How did you become a triker?

[Ozarkryder]

Well, I asked, so I'll start.

Got the first trike when I was about 3. Was 35 years later until I got one with an engine. After I got married the 1971 Sportster wouldn't cut it for the 2 of us, so we went shopping for a Big Twin. She loved riding, hated leaning in the corners. We ended up with the FLHS I still own, with a side car. She didn't like the hack at all. It was low - when passing a semi all she could see was jacks and pallet racks, and the tops of the semi wheels were above her head. She really hated it when I lofted the chair. She liked the wheel to stay on the ground. One January she said we were going somewhere, just drive where I tell you. Ended up at the Trike Shop in the Twin Cities, went into the garage, she pointed at a trike and said "That one's mine." VW based Trike Shop Runabout, Automatic transmission and she had a foot accelerator installed. Sold the hack. In the next 11 years she had pinstriping applied, pictures of waterfalls painted down the fenders and etching on the engine guard and front springer fork legs. Always won 1st place in the trike class at shows. The thing was a hot rod, but there came a time when long distance comfort won out. We sold that trike back to the Trike Shop during the Davis Rally in Iowa 4 years ago and bought a Goldwing GL1500 Motor Trike we found at that same rally. She has since found she likes the passenger seat, and when we go, I am the Captian, she is the Admiral. She even had me put in a power port under the rear speaker so she could plug in a DVD player if we drone on the freeway, along with cupholders, set up to play the Mp3 player, GPS, intercom system and more pinstriping, with "Riding On A Wing And A Prayer" written on the back of the trunk. It's a good mile-eater, we put 2 to 3 thousand miles in a week or 2 on it 3 or 4 times per year, along with the normal couple hunderd mile weekend rides. It also shares some commuting and joy ride duties with my Harley FLHS (2 wheels). When we go, its the trike. When I go 75% of the time its the Harley, but I do enjoy the trike solo the other 25%. Both bikes get about the same miles on them each year.

Well, that made a short story long.

[katfish16]

Ozarkryder, nice story. Sounds like we have a couple of things in common. A trike we enjoy and a great wife.
Cathy got me my first Goldwing for a retirement present. We were on 2 wheels then and had a great time. We also lived on the Gulf Coast and was with a great chapter that taught us a lot. We moved and there was no chapter, to speak of. The one we tried to get with was very clandish. Also with the new job riding was not as often. We sold the 2 wheeler. Went for 9 months without a bike. One morning Cathy got up and set the checkbook beside my breakfast and said I want another bike. I have a bad knee and had always wanted a trike so I looked into it and showed her some pictures. she loved the idea. Well the rest is history, we found this trike in Paris Landing Tn. and have enjoyed it very much. Shortly after getting it Cathy hurt her right leg and cannot sit for long periods of time. So we got the toy hauler so we could enjoy the trike and camping. She also bought a Escapade trailer because I told her she could not buy anything because we had no room to put it. So we now call that her shopping cart. To say the least she runs the money, but I am spoiled and have plenty of toys. We don't want to go back to 2 wheels and really love being on 3.
So much 4 my short story.

[ben721364]

Great story Don.

I kinda backed into trikes too, aside from the pedal powered one I found in a closet where Santa hid it when I was about 3 or 4.

I have had a bunch of bikes of all descriptions though mostly BMWs but none with more than 2 wheels until a couple years ago when I adopted a Grinnall Scorpion 111. The S3 is a serious sports car that slips under the radar as a reverse trike. It has a BMW "K" drive train and is registered as a motorcycle in most states. Your wife would definitely not like it as the rider/driver and the passenger both sit lower than in a hack!

Until last Summer I had never considered owning and wasn't even interested in riding a conventional trike. My impression was that they were dangerous at any speed above 15 mph. I considered them in the same category as three wheel ATVs and the old Harley meter maid trikes.

At the Curve Cowboy Reunion (BMW Luxury Touring group) in MO, I saw a few trikes, and had a nice conversation with the Hannigans. Until then I had no idea that trikes had come so far! About 6 months later, I began a serious effort to educate myself about trikes to the point that I made a nuisance of myself with bone headed questions. I also learned more about trikes than I need to know and a whole lot less than some of the experienced people here.

I took several test rides and decided on certain things that were important to me and others that I think are nice to have though not really necessary, to me. At that point I made a short list of kit brands and options and started shopping.

For those considering a move to trikes, I suggest that you not follow all my footsteps. Instead, I recommend that you take several test rides long enough and over sufficiently diverse terrain to get a feel for the trikes that have the features that interest you. (Keep this list as short as you can to make it easier on yourself.) Once satisfied that a specific trike or even better two or three different trike brands suit your coporosity, go do some serious shopping! Good luck...

