My previous conversion was the ST1100 to STealth11. On that
project I took a rolled ST1100 and with the aid of grinder, welder and a handful
of ATV parts created the
STealth11.
This project will be similar however many lessons were learned
while doing the Stealth project so I will use this to my advantage. First thing
is the entire front assembly will be bolted onto the frame rather than welded.
This will make maintenance and repairs much easier. Also I am going to try to
incorporate some storage in the front area much like the Can-Am Sypder has. I
will still use ATV spindles and rotors however these will be off the 4 wheel
drive units as they are heavier duty and have larger rotors. Another change will
be in look, while the STealth is more aero space in design the Valk3 will be a
bit more retro to fit the existing factory style.
5/15/2010 - Initial strip down, all parts removed and
these will be sorted as to what goes on ebay
not pictured is the seat and gas tank
Tank will be repaired and repainted ( silver flames?) seat is
factory stock which I will
probably keep, at least for a while.
Front wheel. fork sliders, front fender, rear wheel, audio
system, and a pile of misc
chrome pieces will be listed on eBay. The rest will be
touched up and repainted.
I think the current Emerald green and silver will be my
choice.
Lower steering mount in place and tack welded. alignment seems to be about
right
steering stem runs true through full lock to lock turns
Both A-arms installed along with shock mounting. This is the most critical part
of the
whole operation. Caster must be set correctly or the vehicle will not track
true. To
little caster and the unit will wonder and become unstable at speed, to much
caster and
the trike will be hard to steer and provide too much feedback to the rider.
Can-Am runs about 6 degrees positive caster, I went with 8 degrees as more is
better than not enough.
Camber is set to about 5 degrees so toe in will be 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Toe in
compensates
for camber and camber reduces deflection on the steering components.
I
just got the rims in so here they are just parked next to the bike so one will
at least
start to get an idea on how it will all fit together. I elected to go with
silver rather than
black to fit in with the current color and design scheme.
View
from the rear - width should end up at 57 inches so unit will be longer than
wide
or over square which will lead to very stable but I may have some limited
turning radius
problems. I will try to tweak the steering to attain greater turning angles.
Next
inline is to adapt the hubs to fit a standard 4 bold car rim. First thing is to
insert a bushing in the center of the hub which will allow the use of a 5/8"
bolt as a centering device. From this point on everything must be lined up off
this bolt so the wheel will be on center and true as to not wobbling.
Center bushing is just a peace of standard 1/2" pipe machined to be a press fit
into the hub them bored to 5/8" ID.
Hub and A-arms are from a Kawasaki 500 4 wheel drive ATV so they are quite
sturdy and will tolerate much more force than this trike can deliver.
Adapter
Plate is a piece of 1/4x5x5 aircraft aluminum plate, it's hard and very stiff
but easy to work. 4 holes drilled where it will be bolted onto the hub
Next a solid piece of aluminum is used as a centering puck. It is approximately
the size and shape of a hockey puck at 3" in diameter and 1" thick. A 5/8" hole
is drilled through the center.
Plate is bolted in place and hub is used as centering device for drilling
through the adapter plate.
Unit is assemble and a plastic arbor is turned which will be inserted into the
dust seal in the spindle. Spindle uses a wide pressed in place bearing similar
to standard 4x4 truck spindles. These are sealed Timken bearing however there is
a dust seal at each end which this nylon arbor fits into.
Adapter almost complete. Puck in place along with center bolt and inner
retainer.
Adapter dropped in place and rim will be flipped over and wheel stud bolt holes
drilled using the rim holes as guides.
Studs in place. These are standard Ford Pinto 14mm studs. Everything is
perfectly centered off the main bolt at this point.
Last step is to drill in recesses in the back of the rim itself. I could have
spaced the rim out however I would rather keep the bearing center as close t the
outside as I can so the recesses seem like a better option.
Aluminum in this area is about 2" thick and the recesses just 5/16" deep. These
recesses accommodate the mounting plate nuts as you can see in the previous view
above.
Here the adapter is finished and wheel is bolted in place. Backplate fits nice
and flush and the wheel spins true with no wobble or off
center action. As you can see the center bolt holds the hub in place and
the entire wheel is centered at this point.
Tonight I decided to pull the subframe, finish weld all the joints and then
paint it black. As long as it was off I also pulled and replaced the timing
belts. Engine has 102,000 miles on it and it appears the belts were factory
original. In real good shape but pretty sure factory. I replaced with a set of
Gates which is the brand Honda and Napa use, This is OEM brand. Easy Job to do
and only takes 15 min or so to complete.
Everything bolted back into place without problems and in the process I added
grease fittings to all A-frame pivot points and welded up the tie rods.
The removal and reinstall process entails four bolts and takes only 15 minutes
or so to do.
At this point it's ready for brakes and tires. Radiator is also ready to go in.
