your advice helped my very first tri glide trip to the skyline trail

[uppercaseJC]

your advice helped my very first tri glide trip to the skyline trail

As part of my learning to ride a trike I took a 1200 mile trip to the skyline trail. My findings were as follows.

• steering does require some muscle but I am now used to it.
• It seems to corner as well as the average rider on a two wheeler. I pretty much adhered to the suggested speed signs through the corners and found while it does require some muscle and you do feel the g force I never felt the bike couldn't handle it. The forces on the front tire it turns must be high and I suspect a much shorter tire life then my two wheelers.
• I followed two wheelers a lot and we surprised to find I actually gained on them in turns and they pulled away from me when the road straightened out. I was not trying to keep up with them and was really holding a steady speed. I found holding a steady speed in the curves was easier than rolling on the throttle in them.
• I found the advantages of the trike like not having to put my feet down, gravel parking lots etc. made the trip very enjoyable with less stressful then my two wheelers.
• On the other hand the trike was more work at 70 mph on the expressways as the road camber sometimes made me ride long distances keeping pressure on one bar to keep the bike straight. My wife said she was very surprised how much she loves the trike. She does say the trike requires her to hold on in curves where the two wheeler did not but she doesn't mind holding on.
• Brakes work very well and I am now used to using the back brake a lot more than I was accustomed to in the past. I did lock the front tire during a nasty downpour and that spooked me a little. locking that front wheel did not however cause the bike to change direction or fall over
• I found I don't ride the trike as fast on the expressways as my two wheeler as I am still not comfortable at high speed. The faster I go the tighter I am holding the grips and I know that is my problem. I am constantly forcing myself to loosen my grip.
• I have only about 1600 miles on the bike but I love the trike and I have to say I would not likely go back to a two wheeler. I do miss the fast acceleration of my Ultra limited that I used to own but I can live with that. Our recent tri glide trip showed my how nice it was to ride a little more conservative.
• Fuel consumption had me stopping about every 250 km verses about 300km with the old two wheeler. I was putting about 4.5 gallons in each stop as I like to keep the tank at at least 1/4 full.
• I did experience hitting my exhaust tips a number of time pulling out of gas stations etc. I am hesitating a little about putting on a lift kit but I have some concerns. If putting on the lift kit makes steering a little easier that means something in the rake or trail must of changed. Doesn't that mean there must be a negative reaction somewhere like maybe a little more twitchy at higher speeds as an example?? I would like to hear your comments on this.
• The GPS like the one I had on my 2014 Ultra limited is at times insane. Over and over again the voice prompt would tell me to turn left or right but the arrow at the bottom on the screen would be pointing in the opposite direction of the voice command. I do have the 1.19.1 latest software upgrade.

Make no mistake I am thrilled about my new ride more than any of the dozen or more two wheelers I have bought in the past. I should have gone with a three wheeler years ago. I also see more trike on the highway than in the past which tells me a change is taking place as the average rider is getting older. I didn't by a trike because I couldn't keep riding two wheels, I just wanted a ride with a little less stress. I haven't dropped the trike in a gravel parking lot yet. sorry about the lengthy note but I got a lot of help from you prior to the ride and thought you might like my report now that I have some experience.

 

[DblTrbl]

one note for your wife to stay in the saddle....use her legs. put a little pressure on the leg opposite of the direction of your upcoming turn. That will help stabilize her and negate the feeling of sliding off the seat.

 

[Larry Sobczak]

I had a lift kit installed on my 2011 Tri-Glide to keep from dragging the pipes and have not noticed any change in handling. I have over 112,000 miles and have not hit bottom with the lift.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Great review of your first trip on your TG! ThumbUp

My experience has been very similar to yours. I find the ride much more relaxing than on two wheels.

I also find that it does take more effort on the interstate than two wheels. On two wheels, small shifts in balance are all that is needed to keep it moving the direction you want, on the TG, constant input is needed to the handlebars.

