Had no trike riding experience when I had my Valkyrie converted with a Roadsmith kit. I also wanted to experience riding it with no rake kit, I wanted to feel the before and after and see if there worth it. First day I practiced turning and steering in my back yard, was not good stalled a bunch of times when doing tight turns and kept putting my leg down! Think that was happening because of the effort to steer the trike especially on grass, first day was not good, disappointing at best.
Second day was much better, now understanding the amount of effort and convincing myself to keep your feet on the trike it won't fall over, and knowing you can make incredible tight turns easily.
Third day went on rural roads and was pleased that everything was feeling good, expected the effort to steer the trike with no rake.
Fourth day did a longer ride, this time going in to city traffic, interstate highways, and a tough one, weaving around cars in a large gas station, the pump island etc. Felt after this day I was comfortable and confident in riding a trike, total mileage riding to reach this level was 70 miles.
I then had a 8 degree triple tree rake kit installed and it's beyond words what this does for the trike. I am so glad I waited to have it installed so I can truly appreciate the difference. What can I say that you don't already know, the ride is now perfect.
I know some people say you don't need a rake kit on your trike, true, but there is no logical reason not to have one.
Frank