Difference in touring between two wheels and three wheels?

[paid4c4]

This might be a strange question but I'm looking for other riders experience. I just made the change from being a biker to a full time triker. In the past I had a Harley Road Glide I rode solo and when Kathy wanted to go along I rode our 2012 GW CSC Trike.

I decided at 70 it was time for me to move to being a full time triker. Every summer a group of us have several touring trips. Last year we went from Northern Kentucky to Canada. This year we went from Kentucky to Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone and Sturgis, 4400 miles and 15 days.

What differences will I notice touring on my trike versus my Harley? Anything I need to watch on the GW on long tours? I did notice a lot more trikes touring during our trip out west this July. Comments are appreciated.

Bill

 

[birdguy45]

paid4c4...As you have probably noticed from your prior trike riding, touring on a trike is better because you can actually look at what you are driving through. By that I mean that you can actually look to the side and follow the scenery as you ride.

Unlike two-wheelers, when you turn your head to look at something and the bike follows your nose, the trike tends to remain moving straight ahead. This was the most enjoyable aspect of trike riding for me and, I must admit, a bit of a surprise.

 

[ol' school]

Bill, from our experience, my wife and I can ride more miles in a day on three wheels as opposed to riding on two wheels. It is more relaxing and wears on your body less throughout the day.

 

[rhino 2]

One of my reasons to get a Trike.....Is simple, Not if but when someone makes a left turn in front of you and you have to stand on the brakes to avoid ''T'' Boning them....

Its not a traumatic experience....The Trike isn't going to Low Side ...Or lock up the rear wheel and spit you off....(Sweating).....

And in the case of a reverse trike, Its fun when a Squirrel-(Heidy)- try's to stratle the front tires and you nail them with the big fat rear tire......

 

[paws]

Anything you need to watch out for touring on a Gold Wing trike?

YES!

Watch out you don’t go to sleep - you will be SOOOOO comfortable!

 

[radismukes]

Also, remember the little lady has more room to fill when shopping! :xzqxz: JK When she's happy I'm happy!

 

[CrystalPistol]

Just my opinion, but trikes are better trailer pullers.

Don't forget fenders when getting gas.

I could make a smoother ride on two wheels as the rear typically follows the front, usually even in the same track … so dodging the pot holes and encountering off camber pavement is easier with no sudden dips to the side, more tilts on a trike where bike stays upright … and trikes are using 3 tracks so you ain't gonna miss all them pot holes.

You have more parking options when the group pulls into a gravel parking lot or grassy meadow on a trike.

In the rain, trikes generate less drama at stop bars.

When on a trike, I don't let no body share a lane with me, they either are in front of or behind me, even at lights .

When carving a two lane road's curves, remember you're wider than bikes so respect that shoulder and them center lines.

You'll use fuel at a higher rate, don't be bashful about needing a fuel stop.

 

[FRR]

Safety. Doesn't mean some fool won't hit you, but you don't have to worry about gravel, etc. Much more relaxing. Even if you suffer a flat tire you might even live! That is always good. More storage, at least in most models and certainly more than two wheels or a Triglide. Tires in the rear last so much longer. Less to worry about on the road. You will love it. I've never spoke with anyone who went to 3 wheels and regretted the decision.

 

[Grote55]

I just got back from a 2 week tour with a group of friends on both trikes and bikes.

I drive a Hannigan Trike. We went through a lot of areas with twisty roads (I mean ALOT).

I found that I'd be pretty tired at the end of the day from having to steer through all those turns.

I would also have to go a bit slower through the turns than the 2 wheelers (didn't want to throw the wife off the back).

Other than that, I had a great time.

 

[Trail Blazer]

Hello Bill

what to look out for on a trike touring. 1s when you trike a 2 wheeler you lose 3 to 5 mpg. but you will very soon see how many miles you can go on a Tank. 2nd no concern of laying it down. (you have to do something drastic to drop a Trike) no putting you foot down at stops, more comfortable, you can keep up with the 2 wheeler (believe or not it take a good 2 wheeler to keep up with a trike in the ruff stuff) you can stop faster then a 2 wheeler and the # 1 plus, mama will love the trike and ready to go any time.

Ps in 2017 we took a 3 week ride up to Montana and made many good rides in SD,WY AZ & Co. road 5400 miles. of course I was a lot younger 76

 

[paid4c4]

I guess 76 make my 70 look like I'm a kid! Hope I can keep riding to 76!

Bill

 

[stubb02]

Thanks

All great comments. After reading, I am more excited about getting a trike...

