May 22, 200817 yr Well today I finally got the little issues worked out and got the Trike running again. I haven't had a chance to put it through a good hard ridding test yet, but so far with just several trips around the Storage Facility and then a 2 or 3 mile ride up the street aways so I could get it up to speeds more like road driving, It seems to be doing just fine. Tomorrow morning will be a good test to see if I see any signs of leaking over night as it sits and cools down from a 3 mile ride before I put her to bed. The first noticable difference was the exhaust sound. It was faily load before, not it sounds like straight pipes on a V8 motor. If this setup continues to work ok over a couple good road tests, I'll have to consider investing in larger mufflers. Its to load like it is now. Power wise, I can't say that I have noticed any real big change there. It just sounds like it though. So I really don't know. I think its going to show up in the overall driving experience. I expect that it will climb the hills easier with less effort and probably produce a little higher RPM at the top end. I rarely ride over 70 or 75 mph anyway, but I think it will cruise at 65 & 70 easier now. It will be awhile before I know if it will use more or less gas. I suspect it won't change much one way or the other. I've been getting 25 to 27mpg on average. Doesn't seem to matter what the driving conditions are, pretty much stays the same all the time. I'll try to get a couple pics tomorrow of it in the Trike and report more if there are any issues from overnight. Bob:)
May 22, 200817 yr Sounds pretty bad rump roast, but there is no such thing as a bike (or trike) that is too loud!
May 22, 200817 yr Author Sounds pretty bad rump roast, but there is no such thing as a bike (or trike) that is too loud! Loud, is fine, but only if it has a nice mellow tone to it. When I built the first Subaru Trike, I mis-measured the size of the pipe and muffler needed and wound up with a muffler nearly 3" in circumfrence. The sound from that Trike is awsome. This Trike is just noisey and not what I'd call a very pleasing sound. The difference between a rumble and a roar. Bob
May 22, 200817 yr Author Loud, is fine, but only if it has a nice mellow tone to it. When I built the first Subaru Trike, I mis-measured the size of the pipe and muffler needed and wound up with a muffler nearly 3" in circumfrence. The sound from that Trike is awsome. This Trike is just noisey and not what I'd call a very pleasing sound. The difference between a rumble and a roar. Bob Ok, I've been checking everything out today and it looks like I have all the little leaks stopped and I spent some time re doing the way I had my radiators setup and it looks like its going to run at or near the proper temp that this motor should run at. Around 212 to 225 degrees. I won't have a chance to take it out on a long road trip until Monday, my day off, but I am going to run it around town today on my lunch hour just for a short test in city driving conditions. Here are a couple pics of it in the Trike. Someone had wanted to see these shots, so here they are. Bob
May 22, 200817 yr Author Ok, I've been checking everything out today and it looks like I have all the little leaks stopped and I spent some time re doing the way I had my radiators setup and it looks like its going to run at or near the proper temp that this motor should run at. Around 212 to 225 degrees. I won't have a chance to take it out on a long road trip until Monday, my day off, but I am going to run it around town today on my lunch hour just for a short test in city driving conditions. Here are a couple pics of it in the Trike. Someone had wanted to see these shots, so here they are. Bob Well, I took her out for a 30 mile ride at lunch time today. Half the drive was around and through town, the other half was freeway at speeds up to 80mph. My temp held at 212 to 225 through it all. Looks like she is going to work just fine. I really like this motor in my Trike. Subies rule!!
May 23, 200817 yr Oh man..... wow... now I want a trike These motors can run at that high of a temperature? Never knew that...
May 24, 200817 yr At that temp you are getting into the range where you really should be running an oil cooler and synthetic oil. The spec Subaru thermostat's are 192..... 225 is a tad bit high for my liking but an oil cooler should bring that down a bit - and synthetic would be best. GD
May 25, 200817 yr Author At that temp you are getting into the range where you really should be running an oil cooler and synthetic oil. The spec Subaru thermostat's are 192..... 225 is a tad bit high for my liking but an oil cooler should bring that down a bit - and synthetic would be best. GD Hi GD, It was my understanding that the normal operating temp on these motors is 212 degrees. I don't recall where I found that information, but I think it was somewhere on this site. So I have never thought much about it running in that range. I'll have to do a little more checking on this. Thanks for the heads up. I am using full synthetic oil too. Bob
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