Vulcan 900 Trike Build

[Water Warrior 2]

You must have a golden horse shoe hiding somewhere dark. I'm very happy to hear things are turning around in such a good, glorious, neat, splendid, super, sense of relief kinda way. You will likely go a little bonkers when the bike is out for paint and you have nothing to do except daydream. Maybe just work on a good fantasy for a while.

Will the fenders match the original fender? I think that would be a real eye candy.

[burkbuilds]

WW, yeah, I'll probably be a little anxious, like a kid waiting on Christmas, when it is at the paint shop. The fenders will match in paint scheme but I think I'd have to have them custom made to look like the OEM fender, so no, they will just be plain steel fenders with a rolled edge on the outside lip. I just checked and the fenders are scheduled to arrive tomorrow, the wheels on Friday and some chrome nuts and bolts I ordered also on Friday.
Right now I just need to crack down on my studying and get as much done before the weekend so I'll have weekend time to work on the Trike not spend it studying.

[Water Warrior 2]

That's what I meant to say. Matching paint, not the fenders themselves. Waiting for the next installment.

[burkbuilds]

I got an e-mail today from the Trike kit place saying they'd take back the fiberglass kit and the wheels and they'd pay the shipping and refund my money on those items. I think that is about as much as I could have asked for under the circumstances.

The fenders arrived today, I think they will look and work fine and I also got some passenger floorboards so my wife will feel more comfortable if she rides 2 up with me.

Class time is eating up my evenings right now so I haven't done anything else to the bike yet. Hopefully this weekend will work out for me to have some time to get a lot done.

[Water Warrior 2]

That is good news. Now you don't have spare unneeded stuff cluttering up the shop. I would imagine your pics of the wild offset was a tip off that they need to rethink their design and offer to return your money with a much hoped for apology. I am glad things are looking better. Too bad the original set up wasn't botched because it would have been a nice looking trike.
On the other hand the new ideas are likely to be as good if not better. You might get more storage and/or flexability with a trunk and bags.
Question: how much does the charging system crank out? Any ideas about driving lights, heated gear power points and the like.

[burkbuilds]

http://www.vulcanforums.com/forums/show ... php?t=5212
WW,
Here's a thread on the 900 and using heated gear. Basically, it's about like most bikes, with a 10 amp accessory load max (120 watts more or less). That's what I had on the 500 and I was able to run heated gloves and a heated jacket liner as long as I was at cruising speed, but if I was in stop and go city traffic I usually had to turn the thermostat down to keep from draining the battery. I wish bike designers would give us about double that accessory load ability but I'm sure they are trying to keep the price down and probably base their design on the average rider's needs and not many people ride in the cold when they need heated gear and such. I've noticed that you only seem to get a significantly larger output to handle lots of accessories on nice touring bikes like the Goldwing and similar bikes. How is your V-strom in that area, I bet you rode with some heated gear in your area didn't you?

I tried to find an aftermarket stator for the 500 that would put out more power but I was unsuccessful even though some suppliers claimed higher output. I bought one and metered it but it actually put out less wattage than the OEM one so I sent it back for a refund.
Eventually I ended up doing things to lower my power consumption like changing the running lights and turn signals to LED's. I looked into changing the headlight to an LED, but the cost was prohibitive, maybe that will change as the technology becomes more affordable.

[Water Warrior 2]

The latest GW's have an awesome charging system that rivals some small cars. Of course it only makes sense with all the built in electrical gear on the bike as standard equipment.
The Vstroms have an almost power supply. Only about 100 watts extra on mine but the newer ones(2007 and up) get a boost to 125 extra watts.
I have powered up heated grips, jacket, pants and insoles but not on a high setting. If that becomes needed it is too cold to ride with any comfort anyway. A medium setting on the TourMaster gear gets too warm if left on for any length of time so a low power level is almost perfect. The TourMaster gear is a great insulator and mostly I have worn it without power.
Oddly enough the bike with one of the larger charging systems has very little built in electrics for creature comforts. That is the Ural from Russia. I can only guess why they would have such a system. They don't need it for heated gear, they have Vodka for that. :lol:

[Water Warrior 2]

Calling BB. Calling BB. Are you still there?

Anybody heard from BB? I emailed him last week and no word yet. I'm starting to worry a bit.

[burkbuilds]

I'm still here WW. I've been busy with work, school and somehow I even managed to get the fenders and exhaust done on the Trike. It's going to the paint shop on Monday, yea! I'll try to post some pics this weekend. I'm taking my youngest daughter to a High School Football game in a few minutes and I have a lot of studying to do Saturday and Sunday but I think I can find enough time to at least post some pictures.

[Water Warrior 2]

Oh thank goodness. You had me wondering and thinking dark thoughts. Usually with your studies and family commitments you had time for a simple hello so I'm guessing there is a whole lot of priorities on your plate right now. Thanks for checking in. Now I feel much better.