First tri-glide test ride

[GARYD]

14 years now with my DFT and I have not had one single problem. The roads up north, unlike the South get beat up in the winter 70% of our roads are twisty and bumpy.

You got that right. I thought Chicago had bad roads, but traveling out NE is pretty bad.
I think Washington DC has THE worst streets I've ever traveled on - and they have all our money - you'd think their streets would be paved in gold - unfortunately not so.
I have not been on a road that I would be willing to spend $5K+ to improve (bike not the road) - I stay away from them as much as possible. On the few I have been on - no big deal.
If I traveled on bad roads all the time - or the majority of the time, then yes I probably would splurge on IRS......or give up riding. Thankfully I don't have to do either one.

[woodyt74]

Ridden2low,

Unlike most of the responders here, I don't have a trike but I was considering one for health reasons. I rented a 2014 Tri Glide for a few days and put nearly 600 miles on it. I went through many of the 2 to 3 wheel differences here but I got comfortable with it within a couple of hundred miles. Then I went on one of my favorite rides with plenty of twisties and I decided then and there that I will not own a trike until I have no choice. Everyone is different but I've been riding for 45 years and I'm fairly competent so I picked up the trike difference pretty quickly and thought I was doing well until then. While I never felt out of control in the twisties it was NOT fun and that is the main reason I ride. All I trying to say is follow the advice here and rent one for a few days, put lots of miles on it and do so on the types of rides you like to do. Not all of us like trikes but many do.

[roadking2]

I went from 47 years of 2 wheels to 3 and it took a while to figure it out. Before going to 3 I test rode several conversions and a tri. What my test ride experience showed me was that a straight axle is harsher than a IRS. I converted my Roadking with a Champion IRS kit. To get the hang of riding a trike my best advice is to try and forget about the leaning and rocking a trike does and simply concentrate on keeping the front wheel in the center of the lane. What was hardest for me to get used to was trying to correct the rocking because my 2 wheel reflexes wanted to adjust for it and it's unnecessary with a trike. Thats where the forget about the rocking and leaning and concentrate on the front wheel came into play. Once I did that, the entire experience became exponentially more enjoyable and less, for a better word, frightening and panic inducing. My first trike ride I was sure I was going to end up in the ditch and it was all because of my trying to correct for the side to side motion the trike gives you. At the end of the day its the difference between bungee jumping and sky diving. Both thrilling and enjoyable, but in a different way and I wish I had gone to 3 sooner.

[DK Custom Products]

As has been stated, there are many things you can do to soften up the ride on a Tri-Glide.

As far as getting used to it...it is completely different in how it is ridden. As Gorilla said, if you have ridden a 4 wheeler (ATV), ride it just like you would that.

Having spent thousands of hours on ATV's, I was immediately at home on the Tri-Glide.

I still ride 2 wheels bikes in addition to riding the TG. They are a different kind of fun, but they are still a lot of fun to ride.

One big thing about the TG is, while you still need to look out for cages, it is a much more relaxed ride since there is little worry about sand, road debris, oil, etc.

My wife has logged well over 150,000 miles riding passenger with me on 2 wheels, and around 45,000 riding passenger on a Tri-Glide. She is much more comfortable on the Tri-Glide, and at 58 she can easily ride 8-10 hours, where on 2 wheels, at 5-6 hours riding she has had enough.

You can check out the link below to see hundreds of pictures in our ride report on our trip up to Alaska last summer on the TG. They are a lot of fun, and surprisingly stable/good handling.

http://www.triketalk.com/forum/threa...Back-Pic-Heavy

Kevin

[GARYD]

I went from 47 years of 2 wheels to 3 and it took a while to figure it out. Before going to 3 I test rode several conversions and a tri. What my test ride experience showed me was that a straight axle is harsher than a IRS. I converted my Roadking with a Champion IRS kit. To get the hang of riding a trike my best advice is to try and forget about the leaning and rocking a trike does and simply concentrate on keeping the front wheel in the center of the lane. What was hardest for me to get used to was trying to correct the rocking because my 2 wheel reflexes wanted to adjust for it and it's unnecessary with a trike. Thats where the forget about the rocking and leaning and concentrate on the front wheel came into play. Once I did that, the entire experience became exponentially more enjoyable and less, for a better word, frightening and panic inducing. My first trike ride I was sure I was going to end up in the ditch and it was all because of my trying to correct for the side to side motion the trike gives you. At the end of the day its the difference between bungee jumping and sky diving. Both thrilling and enjoyable, but in a different way and I wish I had gone to 3 sooner.

Please explain this "rocking" to me. I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you talking about the once in a while very very slight left to right motion of the TG? If so, I thoroughly enjoy it. It keeps my hands from falling asleep and helps keep ME awake on very long rides. It is a very subtle motion. Is this on a IRS or a solid axle trike? What year? When I test rode both, I didn't feel any rocking on either.

[Strohkr]

Ridden2low,

Unlike most of the responders here, I don't have a trike but I was considering one for health reasons. I rented a 2014 Tri Glide for a few days and put nearly 600 miles on it. I went through many of the 2 to 3 wheel differences here but I got comfortable with it within a couple of hundred miles. Then I went on one of my favorite rides with plenty of twisties and I decided then and there that I will not own a trike until I have no choice. Everyone is different but I've been riding for 45 years and I'm fairly competent so I picked up the trike difference pretty quickly and thought I was doing well until then. While I never felt out of control in the twisties it was NOT fun and that is the main reason I ride. All I trying to say is follow the advice here and rent one for a few days, put lots of miles on it and do so on the types of rides you like to do. Not all of us like trikes but many do.

Each to their own I guess but that's one reason I LOVE my Tri-Glide - the twisties and switchbacks!! They're a BLAST to take on a Tri-Glide!! Once you get use to it you can take them a lot faster than most 2-wheelers (remember I said most). Most had a hard time staying with me riding Beartooth last summer. Yes, it's different - you don't lean - you turn (although I still lean in the seat just for the fun of it). Like I said - each to their own - but for me the twisties are a hell of a lot of FUN!!!!

[GARYD]

Each to their own I guess but that's one reason I LOVE my Tri-Glide - the twisties and switchbacks!! They're a BLAST to take on a Tri-Glide!! Once you get use to it you can take them a lot faster than most 2-wheelers (remember I said most). Most had a hard time staying with me riding Beartooth last summer. Yes, it's different - you don't lean - you turn (although I still lean in the seat just for the fun of it). Like I said - each to their own - but for me the twisties are a hell of a lot of FUN!!!!

I agree with that 1000%
2 wheelers may pull away from me in the straights, but I'll leave them in the dust in the turns.