New to triking and need some info.

[Wingrider44]

I currently ride a 2008 GL1800 with Navi but not ABS. I am very limited in funds (retired with social security income and a little cash but no debt). I'm wondering what opinion you folks might have about what I could expect to find if I were to trade my 08 bike and added about $4,000 cash. Also, are there some warnings you might share since I will have to probably by happy with anything from late 90's to 2002. Warnings regarding certain problem trike kit models and makes. Any other pitfalls that a newbie such as myself should be aware of. I'm interested only in Goldwing Trikes.

I've been riding Goldwings since 1980 having owned about 8 bikes consisting of every engine size of the wing. Now I've reached the point that riding two up is getting too much for me at 70 yrs old with COPD. No problem riding solo but my wife and I want to travel together. In parking lots, around town and other slow speed riding just totally wears me out.

I'd be very appreciative if you'd share your collective wisdom.

TIA.............

Jacob Kroes
Ham callsign = KR0ES

[mhgoldwing]

Number one, I would sell the bike outright. You will profit substantially more than using it as a trade-in. That way you also know exactly the amount you have available and can therefore probably bargain a better deal for "cash".

That said, since you have an '08 is there any way you could have it triked? That way you know exactly what you have. This is the route I would go if at all possible. I would even consider selling other "stuff" to come up with the difference or maybe take out a small loan if possible.

Good luck. This will take some work to complete and I wish you well.

[John Luciano]

To trike it your talking $8,000 to $12,000
you can find a 2003 in the $18,000 to $20,000 range. You bike should fetch $8,000 to $10,000.
Soo the way I see it... It is going to cost you about $10,000 to get a trike.

[rmrc51]

As others have already stated, a $10,000.00 figure is what you're more then likely looking at. I also agree if at all possible, see what you can do to trike your present 08 Wing. At least you know what you have regarding the bike itself along with a brand new trike conversion which "should", just about eliminate any unforeseen surprises that might arise with a used trike depending on the previous owner's maintenance or tinkering. Just my opinion.

[Rick Kay]

Welcome to Trike Talk!

I agree with the others-if possible, trike your current bike. It's a known entity, and a conversion would be new vs used. Good luck with your decision, and keep us posted!

[Wingrider44]

Thanks for your responses so far. But.............

Triking my own bike is NOT an option. I don't have the budget for it. I have had a number of GL1500's and really liked them. So I think my only real option may be to purchase a 1500, with reasonable miles on it, and trike it. I would be perfectly happy with a 1500 and current RoadSmith kit. Am I overlooking something? Having a very limited budget just plain sucks.

[John Luciano]

So you can't afford to spend $9,000 to trike yours.but you want to sell yours for $8,000 buy a 1500 for $5,500 ( a low mileage good condition )
and spend $9,000 to trike it." What am I missing?

[Wingrider44]

So you can't afford to spend $9,000 to trike yours.but you want to sell yours for $8,000 buy a 1500 for $5,500 ( a low mileage good condition )
and spend $9,000 to trike it." What am I missing?

You're not missing a thing, John. Other than where you got the idea that I want to sell my bike for $8,000.

[mhgoldwing]

You're not missing a thing, John. Other than where you got the idea that I want to sell my bike for $8,000.

According to quick check with Kelly Blue Book, the retail value on your Wing should be around 16,000. In this market that may not be possible, who knows.

So, it looks to me that if you could get the 16K for you bike, then you could probably purchase a good 1500 already triked for about even money. However, a new kit installed with painting, rake kit, etc. is going to cost you more than 9 or 10k I think. But, maybe you can make it work if you find the right deal. I sure hope you can.

[Wingrider44]

According to quick check with Kelly Blue Book, the retail value on your Wing should be around 16,000. In this market that may not be possible, who knows.

So, it looks to me that if you could get the 16K for you bike, then you could probably purchase a good 1500 already triked for about even money. However, a new kit installed with painting, rake kit, etc. is going to cost you more than 9 or 10k I think. But, maybe you can make it work if you find the right deal. I sure hope you can.

mhgoldwing, I agree with you. I doubt that I can get $16,000 out of my bike in this market but I also wouldn't let it go for $8,000 as a previous poster thought. But your thinking and calculating is much closer to what I'm anticipating will be the case.

