How does the Roadsmith ride feel in this type road?

[frankj]

Had my Valkyrie out yesterday, not triked yet, I live in Western Mass and winter does a job on the roads; anyways I'm out riding and notice the roads can be rough on one side of the lane, bumps, minor pot holes, frost heaves etc.,now I can track my bike through these areas, but started thinking, if I had a trike which is a wider body in the rear, one wheel would be on smooth pavement and the other on the rough side.

How does the trike handle this type of road, does it ride feel weird, meaning one side smooth the other side bouncy?

Thanks

Frank

[mhgoldwing]

First, it is a physical fact that trikes, regardless of brand, suffer more from road variations than a two wheeler. A two wheeler only follows one track; an auto only follows two; a trike follows three.

That said, I think my Roadsmith with it's trailing arm type suspension and longer wheel base rides smoother than any other trike with the possible exception of Hannigan which uses a similar approach. It's just part of riding a trike. The benefits, however, far outweigh the negatives of this type of road condition which is not the normal for most of the miles I've ridden my RS, which now has 65,000 miles on it including a trip around Nova Scotia.

It's hard to beat a Roadsmith for its ride, quality and dependability.

[gwnut]

Yep. I agree. Love my Smithy!!

[Burnerboy]

I have agree to agree with MHGoldwing once you get used to riding a trike you'll never go back... This was my first season on three, love'd it!

Ronnie

[frankj]

Good to know. I took my bike out of hibernation a couple days ago,in WMass winter would not go away, I had business in Springfield, and ran in to the bridge construction, MGM casino and so on, weaving in and out on my bike made it easy.

I understand the trike will not ride the same and I'm sure I'm going to love the trike, I was just looking to find out what the ride would be like with bumps and small potholes in different areas of the road, based on your responses it's nothing to be concerned about

Frank

[Burnerboy]

Good to know. I took my bike out of hibernation a couple days ago,in WMass winter would not go away, I had business in Springfield, and ran in to the bridge construction, MGM casino and so on, weaving in and out on my bike made it easy.

I understand the trike will not ride the same and I'm sure I'm going to love the trike, I was just looking to find out what the ride would be like with bumps and small potholes in different areas of the road, based on your responses it's nothing to be concerned about

Frank

Bike won't be at all as smooth as your two wheel'd vehicle, BUT it's much more fun riding it..(I also took my bike out yesterday (first time myself)

Hey next time your in Springfield, (on your bike) give me a heads up, love to meet and greet (if possible) and have a cup of coffee with yea! After all were neighbors, We go to Scotties (golf course/near Look park) for lunch often (when open)

Ronnie

[bikerbillone]

Yep, hard to miss those road 'imperfections' with three tracks. If your coming from one track motorcycle to three track trike, you're really gonna notice it. To me, the RS runs tight with the coil over shocks, but I've never ridden any other trike, so I can't compare.

[Ayatolla of Rockin' Rolla]

My Riding skills date back to my truck driving in Vietnam.dodge the big ones to hit the little ones !

[lgjhn]

+1 to what mhgoldwing stated above.

Not only is the trike traveling on 3 tracks, but trikes like our RS also have independent rear wheel suspension. A 2-wheel motorcycle primarily deals with forward/rearward motion in its one track on "bumps" in the road. A RS trike will have more of a "side-to-side" motion dealing with the 3 tracks due to the independent rear wheel suspension if any of that makes any sense.

I must say, it took me a long time and a lot of miles to get used to this. I practically hated it at first and wanted to immediately sell the trike racking it up to a bad experience. My wife urged me to keep trying to ride it so I did. When I finally got accustomed to the ride and handling, I never looked back....love my RS trike as does the wifey. Would only trade it for a newer one at this point. That trike has become a big part of our lives together.

[zrturbo]

I have to agree about the side to side motion, it's going to take awhile to get use to riding it. I felt the same way after taking my new conversion out today for the first today. Did I make a mistake? Glad to here that it takes a little getting use to and its all good once you ride it awhile.

[rhino 2]

Larry, Welcome to Trike-Talk...Nope no mistake it just takes a little while, You'll get the hang of it...

[Burnerboy]

As one or two folks "may" have said above: I'll never go back to two