I've recently noticed some "rumbling" from my left front wheel (HPV Gecko fx 20) so I checked out the quick release wheel bolt and axle bolt. both are very tight. Holding the wheel with my hands 180 degree apart and I rock it. I figured out the movement is on the bolt where the steering rod connects to the wheel. The bolt that holds them is very tight, but very tight, but there is play there and it moves up and down on that bolt if I rock the wheel. Is that normal or should there be zero play? Both wheels demonstrate this issue. The left wheel tends to rumble or vibrate more noticeable when I ride, no issue wit the right wheel, and maybe I mostly hearing it against the fender. But when I hold the wheel as described it's the disc rotor which restricts the movement. I"m worried this is dangerous and, if so, don't know what needs to be replaced or fixed. My mechanic is not a recumbent mechanic, just a talented regular bike mechanic. Appreciate any help asap. thanks.

I'm not a qualified trike mechanic, so the best I can do is point you to the recumbent trike forum where you can find some real help:
https://www.bentrideronline.com/mess...cal-discussion

Good luck. On first read, it might be the ball and socket part of the tie rod attached to the kingpin or something like that, which is worn out. Or maybe this is the dreaded "death wobble" of a front end that is not aligned properly? But those are two wild guesses.

Thanks for the reply. I figured out it's the connection between the steering rod and the wheel - perhaps worn bushings. Mechanic coming today.

Curious trikers want to know what the problem was, if you have fixed it by now. A picture or two would be nice. It's likely a learning experience you can share, and I, for one, would be a little bit smarter afterwards. Thanks.

My mechanic is not a recumbent mechanic and, honestly, I felt like he maybe didn't know exactly what he was doing. That said, it was his opinion that all that needed to be done was tighten the bolts. Now those bolts have nylon lock nuts and also had locktite on them as well, he said. So how they would have loosened I do not know. In any case, he tightened them and I will go ride today and see how it feels. This is the bolt that goes through the steering rod ends. Upshot of this, assuming it feels okay, is that I do need to find someone who knows recumbent stuff nearby if i can. My guy is fine for drivetrain type stuff because that's common to all bikes/trikes. But he spent a lot of time on this and it cost me a. lot because of that; I feel like someone who knows recumbents would have been able to figure it out much faster and at a lower cost.

Hmmm, that is unfortunate. Since you don't have a trike dealer in your locality, my next recommendation is to slowly acquire the tools you need for various maintenance tasks for your trike. It's not that hard to understand how certain things go together, and I'm sure you're capable of learning. Since you might have had the steering linkage get loose, now would be a good time to learn how to check and adjust the front wheel alignment. There is probably a YouTube video showing how to do this on your brand of trike. I made a couple of tools for this from a 3 foot piece of wood dowel and a couple of drywall screws. I loosened the tie rods (two 15 mm wrenches) and followed instructions on a Park Tool video, if I remember correctly. It will help if you can get the trike up on a platform so you don't have to work on your hands and knees on the floor. I use three plastic tubs, upside down, to support the trike. I live an hour away from the nearest trike dealer, so I try to learn as I go, and become self sufficient as a mechanic. YouTube can be a great learning resource.

As unlikely as it seems that something came loose, I think that's more likely than the bushing wearing out. How old is your trike in years and in miles? Mine has over 11k miles and no sign of worn steering linkage parts. PM me if you want and I'll try to help you long distance. Believe me, you can learn how to maintain a trike, because it's just not that complicated.

I have a lot of tools, but they are from my 2 wheeler maintenance and repair. The steering rod thing is unique to recumbents so that's where I needed some help. Also I have a disability now that makes some physical things impossible (unless I can get my adult son to come over and do the work under my direction). On my trike only toe-in can be adjusted. I do have a stand and a tool I can use to measure it. But since my mechanic was already here, I had him double check my work. The right tire wears faster than the left - but my dealer (who I can email) says that happens to him as well on our roadways. He's two cities over but rides the same places I do. Some of it is the lousy chipseal and road crown. The trike is a 2013, bought and used a couple months, then put in storage for 10 years. With the exception of the mesh seat which isn't as supple as new, it was in brand new condition. I put 20 miles on it every day and I've had it now about 2 years. My dealer pointed out that the older Gekkos had the tie rods factory installed and so maybe it wasn't tightened down correctly. In any case, now I know to watch it and check for play along with all my other safety check stuff. There are some things I'm not prepared to do, like spindles/wheel truing/cassette changes. I'm fine paying for that and any mechanic can do those things. Aside from the steering, the only other thing I can see that is recumbent-specific is the folding joint and that seems just fine. And I have found a local guy who know recumbents - he hasn't worked on HP, just Ice and Catrike, but that should be good enough. His minimum fee is $150 though, so I will save him for big things that I or my other guy don't get. He would be a good person for a major overhaul type situation. Thx for all your great advice.

If you can acquire a wheel truing stand, it isn't very difficult to learn the basics of adjusting spoke tension. It's nice to be able to bring a wheel back into true, if needed, after a hard hit on a pothole or rough pavement patch. Changing a cassette is even easier. I don't know about spindles yet, but like the other two things, I suspect it's largely a matter of having the special tools and knowing how to use them. A chain whip is a little intimidating but simple enough to get the job done. And I don't think I gave any advice; only encouragement. You can do it.

I suspect the 'bike mechanic' is correct. The adjustment bolts loosened over time. Blue Loctite, the only one that would be in use for this application, is not designed not to ever allow loosening. It slows loosening. For most things that is as good as NO loosening. For a trike front end ... not so much. But the front ends of sophisticated trikes like an HPV Gekko has 'toe' and 'camber' parameters that are different when the trike is laden or unladen and the correct adjustment of these settings are not intuitive. The dealer that sold that trike is the best entity to perform the service. Second best is having someone at HPV communicate the service manual to the o.p. or their designee. Sadly, most standard bike repair facilities treat recumbents, even two wheel recumbents like they have no relationship to the bikes they regularly service. Not even drivetrain systems that are one and the same with a regular bicycle will they touch.

I thought the combo of a nylon locknut AND loctite would be foolproof but now i know better, lol. The Gekko only adjusts for toe-in; camber is not adjustable. I've had great help from Zach (who I bought it from) via email and also HP support. However, I have now found a pretty local guy who knows recumbents, albeit mostly Catrike and Ice. So I will continue to use a regular mobile mechanic for standard bike-type stuff I can't do, but anything specific to recumbents will go to the new guy. He's not mobile but he's only 2 miles away and I can easily get there. Other than steering issues and replacing chain tubes or an idler, I can't think of anything specific to recumbents. Anything else?