Lots of progress over the weekend - wheels mounted and pressure set to 14psi, no
need to balance as they run true and when checked were factory balanced as
expected. Shock bushings fabricated out of aluminum and nylon. Sway bar is a
ridged 3/4" cold rolled steel bar so the only flex is in the rubber bushings,
this will produce a near zero lean in the corners but still afford a good ride.
Radiator is in and hoses fabricated. Brake lines and new pads in place and
entire system bled and ready.
My next step is to start assembling all the original body parts, gas tank,
saddlebags, trunk etc. Once everything is back on I will fab the front section
to match the existing styling and colors. I am going to stay with the
silver/green scheme and perhaps add some flames or design to the front cowlings.
Tank, saddlebags, trunk and all original body panels back on. Front section is
ready for sheet metal as support ribbing is all welded in and braced. Radiator
in and tested. I added a flared rear to the fenders to help blend in the the
stock lines. Trap door added to the front where the storage box will be located.
Box will be 15x15x 12.
Lights and faring also added plus all the wiring sorted out and strapped in
place. I ran the engine for a bit to make sure the fan comes on which it did and
she runs perfect.
Headlights are small but super bright. I rigged them so the lower is low beam
and high beam is both sets on. Faring is a Memphis Shade unit, I had to fab some
mounts which turned out to be easy. I used a plastic grommet and rubber washers
so the shield does not crack if faring is bumped etc. Horn and front signals
need to go on yet along with instrument panel. Speedometer will be a GPS.
6/12/2010
Next step is sheet metal skin and body filler, sanding and sanding and probably
more sanding.
It is ready for a road test right now however our streets are all ripped up and
mostly mud right now so I have to wait until they rough grade and it stops
raining.
Today was the day 6/13/2010 - rain stopped and the road is dry enough for the
first offical test run. Somewhat of a surprise, while the Valk is some 200lbs
heavier than the Stealth it handles and steers much easier. It is also 9 inches
longer and three inches narrower but turning radius is some 2 feet narrower so I
can easily make a U turn over the width of a standard city street, the Stealth
just barely can. Ride is soft and very comfortable. Front brakes as expected are
a bit weak, the disks where rusted badly so it will take some time to get them
smooth and in a good grip condition. I only took it up to 40mph or so but can
see it's going to be a definite step up in ride quality. No real downside so
far.
I got the horns hooked up and moved the coolant tank to the front next to
the radiator - didn't make a lot of sense to have it at the back of the bike
when the radiator is now way up front. Richened up the idle adjustments
which made the bike purr like a kitten.
Sheet metal is next so I covered the unit with construction paper as forms for
each panel, I will transfer these shapes to 24 gage sheet metal which will be
folded and glued in place. No fasteners will be used, just adhesive and folded
tabs on each side.
Ordered the sheet metal (4x8 sheet of 24gage) will be about a week before I get
it however the unit is road ready now so I am going to start driving it,
insurance was $91 per year so it's insured and legal as is. Runs great and
drives perfect in every way. Pretty hard to complain about the sound of this big
six. GPS is mounted so now I have a speedometer.
6/14/2010
GPS handles the speed and odometer readings. I added a aluminum plate for
signal, oil and temp warning lights.
Started tank patch today - cut a metal plate to cover the dent and used body
filler over the top, this way I didn't risk explosion, distortion nor further
damage.
6/16/2010
6/18/2010 - first long range ride report. Seeing as it's now street legal I took
off Friday for a nice 380 mile jaunt. Bike runs great, handles perfect and ride
is nice and smooth. I have one bent brake rotor (right front) so it pulses a bit
other than that it even stops fine. I have a couple rotors on the way so this
shall be fixed soon. Mileage was a surprise as I expected 26 but ended up with
30 which is good for a trike, I get 28-30 with the stealth11. No need for
premium as all the big sixes run low octane regular, this is also a plus.
On the bad side I have a hard time going anywhere, even to the video store, on a
timely basis. I am constantly besieged by on lookers and question askers.
Amazing I almost never get many questions with the stealth11 but the Valk3
is a real attention getter and stops for gas usually run 30-45minutes.
At this point I have no complaints as everything is working perfectly, My wife
even went for a ride expecting the wheels to fall off but was confident we would
live to see another day. She doesn't like the non-lean snowmobile corning but in
time one does get quite accustom to that also.
As far as cornering speed - about the same as a typical car so just slightly
less than one would corner with a normal two wheeler. Rule of thumb 10mph over
the suggested speeds.
One negative is the sound, while it sounds like a European sports car, it's just
to loud for constant riding. Loud pipes don't save lives they just make your
head buzz. I am going to add a glass pack insert to each pipe to turn the bark
into a low mellow hum.
