Trikes again !

[hacksaw]

I am
Not a trike guy. But it seems more and more like if I want to do ever do any substantial “riding” again I am going to have to embrace a trike.
I just don’t trust my knees to hold my bikes at the end of my sick cross sloped  driveway . Or perhaps anywhere.
I have breeched the subject here before but done nothing about it.
As to HD , The new tri glide 3 sucks!
The pricing is sick and I certainly don’t want payments going toward the commie leaning euro woke CEO salary .
And even if that wasn’t a factor
Ugliness is.
Can’t post an imagine from Harley’s solicitation email!
The nicest triglide is a dull  blue and boring dead gray 2 tone. At least it’s available w/o the crappy fairing of the triglide 3!
I coukd buy am MGB for 8k and have it frame off restored and  painted slick BRG for less.
Bad enuff having 3 wheels ( I don’t consider driving trikes or side  car rigs riding) if I wanted a cockpit .
But woah is me. Selling everything including my hinkley is very hard to contemplate .

[motogrady]

Do what you gotta do guy.
I know I see more out there than ever.

I see some of those guys doing 70, 80 down the highway
and think “now that’s some dangerous stuff right there.”

[hacksaw]

I don’t disagree .

[hacksaw]

My bad !
It’s called Road Glide 3



40 thousand dollars ! lol.
It’s freakin sick!

[oldironnow]

The three-wheel dilemma….

When I get there, and I hope I do, I would still go along that path.

But how?
Single wheel in front
Two wheels in front
Three wheel ‘cars’
Motorcycle and sidecar.

When I have to do it, if these are still the same choices, I’d choose to have a sidecar outfit.
Low stance. Easy on/off. Familiar mechanicals. Use my last ride for power.
There’s affordable Polaris and Can-Am two wheels upfront, listing in for digits to low 20s.
Vanderhall and Campagna very expensive and deep buckets to climb out of.
Single wheel in front somehow feels odd.
It would be weird to not have the freedom to slip around or split lanes.

[motogrady]

Never been on one.  
Or an ATV.

But from what I’ve been told, the hardest thing to get is the no leaning.   The trike, like a car stays upright.  

Hell, they stopped making 3 wheelers for the dirt because so many flipped them.  They are just inherently unstable,
especially at speed.  

But whatever, if that is what a guy wants,
I say go for it.

[oldironnow]

Edits -
There’s affordable Polaris and Can-Am two wheels upfront, listing in for four digits to low 20s, making it more affordable to take a stab at.
Vanderhall and Campagna (and some Polaris) run expensive, and look like deep buckets to climb out of.
Can-Am and HD at least have a standard motorcycle seat and stance that I could stagger up to and crawl on and off.

The single wheel in front seems to be the worst compromise.
Minimal steering input.
Width is behind the eyes.
Center of mass is ahead of stability axis.

I wonder if it’s possible to rent these for test rides.

[hacksaw]

U don’t really make sense .
A regular motorcycle is one wheel in front.
And really , a motorcycle is inherently more unstable than 3. That why I have this thread.

No 2 wheels in front for me. Might as well buy a convertible car.

True the 3 wheel dirt trikes were banned. But street trikes have a better geometry . Cops rode trikes for decades .
There are thousands of Harley and aftermarket trikes out there these  days. I don’t hear of many falling over of their own violation .

Sidecars are hundreds of thousands all over the Philippines. They are mostly used as taxis .
And incorrectly called trikes . I tried riding one once and almost took out a bus stop . I have no interest in sidecars .
I don’t think yiu are going to split traffic with one no matter , old iron. Or with any of these .
Actually I shun traffic as best as I can . Splitting traffic as a way of riding is a death wish anywzy.

Besides I want to be looking in a straight line from the saddle toward where I am going . A trike does that.

Anywzy I ordered some knee sleeves .
It’s not just moto bikes . Getting up stairs is getting really tuff for me.

[motogrady]

I wonder if the guys designing this stuff are taking into consideration ease of getting in and out of them.
Or on and off, whatever.
Seems that should be one of the most important things.

We have a 95 Pontiac Firebird.
Factory purple. T tops. Under 100k. A gas friendly v6.
Pretty much all OEM. Effin’ looker I tell ya.

Only bad thing about it…….getting in and out of it lol..

[motogrady]

Keith about the knees, try 2 Advil with a small breakfast, at least 2 advil with a small glass of milk first thing when u get up.  

[motogrady]

If it only has elec start

https://www.smartcycleguide.com/1973-harley-davidson-police-special-servi-car-45-a601<quote author="motogrady">
Keith about the knees, try 2 Advil with a small breakfast, at least 2 advil with a small glass of milk first thing when u get up.

motogrady wrote

Keith about the knees, try 2 Advil with a small breakfast, at least 2 advil with a small glass of milk first thing when u get up.

[hacksaw]

Thanks. My knees don’t actually really hurt . My back and hips do. But my knees give out . Usually w/o warning
That servi car is almost too clean for me .
It does have Estart as servi cars were the  first Harley to be fitted with it
I sent a message asking the real price. I am guessing 24,000
Most decent riders are about 15k.
 
Franken trikes has a kit I could use on one if my shovel heads . I think though that a frame mounted seat dhovrlheads are low enuff so my knees are bent when flat footed and wouldn’t be as much as a problem .
I would really like a kit to fit my R65 bnw as I got too much into it to sell

The trouble with kits I see is the finished machine sits long for my liking . I mean the box is like in the area of the original rear wheel. If you look at tge 45 trike pictured earlier in this thread the over all length is more compact and “organic” looking . Symmetrical a better word

[hacksaw]

Try and get out of a Polaris 3 wheeler.
I can’t.

