As part of the Trike conversion, I needed to find a clean way to control the pressure in the air bag suspension. Motor Trike now uses a digital control box that attaches to the handlebars. I didn't like this for 3 reasons. First was that I didn't like the looks of it. Second, a blank digital screen attached to the handlebars was to me an invitation for someone to break it off in a parking lot not knowing what it was. Third, to get the controls from Motor Trike was going to cost about $450!
Earlier versions of the kit used an air pressure gauge and 2 switches. One a momentary toggle to turn on the compressor and another button hooked to a schrader valve to lower the pressure.
I got my hands on the schematics for the original Motor Trike system from one of their dealers. Not wanting to drill holes in the dash for the swicthes, I did some research and found a solution on one of the Harley forums. Some of the CVO edition bikes had electric locks on the saddle bags controlled by a double momentary switch. That is on order from the dealer along with a solenoid controlled air valve to bleed the system if I want to soften the ride.
Harley has an air temp gauge (termometer) on the touring bike dash. It is electrical and the sensor is under the fairing causing it to be inacurate. At 80 degrees it will read close to 100. I found a VDO air pressure guage to replace the temp gauge. The needle and font on the numbers are a perfect math for the stock Harley gauges. The only problem was the chromeface bezel.
First thought wa to gut the VDO gauge and put it in the Harley gauge housing. NOPE! The guts were too long to fit so I took the bezels off both gauges. This required bending up the back lip of the bezels and prying them off. To put the Harley face plate on the VDO gauge, I had to find a way to gracefully reform the back lip.
2" shedule 40 PVC turned out to have the right inside diameter. After bending the lip down part way with a body hammer, I made a quick jig to finish the job.
2 pieces of PVC that make up the jig.
The forming lip in the top piece. The lip was formed by sanding a bevel on the inside on a 4x36 belt sander.
After bending the lip in with a body hammer, the forming lip was placed over the metal lip and hammered down to smooth out the lip.
The final step was to reverse the top half of the jig so the flat end was against the lip and hammer it to flatten the lip. I may take it out to my buddy’s shop and use his vice to try to bend lip a little tighter.
The end result is a VDO gauge that will, once installed in the dash, match the factory Harley gauges.
Earlier versions of the kit used an air pressure gauge and 2 switches. One a momentary toggle to turn on the compressor and another button hooked to a schrader valve to lower the pressure.
I got my hands on the schematics for the original Motor Trike system from one of their dealers. Not wanting to drill holes in the dash for the swicthes, I did some research and found a solution on one of the Harley forums. Some of the CVO edition bikes had electric locks on the saddle bags controlled by a double momentary switch. That is on order from the dealer along with a solenoid controlled air valve to bleed the system if I want to soften the ride.
Harley has an air temp gauge (termometer) on the touring bike dash. It is electrical and the sensor is under the fairing causing it to be inacurate. At 80 degrees it will read close to 100. I found a VDO air pressure guage to replace the temp gauge. The needle and font on the numbers are a perfect math for the stock Harley gauges. The only problem was the chromeface bezel.
First thought wa to gut the VDO gauge and put it in the Harley gauge housing. NOPE! The guts were too long to fit so I took the bezels off both gauges. This required bending up the back lip of the bezels and prying them off. To put the Harley face plate on the VDO gauge, I had to find a way to gracefully reform the back lip.
2" shedule 40 PVC turned out to have the right inside diameter. After bending the lip down part way with a body hammer, I made a quick jig to finish the job.
2 pieces of PVC that make up the jig.
The forming lip in the top piece. The lip was formed by sanding a bevel on the inside on a 4x36 belt sander.
After bending the lip in with a body hammer, the forming lip was placed over the metal lip and hammered down to smooth out the lip.
The final step was to reverse the top half of the jig so the flat end was against the lip and hammer it to flatten the lip. I may take it out to my buddy’s shop and use his vice to try to bend lip a little tighter.
The end result is a VDO gauge that will, once installed in the dash, match the factory Harley gauges.
LCHIEN
Loring in Katy, TX USA
,lookin forward to seeing the finished mounting. Curious ,How well does your fairing work in the rain? Back many,many moons ago I had a Vetter mounted on a KZ900 I had and hated it as I was consistently getting soaked below the kneecap and the very top of my helmet would get wet even with an extended windshield,but that was way before modern day improvements I'm sure that have been made.Perhaps I wanted too much, riding in the rain was as to be expected a wet experience,but back then the only accessories were a cig lighter and a radio with 2 speakers
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