Engine is strong with lot's of torque and is certainly not a "busy" engine as it
handles 65mph at just 2800 rpm and can ease down to 30mph without the need to
downshift.
Engine heat is not a problem and is no worse than a stock Valkyrie, actually
better as the radiator is low and points down under the engine so you can't feel
any heat coming off the motor when the fan is on.
600 miles on the RT so far and it has passed the R&D stage.
On the spec side, the wheelbase is 59" wide and 69" long, U turn radius is 19
feet so it can easily negotiate a standard street. Caster is set to 10 degrees,
camber 1 degree and toe in at 1/4". Unit weight is approximately 900lbs.
No power steering (no need) ridged 3/4" sway bar keeps the lean to almost zero.
Front shocks are GL1500 units, very good dampening, very even ride 4.75 inches
travel. Tires 175x65x14
(pressure set to 18psi)
on 6x14" four bolt universal car type mags.
Rear tire 208x65x16 Kumho Solis car tire
(pressure
set to 26psi). None of the tires required any balancing.
6/27/2010
The sheet metal showed up today so with paper templates in hand I added the
metalwork. Enclosure is primed black and gray. All the black parts will be
painted emerald green and the gray will become the campaign silver. Some light
body work and sanding will still need to be done but next on the agenda is the
grill.
Things once again are moving right along.
One minor glitch showed up - once I added the storage truck up front I noticed
the fan running even while on the highway. I added a couple deflector scoops on
the side and bottom which did not help much. I ended up reducing the depth of
the box so there is now a 5" duct below the box which directs air into the
radiator. To date the fan has not come on once. I still have enough room to
store tools. rain suits and misc items up front so It worked out fine.
General Specs:
1520 cc flat 6 cylinder liquid cooled, standard 5 speed transmission, wet
clutch, shaft drive.
6 carbs
HP = 98.5
Torque = 96.9
2800 rpm @ 65mph
Total cost to date
Bike (salvaged) = $3950
Parts sale = -$1270
Paint
= $64
Const materials cost = $1240
Total invested to date=$3984
Project basically complete 07/07/2010
Body work all done, primed and last night I did the paint job. Color chosen was
Deep Hunter Green which is a 1995 Chrysler color along with the Champagne color.
Base coat / Clear coat. I added just a tad of the green to the champagne to help
match it to the rest of the bike. Saddlebags and side covers are stock color so
you can see the match is pretty good.
Color numbers (Napa Cross/Fire 56-51062 and 56-60116 LT Pewter. Really good
paint and it laid down nicely. two med heavy base coats and three heavy clear.
I elected to finish off all trim lines with 1/8" gold pinstripe and covered the
edges with black door trim. Only thing left is the VALK3 chrome emblem
wish is 13" wide and 3" tall and will be centered in the grill. I also installed
an electric fuel shutoff while I had the tank off.
Day after tomorrow we leave on a trip - unsure if we are taking the Goldwing or
the Valk3
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The radiator is going to be relocated somewhere low in the new front area,
unsure
First order of business was to remove the old MC tire and replace it with this
new
With the front components all removed the bike is ready for the addition of
struts and 
Here she is all stripped down, blocked up and ready for the attack of the
welder!
Step 1 was to figure out where the sub frame will attach to the MC frame. The
lower frame
Step 2 is the most important part of the entire operation, this frame must be
square, level and
A view of the front with frame attached
A view of the top frame mounting - I used the holes and frame gusset which is
normally
I
just got the rims in so here they are just parked next to the bike so one will
at least 
View
from the rear - width should end up at 57 inches so unit will be longer than
wide
Next
inline is to adapt the hubs to fit a standard 4 bold car rim. First thing is to
insert a bushing in the center of the hub which will allow the use of a 5/8"
bolt as a centering device. From this point on everything must be lined up off
this bolt so the wheel will be on center and true as to not wobbling.
Adapter
Plate is a piece of 1/4x5x5 aircraft aluminum plate, it's hard and very stiff
but easy to work. 4 holes drilled where it will be bolted onto the hub
Next a solid piece of aluminum is used as a centering puck. It is approximately
the size and shape of a hockey puck at 3" in diameter and 1" thick. A 5/8" hole
is drilled through the center.
Plate is bolted in place and hub is used as centering device for drilling
through the adapter plate.
Unit is assemble and a plastic arbor is turned which will be inserted into the
dust seal in the spindle. Spindle uses a wide pressed in place bearing similar
to standard 4x4 truck spindles. These are sealed Timken bearing however there is
a dust seal at each end which this nylon arbor fits into.
Adapter almost complete. Puck in place along with center bolt and inner
retainer.
Adapter dropped in place and rim will be flipped over and wheel stud bolt holes
drilled using the rim holes as guides.
Studs in place. These are standard Ford Pinto 14mm studs. Everything is
perfectly centered off the main bolt at this point.
