. That seems high to me. Any ideas and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Many's the time I wish I'd done that! Just sayin...........