Something new stirs in the garden

Ok so like i was talking to my mate JP, who owns a stall at the local market ( link on the links page!) and  moaning about handbrakes and trike laws and he says  well i got me a xs 750 frame with axle  and some bits and bobs hanging around  in my workshop ..I might be thinking of selling ..  i`m like hmmm  after a fair bit of discussion   and lots of chatter ..  ok in reality  about five mins and i say  so if your thinking of selling i`m thinking of buying. and  one thing leads to another and on a  rain soaked  day  we me chris ( dude who sold me the boke and frame   and has access to a large van!) went to take a peek in jps  lockup

A Rainy Day at JPS workshop

 So after JP had shifted his VW ( no i`m not jealous but it is a nice beasty!) We sstarted the heady task of lookign scratchign heads and  goign through the bits JPO wished to be light of, Mustang Tank 10 Spoke Chrome wheels with tyres. seats two handlebar gear and  " assorted stuff "  with a  diff half shafts  and masses of wiring Trike Frame front end and the three of us dodging the weather ( me grining like a cheshire cat)  shook hands and  closed the door on the van


Couldnt wait I got started

After cleaning and prep fitted the Diff Half shafts in the escort 1100 mk1 rear axle  first stumbling block was the nuts on the diff are unc  second one in the bolts and  nuts on the  halfshafts are unc and the third was somewhere between JP`s and my front garden i lost a brake springy bit..doh ..   so a trip out and a wander around  some of the less celubrious places of stoke on trent and  bingo   nuts  bolts  springy bit and  the promise of no worries mate we`ll stock what ya need ... ( cheers to AZ  motors for that ! i`ll hold ya to it  be warned!)  also while i was hunting came accorss  trailor  rear brake and tail lights on a board  for £12 ( Smithsons Bosch )  i`m sure they may just happen to work into the project somewhere..  Back home and finished  just before the rain and i scratched me head and  decided to mag to grid the  single disc  front end in favour of the xs 750 twin disc. Up on stands again and  in the front end went with no worries,  well ok  slight problem   taper bearings on the xs and  ball bearings on the frame  so have converted the xs yolks to take bearings ( still to be aquired) tapped out the taper rings and  fitted  the cups from the other yolks on with  t bars  and  hand controls  and umm yeah ok   engine has to go in  and yep it slide straight in! no undoing that damn oil filter again !  Mustang tank in place and first picture of the new beastie.


Now you might get the chance to call me thick  but  no  normal wheel nuts dont fit yes Escort Mk1 (1969) 1100 axles  do need  the right wheel nuts   so i started to call round  asked all over the place and ended  up heading to the middle of no where and the most  escort bits i`ve ever seen in one place Massive thanks to Kriss and Ray Jnr  Racing for the  wheel nuts and  looking through the barrels  for the right ones that  pretty much match and fit goto say these are the guys i`ll go to for axle upgrades in the future as well  damn nice work they do in that lil  shed..  anyway  back to the trike, wheels on nuts on and  yay shes on her own wheels .