 

[Montana Lee]

I guess 76 make my 70 look like I'm a kid! Hope I can keep riding to 76!

Bill

Don't worry...you guys got a ways to go yet. I been riding since 1947. I'm 85 now and I still ride regularly.

 

[alwrmcusn]

I turned 75 two weeks ago, still triking with Hannah (my wife) and we ain't going back to two wheels! Luggage space is sufficient for a weekend and if we (she ) plan to do any shopping, and she does like buying bird houses, we have a Harbor Freight Tag-a-long trailer. We do local rides, not too many multi day trips and frequent Patriot Guard missions. For us our trike is the way we like to ride.

 

[CrystalPistol]

And I forgot to say it …

… KEEP YOU FEETS ON PEGS OR FLOORBOARDS.

 

[KYBubblehead]

This might be a strange question but I'm looking for other riders experience.

Bill

Bill-

Since I bought your '06 trike, I will chip in! My first trike ever.... riding since 1965. It still feels strange; but secure. I'm 72 and will prob'ly not get another 2 wheeler. You two will enjoy it - see you at the next meeting!

John

 

[Gideon]

I turned 75 two weeks ago, still triking with Hannah (my wife) and we ain't going back to two wheels! Luggage space is sufficient for a weekend and if we (she ) plan to do any shopping, and she does like buying bird houses, we have a Harbor Freight Tag-a-long trailer. We do local rides, not too many multi day trips and frequent Patriot Guard missions. For us our trike is the way we like to ride.

My sentiments also. However, I am a few years older than you.

 

[bikerbillone]

You're 70 and thinking about three wheels, then it's a good time to pull the trigger and see what's it's all about riding on three. You will enjoy the experience and not look back, especially with the copilot on the pillion.

You will notice more 'bumps in the road' as one comment mentions, but that's OK, it's the nature of the beast and ya can't miss many holes with three wheels. Yes, more effort in the twisties, no question, but that's offset by the pure pleasure of the ride and able to enjoy the scenery more.

You can get more 'stuff' on board, pull a trailer, or like some of us, get a receiver on the conversion, just do a slide in rack and and tie a water proof high viz bag on the rack. More stuff equals a happy wife at the end of the day.

 

[CrystalPistol]

You're 70 and thinking about three wheels, then it's a good time to pull the trigger and see what's it's all about riding on three. You will enjoy the experience … etc … You can get more 'stuff' on board, pull a trailer, or like some of us, get a receiver on the conversion, just do a slide in rack and and tie a water proof high viz bag on the rack. More stuff equals a happy wife at the end of the day.

Oh yeah, while I agree that trikes do handle trailers very well, IMHO better than bikes, I will just as soon use a hitch carrier in the receiver, depending on length of trip. I built my carrier to fit the "Action Packer" (treat it like a suit case), even has lights (use trailer plug) and moving the tag is easy, plus it stores in a room very easy. No chaining or securing a trailer while touring in the day, just pull the rack, put in room, put tag on trike, GO.

 

[Trail Blazer]

I guess 76 make my 70 look like I'm a kid! Hope I can keep riding to 76!

Bill

well Bill that was a few years ago I am older now and can't ride like I use to, after 400 miles or so I have to stop for hamburger ( not bad for 79)

'

 

[WingMan71]

You're 70 and thinking about three wheels, then it's a good time to pull the trigger and see what's it's all about riding on three. You will enjoy the experience and not look back, especially with the copilot on the pillion. You will notice more 'bumps in the road' as one comment mentions, but that's OK, it's the nature of the beast and ya can't miss many holes with three wheels. Yes, more effort in the twisties, no question, but that's offset by the pure pleasure of the ride and able to enjoy the scenery more. You can get more 'stuff' on board, pull a trailer, or like some of us, get a receiver on the conversion, just do a slide in rack and and tie a water proof high viz bag on the rack. More stuff equals a happy wife at the end of the day.

Newbie on the site here.

I just turned 70 as well, and my wife and I ride a 2006 GL1800. Been riding since I was 16, got my first Gold Wing in 1984 and have been riding them ever since. I'm pretty sure I'm to the point now where I'm going to have to give up trying to keep this 900 pound bike upright in parking lots and such. Not only am I older now, but I'm weaker as well. Time marches on and takes its toll.

I've been putting off getting the Gold Wing triked because I just hate to give up the unique feeling of riding on two wheels. On the other hand I just don't feel as capable on two wheels with 2-up and loaded bags as I did just a few years ago.

