Difference in touring between two wheels and three wheels?

[WingMan71]

You're 70 and thinking about three wheels, then it's a good time to pull the trigger and see what's it's all about riding on three. You will enjoy the experience and not look back, especially with the copilot on the pillion. You will notice more 'bumps in the road' as one comment mentions, but that's OK, it's the nature of the beast and ya can't miss many holes with three wheels. Yes, more effort in the twisties, no question, but that's offset by the pure pleasure of the ride and able to enjoy the scenery more. You can get more 'stuff' on board, pull a trailer, or like some of us, get a receiver on the conversion, just do a slide in rack and and tie a water proof high viz bag on the rack. More stuff equals a happy wife at the end of the day.

Newbie on the site here.

I just turned 70 as well, and my wife and I ride a 2006 GL1800. Been riding since I was 16, got my first Gold Wing in 1984 and have been riding them ever since. I'm pretty sure I'm to the point now where I'm going to have to give up trying to keep this 900 pound bike upright in parking lots and such. Not only am I older now, but I'm weaker as well. Time marches on and takes its toll.

I've been putting off getting the Gold Wing triked because I just hate to give up the unique feeling of riding on two wheels. On the other hand I just don't feel as capable on two wheels with 2-up and loaded bags as I did just a few years ago.

Glad I found this thread and read how happy people are after having made the change from two wheels to three.

Guess I've gotta sell off a bike or two from the stable to pay for the trike kit now!

[CrystalPistol]

… reading through posts both here and on other web sites, I see a lot of people writing who view trikes as a last ditch option to stay in the wind. I'm often sad for them, not a big sad though.. I've ridden motorcycles since about 1972 when I got my first Norton. Bikes are fun. My first trike that I saw was a VW based conversion and it looked like great fun too, that was in the '70s.

Over the years, trikes just seemed to catch my interest. I joined GWRRA in 1996, started with a chapter in '97, soon there were several trikes in the chapter where there once were only bikes. Great friend and CD was a Lehman dealer but soon there MTs & CSCs too. On our rides, they had at least as much fun as bike riders it seemed. They didn't slow the rides, and then when rain hit, when the roads got wet, I found I was some envious even. Only difference I saw was they just did not invite lane splitting at stop lights, and that was A-OK by me.

My first trial ride of a trike was at CSC's grand opening in Colleen, Virginia early '00s. It had no additional rake and I didn't like it so much. It just wasn't as much fun as I anticipated, more like work. Soon though after being offered a great deal, we bought "our trike" but I still favored the bike for our rides, then soon after I tried a friends trike with a rake kit. WOW. Within a week, I had a rake kit delivered ($800 in '04) and a couple days later, I had her done. From then on, seldom did "we" ride the bike. I still enjoyed the bike, it was a sweet ride, well cared for, we just always seemed to pull the trike out for "our" rides but if I left here alone, I often took the bike to keep up skills & save some miles on the trike. It was nice having the choice to make from 2004-2019, I rode the bike often to work part time, etc but finally I decided to let the bike go … and I am perfectly OK with that.

Now I have to remind myself that I no longer need to think about the bike, it's storage, etc. I can concentrate on the trike. I have more room in my basement shop too, no worries of accidently hitting or brushing the bike. Instead of "do we ride or drive and if we ride, is it trike or bike?", it's just "do we trike or drive ?" now. No serious worries about rounding a curve and hitting a squirrel while heeled over in a right hander and feeling the front tire slipping out from under the front end & thinking it was gonna spill us into an oncoming lane in front of a truck. No serious worries as approaching wet stop bars.

Yep, always did like trikes.

[cjmitch]

I just got back from a 2 week tour with a group of friends on both trikes and bikes.

I drive a Hannigan Trike. We went through a lot of areas with twisty roads (I mean ALOT).

I found that I'd be pretty tired at the end of the day from having to steer through all those turns.

I would venture to guess that yo are using your arms to turn. Dont do that, use your body.

IE, to make a right turn, lock your left arm and lean in to the handlebars. reverse for left turn.

Use your body weight to turn the handlebars = less arm fatigue.

[cjmitch]

I started triking at 47, yep that young. I wanted a trike, because I thought I would enjoy it more.

learned to ride on 2 and immediately went and got trike.

