Whenever I’ve ridden a regular 2 wheeled motorcycle (which is actually pretty rare), it’s almost felt like flying. For no good reason, it doesn’t seem to me like being on a big 3 wheeled bike would feel like that. So, if you’ve been on both, how would you compare the feeling of the two?
I have ridden a VW Trike, & a Buick mid-engine V-6 powered trike. While they are a lot of fun, they do not lean like a two wheeler does. So it is more like a car than a plane.
As both a pilot & a long time rider, I will opine that no, it is much less like flying & more like riding in a go-cart. A fast one. Wheelies are fun & scary at the same time.
I can not compare a trike to a hack, or sidecar rig, as I have never ridden on one of those. I owned one at one time, but it got destroyed in my barn fire before I got to ride it.
These comments are about a trike with two wheels in the rear. I do not know what one would call something with two wheels in the front. Useless, I would guess, it just seem to me that they would give you all the disadvantages of a car & all of the disadvantages of a bike. Again, I have never ridden one with two wheels in the front, so I may be wrong about their usefulness.
IHTH, 48.
Two wheels front=tadpole.
Two wheels back=delta.
I’ve ridden all kinds of three wheels from two-front to two-back to hacks including motocross hacks. They are different from three wheels. IMHO the flying sensation comes from the fine adjustments in lean and the angle in cornering that just isn’t there when you add that third tire. Even the best of trikes are (to me) more like say an Isetta Fretta than a true motorcycle or scooter. Don’t get me wrong; its all better than a “cage” but it isn’t that same “Red Baron” feeling as far as I’m concerned.
PS – also IMHO – the modern trikes are a lot better than hacks for casual riders and way better than the old servi-cycles us Old Farts grew up with; much less spooky. But if you do go three wheels (short of maybe the Can-Am because of the steering design) remember to give yourself some serious readjustment time any time you go to two wheels. Since you have little/no experience with two the adjustment to three won’t be too bad but ------- they are very different and some formal training is warranted.
I take your point but I’m not actually considering buying one. I just saw one for sale and thought “That doesn’t look as fun as a motorcycle” and then realized I had no rational basis for thinking it. I think 48Willys nailed it with the reference to leaning. That would make a big difference.
Another point worth noting:
2 wheels means countersteering - you’d start a left turn by turning handlebars slightly right*.
3 (or more) wheels means “normal” steering - you’d start a left turn by turning handlebars left.
- this causes the bike to lean left, which is necessary for a turn to the left.
There is also this thing, which I can’t make heads or tails of: Yamaha, Niken.
Yes — and no. It isn’t just the lean as that combined with the body mechanics/motions that go along with it. When you are on the right road especially you are using your feet/foot pressure combined with your hands and arms – and adding in the rest of your body as well. You are (or should be) looking “through” your turns (looking where you want to end up and not directly forward) and almost planning a couple moves ahead as you exit. If I had good video of me (I mean my body or that of anyone else doing a speed run there) on something like the Tail of the Dragon it really would look like a pilot in a dogfight. You add that third wheel and almost all of that goes away; you do some of the body things but more as you would in a car – not like you would in a plane.