Glad I found this thread and read how happy people are after having made the change from two wheels to three.

Guess I've gotta sell off a bike or two from the stable to pay for the trike kit now!

 

[CrystalPistol]

To no one in particular ....

… reading through posts both here and on other web sites, I see a lot of people writing who view trikes as a last ditch option to stay in the wind. I'm often sad for them, not a big sad though.. I've ridden motorcycles since about 1972 when I got my first Norton. Bikes are fun. My first trike that I saw was a VW based conversion and it looked like great fun too, that was in the '70s.

Over the years, trikes just seemed to catch my interest. I joined GWRRA in 1996, started with a chapter in '97, soon there were several trikes in the chapter where there once were only bikes. Great friend and CD was a Lehman dealer but soon there MTs & CSCs too. On our rides, they had at least as much fun as bike riders it seemed. They didn't slow the rides, and then when rain hit, when the roads got wet, I found I was some envious even. Only difference I saw was they just did not invite lane splitting at stop lights, and that was A-OK by me.

My first trial ride of a trike was at CSC's grand opening in Colleen, Virginia early '00s. It had no additional rake and I didn't like it so much. It just wasn't as much fun as I anticipated, more like work. Soon though after being offered a great deal, we bought "our trike" but I still favored the bike for our rides, then soon after I tried a friends trike with a rake kit. WOW. Within a week, I had a rake kit delivered ($800 in '04) and a couple days later, I had her done.

From then on, seldom did "we" ride the bike. I still enjoyed the bike, it was a sweet ride, well cared for, we just always seemed to pull the trike out for "our" rides but if I left here alone, I often took the bike to keep up skills & save some miles on the trike. It was nice having the choice to make from 2004-2019, I rode the bike often to work part time, etc but finally I decided to let the bike go … and I am perfectly OK with that.

Now I have to remind myself that I no longer need to think about the bike, it's storage, etc. I can concentrate on the trike. I have more room in my basement shop too, no worries of accidently hitting or brushing the bike. Instead of "do we ride or drive and if we ride, is it trike or bike?", it's just "do we trike or drive ?" now.

No serious worries about rounding a curve and hitting a squirrel while heeled over in a right hander and feeling the front tire slipping out from under the front end & thinking it was gonna spill us into an oncoming lane in front of a truck. No serious worries as approaching wet stop bars.

Yep, always did like trikes.

 

[cjmitch]

I just got back from a 2 week tour with a group of friends on both trikes and bikes.

I drive a Hannigan Trike. We went through a lot of areas with twisty roads (I mean ALOT).

I found that I'd be pretty tired at the end of the day from having to steer through all those turns.

I would venture to guess that yo are using your arms to turn. Dont do that, use your body.

IE, to make a right turn, lock your left arm and lean in to the handlebars. reverse for left turn.

Use your body weight to turn the handlebars = less arm fatigue.

 

[cjmitch]

I started triking at 47, yep that young. I wanted a trike, because I thought I would enjoy it more.

learned to ride on 2 and immediately went and got trike.

I will never feel like triking made me lose something, and in that way I will never regret it. I look at it as ALL GAIN. Different, but all gain

 

[Pastor Ron]

Before I bought my GW 1500 with TriKing kit (1999), I triked a SilverWing (motor trike kit) with easy steer. My (new to me does not have easy steer), however, with that kit it gave a 3.5 rake naturally. With that being said, my wife and I have decided (as seniors as well), we too will never go back to two wheels. Much,much more enjoyable ride.

 

[3W-lonerider]

my trike experience. first off i had to go to a trike mainly because of my shoulders and knees were getting to the point i was dropping my big valkyrie interstate a couple of times per summer. it got to the point i didn't feel confident being able to handle that thing at slow speeds.

told the wife we're going to a trike. but after the first summer i was wondering, why didn't i do this sooner. heres a list of things i didn't miss and things i no longer had to worry about

#1 i really didn't miss leaning into the curves, steering into them felt just as comfortable to me.

