What is the riding difference between Voyager and 3 wheels ?

[krazybob]

I just bought a used 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 with a Voyager kit on it. Only have a couple hundred miles under my belt, but I was wondering if there are those here that have ridden a bike with the Voyager kit, and also a standard 3 wheel trike, and what was the difference in ride and the handling ?
I hope to get a chance one of these days to compare the two.
Just courious............

 

[pin-hi]

Re: What is the riding difference between Voyager and 3 wheels ?

Difference is you'll have lots of extra money in your pocket but wish you had spent it to have a standard 3 wheel conversion done.

 

[Duffy]

Re: What is the riding difference between Voyager and 3 wheels ?

I also have a 1500 Kaw Classic (05) that I just bought a Voyager kit for. I don't have it installed yet (waiting for the hardware kit) but I have ridden both the Can Am Spyder and a 2011 1800 Gold Wing trike.

I'll watch this thread and post when I get the Voyager installed and some miles on it.

 

[Cybyrd1]

Re: What is the riding difference between Voyager and 3 wheels ?

I have the Voyager kit on a 2004 Harley Nighttrain and also a 2012 TriGlide. The Nighttrain is a lot of fun and we put about 1200 miles on it before we bought the TG. We have about 2000 miles on the TG. The TG has a smoother ride, and with the steering damper, the handling is awesome. I have found that I have no trouble keeping up with and many times outrunning my friends on comparable 2-wheelers. That said, I would probably not take the NT w/Voyager through twisties at anything like the speed that I would on the TG. Also, the way that one wheel comes off the ground on some turns is a little nerve wracking until you get used to it. We still ride the NT, but mostly short trips around town, while the TG does the longer runs, when comfort is important.

 

[hillycat]

Re: What is the riding difference between Voyager and 3 wheels ?

I rode a 96 Honda Magna w/voyager kit for about 5 months then bought my vtx trike. Other than that one wheel lifting on curves that you have to keep in mind and get used to the only other thing I found was getting it high centered with the two motorcycle tires in line and the two out riggers of the kit not hitting the ground, mostly on stops at lights/signs due to ruts in roads! Lots of fun either way, also remember how wide you will be!!


Carol

 

[Woolie]

Re: What is the riding difference between Voyager and 3 wheels ?

I had a 99 Kawasaki voyager and installed a used voyager kit on it, loved it. We rode it for about 3 years all over Texas and New Mexico and had very few problems. After riding it for a while I never really noticed the wheel coming off the ground but it always seemed to lean a little in turns but never created a problem or fear of turning over. I have been in a couple situations where if I had been on a 2 wheeler I would have gone down and the voyager kit saved our day. We usually ride alone, as everyone else is working, and Sandra didn't feel comfortable 500 from home on a 2 wheeler that she could not handle if I got sick or hurt. Makes sense to me. I wanted better so I gave this trike to my sister-in-law.

Now what I didn't like about it: It was difficult changing the oil, I had to drop the belly plate to get to all the bolts, not a really big problem but made a 30 minute job about 3 1/2 hours and lots of effort. Also I didn't like maintaining the drive wheel, hard to check the air pressure and replace it every 8000 or so miles. I ran Metzler ME880 tires on it, had the rubber come off the tire (about 2 inch square in three separate places ), didn't cause any problems and probably rode it at least 400 miles before i noticed it. As far as the ride on the Voyager, it was great and we were both happy with it. I did hit on some speed bumps before I put progressive fork springs on to raise it up some. It needed more clearance after hanging all that stuff under it. BTW they would not warranty the tire which was only about half worn out, both Metzler and the local dealer ignored my requests. I am a bigger, tall guy so I didn't have much leg room on the Kawasaki and wanted something that didn't bend my sore knees back too much while sitting on it, so i bought a 2001 Harley Electra Glide and really did like that bike. Sandra didn't like the exhaust pipes ( she is short ) and got burned a couple times getting off it and I got burned pretty bad myself once. She was afraid the grand kids would get burned on it. I wanted the trunk space that a real trike would provide. We talked about triking the Harley but both wanted a Gold Wing so here we go shopping again.
I traded the Harley for a 2009 Gold Wing with a motor trike IRS kit on it. Only had 800 miles on it so wasn't even broke in. I bought a rake kit from Bazooka but haven't felt like installing it yet, I have had cancer surgery on both kidneys in the last 2 years and it is slow getting back to normal, but the Dr. I am headed in the right direction. As far as the ride goes, I really can't tell enough difference in the Kawasaki with the Voyager kit and the Motor trike to matter. I would probably need to ride the Voyager again now after riding the Gold Wing, I will do that sometime since it is still in the family. I test drove a 2009 Tri Glide at the same place I purchased the Gold Wing and comfort wise, leg room and what have you I liked the Tri Glide better. The big problem with it was the heat and that was horrible. The GW rides great, rough on rough roads and smooth on smooth roads just like the Voyager. The Voyager had a little front end wobble when going over bumps but progressive fork springs fixed that. The GW has a tiny bit of wobble on some bumps but I have purchased a rake kit from Bazooka to put on it, just haven't felt like I can do it yet. If I had it to do over would I get rid of the Voyager, probably, but not because of the ride or the handling.
I have also helped friends install Tow-Pac kits on their bikes and have ridden them. They are OK also. Two of them are Shadow 1100's and 1 was a 883 Sporster. The 1100's are just fine but the 883 just doesn't have enough muscle for my satisfaction. The Tow-Pac kits have broken some brackets but nothing a good machine shop can't fix. I think the problem was too much preload on the kits. There was so much preload that the rear wheel would slide to easy when the rear brake was pressed but I couldn't get the owner to give in and adjust it so not my problem. After breaking some brackets they started to listen. Now I think they are Ok.
I say all this just to provide what sorry credentials I have but I have ridden several different trikes including Tri Glide, Motor trike, Champion, CSC, and I also own a home made VW trike that I purchased, and have found there isn't a dimes worth of difference between any of them including the Voyager and Tow-Pac, just my opinion, they are all safe and a lot of fun. I slid across a 2 lane highway almost sideways on loose gravel in south Texas on the Voyager kit and didn't even come close to rolling over. It would be hard to roll one over but I am sure it can be done, the wider the wheel base the harder it would be to roll over though. I rode my Kawasaki a lot harder than I ride the Gold Wing and if it wasn't well made it would have broken, but it stayed together. Highest speed was well over 100 MPH and it ran straight down the road, and I took the curves as fast as I could, steering was tough with no rake kit though. I don't think you will regret trying the Voyager Kit.