[3W-lonerider]

here's my story and i'm sticking to it..LOL..anyway..iv'e owned alot of bikes over the years but the first one to have the wife riding with me was an 1986, 700 shadow. had that bike for 13 years. had 64,000 miles on it. but it still ran great. i looked at my wife one day and basically said. ( you know..we ar'nt getting any smaller but the bike is.) we loved the idea of having a bike big enough for long trips without the feeling of going 9 rounds with Joe frazer once we got there..so we stopped at the local honda shop one day and looked at a brand new 1999 valkyrie interstate. 3 days later we were riding that bike home. sold the shadow to someone that i knew would take care of it like i did. over the next couple of years we ended up with 72,000 miles on the valk. and done alot of long distance trips with trailer in tow. the last summer it was a bike, i managed to drop it 3 times at off camber intersections. i knew my knees and shoulders were getting to the point that when that beast would get alittle off balance there was no holding her up. rode to a trike shop the very next spring to check prices and had the kit ordered before walking out the door. we've been very happy ever since..with the exception of the day the trike ended up on her side and the wife got tossed down the road about 20 feet. iv'e probably got one of the very few police reports that the tree actually did jump out in front of me..we were on a side street in our local town. and there was an old rotton tree that stood along side of the road..now this tree had been rotting away for 20 years. well it decided it was time to fall out unto the road just as we were passing it. we caught the tree with the right rear tire and it spun us around and threw us up into the bushes where the trike went over. rode the rest of that season with a busted fairing and a dented fender..spent all winter fixing her back up. the wife did get hurt that day..but thank god she's alright now..and eager to get back on.

[WilsonBoud]

Oh Good...I like long stories

Dean & I purchased a Yellow Wing in April of '01. I was retired, she was about to retire, and we wanted to tour by Wing. We purchased a trailer in March '02, and she retired in May '02. We were set. By the end of December of '04, we had rolled 103, 500 miles. Many smiles to the miles. Mean while I was beginning to feel every man deserves two motorcycles, his perfect cruiser, and his perfect touring bike.

We had the perfect touring bike, so I was looking for my perfect cruiser.

I found what I thought is my perfect cruiser in the '05 Yamaha Royal Star and purchased it in December '04.

Meanwhile, we wanted to continue touring like we had been doing for the last 44 months. We still had many miles to roll yet.

The Trike concept was no stranger to me. I had eyed many over the previous two years, and felt that the safest way to continue touring as we had been doing might very well be on a trike.

We purchased a new Wing in Jan '05, Triked in Feb and began enjoying concern-free Motorcycle touring.

The only thing was, when we rode the Royal Star, the trike would stay parked, and vise-versa. I began stressing to the wife that the trike was really easy to operate. I found a large parking lot one day, and with a couple of hours training, she was good to go. That was mid '05.

We now enjoy day rides & over-niter or two niter rides with each our own.

We still tour two up with the trailer. Between the Yellow Wing and the Trike, we have rolled 37 of the 48 continental states. '06 and more than half of '07 were bad years and we didn't get to tour much.

BUT, I think we're back, and look forward to rolling some highways near you.

Feel free to view our pics in PICASA. Remember these pics represent rides we have done since Jan '05. We have too many pics before that to post. And, these pics represent very little of '06 and some '07.

[WG9K]

Guess I started with dirt bikes about 35 years ago mostly Kaws but did have a Honda 305 scramble for a while.Had a Kaw 500 when I got married for three years then the kids started coming just after I bought the Honda 450.Well sold it after our second daughter and no ride for next twenty -five years11.We had friends who were starting to ride again so we bought an '03 GW.Then my knee went bad and I had trouble holding up bike .So I triked it in winter of '06 and been having a ball since...John

[W7AX]

Very interesting stories folks. I started with an old James motorcycle back in 1947. Keeping it running was a challenge but the experience prepared me better for all that was to follow. I could not begin to name all the different bikes I've had through the years but I doubt that you could name very many that I either had or at least rode. Some of the notables were the Excelsior Super 4, the Henderson 4, the Vincent Black Shadow twin, the Cotten and many more. I restored bikes for a number of years, mostly BSA and Triumph. These were 100 point restorations which usually garnered the best in show many times. I also was active in racing in my earlier days. Flattrack dirt tracks to start and later cross country and hare & hound scrambles and later motocross . It helped a lot that I owned a motorcycle shop for years.

