PULSE AUTOCYCLE NETWORK

[therouj]

Are the Pulse's outriggers supposed to flex up and down at all. I towed mine over to where I hope it will be rebuilt this winter (a Honda CX500 drivetrain and frame will be the power source and swingarm assembly) The fellow following me as I towed it said there was no up and down movement of the wings and he thougth there should be.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

[elden simons]

From what I remember, the outriggers do 'give' a little. I believe that there is a rubber buffer of sorts as part of the mechanism.
Ya, one would think with the obvious hinged design that it would be obvious. I figure that if there was a more solid wing/stabilizer, there would be more chance of damage.

[Bob Cervero]

Yep, there is a shock absorber system of sorts located under the rear seat. It's really just some rubber washers about 1 inch thick each that are mounted to the ends of the rods that go into the Pulse body from the outriggers. Not much movement but some impact absorption. Check the mounting of the rubber washers to make sure there isn't slack in them that would allow the outriggers to move loosely up and down.

[Bob Hichborn]

As Bob and Elden already mentioned, the outriggers were not designed to rotate during use, but do use a set of 1 inch rubber "washers" bolted on either side of the 2 outrigger bar frame connection points.

It might be worth the effort to crawl under your Pulse and check the condition of these and the threaded steel rods. There's a good chance that the original rubber "washers" have hardened over the years and as Bob mentioned may have to be tightened or replaced. I found a rubber roller at a trailer parts shop that was about a foot long, had the correct hole size to fit nicely over the rod, and had a decent consistency. I then cut it up into 1 inch pieces. I'm not sure what the original width was and I'm doubt it makes a difference how accurate you neet to be. My guess is that during normal driving conditions they flex less than a quarter of an inch.

While you're under your Pulse.... I could use the length of the steel rod from end to end. The ones on #77 were badly rusted and had to be cut off. Any help with this measurement would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

- Bob
_________________
"Everyday you wake up with a Pulse,
is a good day!"

[Bob Cervero]

Hey, Bob H. As far as the length of the outrigger rods for #77. Be careful. Many parts for Pulses were made for a particular machine. They are not all the same as you probably know. When I was trying to adjust the outrigger heighth on #61 I found I didn't have enough adjustment in the screw turnbuckles outboard of the body to get the outriggers where they needed to be. I had to make shims to insert in the rubber washers under the rear seat to push the outrigger rods outward and get the proper heighth for the outriggers. I guess what I'm saying is that the place to make coarse adjustment to the outrigger ride heighth in inboard under the seat. The fine adjustments can then be made outboard of the body. You can determine the rod length by placing the outriggers where they should be and then measuring the distance between the outboard adjuster and the inboard rubber washer mounts. Also if I remember correctly the inboard ends of the outrigger rods are positioned using threaded nuts. They can be longer than needed but not shorter.

[Bob Hichborn]

Bob, thanks for the info.

Yep, that's what I found out last night. I had cut some threaded rod using remnants of the originals, installed the entire outrigger assembly, but noticed the outrigger tires where a tad bit vertical. The left side was actually cambered in a bit (on the bottom). Well, as soon as I test fitted the fiberglass covers I could tell I was going to be throwing the 2 rods I had just made in the trash. Oh, well, that's the tough part of doing a restoration over the course of several years. You tend to forget how things when together, lose parts, etc... Luckily, with the construction of the 2 proto-types, I'm taking a bit more care to keep things organized.

It looks like to get the outrigger panels to fit, those outrigger wheels really need to slant out 10 or so degrees. No wonder you guys found that the wheels lasted less than 1000 miles.

I wish you and Don still had your Pulses. It would have made the assembly part of the project much easier. Of course, taking things apart is always the easiest.
_________________
"Everyday you wake up with a Pulse,
is a good day!"