[waynej1]

Hello folks, newbie here. I'm Wayne Johnson, originally from Houston, Tx. My wife and I now call our motorhome,Home. We just started fulltiming in Sept. of last year, and it has been great! Anyway, I have looked in the search for pointers, and tips for riding/driving a trike. If there is such a section or topic I could not find it. If there is I would appreciate someone leading me to it, as I, like others do not like redundant questions. We are about two weeks away from having our 2008 GL1800 converted to a trike, using a MotorTrike kit. Our reasoning for this is because of physical limitations. My back is shot, and my left hip has almost had it. I find that I cannot handle the weight of the bike and the weight of the wife combined. I'm on the short leg side, having an 30" inseam, so balance has been a problem while two up. I have concerns as to things that are different from riding two wheels. One being riding with the front wheel either near or in the oil track of the highway or streets. I have riden very few trikes, and on for a limited distance. I guess I'm looking for some do's and don't tips, as well as never do this or that type situations. Appreciate the help in advance. I look forward to hopefully seeing some of you on our travels, and get aquainted with more trike riders. Thanks, Wayne Johnson

 

[ben721364]

Hello folks, newbie here. I'm Wayne Johnson, originally from Houston, Tx. My wife and I now call our motorhome,Home. We just started fulltiming in Sept. of last year, and it has been great! Anyway, I have looked in the search for pointers, and tips for riding/driving a trike. If there is such a section or topic I could not find it. If there is I would appreciate someone leading me to it, as I, like others do not like redundant questions. We are about two weeks away from having our 2008 GL1800 converted to a trike, using a MotorTrike kit. Our reasoning for this is because of physical limitations. My back is shot, and my left hip has almost had it. I find that I cannot handle the weight of the bike and the weight of the wife combined. I'm on the short leg side, having an 30" inseam, so balance has been a problem while two up. I have concerns as to things that are different from riding two wheels. One being riding with the front wheel either near or in the oil track of the highway or streets. I have riden very few trikes, and on for a limited distance. I guess I'm looking for some do's and don't tips, as well as never do this or that type situations. Appreciate the help in advance. I look forward to hopefully seeing some of you on our travels, and get aquainted with more trike riders. Thanks, Wayne Johnson

Now you went and did it Wayne! You are going to get loads of advice and some of it will even be good! <g>

Seriously, riding a trike is very different. You steer rather than counter- steer as on a bike. It will take a bit of getting used to but probably less time than you might think.

Congratulations on the Motor Trike. It is a fine package with good factory support and lots of strong dealers scattered about. Look up the Spring Trike get-together in Kerrville (on this forum). It may be your best bet this year to meet lots of new and used trike riders and will certainly provide an opportunity to ride in some beautiful country. There's even a campground nearby for your RV.

 

[Dale M]

Newbie to GL1800 Forums - looking for Trike info

Wayne... I've only been triking one summer but here are some reasons to trike that make sense...
1 Stability... doesn't fall over.
2 Ride in varying road conditions (slick highways, sand).
3 Better handling in cross winds.
4 More storage space.
5 Higher visibility (widely spaced tail/brake lights).
6 Able to relax and sight see.
7 Stop/go traffic easier to deal with.
8 Probably safer if you hit a deer or a small animal.
9 Much easier to turn around in a small area.
10 Less worries if a flat occurs.
11 Better braking (rear is now 75% of your braking power). Your rear is now 5 feet wide, watch out for gas pumps.

Hope this helps

 

[leswanson]

What DaleM said. :agree:

 

[SilverHawk]

What DaleM said. :agree:

What DaleM and leswanson said: :lol: :agree:

 

[leeman9]

trike

Wayne,There are some things in here that may help.If not still good to read..
http://motorcycleviews.com/trikes/motorcycletrikes.htm

 

[George Lewis]

All of the above is good information. I triked in '05 due to a bad knee and also liked the trike "look". I love it and like the rest of our group, will never go back to two.

Trike it, ride it and enjoy it! You can read all of the stuff our group writes, but you gotta get on and ride to learn for yourself first hand. Good luck.

 

[ben721364]

Y'all. Wayne's basic question was, "...I have looked in the search for pointers, and tips for riding/driving a trike. If there is such a section or topic I could not find it. If there is I would appreciate someone leading me to it, as I, like others do not like redundant questions."

Wayne's already decided to go triking and has a beautiful Motor Trike under construction/contract(?). I could give him some general pointers on the difference in riding a trike v. a bike but some of y'all are much more eloquent than I am. About all I can tell him is to steer rather than counter-steer, don't put his feet down when stopping, lean into a turn bracing with his outside leg/foot, push with his outwside arm and pull with his inside arm, remember that the trike is wider wnen turning, especially near gas pump islands, and a few morte things like that. Let the conventional and not so conventional wisdom flow as we welcome Wayne to our fraternity. Thanks all.

BTW. We all need to encourage Wayne and his Lady to meet with us in Kerrville come April. That will give us an even better opportunity to confuse him. Er, I should have said "welcome him and her"!

