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Holy Hannigan!!!
For those that like to cut to the bottom line…
I just wanted to give recognition to Hannigan Motorsports, http://www.hannigantrikes.com
for their engineering on both the front and rear of my new GL1800, and to their paint shop. Yes, both are everything you’ve read.
I also wanted to give recognition to ACE Motorworks, LLC,
http://www.acetrike.com/
Jeff and his crew are honest, straight-shooters. All they do is trikes, and they are busy 12 months a year… that should tell you something.
For those that like to curl up with the story…
First, there was the desire for more power,
Then, there was the need for reliability,
Then, there was the need for comfort.
Then came the 2015 GL1800 Hannigan…
Just before Christmas 2015, I found a 2015 Red and Black Anniversary Edition GL 1800 still in the shipping box, at a dealer in Philadelphia. I bought it sight unseen and had never even sat on a Gold Wing before. Once the bike was put together and the brake recall was done, on December 18, 2015, the dealer delivered the bike to ACE Motorworks in NJ, right before ACE closed for two weeks for the Holidays.
The first part of January was spent finalizing the options, the paint and the plan, and finally we put the order for the kit into Hannigan in late January. In early December, when I first talked to Jeff @ ACE, he told me it would be six to eight weeks for the factory to build, paint, and deliver.
In mid April, everything was delivered, and I was put in line for the build. There was one trike, one week, and then they would start mine. He figured two weeks, because of all the options we had on it.
In the beginning of May, I get word the fuel fill for the auxiliary tank was defective. The factory is sending a new one. Then the rain set in.
Jeff personally rides each trike they build, putting it through the paces… easy stop, hard stop, go slow, go fast… before he’ll release it to the owner.
Finally, on Tuesday, May 24th, I get word the trike is ready for pickup.
Wednesday afternoon I rent a car from Enterprise – there’s an Enterprise less than two miles from Jeff’s shop. Thursday morning my wife and I head down to pick up our new ride.
I was fairly apprehensive. If you drive hard, and make one quick pee stop, it’s going to be a three hour drive, at least. I’ve never been on a Wing before – all those buttons and gadgets. It’s going to be 95 degrees. I have to go through Philadelphia, roads to be avoided at all cost, if you’re from Pennsyltucky.
We finally get there, and I wanted to just take it down the road a bit, no wife or trailer, just to get half used to it. I’m turning around in a parking lot, and a guy in a car that looked just like the guy and car in the opening of Then Came Bronson, pulled up beside me, and says, “Ya wanna trade?.” Ok, here we go…
Get back to Jeff’s shop. Pictures, hook up trailer, pack everything up… Finally get out of there. The clock is ticking – remember Philly traffic? We head down the road to Enterprise to drop off the car.
Sitting at a light, the window on the car beside me goes down. The lady inside yells, “Do you need someone for that back seat?” Geez...
I tell her my wife is in the car behind me.
Finally get the car dropped off and taken care of, we start home. It’s now way after noon, and, of course, we’re both hungry – remember Philly traffic? We get going on route and stop for lunch.
Finally get done with lunch. Time to get out of Dodge. It’s hot. By this time, we were just in time to get caught up in the Philadelphia Rush Hour Traffic. Nothing like dreaming of the breeze of a country road, while sitting in a sea of traffic, on a 95 degree day.
Mercifully, we finally got on the North East Extension of the Turnpike, and were able to get moving a bit better, and, the farther north you go – farther from Philly, the less traffic there is. We pounded the pavement hard the rest of the way home.
All in all, this was a ten hour affair.
The trike? It’s everything you’ve read about Wings and Hannigan. This is our retirement/touring trike.
Pretty awesome machine. My wife loves it.
Originally Posted by 56Elwood