[oldironnow]

hacksaw wrote

Try and get out of a Polaris 3 wheeler.
I can’t.

It looks like it is impossible.

[hacksaw]

Very close to it!

[Fatfatboy]

hacksaw wrote

My bad !
It’s called Road Glide 3



40 thousand dollars ! lol.
It’s freakin sick!

 I like the look of the RG3. I goo goo over them when I get by the dealer. I’ve not rode one yet but would like to give one a try. The salesman tried hard to get me to take it out.
I would want more than a 8 mile loop to ride.

Used ones are selling for $32,000.00. No preps, setup fees, or blah blah fees that add thousands. They typically only have a couple thousand miles on them. Older riders buy them think it will prolong their riding but the workout of driving the thing gets to be too much so they take it back to the dealer at a huge loss.
A guy I go to church with and used to ride with is selling his tri-glide for that same reason. He bought a Beemer sport car instead.
 If a guy waited to Dec annd bought used they could save thousands. HD will finance used as well as new.

When I demo’d the Freewheeler in 2016 it was a hoot and wanted to give one a try for a while. After the second knee surgery in a year I couldn’t ride two up so I bought one so my wife could get back in the wind. I enjoyed it for it for a bit. It was stable. If I was taking it above speed it took a lot of body language to take the curves. A real work out when getting jiggy with it.
A great tool for puttin around town.

When winter started to come around I was taking my bikes from my house to my shop for storage.
I have to cross three railroad crossings on my route. I road the springers and fatboy to the shop and then took the trike. When crossing the tracks I realized just how much I hated the bobble head feeling as my torso bobbled around and my head followed. When December came it was traded in because the knee was strong enough to hold us both up.

I’ve looked at the three wheel cars. They look a hoot to drive but climbing out is cumbersome except on the premium ones that have a door. The doors are suicide doors so getting in and out is relatively easy.
This is another possible joy toy that can be picked up used with low miles an at least 25% cheaper than new.
I’ve seen some half the cost of new.

When the time comes that I can no longer ride two up I would seriously look into the three wheel cars and maybe keep a Grom, Vespa or something little and light around for my solo early morning or afternoon runs through the hills.
I am deeply regretting this day. I love my day and weekend rides and miss my week long rides across our USofA. It’s been over four years since I’ve been able to take one.
“Lord I was born a ramblin man.”

[Fatfatboy]

<quote author="motogrady">
If it only has elec start

https://www.smartcycleguide.com/1973-harley-davidson-police-special-servi-car-45-a601

motogrady wrote

 

Dang! At $4k that’s a steal if it’s for real.
Boy, did I pick a bad time to drop too many bucks in the old 55 F100.
It will be a screamer when complete.
That ol’ servi-car would look excellent next to our 55.

[hacksaw]

So what you are saying is a trike does not extend one’s riding career . The bobble head thing is why?
I didn’t realize you had a trike.

No RG3 for me even if they were half price.
I don’t want that fairing thing in my face.
No 3 wheel car either. Why bother? I maybe resigned to 250 DP bikes.

No way that police trike is 4 k
I haven’t heard back on anyway

Honestly I never really liked 2 up riding. Anyone over 100lbs just takes away from the way a bike feels . I mean I have had decent rides but it wasn’t about riding the actual bikes. It’s more riding to get someplace for social type things rather than throttle jockey stuff.
No matter anywzy since any kind of pillion load is going to be too too heavy for me

[hacksaw]

Oh wait. I think I do remember you criticizing lack of independent suspension or something?

[Fatfatboy]

I can't say a trike can't extend one's riding career. It just can't for me. At least that's how I feel know. Heck, I could change my mind when I get there.
I know folks that have switched and love them and ride all over the place.

I did have a Freewheeler last season. I had three knee surgeries in 18 month's due to odd infections. The first was Nov. '22 so wasn't concerned about missing riding going into the winter. The second was April or may of '23. After a month I was able to ride the Buell but not any of the others and no two up for sure so I bought the trike so my wife could get back in the wind. Once the knee was healed good enough for two up I got rid of the trike.
I had another infection of spring '24 but we caught it quick and it healed quick so I was back to two up sooner.

Two up has gotten harder since my left knee is trash but my wife loves to ride. If she didn't it would make it hard to spend more time on the bike. Leaving her at home every weekend is no fun for her or me. I like the fact that she likes to ride. We've taken some good trips together.
There are times she stays home and I go with the guys or alone because she knows I need that.

A DP 250 is not a bad choice. I'd prefer at least a 350. The 250's are a bit sluggish. At least the Kaw that I test road was. I add a XT350. Great bike but lacked the electric leg. My only issue with a DP is I would tend to ride it in places I shouldn't be but one would be great for forest roads we have in the national forest down south that are empty roads.
They are tall so the only way I can get on them is step on a peg and swing a leg over.
I've saw that Yamaha is making the XT250 again. Its about 5K and now has the E-leg. It's still air cooled and will comfortably do 60 mph.
I keep threatening myself to sell the Buell because the left knee doesn't like it's riding position for long rides. When/if I do I'll see if I can't get a trade for a Grom or a small bike of some sort.