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I keep wondering that since I see more Gold Wing trikes on the road than any other kind, why not at least one factory trike from Honda?
I would love a new VTX trike. Yes, it just looks more like a Harley than any other Honda that I have seen. (Blush)
I can't actually confirm this but the story goes that it had to do with the ATC 3 wheeler bikes from years ago. There were quite a few lawsuits against Honda because of people being injured or killed on them. They were said to be a bit unstable. In one of the settlements, it was agreed that Honda would no longer make any of these 3 wheelers and agreed to never produce another 3 wheeler again.
But I think it may be more about that for years, the interest in 3 wheeled road bikes just wasn't there. Most owners were all about 2 wheeled motorcycles. But now that the main enthusiast are getting older, trikes have become more mainstream. However there are already many aftermarket companies already satisfying this need. And there are many choices to choose from. I think Honda just doesn't want to get into trying to design a single general trike that may or may not have the interest needed. I think they just want to concentrate on building bikes and leave the customization to others. Years ago Harley did produce 3 wheeled utility bikes that some police departments adapted for a variety of uses but I haven't seen one of those for decades. In 2009, Harley began offering the factory built triglide but I don't think any other motorcycle manufacturer followed suit so theirs is the only choice for factory produced trikes.
Oops, I just realized I forgot all about the CanAm Spyder...
And I will concede that the Polaris Slingshot is marketed as a trike...
[QUOTE=pwhoever;875180]I can't actually confirm this but the story goes that it had to do with the ATC 3 wheeler bikes from years ago. There were quite a few lawsuits against Honda because of people being injured or killed on them. They were said to be a bit unstable. In one of the settlements, it was agreed that Honda would no longer make any of these 3 wheelers and agreed to never produce another 3 wheeler again.
[COLOR=#ff0000][SIZE=3][B][I]I had read this several years ago also… much to my disappointment.[/I][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]
But I think it may be more about that for years, the interest in 3 wheeled road bikes just wasn't there. Most owners were all about 2 wheeled motorcycles. But now that the main enthusiast are getting older, trikes have become more mainstream. However there are already many aftermarket companies already satisfying this need. And there are many choices to choose from. I think Honda just doesn't want to get into trying to design a single general trike that may or may not have the interest needed. I think they just want to concentrate on building bikes and leave the customization to others. Years ago Harley did produce 3 wheeled utility bikes that some police departments adapted for a variety of uses but I haven't seen one of those for decades. In 2009, Harley began offering the factory built triglide but I don't think any other motorcycle manufacturer followed suit so theirs is the only choice for factory produced trikes.[/QUOTE
But one would think that maybe Honda could invest in a partnership or totally take ownership of one of the third party vendors, keeping the name of the vendor, and selling the base bike to them as like a giant fleet company and then they could market the Goldwing based trike 'with their blessing'. Just thinking out loud.
I think most of the ground up new development dollars are going to be going into electric unfortunately.With so many European countries and some states mandating the end of gas engines fairly soon they have more pressing things at the moment.
A Honda Trike would cost $75,000