A Lift Kit can make the ride much more comfortable (especially the Comfort Lift), reduce the chance of scraping the pipes, and make the steering effort less. Since the steering input required is less, that includes at higher speeds too. This might be viewed as twitchy, but it is really just easier, so less effort is needed. It is by no means unpredictable or less stable (twitchy).

Another benefit of a Lift Kit is that there is slightly more weight shifted to the front tire when using the front brakes, this means a bit more traction for the front tire for those of us that like using the front brake a lot.

Sounds like you had a great time, and are well on your way to making lots of good memories on the TG!!! ThumbUp

Kevin

 

[vettriker68]

your GPS can be set up in 2 ways

The GPS can be set up with north at the top of the screen or the direction you are traveling. Changing your setup might help you with your direction arrows going the same as your voice prompt. *
As part of my learning to ride a trike I took a 1200 mile trip to the skyline trail. My findings were as follows.

• steering does require some muscle but I am now used to it.
• It seems to corner as well as the average rider on a two wheeler. I pretty much adhered to the suggested speed signs through the corners and found while it does require some muscle and you do feel the g force I never felt the bike couldn't handle it. The forces on the front tire it turns must be high and I suspect a much shorter tire life then my two wheelers.
• I followed two wheelers a lot and we surprised to find I actually gained on them in turns and they pulled away from me when the road straightened out. I was not trying to keep up with them and was really holding a steady speed. I found holding a steady speed in the curves was easier than rolling on the throttle in them.
• I found the advantages of the trike like not having to put my feet down, gravel parking lots etc. made the trip very enjoyable with less stressful then my two wheelers.
• On the other hand the trike was more work at 70 mph on the expressways as the road camber sometimes made me ride long distances keeping pressure on one bar to keep the bike straight. My wife said she was very surprised how much she loves the trike. She does say the trike requires her to hold on in curves where the two wheeler did not but she doesn't mind holding on.
• Brakes work very well and I am now used to using the back brake a lot more than I was accustomed to in the past. I did lock the front tire during a nasty downpour and that spooked me a little. locking that front wheel did not however cause the bike to change direction or fall over
• I found I don't ride the trike as fast on the expressways as my two wheeler as I am still not comfortable at high speed. The faster I go the tighter I am holding the grips and I know that is my problem. I am constantly forcing myself to loosen my grip.
• I have only about 1600 miles on the bike but I love the trike and I have to say I would not likely go back to a two wheeler. I do miss the fast acceleration of my Ultra limited that I used to own but I can live with that. Our recent tri glide trip showed my how nice it was to ride a little more conservative.
• Fuel consumption had me stopping about every 250 km verses about 300km with the old two wheeler. I was putting about 4.5 gallons in each stop as I like to keep the tank at at least 1/4 full.
• I did experience hitting my exhaust tips a number of time pulling out of gas stations etc. I am hesitating a little about putting on a lift kit but I have some concerns. If putting on the lift kit makes steering a little easier that means something in the rake or trail must of changed. Doesn't that mean there must be a negative reaction somewhere like maybe a little more twitchy at higher speeds as an example?? I would like to hear your comments on this.
• The GPS like the one I had on my 2014 Ultra limited is at times insane. Over and over again the voice prompt would tell me to turn left or right but the arrow at the bottom on the screen would be pointing in the opposite direction of the voice command. I do have the 1.19.1 latest software upgrade.

Make no mistake I am thrilled about my new ride more than any of the dozen or more two wheelers I have bought in the past. I should have gone with a three wheeler years ago. I also see more trike on the highway than in the past which tells me a change is taking place as the average rider is getting older. I didn't by a trike because I couldn't keep riding two wheels, I just wanted a ride with a little less stress. I haven't dropped the trike in a gravel parking lot yet. sorry about the lengthy note but I got a lot of help from you prior to the ride and thought you might like my report now that I have some experience.

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