I will never feel like triking made me lose something, and in that way I will never regret it. I look at it as ALL GAIN. Different, but all gain

[Pastor Ron]

Before I bought my GW 1500 with TriKing kit (1999), I triked a SilverWing (motor trike kit) with easy steer. My (new to me does not have easy steer), however, with that kit it gave a 3.5 rake naturally. With that being said, my wife and I have decided (as seniors as well), we too will never go back to two wheels. Much,much more enjoyable ride.

[3W-lonerider]

my trike experience. first off i had to go to a trike mainly because of my shoulders and knees were getting to the point i was dropping my big valkyrie interstate a couple of times per summer. it got to the point i didn't feel confident being able to handle that thing at slow speeds.

told the wife we're going to a trike. but after the first summer i was wondering, why didn't i do this sooner. heres a list of things i didn't miss and things i no longer had to worry about

#1 i really didn't miss leaning into the curves, steering into them felt just as comfortable to me.

#2 no longer did i have to worry about stuff on the road surface. ( oil, antifreeze, wet leaves, stones in corners, wet painted lines on the road, uneven pavement surfaces, dogs, cats, squirrels, you get the drift. )

i rode the trike the first couple of years with no rake kit, but found it really hard to take turns at speed because you really had to push on the bars to maintain in the turn.

then installed a 4 1/2 degree rake which made it alot better, spent a couple of years with that.

then i had friends in ny. and canada that seen my shoulders were giving out after riding the twisties. then one year a couple of days before christmas i came home to a big package on my porch. took it to the shed and low and behold my friends from ny. and canada went togather and bought me a 6 degree rake. my first impression of the 6 degree was, you could sneeze on the handle bars and change 3 lanes in the process. after i got used to the sensitivity of the 6 degree it was fantastic. but i do not regret going to a trike. if i had known that it was as fun as it was i wouldn't have waited to i was 45 to do it. i don't miss a motorcycle at all and i have also found out that people give you more leeway on a trike. very seldom do i have anybody pull out in front of me anymore.

[Burnerboy]

I'm 69 years old now, and triked my 2010 goldwing into Roadsmith last season. I find that the trike is 100% more fun then the two wheels and I still snow ski every season, (leaving for Steamboat Springs CO. next week for ten days of skiing ) and I walk approx 3-5 miles a day.... I'll never go back to 2

Ronnie

[Oldlog42]

My choice Three wheels, MY age 77

[Douglas44]

I joined this forum a while ago when the itch to ride came back after recovering from a stroke . I was paralyzed from the waist down for a while and have fought my way back , and continue to do my PT .

I have friends who have trikes and they say they wish they had moved to them sooner , now that they have them.

So , I screwed up the courage and went to my local HD store to see if I could maybe get back to riding. The people there were very nice and answered my questions . Then we went to try getting on and off , I need to walk with a cane and cannot walk very far. The place was huge , but we finally got to the trikes.. I wanted to try a Freewheeler , so the first test was would my cane fit in the trunk, It did .

Next came the getting on and off . It was evident that I needed to practice this . Decided to go another route.

I had a great time with Vespa and Lambretta scooters in my youth , so I started looking around at them. Found a dealer not too far away , scheduled a test ride . Had no trouble since it's a step through design, decided this was a way forward.

Ended up buying one elsewhere, and have had some fun this past summer and fall. It's a GTS 300 ( 278cc) motor, twist and go no shifting . Will easily do 65-70 mph if you want it to do that. But it really does best on secondary roads to be honest.

The problem comes in when I need to stop. My left leg is my weakest so I was depending on my right leg to put my foot down . This was ok for a while , but now the right leg has become somewhat unreliable.

I'm 75 and have tasted asphalt before and I doubt they have improved the flavor so crashing even at a stop is not good.

To bring this story to a close , I am now re-thinking this trike issue and am pretty sure I can handle getting on and off with a little practice.

A riding friend knows of a Gold Wing trike locally and is getting me in touch with the owner ( his trike is for sale).

So maybe it will be the answer , for me to get back to riding.

It's truly the only thing I have ever enjoyed as a hobby and lifestyle.

[Gorilla]

I joined this forum a while ago when the itch to ride came back after recovering from a stroke . I was paralyzed from the waist down for a while and have fought my way back , and continue to do my PT .

I have friends who have trikes and they say they wish they had moved to them sooner , now that they have them.

So , I screwed up the courage and went to my local HD store to see if I could maybe get back to riding. The people there were very nice and answered my questions . Then we went to try getting on and off , I need to walk with a cane and cannot walk very far. The place was huge , but we finally got to the trikes.. I wanted to try a Freewheeler , so the first test was would my cane fit in the trunk, It did .

