 |
 |
KZ1300 Tri-Magnum | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
|
|
KZ1300 Tri-Magnum | ||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Last Update 10/27/08
Here's a homebuilt reverse trike built by Jerry Allen in Huntsville, Texas. Jerry built this Tri-Magnum using a 1980 Kawasaki 120hp 6-cylinder KZ1300 motorcycle as the power-plant. He's not quite finished with the project in these pictures.
OK, so now he's getting close. He's having a hard time getting it started, so we adjust the valves and clean the carbs. Maybe we'll see it out on the road soon under it's own power. Jerry says it tows real well. These use an old VW Beetle front axle, so he made a custom tow bar to bolt directly to the front axle.
The one item that interests people the most is how to accomplish a reverse gear onto their donor motorcycle frame when they're building a trike. Few motorcycle engines come with reverse gear. The newer Honda Goldwings are the only bikes that come to mind with a stock reverse gear, and they started putting reverse on these bikes because they got so heavy over the years that people had a real problem backing them up. Especially if they pulled in a parking spot with an incline - nose down.
There are some aftermarket reverse gearboxes made specifically to fit Harley motors, but nothing much for other bikes that I'm aware of. Here is one solution you see Jerry fabricated for this KZ1300. He uses a light duty 12volt winch made for an ATV, and makes a custom bracket to bolt it to the back of the motorcycle frame. He pulls the tow cable off and makes some passes across the roller with his welder so it will have better grip against the tire when engaged.
The bracket is spring loaded to hold the winch away from the tire normally. There's a cable at the bottom to pull the whole assembly up against the tire when he wants to engage reverse. So he flicks the switch to turn the winch on, pulls the cable from inside the cockpit, and the roller engages with the tire to slowly move the bike in reverse. Since a winch is already geared down and turns pretty slow, there's no rough engagement. You can even use it to move the bike forward in the same way, should the motorcycle engine stop and leave you stranded. You can move the trike forward or backward for some distance as long as you have battery power.
Using a car battery helps the situation. The winch controller is the yellow handle you see by the drivers seat. He still hasn't got the interior done and some of the wiring is only temporary, but he's just about ready to get it inspected so he can get tags for it. Maybe it doesn't look like a first class job on the body, but with 120 hp on tap, you really don't want to race it!
