Honda Motorcycle and Trike Service Question

[RoadRunner18]

I stopped by my Honda Dealer today to ask them if they would still be able to service my 2018 Honda Gold Wing DCT after converting it to to a trike. My mechanic said he would continue to service the motorcycle, but could not service the trike portion. His advice was to have any conversion (Trike) issues addressed by the trike installer which was about 10 miles from my house in NJ. It just so happens that I stopped out at the Trike Installer this past Monday morning, only to find that he closed his doors in October. So now the closest installer to me is in Maryland, about 100 miles away.

As this is my second post, I am obviously new to all of this and I am sure I will have more questions to come. So here goes - How do you folks handle service issues? I am assuming that unless your Honda Dealer was also your Trike installer, most dealerships will only service the motorcycle.

And thank you for your time!

Steve

 

[paws]

Exactly what I ran into. I found a gentleman who would service my whole 2008 Gold Wing trike who, at the time, was only 125 miles from me. Then I moved and the distance became 150 miles. A couple of years later the gentleman said he was getting older and had decided to stop taking in outside work and I would have to find someone else who could service the whole trike. That outfit was 300 miles from me.

As I have no tools nor expertise to service my trike I had no rational alternative but to sell the trike and buy a 2021 Can-Am Spyder RTL with all the bells and whistles. The dealer is only 46 miles away. I hated letting that Gold Wing go... she had many very good memories and never did she have any problems. The Spyder is different but about as comfortable as the Wing and surprisingly very nimble and quick.

Good luck in your quest for a qualified mechanic for your whole trike. They are out there... you just have to keep asking around and beating the bushes or gather the tools and expertise to do it yourself.

 

[woody]

my local Honda dealer will not even service the bike. But since I am kinda handy in the wrenching department so far I have been able to do all my own maintenance. There is another shop that services Harleys and has good deals on tires but I had to take the front wheel to him off of the bike.

 

[cycle7447]

I stopped by my Honda Dealer today to ask them if they would still be able to service my 2018 Honda Gold Wing DCT after converting it to to a trike. My mechanic said he would continue to service the motorcycle, but could not service the trike portion. His advice was to have any conversion (Trike) issues addressed by the trike installer which was about 10 miles from my house in NJ. It just so happens that I stopped out at the Trike Installer this past Monday morning, only to find that he closed his doors in October. So now the closest installer to me is in Maryland, about 100 miles away.

As this is my second post, I am obviously new to all of this and I am sure I will have more questions to come. So here goes - How do you folks handle service issues? I am assuming that unless your Honda Dealer was also your Trike installer, most dealerships will only service the motorcycle.

And thank you for your time!

Steve

Welcome Steve and thanks for the post. Glad to hear that the dealer will service the bike. Not sure what trike kit you have - but the newer kits tend to stand up pretty good.

I have a 2021 Harley with a CSC conversion. The conversion has a 5-year warranty and there are a few dealers within a 50-mile radius of me. That said, I am hopeful there are no problems.

My Harley dealer does work on my bike. The bike warranty expired in Jan 2023 - so, any issues for the bike will be on me. When I put the bike away at the end of 2022, the dealer serviced the bike and also took a look at the conversion (brakes, etc).

Good luck

 

[RoadRunner18]

Thanks to all who have responded.

I have not had the Trike conversion done yet. As a matter of fact I am taking a ride out to CSC in Arrington, VA next month to gather more information, and to test ride the trikes they have for that purpose. Before I pull the trigger on this, I want to make sure I can get the services I'll need. This wasn't a problem until I stopped out at the Trike Conversion shop in my area and discovered he closed his doors in October. I am assuming those who had the conversion done at a Honda Dealership don't have service issues, but could certainly be affected while on a road trip.

 

[Sidecarbill]

There's a reason Harleys trikes are so popular. And it's not necessarily because people want Harleys. You don't want to be on the road broke down with no place to go for repairs.

 

[tourman]

What service do you need done? First service on my Road Smith trike is changing the differential oil at 50,000 miles

Call you trike mfg to, They might have someone near you who could help, Also depending on the repair needed, Most auto shops could repair the rear end of the bike.

 

[cycle7447]

There's a reason Harleys trikes are so popular. And it's not necessarily because people want Harleys. You don't want to be on the road broke down with no place to go for repairs.

You are so right Sir - for some reason, it does appear that Harley dealers are willing to work on any of their bikes. When I rode Wings, we have two - one two-wheeler and one trike. The Honda dealer told us that once the bike was over 10 years old, they would no longer service them.

My original dealer was in Mass - and was great. I was however transferred around a bit, so I did run into some problems with service. Back then, I got a lot of the things that I needed/wanted done at Wing Ding.

When I converter my Harley, I wanted to add TPMS. he local dealer said - yep we can find a way. let's work on that over the winter. Took the bike in late October - and, he got it done.

Final thought - my bet is you will love your CSC visit. I asked them tons of questions before I converted. My first trike was a MotorTrike - loved it. I do believe the CSC is much nicer.

 

[RoadRunner18]

Beautiful Rides!

 

[GoldWingrGreg]

Here's another problem with owning a trike. There are many trike dealers who only want to sell and install trike kits. Basically, they have no interest in providing any service after the sale, or even fixing their own warranty issues on the product they sell.

