The past couple of days in North Florida we have experienced warmer afternoons that have been really terrific for riding. The day before yesterday, I rode down to the coast on my M8 Harley Tri Glide Ultra and just enjoyed the heck out of it. A number of people were oogling the trike and commented on the color and the bling. The Love Jugs really add some chrome bling to the "boring" side of the M8 engine and it comforts me that the engine is experiencing improved cooling.
OTOH, I took out the 2015 Can-Am Spyder F3S yesterday that I had installed floorboards on rather than the foot pegs that have you in the semi-birth stirrup position and road inland along beautiful small rolling hills of North Florida/South Georgia country roads with some decent twists in the road.
As I was riding yesterday, while enjoying the scenery, I also reflected on the very different ride qualities of the two trikes. In the past, when I would look at a Spyder, I would think to myself that that is the ugliest looking arachnoid I have ever laid eyes on. However, having owned one for the past 1.3 years, I find myself very much satisfied with its performance and very different way that it makes power and handles the twisties. It was surprisingly comforting to have the two wheels out in front of me as I rode yesterday with each wheel having superb suspension compared to my 2017 TGU.
The only suspension mod I have made to the Harley was to get Kevin's Custom Comfort Lift Kit which I dearly love in terms of how it functions and improves the stance and the stock shock performance. Granted, as I have read the threads on the shock upgrades that DK offers, I know that for about a grand, I could improve my Harley's ride performance but I generally ride my trikes solo so the benefits would be less than if I were riding two-up. However, I kind of wonder if that is what I really want to do?
I enjoy the significant differences between the two trikes and think that I will keep the Harley as my cruising "Barco Lounger" and have the Can-Am for my sport trike. Not sure that I need to blend their performance closer to each other? The Harley even with stock pipes has a fairly loud sound with attendant vibration and the Can-Am is quieter, smoother and gruntier and revs much faster and higher with its three cylinder 1330cc Rotax engine.
I guess it is great fun being lucky enough to own two fun and very different machines. I continue to marvel at how different they are but still keep me in the wind on three wheels. BTW, 4 months after my complete left hip replacement, both trikes are soooooo much more comfortable to ride with no more chronic hip pain. Yes, I could now more easily go back to a two-wheeled machine but as I was riding yesterday, I thought to myself, who cares? I think I like the relaxed ride that my trikes provide more than missing leaning into curves and having to read the tarmac more carefully and remembering to put my foot down at stops