Outrigger Kits on Goldwings

[USMick78]

Hey Everybody,

Anybody have a "training wheel" type of kit? I am looking to get back into riding after a WAT too long absence. I am looking at getting a low mileage "well maintained" Goldwing, either a GL1500 or GL1800. As my riding experience level is back to squat, I am going to trike it. A full conversion is economically out of the question . I need to hear from those who have gone the route I am taking. One brand over another and why? Maintenance issues? Ground clearance issues? And since I will be installing it myself, ease of installation I need to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

[Gorilla]

Hey Everybody,

Anybody have a "training wheel" type of kit? I am looking to get back into riding after a WAT too long absence. I am looking at getting a low mileage "well maintained" Goldwing, either a GL1500 or GL1800. As my riding experience level is back to squat, I am going to trike it. A full conversion is economically out of the question . I need to hear from those who have gone the route I am taking. One brand over another and why? Maintenance issues? Ground clearance issues? And since I will be installing it myself, ease of installation I need to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

Chris what kind of money are you talking about you have to spend? By the time you buy a nice GW1500 and add a training wheel kit you are almost at what you can pick up a nice GW1500 all ready triked. I think you are looking at 8 to 9 thousand to buy a GW and then but a training wheel kit. If you shop around you should be able to get a nice GW 1500 triked for 10 to 14 thousand. Difference is more than worth it. I GW is a great bike. A well maintained one can push 250K miles without real issues. A training wheel kit can be a hassle unless its installed correctly. Also they usually do not get a rake kit added to them so they can be a bear to handle. They dont get the rake because if the training wheels are removed the rake kit is a negative while its on 2 wheels. A nice trike will have a rake kit all ready installed making it much easier to ride. Just my thoughts.

[USMick78]

Chris what kind of money are you talking about you have to spend? By the time you buy a nice GW1500 and add a training wheel kit you are almost at what you can pick up a nice GW1500 all ready triked. I think you are looking at 8 to 9 thousand to buy a GW and then but a training wheel kit. If you shop around you should be able to get a nice GW 1500 triked for 10 to 14 thousand. Difference is more than worth it. I GW is a great bike. A well maintained one can push 250K miles without real issues. A training wheel kit can be a hassle unless its installed correctly. Also they usually do not get a rake kit added to them so they can be a bear to handle. They dont get the rake because if the training wheels are removed the rake kit is a negative while its on 2 wheels. A nice trike will have a rake kit all ready installed making it much easier to ride. Just my thoughts.

I have a couple GW1500's in my area for under 5 grand. Been to look at them both. Both have pretty low mileage (less than 70K) and were WELL looked after.

I will have to keep looking at triked GW's. Maybe not looking in the right place. Am on a fixed income, so less expensive is always better!

[John Luciano]

I have seen a full triked wing go for 9,500.
you say you can get a wing in your area for $5,000. Wow great deal. A new Voyager ( what I started with ) goes for $3,500. It took me 3 hours with the help of a friend to install it. 1 st ride almost killed me. Brought it home and spent about a week getting it tweeted. Then the weld broke. Took it off and had guests added to all the welds and extra bracing. I drove it for 2 years. Never felt really secure. My wife hated it. It leans backwards in corners. Ground clearance is 4" . Speed bumps can hit under the bike. Noisy,heavy in turns, rear tire wear on mine was bad. This is just MHO. OTHERS WILL TELL YOU THEY LOVE IT. Word of caution. If you buy a used kit make sure it is for your motorcycle. The brackets are all different. I suggest a new kit. A used one could end up costing you more to adapt to you motorcycle.

[FRR]

From what I have read on this site and others folks who bought those kits got rid of them fairly soon and many wished they had bought a true trike.

[Dennis Elliott]

i started with a voyager kit.it was ok but the welds broke on mine also. it served its purpose it kept me riding.i still have the kit. its ok but like was said it leaned the wrong way and doesnt have much clearence.
Its a cheap way to start if you buy a used one i wouldnt ever buy a new one. i had to reweld most of the welds.
I couldnt afford a real trike so i built one jst for me

[slick rick]

,,,Brother in law has one on a 05 wing and I think I work on it more than I do my trike ,,,my opinion if that is the best you can do yes ,,(to each his own ) but it seems to be a lot of trouble . JMO

[exphoneman]

I have had a voyager kit on a vtx 1300c. Sold it and bought a 1991 Goldwing and installed a towpac kit on it. Much easier to steer with the towpac better ride it has torsion springs and you donot have clearance issues. Goldwing and used towpac painted to match $6500 total cost.
I now have a GL1800 motortrike and love it.

