Hannigan Goldwing Tri-Car

[hkay1]

Hi there! New to the forum. Anyone out there with a Goldwing/Hannigan Tri-Car?

We have an '02 Goldwing Trike (Champion Kit) and are very interested in buying a Tri-Car so we can travel with our daughter on it....

Thanks for your help.

Here is a picture of hubby and daughter Jaime on "Ben" aka The Thing...

[Smoken'JOE]

I have seen a trike with a side car and it was HUGE............... Not sure who's SC it was but it was differnt. Had a bubble covering the seat. Did I mention it was HUGE

[Nana]

Hi there hkay1! and a big welcome to TrikeTalk. I look forward to hearing what advice you get and what decision you and your husband make on this. Keep us posted for sure!

[BlueTrinity]

Gotta admit it's pretty big, Joe.

[Gorilla]

Wow that is big. I wonder if it has steering issues with the one rear axle being longer than the other?

[Puff]

Gotta admit it's pretty big, Joe.
(pic deleted)

Like WOW!!
It'd be a case of "I knew I was getting closer to home, I was hitting more people"
But having said that, it looks really cool, but not something I'd go for personally... my preference would be either a trike OR an outfit, but not a combination of the two.

Oh, nearly forgot Welcome to the forum hkay1

[5thwheel]

Hi hkay1! That's a very awesome looking rig. I was curious as to why you were going that way instead of just putting the sidecar on the wing. I ride hubby's rig occasionally and find its stability and ride to be just great.

[hkay1]

Hey there,

Actually -- we BOUGHT it. Hubby flew to KY to pick it up and is driving it home this weekend.

We have heard from many folks that sidecars can be extremely hard to handle since they act as a drag on the bike and don't have their own brakes. Since this one is PART of the trike it brakes WITH the bike. Everyone I have talked to say that regular side cars have a mind of its own.

Here are some more pictures.

[Nana]

I'm looking forward to hearing the report after his big ride home. Part of the difficulty with a side car is that it tends to pull one way strongly, so steering the other way can take a lot of strength (and will!!!). Because of the trike wheel set out to the left on this one, I wonder if that will compensate for that pull and balance it out, taking away that steering difficulty.......

[hkay1]

I'm looking forward to hearing the report after his big ride home. Part of the difficulty with a side car is that it tends to pull one way strongly, so steering the other way can take a lot of strength (and will!!!). Because of the trike wheel set out to the left on this one, I wonder if that will compensate for that pull and balance it out, taking away that steering difficulty.......

That's what I am guessing. This particular one also has EZ Steer which we have on our Champion Trike. The Hannigan's promise that it will handle just like the trike. (Albeit a MUCH larger one -- LOL) There are a few guys on the GL1800 board who have taken one out for a spin during visits to Murray and they said it was easy to drive.

I am soooo excited. Our little one wants to ride much more than she gets to now. We are going to use it to take her to and from softball and when we go visit her big brother and sister at college and all times between.

We are going to TRY (I will let you know if it works) not to buy a second car. We just sold our second car to our teenage daughter and THINK that we may be able to get away without another one if the Tri-Car is as wonderful as we think it will be.

[5thwheel]

Very cool rig hkay1! I am looking forward to hearing how you find riding it compared to the standard trike.
You might be able to get along well without the second car. Between hubby's sidecar and my trike, our cages get very little use in the summer. We have enough cargo space to do our grocery shopping and any other errands and they sure are more fun this way:yes:.

[Ozarkryder]

Interesting rig - I got to ride one at the Davis Rally a few years ago.
Was pretty much just like a trike, with a few exceptions.
Being used to a trike, I really had to be aware of the extra width on the chair side.
It seems to turn differently if you are going right or left. On a trike the center of horizontal rotation is in line and close to your body. On the Tri-Car it seems the center of rotation was off to the right when turning right, and in line with the trike portion when turning left.
The air flow off the windshield caused a permanent breeze from the sidecar windshield on to my right side. Force of the wind depended on the speed.

I used to have a sidecar on the Harley - the same happened on that rig (How it turns, wider on one side and wind off the chairs' shield). Quickly got use to it all.
What did not happen on the Tri-Car that happened on the hack was the pulling to the right when starting out, pushing to the left when braking, a "skidding" feeling around some corners, (doesn't on the Tri-Car due to both wheels being driven) and for the life of me I couldn't get the sidecar wheel off the ground.
On the Harley, If I gave it too much (or just enough ) right turn I could loft the chair wheel and even ride like that for a bit. The Tri-Car was too heavy over there for those kind of shenanigans.

Oh- and turning right you'll only bump over a curb once. (Don't ask me how I know.)

[hkay1]

Thanks for the replies. Alan made it to Florence Alabama last night and is doing fine. The thing he notices most is that its "heavy!"

He says we are going to absolutely love it, and that while this vehicle would definitely not be on his hit parade if he could ride solo, that the idea of having "his ladies" with him will be more than worth what he is losing in handling and excitement. Aweeeeeeee.. He lovvessss us!!! Tee Hee

The biggest problem that he is having is that he has heel/toe shifting on our 02 GL1800 Trike and this bike his all toe. Is that something one can successfully shift back and forth on? (he will still be riding the 02 when he is alone) or should he get one of the shifters changed over so they are the same?

[hkay1]

So Alan's got one leg left...he's in Tally now. He is having a great ride home. He is convinced though if he ever has an accident its going to be because of people gawking so much they forget to watch the road. He counted four cars pull next to him to take a picture!! And two of the people were the drivers!!!!!!

He also says you guys are right about gas stops. Took him a half hour at lunchtime today to get out of the gas station. LOL. Does that get old or is it fun to brag about your ride over and over??

Anyway, he told me on the phone that he keeps looking over at the sidecar and imagining our 11 year old in there grinning ear to ear!!!

My next post will be to tell y'all about my and Jaime's first ride!!

[Nana]

I'm lovin' the updates, Heidi!

[Gorilla]

Heidi it's not hard at all to go back and forth from one style of shifting to the other. It will not be an issue. My wife has a Stallion and yes you get use to the longer stops for the Q & A sessions. Most of the time it's okay unless you are in a hurry. We had a guy lose it and drive off the road trying to take pictures.

[hkay1]

Hi Everyone!

The "Flash" is safely in my garage. Havent had a ride yet because of the stupid rain!!!!!

I will let you know!

[Gorilla]

Suppose to be a great day tomorrow. Get out and ride.

[hkay1]

Suppose to be a great day tomorrow. Get out and ride.

Wish we had...Sigh... Daughter had too much homework and then we could have taken it to softball, but as we warned her, her HUGE softball bag did not fit in the trunk. She refused to unpack into two smaller bags until I can get her something else.

We should get out for an hour today. Here's hoping.

[hkay1]

Oh My Goodness!!

Our maiden voyage on The Flash, FAR exceeded my wildest hopes and expectations.

We had SOOOO much fun... Jaime had an S-E-G from ear to ear for the entire 90 minutes and when we played Born to Run at top volume I just couldn't believe my good fortune that we have been blessed with the means and good fortune to be able to afford such an amazing ride with our amazing little girl.

We went all over North Pinellas to Clearwater Beach and back. The highlight was the trip over the Beach causeway. Jaime had her arms up like we were in our own personal roller coaster car.

Life is Good...

Correction. Life is GREAT!!!!

PS. Jaime's piano teacher took pix of the three of us. I will post as soon as I get them!!