#2 no longer did i have to worry about stuff on the road surface. ( oil, antifreeze, wet leaves, stones in corners, wet painted lines on the road, uneven pavement surfaces, dogs, cats, squirrels, you get the drift. )

i rode the trike the first couple of years with no rake kit, but found it really hard to take turns at speed because you really had to push on the bars to maintain in the turn.

then installed a 4 1/2 degree rake which made it alot better, spent a couple of years with that.

then i had friends in ny. and canada that seen my shoulders were giving out after riding the twisties. then one year a couple of days before christmas i came home to a big package on my porch. took it to the shed and low and behold my friends from ny. and canada went togather and bought me a 6 degree rake.

my first impression of the 6 degree was, you could sneeze on the handle bars and change 3 lanes in the process. after i got used to the sensitivity of the 6 degree it was fantastic. but i do not regret going to a trike. if i had known that it was as fun as it was i wouldn't have waited to i was 45 to do it. i don't miss a motorcycle at all and i have also found out that people give you more leeway on a trike. very seldom do i have anybody pull out in front of me anymore.

 

[Burnerboy]

I'm 69 years old now, and triked my 2010 goldwing into Roadsmith last season. I find that the trike is 100% more fun then the two wheels :clapping: and I still snow ski every season, (leaving for Steamboat Springs CO. next week for ten days of skiing ) and I walk approx 3-5 miles a day.... I'll never go back to 2

Ronnie

 

[Oldlog42]

My choice Three wheels, MY age 77

 

[Douglas44]

Changing my mind, MAYBE

I joined this forum a while ago when the itch to ride came back after recovering from a stroke . I was paralyzed from the waist down for a while and have fought my way back , and continue to do my PT .

I have friends who have trikes and they say they wish they had moved to them sooner , now that they have them.

So , I screwed up the courage and went to my local HD store to see if I could maybe get back to riding. The people there were very nice and answered my questions . Then we went to try getting on and off , I need to walk with a cane and cannot walk very far. The place was huge , but we finally got to the trikes.. I wanted to try a Freewheeler , so the first test was would my cane fit in the trunk, It did .

Next came the getting on and off . It was evident that I needed to practice this . Decided to go another route.

I had a great time with Vespa and Lambretta scooters in my youth , so I started looking around at them. Found a dealer not too far away , scheduled a test ride . Had no trouble since it's a step through design, decided this was a way forward.

Ended up buying one elsewhere, and have had some fun this past summer and fall. It's a GTS 300 ( 278cc) motor, twist and go no shifting . Will easily do 65-70 mph if you want it to do that. But it really does best on secondary roads to be honest.

The problem comes in when I need to stop. My left leg is my weakest so I was depending on my right leg to put my foot down . This was ok for a while , but now the right leg has become somewhat unreliable.

I'm 75 and have tasted asphalt before and I doubt they have improved the flavor so crashing even at a stop is not good.

To bring this story to a close , I am now re-thinking this trike issue and am pretty sure I can handle getting on and off with a little practice.

A riding friend knows of a Gold Wing trike locally and is getting me in touch with the owner ( his trike is for sale).

So maybe it will be the answer , for me to get back to riding.

It's truly the only thing I have ever enjoyed as a hobby and lifestyle.

 

[Gorilla]

I joined this forum a while ago when the itch to ride came back after recovering from a stroke . I was paralyzed from the waist down for a while and have fought my way back , and continue to do my PT .

I have friends who have trikes and they say they wish they had moved to them sooner , now that they have them.

So , I screwed up the courage and went to my local HD store to see if I could maybe get back to riding. The people there were very nice and answered my questions . Then we went to try getting on and off , I need to walk with a cane and cannot walk very far. The place was huge , but we finally got to the trikes.. I wanted to try a Freewheeler , so the first test was would my cane fit in the trunk, It did .

Next came the getting on and off . It was evident that I needed to practice this . Decided to go another route.

I had a great time with Vespa and Lambretta scooters in my youth , so I started looking around at them. Found a dealer not too far away , scheduled a test ride . Had no trouble since it's a step through design, decided this was a way forward.

Ended up buying one elsewhere, and have had some fun this past summer and fall. It's a GTS 300 ( 278cc) motor, twist and go no shifting . Will easily do 65-70 mph if you want it to do that. But it really does best on secondary roads to be honest.

The problem comes in when I need to stop. My left leg is my weakest so I was depending on my right leg to put my foot down . This was ok for a while , but now the right leg has become somewhat unreliable.

I'm 75 and have tasted asphalt before and I doubt they have improved the flavor so crashing even at a stop is not good.

To bring this story to a close , I am now re-thinking this trike issue and am pretty sure I can handle getting on and off with a little practice.

A riding friend knows of a Gold Wing trike locally and is getting me in touch with the owner ( his trike is for sale).

So maybe it will be the answer , for me to get back to riding.

It's truly the only thing I have ever enjoyed as a hobby and lifestyle.

Good luck Douglas keep us posted