A Letter from Max,

There is a company that has tried to copy popular trike rake kits and undercut the existing market. In the process of producing them in econo-fashion has made a product that is critically inferior on an important detail.

The problem lies in the lower triple clamp with the "steering stops". The steering stops are bosses of metal on either side of the clamp that provide a mechanical stop for the steering of the bike when you swing the wheel all the way to the right or left.

On the factory triple clamp, this is a nice wide fat boss that is around 3/4" wide, and about 1/2" tall.

It has a flat face, that contacts a corresponding area on your frame. It is important to have this design, since your frame is made of aluminum, which is soft as far as metals go. The two wide flat faces can contact each other thousands of times with no damage to either over the life of the bike.

Rake kits from Hannigan and Champion (I am only familiar with these two) are machined from solid billet aluminum, COMPLETELY.

The knock-offs start with a thinner block of aluminum to save machine time and money, and don't machine the steering stops as a single piece design. Properly constructed clamps unfortunately require you to machine most of the 1/2" top thickness of aluminum away to leave the two steering stops behind.

In order to put steering stops onto the faster machined copies, they then just drilled and tapped a hole and screwed a round head allen bolt into the metal.

A great deal of force can be applied to a steering stop, and frequently is. A bolt screwed into aluminum can loosen up over time, and the hole can wallow out.

But worse, the ROUND head bolt will be pounding a dent into your frame over time!!! It has no surface area to spread the force. There's a reason Honda, Champion, and Hannigan have them designed this way. And it's not something you should be trying to save money on.

Until recently, Hannigan and Champion clamps have both sold for $1000 a set.

The clamps I am referring to have a retail price of $822.00 on the internet. The manufacturer is selling them direct.

To add insult to injury, some trike convertors have been knowingly purchasing these clamps at a Dealer Cost that is hundreds of dollars less than Hannigan or Champion have to pay as OEMs, and are still charging customers the full higher retail price!

If you intend to order a Trike kit or install a rake kit in the future, make sure you demand the rake kit approved by the manufacturer, and not one substituted by the installer. The screwed in bolts are the key you don't want.

As a result of this, and in consideration for their customers, I know Hannigan has worked out a deal with their manufacturer, and has lowered their retail price on their rake kit to $849.00 to make sure that price is not a consideration for people to choose a kit that meets anything other than their highest standards.

So make sure you are paying the right price, and getting the right parts.

Regards,

Dealer Pricing Available on quantities.