Please explain the motortrike to me

Dinsdale · #1 08-21-2009, 01:31 PM

In a recent thread I appreciated hearing folks' experiences with and opinons about the Ford Explorer. I hope folk would be as helpful about another type of vehicle - the 3-wheeled motorcycle.

I passed 2 of them yesterday on the road - a Harley and a Gold Wing. I can imagine they would be stable and comfortable for long distance touring. MAybe would be good for pulling a trailer. But ISTM that if you add an extra wheel you would take away much of the feel and handling that makes riding a bike what it is. Basically what you'd have left is the wind, noise and bugs!

Plus, IMO they look kinda dorky.

So what say you? What am I missing?

Bijou Drains · #2 08-21-2009, 01:34 PM

Actually now you can buy a model with 2 wheels in the front and 1 in the back. Those look really odd.

I think they are for people who want more stability but still like the feeling of not being cooped up in a car.

Philster · #3 08-21-2009, 02:00 PM

Wind, noise, bugs = some of the positive experiences.

missred · #4 08-21-2009, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bijou Drains

Actually now you can buy a model with 2 wheels in the front and 1 in the back. Those look really odd.

I think they are for people who want more stability but still like the feeling of not being cooped up in a car.

Actually, when cornering, the three-wheeler is much easier to spill than the standard two-wheels.

I haven't ridden a full sized three-wheeler, but there is a reason that many manufacturers have discontinued 3-wheel ATVs.

filling_pages · #5 08-21-2009, 02:37 PM

The guy I know who owns one had polio as a kid and his legs don't work right. The trike allows him to have the fun of a bike, despite that problem.

Bijou Drains · #6 08-21-2009, 02:39 PM

About 20 years ago 3 wheel ATVs were banned in the US because they led to a bunch of kids getting killed. So they started making the 4 wheel ATVs instead.

Dinsdale · #7 08-21-2009, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by filling_pages

The guy I know who owns one had polio as a kid and his legs don't work right. The trike allows him to have the fun of a bike, despite that problem.

Yeah, I had always sorta thought of it for "differently abled" folks like that. I've known a couple of guys like that. But then I wondered if I was wrong for thinking eveyone on a trike has some physical problem. It seems I have seen more of these this summer than I remember before. And for whatever reason I didn't get any "disabled" vibe off of this man/woman pair.

gotpasswords · #8 08-21-2009, 03:08 PM

I don't know about other states, but in California, you do not need a motorcycle endorsement on your license to drive a 3-wheeled motorcycle - just a regular car license is enough, whether it's a regular motorcycle with a side car, or one of the newer designs like the Bombardier Can-Am Spyder.

Bijou Drains · #9 08-21-2009, 03:24 PM

Are all the trikes made by after market companies (not Harley or Honda?) I think they are , we have a local company that makes them and I'm sure other companies make them too.

Dinsdale · #10 08-21-2009, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bijou Drains

Are all the trikes made by after market companies (not Harley or Honda?) I think they are , we have a local company that makes them and I'm sure other companies make them too.

This kinda surprised me a bit as well with these last 2 I saw. I am not a motorcyle guy, but I had always assumed trikes were heavily modified. I even know a couple of guys who have made them with Corvair engines.

But these really tried to carry the theme of their makes throughout. The Harley even had some little retro-looking hard-shelled case emblazoned "Harley-Davidson" attached to the back. Similrly, the Gold Wing was very identifiable as such.

Belrix · #11 08-21-2009, 03:45 PM

Harley is offering a trike in their standard line-up for 2010. Bombardier's Spyder is also a ground-up build, not a third-party conversion.

A lot of riders that are older will switch to them for the stability, also those who are losing control in their legs & feet.

Yes, they are tippier (than four wheels), the triangle formed by the wheels wants to tip across the long-lines between the front tire and the rear pair. I'd think that stopping in a straight line is important to keep that from happening. Still - it's a lot less tippy than a two-wheeler.

The discussion came up on the Kawasaki board I frequent. Some riders said that, without the lean, it's not a motorcycle - they'd never buy one. One guy said he'd just get a convertible car when he's no longer able to ride on two wheels. Others said that they'd go to three wheels if necessary. Different strokes on that answer.

Belrix · #12 08-21-2009, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belrix

Still - it's a lot less tippy than a two-wheeler.

I should qualify...

Less tippy when at a stop light or in slow speed maneuvering. Through high-speed corners, of course, the lean of two wheels works in your favor.