Right now I have a dealer working on it and he thinks what I'm trying to do is workable. This would get me a low mileage GL1500 with a new RS trike kit. This has been a trusted dealer with me having purchased a number of bikes from them over the last 10 years or so. So I am hopeful that I will be able to stay within my budget. If not, I will remain on two wheels for another season.

[luckychucky]

mhgoldwing, I agree with you. I doubt that I can get $16,000 out of my bike in this market but I also wouldn't let it go for $8,000 as a previous poster thought. But your thinking and calculating is much closer to what I'm anticipating will be the case.

Right now I have a dealer working on it and he thinks what I'm trying to do is workable. This would get me a low mileage GL1500 with a new RS trike kit. This has been a trusted dealer with me having purchased a number of bikes from them over the last 10 years or so. So I am hopeful that I will be able to stay within my budget. If not, I will remain on two wheels for another season.

mhgoldwing Around here a trike kit will probably cost around $20,000.00 for a !999 to 2003 1500 with a new conversion added to it. Have you thought about an outrigger style like Voyager or Trigg at least you would have a Trike not as good as roadsmith or some others but you both could ride . That's what I did because of finances. Still works just not near as nice.

[John Luciano]

Hope it works out for you... Many are asking/ wishing for high money for their motorcycles. $15,000 is the going price. Just checked Craig's list and E bay. Notice most bids are closer to $10,000 $11,000. If he can get you a 1997 / 99 for a few 1,000 go for it... 1500 make a great trike.

[wiredgeorge]

mhgoldwing, I agree with you. I doubt that I can get $16,000 out of my bike in this market but I also wouldn't let it go for $8,000 as a previous poster thought. But your thinking and calculating is much closer to what I'm anticipating will be the case.

Right now I have a dealer working on it and he thinks what I'm trying to do is workable. This would get me a low mileage GL1500 with a new RS trike kit. This has been a trusted dealer with me having purchased a number of bikes from them over the last 10 years or so. So I am hopeful that I will be able to stay within my budget. If not, I will remain on two wheels for another season.

Call Kevin at KD Cycles. I traded my 2006 two years ago for $14K on a 97 GL1500A Roadsmith conversion with all bells and whistles. The trike cost me about $4K out of pocket with Texas tax/license when I got it home ($4k TOTAL). Also, go to Goldwingdocs.com. At the top of the page is a Goldwing Classified Ads section where you can select ALL US cities and put a search word in like trike. Look at this deal on a GL1500 trike with 70K miles:
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst...602525291.html
Florida 45K miles
http://tallahassee.craigslist.org/mcy/4602343102.html

Just make sure you figure out what features a trike should have... rake kit, IRS, aux gas tank, running boards, etc. and don't settle too much for one that doesn't have the features. Also, if you can ride different trikes to check out the ride it is really a good idea.

The trike you want at the price you need to stay within IS out there. I don't miss the 2006 GL1800 w/Nav as I like the trike a WHOLE lot more. I went through it stem to stern... tune, fluids, belts, carbs, etc. and it runs like a top. It is old enough where there are a few things that have broken... just broke the fuel filler lock and it cost me $20 for a new one but this is to be expected on an older Wing. If you buy a conversion on an older GL1500, make sure no one has chopped up the wiring harness adding electronic junk. The PO added a module to make the headlight blink 10 times when I pressed the horn button. I didn't find this amusing and it took me a bit to track that little module down and send it to electonic-junk heaven! Other than that, no major hacks in the harness but just check things if you are able.

[jfingalls]

mhgoldwing has given you good advice (as well as many others on the forun). I saw a used bike just like yours at a dealer last spring with a $18,000 price tag on it. That is more than I paid for my '08 new at the same dealer and reminded the dealer about that and his answer was "they are bringing in big bucks now even used". The bottom line is I would recommend retaining your 08 GW and look into the Richland kit out of southern Florida (http://www.richlandroadster.com/). You may be very surprised at the level of quality and reliability it has. Good luck my friend and welcome to the forum!

[Wingrider44]

All of your comments and encouragement are greatly appreciated. I have a potential deal brewing on a 2002 with an RS kit. Low mileage and it has had awesome care. The kit was installed and serviced at the same dealer. Previous owner is purchasing a new Honda and having it triked with another RS kit.
Initially negotiations have it that it is within my budget. Can't wait to close the deal.