I have a riding freind who insisted on using a well known discount trike dealer in Alabama. After he picked up his trike up, he noticed a vibration at highway speeds on his ride home (Tampa). He stopped in, and I shared that he's describing a drive shaft or possibly a tire/balance issue. He had his tires rebalanced somewhere, and then he left on a trip to Tennessee, and on his way back to Florida, his vibration got worse. He called his trike dealer, who referred him to another dealer in FL who's known for his great service. He replied, "you don't understand, I'm not in Florida and in route to you." They replied back saying that all their lifts are full, and they have no time to look at his. His trike kit was probably 6 weeks old

Another way of saying that is this. We don't ever want to see you again until you're ready to buy another tirke. We're in the trike selling business, not the service business.

To tell if a dealer does full service, ask them this. How much do they charge for a valve adjustment, and a trike service.

Here, with the exception of Champion and Lehman, we service both the GW, and the trike half too. It's very common for the price of the initial work order, a 24k service, a valve adjustment, and a trike service, to be above the $2,000 plus tax mark. Because it is so hard for owners to find good service, service/repair bills all the time are in the thousands of dollars. Not only are GW extreemly expensive to repair, but having both halves maintained and repair gets expensive.

 

[RoadRunner18]

Good Information Greg! When I went to talk to the installer, I did ask if he performs all trike services, and he said he did. I didn't ask about repair costs, and that's something I should do.

Steve

 

[cycle7447]

All of this has been a great discussion. When Harley started to build trikes (Lehman platform), I believed this was the answer. Unfortunately, the Lehman unit, in my opinion, needs some adjustments.

Just a thought - but can you imagine what might happen if Harley was able to somehow be supported by CSC. WOW - a trike body with a 5-year warranty and supported by a Harley dealership.

 

[GoldWingrGreg]

All of this has been a great discussion. When Harley started to build trikes (Lehman platform), I believed this was the answer. Unfortunately, the Lehman unit, in my opinion, needs some adjustments.

Just a thought - but can you imagine what might happen if Harley was able to somehow be supported by CSC. WOW - a trike body with a 5-year warranty and supported by a Harley dealership.

Unfortunanly, some buy a Harley trike because it's OEM, but because of it's rough ride, they get rid of it and switch to a Wing. It's my understanding the Harley is not independent

 

[woody]

Unfortunanly, some buy a Harley trike because it's OEM, but because of it's rough ride, they get rid of it and switch to a Wing. It's my understanding the Harley is not independent

that's exactly what we did because of the looks and the ability to get it serviced, but because of the ride and I did most of my own services anyway I sold the triglide and bought a wing/csc and so far I have done all the services on it except installing the CB.

 

[cycle7447]

that's exactly what we did because of the looks and the ability to get it serviced, but because of the ride and I did most of my own services anyway I sold the triglide and bought a wing/csc and so far I have done all the services on it except installing the CB.

Trust me, I know the feeling. I wanted the best of both world -so, I converted my Harley. Before doing so, I talked with my dealer - they said no problem in doing any of the work on the bike plus, they will also look at the trike portion.

The CSC dealer is pretty close to me and shared that there is a 5-year warranty on the trike kit. They wanted me to know that I should have them look at it a least every 2 years or so. They will pick it up over the winter and go through the trike portion. Also told me to not let anyone balance the belt - said something about it being water balanced. All of this is free while under warranty.

For us, I think it was the right decision. Either way you go, Wing or Harley - once you trike it, you lose the bike warranty.

 

[RoadRunner18]

I am looking at a CSC Encore Trike conversion for my 2018 Gold Wing Tour.

 

[FRR]

my local Honda dealer will not even service the bike. But since I am kinda handy in the wrenching department so far I have been able to do all my own maintenance. There is another shop that services Harleys and has good deals on tires but I had to take the front wheel to him off of the bike.

Your local Honda dealer should be required to work on the engine part of the bike. I would contact American Honda and see if a dealer can be that particular. That is pathetic. They are shooting themselves in the foot

 

[FRR]

Unfortunanly, some buy a Harley trike because it's OEM, but because of it's rough ride, they get rid of it and switch to a Wing. It's my understanding the Harley is not independent

Triglides ride over bumps like a truck. My buddy had a Tri and his wife said either get a Trike with independent suspension or ride by yourself. He bought a 2018 DCT

 

[cycle7447]

Triglides ride over bumps like a truck. My buddy had a Tri and his wife said either get a Trike with independent suspension or ride by yourself. He bought a 2018 DCT

Mr. Fred - thanks for your insight. Perhaps we can compare Apples to Apples.

The Harley two-wheeler rides just as nice as any Wing, in my opinion. Since Honda does not make a trike, one has to add the kit from CSC, Roadsmith, etc.

Well, let's put the same kit on both the Harly and Wing - now compare that ride. My bet is you will get a pretty equal ride - just as smooth.

Now to the main question of service. I think you are more likely to get better bike service from the Harley dealer than the Honda dealership. In my case, my dealer has already said he would work on both the bike and kit (if the kit issue is simple (wheels, tires, brakes, etc.). Probably because they already have most of this stuff for the TriGlide. Not sure if the Honda dealer can change the trike wheels. etc.

My Harley dealer installed TPMS on my trike wheels. Also changed them out when the correct wheels came in from CSC.

When I had my Wing, I use to go to the local tire shop for wheels, brakes, etc.

Bottom line - am hopeful the OP gets his concerns addressed and is able to get what he wants.

 

[GoldWingrGreg]

Your local Honda dealer should be required to work on the engine part of the bike. I would contact American Honda and see if a dealer can be that particular. That is pathetic. They are shooting themselves in the foot

Most likely the Honda dealer does not have lifts to support the trike, and sometimes it comes down to not wanting to work on something because there are so many other things to work on. Here at JustWings it's the same. When one comes in all blinged out, we'd rather make money working on something else.