I knew one guy with a sidecar that said it steers like a tractor - big, wide handlebar moves. I assume a trike would be the same.

Dinsdale · #13 08-21-2009, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belrix

Some riders said that, without the lean, it's not a motorcycle - they'd never buy one. One guy said he'd just get a convertible car when he's no longer able to ride on two wheels.

Yeah - that pretty much sums up my thoughts. But as you say, different strokes . . .

N9IWP · #14 08-21-2009, 06:16 PM

I think the tadpole (two wheels in front) is more stable than the delta (two wheels in back) arrangement

I recently saw a tadpole motorcycle, not sure which model (it most resembled the spyder http://reversetrike.com/canam-spyder.html ) but I can't say for sure that was it. There is S&S cycle in town, but it doesn't seem like something they would do.

Brian

billfish678 · #15 08-21-2009, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belrix

I should qualify...

Less tippy when at a stop light or in slow speed maneuvering. Through high-speed corners, of course, the lean of two wheels works in your favor.

.

Of course that requires two things. That you do the lean correctly. And that one of the wheels doesnt momentarily loose traction. Then all bets are off.

racer72 · #16 08-21-2009, 07:31 PM

How about a 57 Chevy trike? V-8, automatic with reverse.

Uzi · #17 08-22-2009, 12:56 AM

T-Rex
The engine is a 1400cc Kawasaki. It will do 0-60 in just under 4s. It pulls 1.3Gs, I don't think motorcycles can typically match that.
I'm not sure if these qualify as a motorcycle, though.

Why would I want one? It is almost as fast a motorcycle and less likely to result in road rash. And few others have one.

Richard Pearse · #18 08-22-2009, 05:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by N9IWP

I think the tadpole (two wheels in front) is more stable than the delta (two wheels in back) arrangement

That would make for more stability under braking and less stability under acceleration. Which way is better would depend on the braking/accelerating characteristics of the trike as well as the weight distribution. (On second thought it seems to me that stability under braking is more important because correcting an impending "tip" under braking would involve either releasing the brakes or straightening up, both of those options would be bad under many braking scenarios.)

The best ones I've seen have a suspension setup that allows you to lean like on a bike while moving but also remain upright when stationary.

BTW, I see this one around town a bit, http://www.broometriketours.com.au/Limo.htm.

Dinsdale · #19 08-22-2009, 01:43 PM

Was talking to a bike owner over cards last night (he had recently totalled his Gold Wing running into a peacock in upstate NY - but that's another - and very entertaining - story!)

He said trikes are incredibly expensive - adding as much as $15-20K to the price of a bike.

His explanation for their popularity was simple demographics - the greying of the baby boomers. Said they even sell training wheels for motorcycles!

Hard to believe anyone would be willing to be seen in public with such things . . .

Bijou Drains · #20 08-22-2009, 03:31 PM

I've seen training wheels for small bikes that a kid age 5 would ride, not for an adult bike.

I saw the Harley trike has a list price around $30k which is about what I expected.

justrob · #21 08-22-2009, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bijou Drains

I've seen training wheels for small bikes that a kid age 5 would ride, not for an adult bike.

I wish I could find an image of what I've seen but my Google-fu is not very good. I have seen a few examples where a bigger bike has what appears to be hard saddlebags but really they are covers for full size training wheels.

This site has something kind of similar but the ones I've seen in person are much more subtle.

http://burgmanriders.com/burgman-pro...onversion-kit/

Richard Pearse · #22 08-23-2009, 03:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justrob

I wish I could find an image of what I've seen but my Google-fu is not very good. I have seen a few examples where a bigger bike has what appears to be hard saddlebags but really they are covers for full size training wheels.

That is just wrong. If only because training wheels on a bike do nothing to train you to ride a bike, and fuck me, if you can't stay upright, then you have absolutely no business having 1000cc engine sitting between your legs!

Looking at your link, a trike conversion kit is different, it's the idea of using actual training wheels to somehow get you ready for riding on two wheels that gets me. The same goes for bicycles, how can you learn to ride a bicycle if you can't lean into a turn?

LSLGuy · #23 08-23-2009, 01:50 PM

Are they really "training" wheels for when you're in motion?

Or are they wheels to ensure the bike doesn't fall over at 3mph in a parking lot or when stopped at a light. Unless you are very tall, or the bike has a very low saddle, the width of a large motorcycle is such that you can't sit on the bike and have both feet flat on the ground.

