Harley conversion

[pointman]

I am a newbie to this forum and would like some advise, good or bad, about converting my 2003 Electra glide into a trike. I am 71 and feel that my Harley is a little to much for me right now. Please help. Thanks

[flynng]

California Sidecar makes a great kit. Established dealer network. Dependable product. Check them out. There is a link on this forum.

[Rick Kay]

Welcome!

I'm very happy with my California Sidecar conversion. It's a little longer and wider than the TriGlide, and has independent rear suspension and disc brakes, versus the straight axle and drum brakes of the TriGlide. The kit itself is well engineered and well made, and after a year, have had no problems. I added CSC's EZ Steer triple trees, and a Champion mechanical reverse. I could not be happier.

Find a good installer for your conversion. CSC, and other manufacturers, provide a list of installers on their web sites. I was lucky, in that my Harley dealer was my installer.

Good luck with your decision, and ask questions. Folks here are very friendly and helpful!

[trikermutha]

I would look at the price of converting your bike and the added things like ez steer trees to your costs..Then price a trike that is already been converted or a new trike and base your decision from that point. Test ride other trikes before making your final decision if you can handle the trike..Most of us here love the trike!!

good Luck..

[rap47]

Welcome!

I'm very happy with my California Sidecar conversion. It's a little longer and wider than the TriGlide, and has independent rear suspension and disc brakes, versus the straight axle and drum brakes of the TriGlide. The kit itself is well engineered and well made, and after a year, have had no problems. I added CSC's EZ Steer triple trees, and a Champion mechanical reverse. I could not be happier.

Find a good installer for your conversion. CSC, and other manufacturers, provide a list of installers on their web sites. I was lucky, in that my Harley dealer was my installer.

Good luck with your decision, and ask questions. Folks here are very friendly and helpful!

No drum brakes on the TriGlide! They are disc brakes front and rear.

[RdKnB]

I have a Frankenstein conversion and love it

[msocko3]

No drum brakes on the TriGlide! They are disc brakes front and rear.

+1, TG has disk.

[Rick Kay]

No drum brakes on the TriGlide! They are disc brakes front and rear.

Thank You!!

[Nana]

Welcome to TrikeTalk, Pointman .
We have many members in their 70s here who handle their trikes easily. If you want to keep riding, a trike is a great way to keep you on the road!

[Gorilla]

I converted my 07 Road King to what you see in my posting Made a road glide out of it then added a champion conversion. 55k miles on the bike 30k of it since being converted. love it. Good luck pointman and welcome aboard

[zeman 1]

Welcome to the forum. My 2 cents on conversions ....
The styling of conversions is a matter of taste.
Test ride before you commit.
Independent rear suspension (IRS) is a must for the best ride quality.
An installer can make or break the conversion. Ask for references.
Mechanical reverse is nice. (Wish I had it, will get it added in future)
Tire pressures are important for ride quality.
Best of luck in your search ...

[bustedwing]

Pointman welcome to the site from the U.P.of Michigan. I ride a Honda Gold Wing conversion so I can't help you with your Harley decision, sorry, but if you ever decide to change to Honda let me know.

[Peter A.]

Pointman, here is my humble opinion, if you drive a car, you should have NO problem riding a trike! I will be 69 next month and my good buddy , 72 yrs. young, rides his own.
We plan on riding for YEARS to come...........

[Sloufoot]

Pointman, here is my humble opinion, if you drive a car, you should have NO problem riding a trike! I will be 69 next month and my good buddy , 72 yrs. young, rides his own.
We plan on riding for YEARS to come...........

More power to ya !
I know quite a few still riding in their 70's+. In fact our ride captain In the PGR is now 80 riding a GW 2 wheel. Age doesn't happen to be much of a problem just to keep the wind in your face ! A trike is just easier without the worry. You just do it a little differently..... Enjoy

[jackthemachinist]

You've got a bike you like and it's (presumably) paid-for. I think a conversion is a great idea.

I'm 66 and was likewise feeling that my bagger was getting to be a little much, especially 2-up (and carrying too much crap everywhere....).

The wife and I both love our DFT conversion. It's not quite the same as two-wheeling, but it's a helleva lot better than a cage, and it's absolutely a ton of fun. And no worries about dropping it in a gas station or a steep uphill start from a stop sign around a tight right-hand corner. You're still "in the wind", everything still looks and smells the same. And it's way more stable in the rain.

It's not cheap to do a conversion, but neither is a new TriGlide. I did my own install on a '97 FLHTC. Probably not real cost effective, but I expect it to last me the rest of my life.

Now is the time to do it. I think you will really enjoy it and be glad you did.

[scotty]

As said before, get the conversion you like the aesthetics of. IRS will give you the best ride on rough road surfaces. If I had it to do over I would have gotten IRS as 80% of my riding is on surface streets. Mechanical reverse like Champion is a must if its in the budget.

[eagle1]

i'd ck out frankenstein trikes.com. these are well built . & have a- lot of options that i didn't have when i bought my '09 tri glide.

[ladyff1481]

Find a Trike shop near you and go try so out or if you have friends that have a Trike ask them to try it out. We all have nice Trikes on here and sometimes what someone recommends is great but another might catch your eye. Demo, demo, demo if you can. If you can get to a bike rally you'll see so many Trikes. Happy hunting!