 

[Indymule]

Wayne,
We triked for the same reasons. I have had 2 back surgeries and probably will have more. I am short on inseam and big on weight. I suffered some nerve damage from my back problems and sometimes my leg will give way. I was afraid that holding up the goldwing and my wife and I would be too much. I can tell you that triking has been a great decision for us. It will take you a little time to get use to the trike, take it easy and you'll be fine. We can talk forever but until you start riding, it won't mean much. You do need to remember how wide you are and not undercut a corner or the treaded gas station pylons.

Enjoy the new ride, it is totally different but just as (if not more because you can relax) fun as 2 wheels.

 

[DubT]

Wayne,

Welcome to the trike board. As far as I know there is not special place on this board for instructions/tips on how to ride a trike. There are several posts that offer excellent tips on how to ride but they are fairly well scattered.
We have had our trike for close to a year now (12,000 smiles) and prefer it over the 2 wheel Goldwing.

We bought and installed our trike kit after I rode three different trikes, I did not like the handling at all. However reading on this board and making a list of pros and cons convinced us to make the switch. We are now happy that we made the switch and prefer the trike to the bike, if I want to ride a bike I have a new dirt bike on order that will allow me to ride on two wheels.

As for putting the front wheel in the center of the lane, I have learned that it does not seem to hurt anything and a trike is so wide that you almost have to on most two lane roads. When I first started riding the trike I rode too close to the center line (my son followed me) and I had to move over for safety reasons.

Take it easy at first and follow the advice previously posted, it does take some time to get used to the trike. I suggest All Balls steering head bearings, Traxxion fork springs and the Michelin MPA (I think that is the correct designation) front tire. I do not know if you are having a rake kit installed or not, I did not but many have. I am not going to.


Wayne

 

[waynej1]

Looking For Trike Info

Thank You everyone for your response to my questions. Leeman9, the articles, and tip you referred to were just the kind of thing I was looking for. Looks as if gas pump pylons could be your worse enemy...LOL! I can see now it will take some getting use to with the width of the rear wheels and fenders sticking out into oblivion, in comparisson to the regular two wheelers. I'm looking forward to having the trike done, and am anxious about it at the same time. The wife will be more comfortable on the trike as I won't be dropping her on loose gravel, or sharp left hand turns. I really dreaded having to do the conversion, wanting to get a few more years on two wheels before I had to do something, but that is the way it goes I guess. May be more of a GOD send than I realize. We would love to make it to the trike rallye in the Hill Country in April. I'm just not sure where we will be at that time. I also shoot competition rifles, and have a meet in Phoenix, Az. sometime the end of February, 1st of March. Will just have to find out how our schedule can be arranged. Again, thanks to all, ya'll have eased my anxiety quite a bit. Look forward to meeting any/everyone someplace/sometime on the road. Glad to see there are alot of Texicans that are three wheeling it. Bound to meet some of you sooner or later... Waynej1

 

[chaz_36]

New Triker

Hi Wayne,
Welcome to the world of triking. I think a fair amount of apprehension is typical for new triker riders. Lots of good tips above.
Very common comments by new riders:
during the first 100-500 miles "why did I do this!";
after 500-1000 miles..."maybe this will be OK"
by 1000-1500 miles "why did I wait so long to do this!!"
Anyway, although certainly different than a bike, trikes are fun to ride and remove a whole level of apprehension (for rider and passenger) about slow turns, gravel, dropping your bike, riding in wind, pulling a trailer etc.
Hope you get a chance to come to Kerrville..
Charlie

 

[nataaska]

By all means, come to Kerrville in April. You will meet a lot of great people and hopefully learn much about triking. Many of us are riding Motortrikes, and some will even know what they are talking about when they give advice :lol: hopefully this link will get you there for more info.

http://gl1800riders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198900

 

[IOWASTROKER]

Trike Toys

Rake it and since you are probably short in height, put some handlebar risers on. It will bring them up and back a little. Seems to steer a lot easier. Johnny

 

[Genee]

A rake kit is a must for a little guy.

 

[KJ5IX]

Wayne,
If you are going to Troup TX to the factory to have it converted, I would ask Richard to give you some pointers, and how-to's. If you are going to a dealer/installer, ask them. It would be a lengthy post and somewhat involved to just through out. If you want call this number between 10 AM and 4 PM, and I will try and answer some of your questions.

940-560-7729

 

[wingriderlarry]

:congrats: on your new world. you will find that you are more relaxed on a trike and my wife loves it too, you will have a lot of people talking to you at just about every stop, these guys on here will help in any way they can, just good people. Larry

 

[buster52]

We took a trike course at the Louisiana District Rally in Lafayette a couple of years ago, and learned things that were beneficial to our riding. You can actually go through the course, then get back in line, and switch with your passenger, and they can go through the course, too!

You can check the main GWRRA site for rallies that are near where you will be, when you look at your schedule.

You will experience some basic manuevering and stopping skills and reactions. Most folks didn't realize that the inside rear wheel can come off the road surface in a turn.

Anyway, the SO says she picked up some tips and ideas, that I assumed she already knew, or should have known! Go figger!

Everyone I know that has taken the course is glad they spent the time to do so!