I could not find a specific trike location so I thought this would be a good place to start.
As I stated in my introduction thread, I am planning to retire in about 8 years and I would like to give myself a trike for a retirement gift. I currently ride a 750 Honda Shadow, while I love this bike and feel that it is capable of doing anything I would like to do, I think that a larger bike is in order. Currently my bride to be has her own 750 Honda Shadow and we both love to get out and ride, however age and mileage are starting to take their toll. We would like to take cross country rides after I retire and after much discussion we arrived at the decision that a trike pulling a trailer would be our best option.
From the little I have gleamed from different sources I have narrowed down the bike manufacturers to two, the Harley Tri-Glide and the Honda Goldwing. So far they are running close in the "which one" race and that is why I am here. I want a bike that I can get on and go, I like to ride more than wrench now a days. With that said I feel confident that both bikes are well made and both would be a good choice. What I am looking for is information on the types of problems that each bike would need to go to a dealer to be repaired and no BS truth to the longevity of these bikes. I currently do my own preventive maintenance, tire changes, and even adjust the valves on our Shadows.
I know that both bikes have their pro's and con's, as everything does, I would like y'alls input on this. I have seen video's showing how to replace the air filter on the newer GW's, it is a 6-8 hour job and the whole top of the bike has to be pulled apart,,,really?! what genius thought this up. I still hear comments from time to time about the lack of reliability of the Harley bikes, I don't know if this is hold over BS from the '70's or factual current truth.
From a style viewpoint I lean more to the HD bikes, the GW looks more like a crotch rocket every year. I really liked the looks of the GW when it was just considered an "Old Man's Bike".
From the little I have read here on the forum I have seen several times a mention that one needs to pick a trike conversion to match their riding style. What are the differences in the kits and is there a middle of the road kit. I think that my travels on the trike will be long distance with a lot of interstate miles but I thinking that we may like staying off the interstates and mainly riding US and state routes (I use to drive big trucks and say plenty of interstate). since I will be traveling as a retired person the time constraints when traveling will be basically non existent compared to traveling as a working person. I like to ride the twisties, not aggressively, so I may do this some with the trike as well but plan to keep the Shadows for this kind of riding.
What is the towing capacity for the GW and HD trikes? I have not been able to find these specifications for the trikes.
If y'all made it this far, many thanks. A lot of times it is difficult to get my thoughts from my mind to paper, or type as is the case, in an orderly fashion. My hope is that y'all might be able to point me to sources that might help me make my decision.
Thanks
Eric
As I stated in my introduction thread, I am planning to retire in about 8 years and I would like to give myself a trike for a retirement gift. I currently ride a 750 Honda Shadow, while I love this bike and feel that it is capable of doing anything I would like to do, I think that a larger bike is in order. Currently my bride to be has her own 750 Honda Shadow and we both love to get out and ride, however age and mileage are starting to take their toll. We would like to take cross country rides after I retire and after much discussion we arrived at the decision that a trike pulling a trailer would be our best option.
From the little I have gleamed from different sources I have narrowed down the bike manufacturers to two, the Harley Tri-Glide and the Honda Goldwing. So far they are running close in the "which one" race and that is why I am here. I want a bike that I can get on and go, I like to ride more than wrench now a days. With that said I feel confident that both bikes are well made and both would be a good choice. What I am looking for is information on the types of problems that each bike would need to go to a dealer to be repaired and no BS truth to the longevity of these bikes. I currently do my own preventive maintenance, tire changes, and even adjust the valves on our Shadows.
I know that both bikes have their pro's and con's, as everything does, I would like y'alls input on this. I have seen video's showing how to replace the air filter on the newer GW's, it is a 6-8 hour job and the whole top of the bike has to be pulled apart,,,really?! what genius thought this up. I still hear comments from time to time about the lack of reliability of the Harley bikes, I don't know if this is hold over BS from the '70's or factual current truth.
From a style viewpoint I lean more to the HD bikes, the GW looks more like a crotch rocket every year. I really liked the looks of the GW when it was just considered an "Old Man's Bike".
From the little I have read here on the forum I have seen several times a mention that one needs to pick a trike conversion to match their riding style. What are the differences in the kits and is there a middle of the road kit. I think that my travels on the trike will be long distance with a lot of interstate miles but I thinking that we may like staying off the interstates and mainly riding US and state routes (I use to drive big trucks and say plenty of interstate). since I will be traveling as a retired person the time constraints when traveling will be basically non existent compared to traveling as a working person. I like to ride the twisties, not aggressively, so I may do this some with the trike as well but plan to keep the Shadows for this kind of riding.
What is the towing capacity for the GW and HD trikes? I have not been able to find these specifications for the trikes.
If y'all made it this far, many thanks. A lot of times it is difficult to get my thoughts from my mind to paper, or type as is the case, in an orderly fashion. My hope is that y'all might be able to point me to sources that might help me make my decision.
Thanks
Eric