Next came the getting on and off . It was evident that I needed to practice this . Decided to go another route.

I had a great time with Vespa and Lambretta scooters in my youth , so I started looking around at them. Found a dealer not too far away , scheduled a test ride . Had no trouble since it's a step through design, decided this was a way forward.

Ended up buying one elsewhere, and have had some fun this past summer and fall. It's a GTS 300 ( 278cc) motor, twist and go no shifting . Will easily do 65-70 mph if you want it to do that. But it really does best on secondary roads to be honest.

The problem comes in when I need to stop. My left leg is my weakest so I was depending on my right leg to put my foot down . This was ok for a while , but now the right leg has become somewhat unreliable.

I'm 75 and have tasted asphalt before and I doubt they have improved the flavor so crashing even at a stop is not good.

To bring this story to a close , I am now re-thinking this trike issue and am pretty sure I can handle getting on and off with a little practice.

A riding friend knows of a Gold Wing trike locally and is getting me in touch with the owner ( his trike is for sale).

So maybe it will be the answer , for me to get back to riding.

It's truly the only thing I have ever enjoyed as a hobby and lifestyle.

Good luck Douglas keep us posted

[bikerbillone]

Good luck on that trike find. Think will discover something new in life, we only come this way once.

[Pastor Ron]

I joined this forum a while ago when the itch to ride came back after recovering from a stroke . I was paralyzed from the waist down for a while and have fought my way back , and continue to do my PT .

I have friends who have trikes and they say they wish they had moved to them sooner , now that they have them.

So , I screwed up the courage and went to my local HD store to see if I could maybe get back to riding. The people there were very nice and answered my questions . Then we went to try getting on and off , I need to walk with a cane and cannot walk very far. The place was huge , but we finally got to the trikes.. I wanted to try a Freewheeler , so the first test was would my cane fit in the trunk, It did .

Next came the getting on and off . It was evident that I needed to practice this . Decided to go another route.

I had a great time with Vespa and Lambretta scooters in my youth , so I started looking around at them. Found a dealer not too far away , scheduled a test ride . Had no trouble since it's a step through design, decided this was a way forward.

Ended up buying one elsewhere, and have had some fun this past summer and fall. It's a GTS 300 ( 278cc) motor, twist and go no shifting . Will easily do 65-70 mph if you want it to do that. But it really does best on secondary roads to be honest.

The problem comes in when I need to stop. My left leg is my weakest so I was depending on my right leg to put my foot down . This was ok for a while , but now the right leg has become somewhat unreliable.

I'm 75 and have tasted asphalt before and I doubt they have improved the flavor so crashing even at a stop is not good.

To bring this story to a close , I am now re-thinking this trike issue and am pretty sure I can handle getting on and off with a little practice.

A riding friend knows of a Gold Wing trike locally and is getting me in touch with the owner ( his trike is for sale).

So maybe it will be the answer , for me to get back to riding.

It's truly the only thing I have ever enjoyed as a hobby and lifestyle.

Douglas, Schroaders Honda in Hendersonville,NC has a Silver Wing 600 with a new Motor Trike kit that I put on it. I can assure you this is a great bike. Go to his web site it is listed for $7999.00. I purchased new in 2012 And I know he ship's all over the U.S. Good luck

[Douglas44]

Thanks for all the encouragement, I went and looked at a 2008 Honda Goldwing Motor Trike this week.

Seller bought it from the guy who had it converted , machine shows less that 17k miles. Loaded with all kind of chrome doodads , has the easy steer , Hartco seat etc. Saw the invoice from Motor Trike . Looks nice but it's a bit too much $$ and above my meger budget anyway .

I was able to get on and off ok , but it was a bit awkward for me to do it.

So , i'm thinking on it.

Pastor Ron , thanks for the lead on the Silverwing . I'll got to their web site and take a look.

If anyone is interested in the Honda G/W Trike I mentioned . Let me know and I'll try to hook you up with the seller.

I did look at the Silverwing trike, not for me.

I'm thinking that I want to hold out for an HD Free Wheeler , I'm not interested in all that body work on the bigger trikes , the more I think about it. One will show up that speaks to me :-)

[CrystalPistol]

Lots of similarity.

… got to the point i didn't feel confident being able to handle that thing at slow speeds. Why I sold the bike later.

