Making The Switch - Bike to Trike - Great Info!

[RADE TRIFECTA]

1. Balance your exhaust between "not going deaf" and "Here I am".
2. Always run your lights, the brighter the better.
3. Really get a feel for how your trike performs at different speeds before you make a long road trip. Put on a helmet and in an isolated area refine your skills. You don't want your first extreme manuveres to be avoiding a car on an interstate with you wife behind you.

After getting cut off and going up on two wheels riding a brand new Harley conversion, I designed a more stable trike. But years of previous trike "practice" helped me survive that day.

[skuuter]

Good Stuff still rollin' in Folks....Keep em' comin'.....I just re-read this Whole Thread today.....

[wingnut]

I installed my Champion kit on my 1994SE in 1-05. It became necassary because of bad knee's. I retired in 2-04, and the two up riding during the season of 04 wasn't fun any more. It became a case of either-or. We left home on it on 6-1-05, and returned on 7-1-05, and finished getting our western states, to complete our complete 48. This is the greatest fun investment that we have made to date, and our trusty Wing now has 132000 miles, and is ALMOST broke in. Since conversion, we have geen to Calif. 2 times, and I would not be afraid to leave for there tomorrow again, if these thunder showers stopped.ha ha I. lead several of our local rides on week-ends, and have to slow down on twisties for 2-wheelers to keep up. The Trike is the answer for a lot of people who, for health or age, want to stay in the motorcycling sport and feel safe and secure, within their limitations. LARRY

[jmhelm]

rode a suzuki 500 for about 5 yrs. sold it for as part of the down payment on the house.waited nearly 30 years before bying a 250 honda rebel. ran acrossed this yamaha road star last summer. good price so i bought it. put about 500 miles on it last year. told the wife when i retired i was going to convert it to a trike. fhanks to champion that is just about done. need easy steer and possibly diferent rear seat for the wife. Good forum learning a lot!

[Gorilla]

congrats on the build looks nice

[PhotoTriker]

Has anyone found a slight vibration in the front end at high speeds only if you have a passenger aboard with you. I notice that yesterday doing about 70 to 75mph with the wife on the bike for the first time. When I was coming up from Phoenix to Prescott at even 85mph there where no vibrations. I do have the original front tire on the trike because it only has 5000 miles on it being it is an 08. those anyone have an idea why. Thanks

Check your front tire for Cupping.

What you can do is:
1 - Use Dyna Beads
2 - Stainless Centramatic Goldwing Wheel Balancers

By doing so you will notice a BIG difference in the ride.

[donjack]

I have a 2011 Harley Tri Glide Ultra with 300 miles on it, and boo coo electronics on it (still figureing them out ), this info and advice have been outstanding. Thanks to you all for the help. 62 yr old, riding for 40 ,bad knees, first trike, so far so good.

[Gorilla]

I have a 2011 Harley Tri Glide Ultra with 300 miles on it, and boo coo electronics on it (still figureing them out ), this info and advice have been outstanding. Thanks to you all for the help. 62 yr old, riding for 40 ,bad knees, first trike, so far so good.

Cool enjoy and ride on

[skuuter]

I have a 2011 Harley Tri Glide Ultra with 300 miles on it, and boo coo electronics on it (still figureing them out ), this info and advice have been outstanding. Thanks to you all for the help. 62 yr old, riding for 40 ,bad knees, first trike, so far so good.

Glad the TRIKE TALK Membership helped....Enjoy Your Ride on 3, and ALWAYS stay Totally Focused..... :Biker:

[Maineiac]

Hi Ozarkryder: I wonder if there is something wrong with me. For some reason I like a VW trike instead of a conversion trike. I had a Goldwing 2003. I bought it new in March 2004. Sold it last Feb. Now I want to build a Roadhawk VW trike. If I can buy all the supplies needed to build it. Will a Roadhawk vw trike ride better than a Runabout VW trike. I once owned a small VW trike a few years ago and I liked it. Am I crazy for wanting another trike? Arnold

[Nana]

Maineiac, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that wish for another VW trike! They are amazing and unique and wonderful, and if that style is your style --- go for it!

[Ozarkryder]

Hi Ozarkryder: I wonder if there is something wrong with me. For some reason I like a VW trike instead of a conversion trike. I had a Goldwing 2003. I bought it new in March 2004. Sold it last Feb. Now I want to build a Roadhawk VW trike. If I can buy all the supplies needed to build it. Will a Roadhawk vw trike ride better than a Runabout VW trike. I once owned a small VW trike a few years ago and I liked it. Am I crazy for wanting another trike? Arnold

Not crazy at all. We dearly miss The Blue Trike, a TrikeShop Runabout. It was a hot rod, and great fun. Always came home with a trophy at shows. Served well for about 10 years. We now do distance riding, not unusual to be out 8 to 10 hours for Saturday or Sunday rides, and we regularly tour, logging 500 to 700 miles a day. The Goldwing is a great distance platform, but do we ever miss the VW trike. You might want to get in touch with the Trike Shop either in Florida (Dick & Helen, the originators of the T.S., "retired" to Daytona) or the Trike Shop in Minnesota (Doug, Dick & Helen's son runs the business now).
They may have a Runabout or Roadhawk for sale, or know of one available.
BTW -I would probably go with a Roadhawk if possible. More modern styling, about a foot longer in the middle than the Runabout, newer design in the suspension and drivetrain, etc. Whatever you decide, have fun!