[seeing]

To add my two cents worth on kits I have had two trikes a 97 1500 with California Side Car kit as trike and it rode very good. I had an 05 1800 that I put a Champion kit on and it was fine but was never great. Went to Yamaha two wheel 99 RSV but my knees are giving out and we ride two up most of the time. So now at almost 70 loving to ride we sold the Yamaha went back to a Gold Wing. Bought a 01 dressed out with a Tow Pac kit and really so far one of the best rides we have owned. I am sure who ever set it up knew just what they were doing because it rides good handles good and turns good. I have heard stories about being hard to turn and that was the first thing I looked at when I rode it and it turned as good as any trike I have had that was raked so from my experience the Tow Pack 12 inch wheels is a good unit and indeed you can take it off leaving two wheels in about twenty minutes. Seat is an ultimate low profile and wow does it ride good and my wife is happy (most important) Just a nice smooth ride that handles the curves well not sure why some say they are hard to turn because this one is not maybe it is the installation that is the reason some do not handle as well. Form my experience this being our fourth Gold Wing it is so far the best ride I have owned. Best Of luck with what ever you decide to go with. Larry

[luckychucky]

Larry check out the Trigg Trike I have one on my Honda 750 and have had no problems in a year of riding.No shaking front end and no wobble on bumps and rr tracks built very well for a gold wing I think it is about 4200 for smaller bikes like mine it is 3995.The owners just sold the company to Bushtec trailers and Bunkhouse campers in eastern Tenn . I am in the same situation as you .I posted a picture on the Honda page.

[luckychucky]

Larry check out the Trigg Trike I have one on my Honda 750 and have had no problems in a year of riding.No shaking front end and no wobble on bumps and rr tracks built very well for a gold wing I think it is about 4200 for smaller bikes like mine it is 3995.The owners just sold the company to Bushtec trailers and Bunkhouse campers in eastern Tenn . I am in the same situation as you .I posted a picture on the Honda page.

sorry I posted the picture in new members page I can send you more pictures if you want Pm me if you want more .

[vern38]

I bought a used Voyager kit and did a little work on it and came out pretty nice. Yes the steering can be a little tough at times and the back roads are rough but 90% of my road time is on the highway riding. As for the lean and tire lifting just pre-load it a little higher and most of that goes away. Been using it for 2 years now and have had no problems rides really smooth on the highway. It's really good for pulling a trailer as well... Outriggers have always been a big debate some people like them some don't in any case they serve their purpose one way or another for what ever reason. I will say this Install it right and it will be good if you don't well your gonna have several bad hair days

At a rally this year we did some serious riding a little over 1000 miles in 2 days in the Texas hill country, the three twisted sisters and several other back highways. I not only was keeping up with the pack in several cases I was running them down and had to back off.

Vern

[DocGrizzly]

Outrigger kits are a good option as long as you fully understand their limitations. Talk to as many folks as you can that have one. I spent a year looking at them and talking to owners before I got mine. I saw a Trigg demo at Bike Week in Daytona (I live about 30 away). After researching for several months, I contacted Trigg and they agreed to bring my unit to the next Bike Week (at that time it was only about 2 months away). Really appreciated saving the shipping costs.

I was mounting it to a 98 Royal Star Tour Classic. About a week before Bike Week, the folks at Trigg called me and asked if they could do the install themselves. Since it was a free install, I agreed . The owner and his son actually came to my house and did the install in my garage.

After a little tweeking, it performed great. My wife and I rode many miles here in Florida. Then we took it to my brothers place in Blue Ridge, Ga and rode some mountain roads. That was when I learned about the limitations. Any outrigger will have some amount of lean or wobble within the frame. Not a big deal in flat land Florida. Making the mountain curves and inclines and declines, was quite a work out. Quite frankly it scared the hell out of my wife. When we returned home, she insisted I buy a full trike conversion. We ended up with a 03 GL1800 with a 2012 Motor Trike Adventure (now I can't get her off of it). Good decision since we will be moving to the Blue Ridge area when she retires.

Lesson here is, make sure you fully understand how you plan to ride and use the outrigger. The Trigg is a well made and reliable system, however for us it was not what we wanted in the long run. Hope this helps, ride safe.

[oldbear]

Just a thought, but before I'd go with any of the "training wheel" kits I'd look HARD at just adding a hack (sidecar) That will give you the extra carrying capacity and the stability @ about the same cost. IF set up correctly, you can quickly learn how to ride one and they are a fun ride. Also, I suspect it would have a much better resale than a training wheel kit. YMMV