I think this has been discussed before but here I am probably beating a dead horse! The Roadmaster/Cheiftain rake is 25 degrees, the Vintage is 31. The part numbers are different for the neck and the trees. The rake on the Roadmaster neck is 25, I can't find the neck rake for the Vintage so the triple trees on the Roadmaster are 25, but the neck on the vintage is a mystery. So my thought is if I can lose a couple of degrees of rake my vintage will turn a little better. I know there are much smarter people out there than me , so any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!
You need to consider trail as well as rake. The front frame member determines the rake. The triple trees determine the trail.
The specs link for each model on the Indian website have all those numbers.
If you want to change the rake you'll need to change the front frame member. This is where the VIN is engraved so it might be a problem. Then you'll need to consider what triple trees you want for the trail you prefer.
The RM/Chieftain/Springfield share the 25 degree rake but the Springfield has a shorter trail. This is why people say the Springfield is the snappier handling bike. However, other people say they don't like it as it's too quirky compared to the more relaxed setup on the others.
Vintage is 29 degrees on their site and rake 6.1 trail, Roadmaster is 25 deg rake 5.9 trail. Weird part is the website when ordering the trees for the vintage is 31 deg rake, very confusing. For the cost of the trees I am hoping the gain is just a little.
I've not come across the 31 degrees anywhere. We had a similar discussion on the Oz forum and nobody mentioned it. Perhaps there is an error that appears only on that part of their database.
Any Sidecar MFG has Triple Trees that are raked... which is the opposite of Raking the neck as far as Trail numbers are concerned.. Hannigan Put some Very Nice Trees on our Vintage Sidecar rig!!!
Handles Flawlessly!!!
will assume you are speaking to yer hack rig...
The Most common "change" for hack rigs is to add Raked Trees, as this is the same as altering the Neck rake in the Negative direction..
I can gey the Trail Numbers if ya like... because that is actually the only Number that Matters..
remember that trees can vary trail simply via Offset!!!
Very slippery slope..
I was very resistant to raked trees on a Rig... Until I owned one... I will Never....Ever go back..
I highly recommend it..
Really you want to change the trail numbers... but, It will Not get you where yer going with a Tree change.. as it actually kicks the wheel away a bit.. A change of Rake will do as you wish... But, Modify of frame is Pricy!! Best bet??? IMO is 3 degree negative rake Cups for the Stem. [Tree]...
Good Luck!!
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