I CAME, I SAW, I CONQUERED (well almost!!)

[Golden Dakota]

Finally the big day came, and I got the word that my bike conversion was ready to pick up. 2012 Wing with the new Motor Trike Razor kit! Wife drove me out to the Dealer, about 1hr 15mins drive the fast way on the highway. Terrible conditions, cold with extremely strong wind gusts.

But when we got there, it was worth the drive - there it was in front of the showroom - gleaming, new, amazing looking and just begging to be driven! Had on my long johns under lined jeans, lots of warm gear and put on my rain suit over everything to keep out the cold wind.

Have to admit, I was just a tad nervous, as I have never ridden a trike before (well, maybe more than just a tad!). Been reading all the threads on this blog for a few months picking up all the tips I could and thought that I knew what to do, so jumped on and fired it up - figured that as this was my 51st year riding a bike this would be easy. Then realized I still had one foot on the ground so put both feet on the pegs and my wife said that a big grin spread over my face when I did that!

So this was the moment. I had to turn sharp left in the dealer parking lot to miss a row of cars, then turn right into the street and turn left on the street. Put her into gear, let out the clutch, leaned left and pushed forward on the left handlebar - panic - the harder I leaned left to turn left the closer I got to the parked cars in front of me, still going straight ahead! Jammed on the brakes, put my feet on the ground and rethought this one. Ok, don't lean on the trike, steer in the direction you want to go and keep your feet on the pegs - everyone had told me that, but in the excitement of the moment, I completely forgot it all!

So now I am repeating all this over and over as a mantra as I correctly steer out of the parking lot to the road and my wife behind me in the car gives me a big thumbs up. Well if I have to tell the truth, the next 5 mins were a little scary as I roared down the road at a breakneck 20mph getting the feel of the steering and how to keep it on a straight track.

I guess the good news is that I gradually got more confidence and by the time I got home I was quite happy tooling along at 45mph (didn't go back on the Highway) and managing to keep going in a straight line in my lane of the road. Was even enjoying the corners by then and the coolest part was going through the town and stopping at red lights and just sitting on the bike, feet up with a stupid grin on my face!

Next thing I had to do was put the Trike on my trailer to see how it fit, as we are planning on trailing it down to Florida for the month of March. So I loaded it on, tied it down securely and set off for a test run. Holy cow, I almost died! The trailer was fishtailing all over the road! Stopped at a weigh scale to check the weight and distribution and discovered that I only had 45lb on the tongue weight! Went to a gardening centre the next day and bought two 50lb bags of sand and tried again with them tied down on the deck at the front of the trailer. What a difference!! Trailer now handled beautifully! I guess triking the bike moved quite a bit of the weight farther back, and the trailer manufacturer told me the optimum tongue weight should be around 150 - 175lbs. Trike is now safely ensconced in the garden shed until we are ready to load up and drive down to St Augustine Beach at end of February.

Thanks to all of you friendly blog members who posted tips and advice which I eventually remembered - can't wait now to ride it again.

I do have a couple of photos of the trike on the trailer - if anyone would be good enough to tell me how to upload them, I will be happy to share them!

pepper

 

[Veritas44]

Congrats to you ThumbUp
Take your time and enjoy the learning process. When you arrive in FLA,,, School will be in session and you'll love EVERY minute of it.

 

[Peter A.]

Re: I CAME, QUI SAW, I CONQUERED (well almost!!)

QUITE a tale -thanks for sharing your exciting NEW experience - rest assured your next ride will be just as exciting BUT much more enjoyable! Best of luck with the new machine.........ride safe!

 

[bustedwing]

You almost GOT conquered! Well, hopefully from here on in your riding should a little less exciting and a little more enjoyable. Take your time, learn about the operating procedures of your new ride, take some practice in an empty parking lot. And watch those deadly yellow posts around gas station pumps, they jump right out at you when you least expect it.