#2 no longer did i have to worry about stuff on the road surface. ( oil, antifreeze, wet leaves, stones in corners, wet painted lines on the road, uneven pavement surfaces, dogs, cats, squirrels, you get the drift. ) Amen to that, I still cringe when I think of a day in the later '90s on 421 near Greenville, Tn. leaned over to right in a right hander, squirrel run out under front tire, front wheel kicked out, truck coming other way … but tire caught.

i rode the trike the first couple of years with no rake kit, but found it really hard to take turns at speed because you really had to push on the bars to maintain in the turn. I might have given up on it by then. I couldn't stand it knowing there was relief after riding a buddy's raked trike. What really bothered me was we ride a lot of curvy roads and then there was pulling out of parking lots & gas stations into traffic under throttle while turning hard left or right.

then i had friends in ny. and canada that seen my shoulders were giving out after riding the twisties. then one year a couple of days before christmas i came home to a big package on my porch. took it to the shed and low and behold my friends from ny. and canada went togather and bought me a 6 degree rake. my first impression of the 6 degree was, you could sneeze on the handle bars and change 3 lanes in the process. after i got used to the sensitivity of the 6 degree it was fantastic. but i do not regret going to a trike. if i had known that it was as fun as it was i wouldn't have waited to i was 45 to do it. i don't miss a motorcycle at all and i have also found out that people give you more leeway on a trike. very seldom do i have anybody pull out in front of me anymore. Good friends they are / were. I was 50 when I started the switch, but it had been in my mind earlier. Bought trike in '04, sold last 2 wheeler in '19, 'twas a long transition period.

[MikeyTX]

Douglas44, if you are in Lewisville, TX, wander down to Maverick HD. They have a number of orange tag specials. I bought a '18 FLHX with only 750 miles on it for $15,450 plus tax. Have Zook trike the bike. He will pick up and deliver from his shop in Conroe. Country is my salesman at Maverick btw.

[Jimer]

This might be a strange question but I'm looking for other riders experience. I just made the change from being a biker to a full time triker. In the past I had a Harley Road Glide I rode solo and when Kathy wanted to go along I rode our 2012 GW CSC Trike. I decided at 70 it was time for me to move to being a full time triker. Every summer a group of us have several touring trips. Last year we went from Northern Kentucky to Canada. This year we went from Kentucky to Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone and Sturgis, 4400 miles and 15 days. What differences will I notice touring on my trike versus my Harley? Anything I need to watch on the GW on long tours? I did notice a lot more trikes touring during our trip out west this July. Comments are appreciated.

Bill

First off Bill, I want to thank you for the thread, I read every post and saw a little of why I went from 2 to 3 wheels in each post. I love the fact that there are so many people like me fighting back “Father Time” and saying: “the bones may be getting old, but I’m still young at heart and I’m going to keep on doing the thing I love; even if it means adding an extra wheel”! It’s also refreshing to see how many riders were able to admit that it was time to quit riding….I know first-hand that is NOT an easy conversation to have with yourself! I don’t ever want to see someone end up as “Road Kill” just because of peer pressure or stubborn pride!

A half a dozen 2-wheelers later, I’m now on my 2^nd. Trike, 1^st. Honda ever and am thoroughly enjoying my 2019 GL1800D/CSC. I guess I was a little surprised in reading how many posters regard their Trike strictly as a multi-day trip vehicle. I regard my Trike as a multi-purpose utility vehicle; not only do I use it for multi-day trips, but I also use it for day trips, couple hour recreational rides, grocery getter/Home Depot runner/HELL, any excuse I can invent to use it!

I store my riding gear in the upper Tour-pak and around town keep the trunk pretty much empty except for 2 collapsible crates which I can tie down to the rear seat and use as a grocery holder. I also carry an elastic net and bungies to carry items on the luggage rack. I haven’t done the trailer hitch rack yet, but seeing that I don’t have an Auxiliary gas tank, that’s a great place to store a gas can for those long Arizona middle of nowhere rides. It’s amazing how versatile Trikes can be.

Be safe out there!

Jim

[Vulcanscott]

Really enjoyed this Post. Seems Like what I was needing as progressing from 2 to 3 wheels. Looking Forward to Touring The On The Trike. Thank You ! Scotty

[RoadRunner18]

I too really enjoyed these posts. I am heading down to Arrington VA and the CSC factory within two weeks to tour the factory, test ride a trike or two, and decide what options to add to my kit. I ride a 2018 Gold Wing Tour DCT with air bag.

[Papa Zook]

Bumping this great thread!

[Jack Klarich]

Thanks for this Thread, a very good read