I have ridden Goldwings since their inception in 1978. I have owned at least 2 or 3 of every single model there has ever been. In fact ,I've owned 4 1800's in the last 5 years. I decided on getting a trike with matching Escapade trailer last year. The wife and I are anxious to get back into long distance trips and the ability to camp out. I doubt that you could name a single road west of the Mississipi that we haven't been on at one time or another. This year our plans are to be in North Carolina at WingDing in July. After that we'll prepare for another trip to the Yukon and Alaska (where I lived and worked for many years) The present bike is a 2003 Pearl Yellow and the Motor Trike conversion that we like very well. I doubt if I ever wear it out but we're trying. Some would say that maybe I'm too old to ride anymore but I point out to them that I am only 74 and one of my riding buddies has a VTX and he just turned 80. So I may have a few years yet.

[hermit]

I'm not quite a triker yet, but I have one in the design stages. It'll be a type 3 VW with automatic tranny. Hope to start construction soon. I really got the urge for a trike when I helped a buddy finish a reverse trike called a Scorpion.Full custom HDU foam with fiberglass over coat. 1100 HGW power train. Slick as all get out. But my buddy died from cancer and the trike was sold. Last I knew, it was in Charlotte, NC.

[John Luciano]

Rode motorcycles since I was 21 started with a 150 Vespa then a 450 Honda then a 550 Honda then a 1100 Wing I then bought a Voyager kit for the 1100 and thought it was great until I tried a 1997 Goldwing DFT trike at Americade ( Lake George ). Took it around the lake and bought it with my American Express card 1/2 hour later. Had a friend drive up with a trailer to tow the old 1100 with Voyager kit back home . I rode the real trike for the first time 156 miles back home. We decide that the Voyager was too noisy and quite scary in sharp turns. Been lovin it all .
Sad story : My best friend Nelson could not see spending the money on a trike. He had a 1999 Wing. 2 years ago in Sept he purchased a Yellow 2002 Champion Trike . He loved the trike and always said he wished he did it back when I did 5 years earlier. NELSON died 4 weeks ago, 1 month after his 65th birthday.
If you are on this board and are thinking of a trike Do it NOW.
Scroll thru these pics and see his YELLOW trike with matching Bustec trailer
WTBYsig_31.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

[CyberVet65]

My story is similar. I "shanghied" my wife to a new bike shop. They had the Big Dog and Iron Horse custom bikes. But they also had Victory and Harley stock machines. She saw a Victory trike with a Lehman Pit Bull setup and really like it.
I asked the owner if he had any other trikes. He replied that he had his personal trike in storage in Las Vegas and that he would bring it up next week. Soooooo, I brought the spouse back to the shop and showed her the Honda Lehman trike and she said "Get it"!
Well being a wise man I did not even question how much. I got it!
An 03 GL1800 with 7500 miles and a new Lehman Monarch II trike kit.
Love it and I still get to keep my two wheeler. Life is good!
Chet

[bwdemo]

Have been riding bikes most of my short life {50yrs). Anyway to get to the chase, I bought a 2006 GL1800 Nav pkg and was realyy enjoying it but my wife was a little uncomfortable riding 2-up. She thought I might wreck {silly woman}. Well as you can guess it did happen with her on it on a freshly graded sand road. Front wheel got stuck in sand about 5" deep, couldn't get out of it, jerked my wheel hard right and down we went. No serious injury or bike damage. Now she really won"t ride unless it has a minimum of 3-wheels. Well this situation combined with a real bad right knee {see surgeon Fri. about total replacement} forced me to trike. Now I have a 06 gl1800 w/ 07 motortrike kit. After getting accustomed to this configuration I wish I had done this a long time ago. What a blast this is to ride and cruise around on.

[Jimsjinx]

Hi! Love the stories! I rode a 1980 GL1100 naked wing every day for 17 years. It never saw the repair shop, as I was able to maintain it myself. Maint. was simple, and the bike never let me down. Then I got a little deeper into my career, and became a paramedic, for my fire dept. I had a young son, a young wife who depended on me to work, so I traded the bike for a Triumph spitfire convertible. My son cried. I thought I'd never ride one again. Now, a couple decades later, my intrests drifted back to the old days of cruising up to Payson Ariz. for a bowl of the best chile in the world, (the Beeline Cafe),and cruise back home by myself.The first wife wasn't into it much.Barb, my best friend and second wife and I were talking one day why I gave it up. I have a bad hip, and all kinds of other "gettin old" issues, and she said, "Well, what about those trike thingies?........BAM!!!!! I was riding one home to Alabama, with a banjo on my knee!!! We love it, and my wife gets jealouse if I ride it to the gas station without her! She makes it what it is, for me. We can "disconnect" from everyday stuff, and talk for hours, listen to old rock N' roll tapes, or sit in total silence, only for the whirr of our trike, and see the land like I did as a young man. It is the best material thing I have ever done for us as a couple. Love it!! Jim&Barb