 

[msocko3]

Congrats on the new ride, it'll only get better as you pile on the miles.

 

[Rick Kay]

Congrats on the new trike! Time on the trike will help everything make sense and come together. Then you'll REALLY be grinning!

 

[rmrc51]

Congratulations on your new Trike!! ThumbUp

Great description of your first ride!

 

[Big Juice]

Great story! Things for me to remember when I pick up my bike that is being triked in a couple weeks! I had that very experience you had the first time I "test drove" a used trike I looked at, and nearly ran into a fence. It was the first time on a trike and the only time so far. So now I need to remember to "drive" the trike, not "ride" it! Hope all your new experiences are good and safe.

 

[pcombe]

Finally the big day came, and I got the word that my bike conversion was ready to pick up. 2012 Wing with the new Motor Trike Razor kit! Wife drove me out to the Dealer, about 1hr 15mins drive the fast way on the highway. Terrible conditions, cold with extremely strong wind gusts.

But when we got there, it was worth the drive - there it was in front of the showroom - gleaming, new, amazing looking and just begging to be driven! Had on my long johns under lined jeans, lots of warm gear and put on my rain suit over everything to keep out the cold wind.

Have to admit, I was just a tad nervous, as I have never ridden a trike before (well, maybe more than just a tad!). Been reading all the threads on this blog for a few months picking up all the tips I could and thought that I knew what to do, so jumped on and fired it up - figured that as this was my 51st year riding a bike this would be easy. Then realized I still had one foot on the ground so put both feet on the pegs and my wife said that a big grin spread over my face when I did that!

So this was the moment. I had to turn sharp left in the dealer parking lot to miss a row of cars, then turn right into the street and turn left on the street. Put her into gear, let out the clutch, leaned left and pushed forward on the left handlebar - panic - the harder I leaned left to turn left the closer I got to the parked cars in front of me, still going straight ahead! Jammed on the brakes, put my feet on the ground and rethought this one. Ok, don't lean on the trike, steer in the direction you want to go and keep your feet on the pegs - everyone had told me that, but in the excitement of the moment, I completely forgot it all!

So now I am repeating all this over and over as a mantra as I correctly steer out of the parking lot to the road and my wife behind me in the car gives me a big thumbs up. Well if I have to tell the truth, the next 5 mins were a little scary as I roared down the road at a breakneck 20mph getting the feel of the steering and how to keep it on a straight track.

I guess the good news is that I gradually got more confidence and by the time I got home I was quite happy tooling along at 45mph (didn't go back on the Highway) and managing to keep going in a straight line in my lane of the road. Was even enjoying the corners by then and the coolest part was going through the town and stopping at red lights and just sitting on the bike, feet up with a stupid grin on my face!

Next thing I had to do was put the Trike on my trailer to see how it fit, as we are planning on trailing it down to Florida for the month of March. So I loaded it on, tied it down securely and set off for a test run. Holy cow, I almost died! The trailer was fishtailing all over the road! Stopped at a weigh scale to check the weight and distribution and discovered that I only had 45lb on the tongue weight! Went to a gardening centre the next day and bought two 50lb bags of sand and tried again with them tied down on the deck at the front of the trailer. What a difference!! Trailer now handled beautifully! I guess triking the bike moved quite a bit of the weight farther back, and the trailer manufacturer told me the optimum tongue weight should be around 150 - 175lbs. Trike is now safely ensconced in the garden shed until we are ready to load up and drive down to St Augustine Beach at end of February.

Thanks to all of you friendly blog members who posted tips and advice which I eventually remembered - can't wait now to ride it again.

I do have a couple of photos of the trike on the trailer - if anyone would be good enough to tell me how to upload them, I will be happy to share them!

pepper

Ok, Try this idea out.

Get the pictures to your computer in documents or photos.
When you scroll down below the posting page you will see a manage attachments button. click it, it should take you to a menu that allows you to go into the photo storage, select the picture and click add file (or some such)
You will see where to go from there.