[skuuter]

Nice Built VW Trikes are always FUN.....

[bojo38]

I have been riding trikes sine the early 70s that makes almost 40 years of trike riding. Have had many close calls and some times it scared the crap out of me. I started with a VW trike I built in the early 70s and had to have wheelie bars on the back because it seems like it was on the hind wheels as much as all three but then I liked to show off a little LOL. It is very hard to take off on a steep hill without ir wanting to rare up and if you had a passenger it was worse so I had wheelie wheels on the back bumper. I then built the second VW trike and had a canopy over the back and that was a good wind catcher so had to compensate for trucks on the freeway and worse yet on two lane roads. It had a tendency to pull me into the truck. Also when riding a VW trike you cannot power into the corner because if you do the front wheel will skip or at least mine did. You always wanted to apply the front brake just a little to get some more weight on the front wheel.

With a heavy v8 trike you need to power through the corner so you need to slow down before the corner if you think you are going to fast then hit the power and it will help ou make the corner. It will take some of the weight off the front wheel and make the bike turn better. The v8 trikes will go at least 150 miles per hour so always keep that in mind and a friend of mine that has one says he has had his up to 170 MPH. Looking to die early or something? My trike weighs about 1800 lbs with close to 800 lbs on the front wheel.

Always keep in mind the car in front of you if they hit the brakes you are a lot wider than your 2 wheeler so it makes it harder to squeeze by in a narrow space. You might be able to miss the car in front with the front wheel but the back wheel will get them unless you swing a little wider.

Here is my web site address just in case you want to see how I built my last 2 trikes. I will be posting pictures of what I am doing on my new trike in the near future as soon as I get far enough along on it to make it interesting.
Home of Triker Bill :blahblah: enough for today.

[tryker55]

This is my first season with my Motortrike converson,my conversion was my 2006 H.D. Electra-Glide with the IRS Gladiator kit. I am from the Buffalo N.Y. area and our riding season is generally from mid March to November. This season was always a learning ride each time out. The hardest thing to get used too was the turning, no more leaning , it is now a push - pull technique. Throttle control and Clutch control was diffrent to me in the pressure used. Right turns were shorter than left turns. I learned in left turns to go to second gear sooner into the turn. As far as the new width of the trike it is true, you cant see the whole rear end and my mirrors are 5 inch stems. I put as small label on my dash saying 5 foot wide to remind me at gas pumps. Also at dips in driveways or the curved road curbs,go into them on an angle or you may bottom out.Also try to ride in the middle of the roadway,go slow into turns and then power through them. Other than all of this I must say this has been the most exciting,fun and safety on the road feeling that me and my better half have had in many,many years!! For all those who are thinking about the change and conversion or purchase I say Go FOR IT, you will be glad you did year after year after year.

[americanbadass]

This thread is fantastic for beginners and those thinking about getting one! Thanks to all who posted.

[GARYD]

I just bought a 2012 Tri Glide 2 weeks ago - traded in my 2010 Limited. It wasn't that big a deal changing over to the trike.
The one thing I have noticed since getting it is it's a lot better hitting a manhole cover or pot hole with the front wheel instead of either rear wheel.
Way less body shake that way.
The one thing I still have problems with is turning and pulling in the clutch to shift at the same time.
Still learning on making sharper turns then what I'm doing now. I keep picturing the front end snapping off.

[Nana]

Sounds like you are coming along well with it, Gary! Keep riding a bit every day, and suddenly you will find you are handling the steering naturally...... and grinning like all the rest of us! LOL!
Try taking the trike to a large empty parking lot and doing figure eights over and over again! You will find that a sharp u-turn is actually easier on a trike than on two wheels.

[GARYD]

At slower speeds I don't have a problem turning, but at higher speeds it seems to want to plow straight ahead instead of turning. I really have to push/pull the handlebars quite a bit. I'm going to keep practicing and I already have a big grin on my face.

This is how I look in the higher speed sharp turns =

[adaptolife]

If you are thinking of moving from a 2 to 3 wheeler, consider looking at Retract-a-Trike or Ghost Wheels. Both units hold your bike while stopped or driving around the parking lot, but allow full 2 wheel riding while on the road. Handling on the curves is just like your 2 wheeler. I have used Ghost Wheels for 5 years, and I had many trike riders eating their hearts out.