[mag5049]

Hello, I'm new to the forum but this is a subject that is interesting to me. I am 58 years old, retired (semi) and started riding motorcycles late in my life. I first bought a Yamaha 250 Virago, went to the Rider's Edge course and rode the bike exactly 49 miles. Then I parked it. That was four years ago. A few months back, two of my friends came by riding motorcycles and began to tell me the fun they were having taking rides once or twice a week if the weather was nice. I decided that it was time to try again. I purchased a new Honda Shadow Spirit 1100 and added a lot of accessories to it. We took one ride of about 200 miles and I had a good time, but was never really comfortable on the bike. One day I decided to take a short ride and was returning home, when I made a turn and lost the bike. I laid it down and slid across two lanes of highway and finally stopped on the shoulder of the road. Lucky for me, there was no traffic. A couple of guys stopped and helped me get the bike off of my leg, and I thanked them and rode it home. Let's say that there was more damage to me and my pride than there was to the bike. After my wife found out, (she was out of town) she was not as excited about the new motorcycle as she had been. I also had no desire to kill myself on something that I was never comfortable on. So, I sold the bike and bought a new VTX1300R Motor Trike. When we got it home, we both mounted up and rode for about 20 miles and I knew that I had made the right decision. When I sold the motorcycle, it only had 254 miles after 5 months. The trike has almost that many in 5 days. The spill I took was a wake up call to me that I did not have the reflexes or experience to ride a motorcycle with confidence.

[katfish16]

Welcome Mag5049. Interesting little story but a lot of people fall into that trap some do not make it out as good as U did. First it was very smart of u to take the motorcycle riding course. Now U need to take the one for trikes. It will be interesting and fun. Glad U made it through this ok, with mostly hurt feeling. Now post some pictures start asking some questions, and U and the wife enjoy the trike.
Have a great week.

[Tri-3]

My wife and I have friends that ride HD's in the summer. We had talked about getting a bike but she didn't like the idea. Then I started seeing a couple nice GW trikes around and thought it could be the answer. Well it took a couple of years and the support of our friends that ride but she finally agreed. The last thing was to actually ride a few. Not many options in NH to choose from. Took a rider training course in Sept. and got my motorcycle endorcement. We flew down to bike week in Daytona last fall and did some test rides. We both loved it and I pulled the trigger on a new 08GW with a Trike Shop conversion before anything changed.
So I've got the hours during the rider training under my belt and mini bike riding as a kid. I guess I should count the test rides in FL also. You could count my riding hours on one hand, but everyone start out at 0.

[retdpd]

Started riding when I was 16 now 59, on a Royal Enfield moved up from there to a 160CC Ducati, a Honda 305CC (hawk), 650 Triump, 750 Honda, 350 Suzuki, R60 BMW,Yamaha 1100cc to 1980 Goldwing now a 1989 Goldwing.

I was self taught in the beginning them went through the Police training

Do you remember the old saying "If I new I was going to lived this long I would have taken better care of my self". well Im the perfect example of that got one knee replaced working the the other.

I really don't care what someone rides as long as they're riding. As for why I triked it, my answer is always because I wanted too...besides I think trikers are cool

[Ozarkryder]

Please excuse me if I bump ths thread to the top. Not because I started it, but because the thread is getting buried and we are always getting new members. Love the stories on how folks got into the 3 wheel life, would like to keep them coming in.

[dwiht]

I am starting to ride a Voyager Kit which I just installed on my Ultra Classic I have MD which is causing my legs to weaken and I have dropped my bike a couple of times. I am afraid of dropping it with my wife on the back so thought I would add the training wheels. I am not sure that I like the training wheels and I am trying to decide if I want to trike my bike or buy one all ready triked. So many different kits, straight axle, independent rear suspension, tilting , or whatever? I am searching for answers and of course the added expense. I love to ride and ride every chance I get.

[sacvalley51]

My husband starting riding a HD in '63 so was a die hard fan until his last two bikes; a Heritage Softtail, and a Ultra Classic. We took the UC on a one month road trip in 2006 but spent 4 days in repair shops and countless uneasy riding moments waiting for the thing to break again. Also during the trip we had some rain days, and we made up our minds that for touring we'd need a reliable and stable ride..enter the GW Trike.
He said he'd sell the HD, but she's still waiting in the garage for her turn for a ride.

[joelin5386]

Had a minor stroke in Aug after buying my new 09 Ultra in March. I am not done riding yet, but felt uncomfortable after trying to ride after the stroke. So a trike is in my future. Wont be till next riding season though. Been off three months with the stroke and knee surgery, so money is a little tight right now. Still need about 3,500.00. before I can get it started.