[Hocky]

Good luck. Lots of us on this forum are in the same boat. I bought a 95' GW/SE with a Hannigan Conversion off Craigslist. Great deal & I still have a 2000 GW/SE to sell @$4500. (b/c it was such a good deal), just to make space. I was willing to pay the cost of the Trike PLUS my bike. Got lucky……..
Hocky

[bustedwing]

The 1800 is excellent to convert but if that is out of the picture 1500s ARE available at a reasonable price with low mileage. Some need a little more tlc then others, but a vast majority were not ridden often or even parked for several years but once you get these old timers awake they prove that you picked the right one. I have been on a 1990 GW Lehman trike for 5 years now with relatively little problems, just turned over 100k . I believe that I will have this trike for a long time. Good luck, ride safe.

[Wingrider44]

Well, today I pulled the trigger on the 2002 with the TS1800 conversion. So this kit is from the time that Road Smith was still called Trike Shop. The bike has very low miles and after riding it, I have to say that of the 5 different trikes I rode over the last few weeks, this one was an awesome experience. I rode a 2013 1800 with a Road Smith....great ride but way out of my price point. Then I rode a 2006 with a Motor Trike....solid axle but it was a very good ride and liked it very much. But also well out of my price range. So I went way down and rode a 1997 1500 with a Motor Trike which, in my opinion, was butchered on the install. Didn't ride too bad but it made more funny noises than you could shake a stick at. Noises that I, nor the dealer's techs, could identify. Certainly within my price range but well outside of my risk tolerance. Following that I got on a 1999 1500 with a Champion Kit. It was a solid axle. It rode well and the bike was gorgeous. I tried to buy it but the dealer was asking more than I was willing to give, even though it was within my range. I was a little concerned that although the 1500 sounded healthy, it didn't feel very healthy from a power stand point. Put it on cruise and the bike wasn't able to maintain speed on the rolling hills of Iowa. Even when I would manually throttle up, it just didn't want to get off it's ass. I really believe that bike needed a good tune up and carb rebuild. But the dealer was firm on pricing so I walked away from it.

Of course, the 2002 was still in the game since it hadn't arrived at the dealer yet. Now it has and after riding it, I jumped on it. Independent suspension, auxiliary fuel tank, chrome wheels, excellent care, not an outlandish amount of chrome (I'm not wild about chrome), and a standard Honda windshield with vent. I'm a happy camper.

Now another quick question, since you got this far. The bike has ABS. After the conversion, does the front wheel still have functioning ABS? Or is the whole system disabled?

[Rick Kay]

Well, today I pulled the trigger on the 2002 with the TS1800 conversion. So this kit is from the time that Road Smith was still called Trike Shop. The bike has very low miles and after riding it, I have to say that of the 5 different trikes I rode over the last few weeks, this one was an awesome experience. I rode a 2013 1800 with a Road Smith....great ride but way out of my price point. Then I rode a 2006 with a Motor Trike....solid axle but it was a very good ride and liked it very much. But also well out of my price range. So I went way down and rode a 1997 1500 with a Motor Trike which, in my opinion, was butchered on the install. Didn't ride too bad but it made more funny noises than you could shake a stick at. Noises that I, nor the dealer's techs, could identify. Certainly within my price range but well outside of my risk tolerance. Following that I got on a 1999 1500 with a Champion Kit. It was a solid axle. It rode well and the bike was gorgeous. I tried to buy it but the dealer was asking more than I was willing to give, even though it was within my range. I was a little concerned that although the 1500 sounded healthy, it didn't feel very healthy from a power stand point. Put it on cruise and the bike wasn't able to maintain speed on the rolling hills of Iowa. Even when I would manually throttle up, it just didn't want to get off it's ass. I really believe that bike needed a good tune up and carb rebuild. But the dealer was firm on pricing so I walked away from it.

Of course, the 2002 was still in the game since it hadn't arrived at the dealer yet. Now it has and after riding it, I jumped on it. Independent suspension, auxiliary fuel tank, chrome wheels, excellent care, not an outlandish amount of chrome (I'm not wild about chrome), and a standard Honda windshield with vent. I'm a happy camper.

Now another quick question, since you got this far. The bike has ABS. After the conversion, does the front wheel still have functioning ABS? Or is the whole system disabled?

Congratulations!! How about some photos? Show off that baby!

[Wingrider44]

Thanks, Rick. I'll see if I can some pictures posted sometime next week.