So if the bike is just a bit too big for you, you end up leaning a few degrees one way or the other when stopped so that one foot is flat on the ground. That can't go very far before the bike is lying on its side with your leg under it.

Even if you don't get hurt when that happens, a typical middle aged guy or gal is not going to lift their 500 lb bike back to upright without a crane.

A set of wheels which prevented that scenario while not interfering with normal riding would be a sensible, if terminally dorky, addition to big bikes.

Unlike racers, touring bike rarely lean more than 10 degrees when cornering on winding roads; folks just don't ride them that hard. And for teh much mmore common interstate highway riding, curves have such a huge radius that the lean is near zero. So grounding wheels are mechanically feasible.

Dinsdale · #24 08-23-2009, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSLGuy

Are they really "training" wheels for when you're in motion?

Man, I don't really know. I accused the guy of putting me on, but he maintained he was not. Said there were 2 different kinds, 1 that stayed down, and another that powered up and down. Haven't tried out my google-fu yet, tho.

justrob · #25 08-23-2009, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dinsdale

Man, I don't really know. I accused the guy of putting me on, but he maintained he was not. Said there were 2 different kinds, 1 that stayed down, and another that powered up and down. Haven't tried out my google-fu yet, tho.

I still want to find a pic of ones like I saw here but this site seemed to have both types you are talking about.

http://www.trikealternative.com/

The intro video is kind of interesting.

If I can't hold the bike up I either have too large a motorcycle or I need to stop riding. The acceptable alternative is to get a sidecar rig. I think and old WWII vintage bike with sidecar would be awesome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSLGuy

Even if you don't get hurt when that happens, a typical middle aged guy or gal is not going to lift their 500 lb bike back to upright without a crane.

I saw this video on Youtube quite a while ago. At a bike show Harley was showing how even smaller women can right a fallen motorcycle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng1KT5bTG50

ducati · #26 09-01-2009, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dinsdale

So what say you? What am I missing?

If you simply Google "trike", you'll see many companies and their offerings in the genre. Trikes have been around since the 50's and 60's where gearheads would take a VW bug rear end (with motor) and marry it to a motorcycle front.

Those were generally just to be different, but today's trikes are mainly aimed at the "baby boomers" as stated above, and those who are "differently abled" as well. Small bikes don't make as good a cruiser as a big bike; bigger seats, bigger motor, bigger luggage-hauling - a small bike just doesn't always cut it.

But as folks age, it can be tough to hold up a big bike while stopped, and other people simply have some infirmity that prevents it as well. The trike and sidecar offer the biking experience to those who aren't quite ready to stop riding. There's still a world of difference between riding a trike or sidecar rig and driving a convertible.

I have a couple of Ducatis that I routinely lay down to about 40-50 degrees in turns, but I know I won't always be able to do that. I also have a Ural with a sidecar for having fun. (I'm not old enough for a trike!)

I also have dirt bikes and scooters to round out the pack. Depending on where you live, you'll probably see more and more scooters with "older folks" on them.
They're light, low, no-shifting machines that are attractive to those who may lack the hand strength to pull a clutch lever for whatever reason.

Geezers are bikers, too!

justrob · #27 09-02-2009, 08:59 AM

Hi ducati, nice stable you have there. I'm hoping to get a sidecar rig someday but I have somewhat limited space and money right now. Someday though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducati

If you simply Google "trike", you'll see many companies and their offerings in the genre. Trikes have been around since the 50's and 60's where gearheads would take a VW bug rear end (with motor) and marry it to a motorcycle front.

I'm sure H-D wasn't the first one to come up with it but they definitely had a trike before the 50's. According to the Wikipedia article the
Servi-Car goes back to 1932.

Lute Skywatcher · #28 09-02-2009, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dinsdale

Yeah, I had always sorta thought of it for "differently abled" folks like that. I've known a couple of guys like that. But then I wondered if I was wrong for thinking eveyone on a trike has some physical problem. It seems I have seen more of these this summer than I remember before. And for whatever reason I didn't get any "disabled" vibe off of this man/woman pair.

If I ever get a ride it'll be a trike. AC won't let me on two wheels because she's afraid my leg(s) would get crushed.

Dinsdale · #29 09-02-2009, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducati

Geezers are bikers, too!

Yeah, I guess. But personally, as I've gotten older and more infirm, my preference is to no longer do some things I used to enjoy, rather than participate in a - um - significantly more limited manner than I used to. Different strokes . . .