I use this method to post a picture even when the server dosen't like me

 

[Chumbly]

Wow, what a great read. It's great to read of your experience and enthusiasm. "Thumb's up", to you. One thing you might want to consider or reconsider. Your trailer may be too small. I think that the rear axle of your trike should probably be right over or close to right over the rear axle on the trailer, (if facing forward on the trailer). Another solution would probably be to back the trike onto the trailer, but then it would have to be covered (the trailer), as the wind would raise havoc with your trike's windshield. Anyway, I hope you get it all straightened out and "Happy Triking" to you. Oh, and Merry Christmas as well....may the spirit of the season be with you.

 

[cavie]

Finally the big day came, and I got the word that my bike conversion was ready to pick up. 2012 Wing with the new Motor Trike Razor kit! Wife drove me out to the Dealer, about 1hr 15mins drive the fast way on the highway. Terrible conditions, cold with extremely strong wind gusts.

But when we got there, it was worth the drive - there it was in front of the showroom - gleaming, new, amazing looking and just begging to be driven! Had on my long johns under lined jeans, lots of warm gear and put on my rain suit over everything to keep out the cold wind.

Have to admit, I was just a tad nervous, as I have never ridden a trike before (well, maybe more than just a tad!). Been reading all the threads on this blog for a few months picking up all the tips I could and thought that I knew what to do, so jumped on and fired it up - figured that as this was my 51st year riding a bike this would be easy. Then realized I still had one foot on the ground so put both feet on the pegs and my wife said that a big grin spread over my face when I did that!

So this was the moment. I had to turn sharp left in the dealer parking lot to miss a row of cars, then turn right into the street and turn left on the street. Put her into gear, let out the clutch, leaned left and pushed forward on the left handlebar - panic - the harder I leaned left to turn left the closer I got to the parked cars in front of me, still going straight ahead! Jammed on the brakes, put my feet on the ground and rethought this one. Ok, don't lean on the trike, steer in the direction you want to go and keep your feet on the pegs - everyone had told me that, but in the excitement of the moment, I completely forgot it all!

So now I am repeating all this over and over as a mantra as I correctly steer out of the parking lot to the road and my wife behind me in the car gives me a big thumbs up. Well if I have to tell the truth, the next 5 mins were a little scary as I roared down the road at a breakneck 20mph getting the feel of the steering and how to keep it on a straight track.

I guess the good news is that I gradually got more confidence and by the time I got home I was quite happy tooling along at 45mph (didn't go back on the Highway) and managing to keep going in a straight line in my lane of the road. Was even enjoying the corners by then and the coolest part was going through the town and stopping at red lights and just sitting on the bike, feet up with a stupid grin on my face!

Next thing I had to do was put the Trike on my trailer to see how it fit, as we are planning on trailing it down to Florida for the month of March. So I loaded it on, tied it down securely and set off for a test run. Holy cow, I almost died! The trailer was fishtailing all over the road! Stopped at a weigh scale to check the weight and distribution and discovered that I only had 45lb on the tongue weight! Went to a gardening centre the next day and bought two 50lb bags of sand and tried again with them tied down on the deck at the front of the trailer. What a difference!! Trailer now handled beautifully! I guess triking the bike moved quite a bit of the weight farther back, and the trailer manufacturer told me the optimum tongue weight should be around 150 - 175lbs. Trike is now safely ensconced in the garden shed until we are ready to load up and drive down to St Augustine Beach at end of February.

Thanks to all of you friendly blog members who posted tips and advice which I eventually remembered - can't wait now to ride it again.

I do have a couple of photos of the trike on the trailer - if anyone would be good enough to tell me how to upload them, I will be happy to share them!

pepper

I'll probibly copy this post tomorrow and just edit the weather info and the description of the bike. I pick mine up tomorrow high noon. I've never ridden one either. Mines going in the enclosed trailer to go home. 2005 Honda 1300 VTX Champion