New Guy Looking for advice.

[orange winger2]

Git on all the motorcycle boards that also have trikes listed you can. Watch the for sale ads. Three years ago I was able to pick up an 04 Champion for $16,400 that included trailer. Out of Florida and had it shipped to Ca. All I needed to do is some clean up on the rims. Don't get in a hurry.

 

[icedad]

Yama-dude. I couldn't afford a new trike, but I shopped E-Bay and Craigslist and waited for the right price and then haggled. I didn't want to jump into something that expensive and then find out that I didn't like it that much after all. I found a good used trike a 98 that I was able to get the guy down a couple thousand more dollars then he was asking. It was really worth what he was asking, but he needed the green. This way, if I had second thoughts, I could always sell it in the spring and make a few dollars. I admit, I got lucky, but you do have to do your homework when buying used.
I also got a trike I can ride a couple of years and it's still gonna be worth almost as much as I paid for it. When you buy from a dealer you always wind up paying for their overhead. The trike always costs more. Now is the time to buy. Don't wait till spring. Just my 2 cents IMHO Good luck with your search BTW I found mine on Craigslist.

Orange winger2 You got yourself one heck of a deal.

 

[oldbear]

Yeah, there is nothing wrong from jumping from a 450 to a 1800 especially if it it going from a bike to a trike. Like I said before, when I did the demo ride, I got use to the G.W. Viper trike within 10 mins or so and I even got use to using a heel toe shifter on top of that. I test rode the trike on the highways and plus twisty back roads. The salesman was with me as a passanger and showed me where to go. He does these types of demo runs just make sure you can handle the trike and even to see if you are still interested once you got back from the ride. When I do decide to get one, I will get one from him since he took his time and chance with me riding the trike with no experience except a couple of demo rides on the spyder. I honestly don't have the extra money to start mid size and work my way up to the 1800. As I was operating the trike on the demo ride, I new then and there I was hooked. I am very lazy when it comes to changing gears, but I did not mind on the trike. It was effortlessly easy. Now I just got to get past the sticker shock and wife's OK.

If you have not ridden 2 wheels a LOT I would strongly recommend you stay off of a two wheeled Wing....They are one heavy SOB. I loved mine, but it was a heavy motorcycle, and at low speed/ stop & go/ it would really give you a work out. I've been riding two wheels since '67 and have many thousands of miles on 'em. I still ride a two wheeler about 1/2 the time (BMW Dakar) but the Wing was a lot of bike. I put several miles on my 2010 before we triked it this past spring. Have been kicking myself eversince for not doing it earlier! I went with the Roadsmith kit, complete with auxiliary tank, floorboards, lighted mudflaps, fender top lights,rake kit, etc. Wife and I really love it, and when I'm "2 up" anymore it is always on the Trike. A trike is easy to ride, for pretty much anyone. (Wife, who never had any desire to ride her own bike, has said, "I think I could ride this" and I'm sure she can. For a newbie, thikes are far easier to master than a two wheeler. Good luck and enjoy the ride!

 

[hbrogan57]

This COULD be a case of "bike fever". We have ALL gone through it in our early riding days. I would never have considered jumping on to a full dresser right out of the chute. I went from a 400, to an 850, and then to an 1100 Goldwing. All of the people I talked to told me the same thing. Work your way up to it as you can always go bigger, but it's hard to step back to a smaller bike.

Personally, I think he is making far too big of a jump. Both in size and expense. Especially since he is unsure whether or not he is going to enjoy riding. To go to the expense of a trike, ANY trike, is a major step and it's not for everyone. Sure, almost anyone can ride a trike. But are they really going to ENJOY the trike and all that goes along with it?

If you have not ridden 2 wheels a LOT I would strongly recommend you stay off of a two wheeled Wing....They are one heavy SOB. I loved mine, but it was a heavy motorcycle, and at low speed/ stop & go/ it would really give you a work out. I've been riding two wheels since '67 and have many thousands of miles on 'em. I still ride a two wheeler about 1/2 the time (BMW Dakar) but the Wing was a lot of bike. I put several miles on my 2010 before we triked it this past spring. Have been kicking myself eversince for not doing it earlier! I went with the Roadsmith kit, complete with auxiliary tank, floorboards, lighted mudflaps, fender top lights,rake kit, etc. Wife and I really love it, and when I'm "2 up" anymore it is always on the Trike. A trike is easy to ride, for pretty much anyone. (Wife, who never had any desire to ride her own bike, has said, "I think I could ride this" and I'm sure she can. For a newbie, thikes are far easier to master than a two wheeler. Good luck and enjoy the ride!

 

[Ozarkryder]

Bunches of good advice, as usual. Here is my 2¢ and you can give me change if you want to... Jumping into a large trike is being done by folks without any or not much riding expeirence a lot on this forum. If you haven't ridden 2 wheels there is not much to unlearn. When we got our first trike my wife wasn't a 2 wheel rider and she jumped right into triking. She didn't have to get used to the steering, the wideness, the feel of not leaning in curves, not putting her feet down at stops, etc.

Trikes hold value pretty well.
Our little history - Our first trike was a Trike Shop (makers of Roadsmith) V-Cycle Runabout VW based trike we got in '93. VW trikes were common, conversions were still a bit of a curiosity. Lehman was the conversion kit at the time wih the others coming up. We sold it back to The Trike Shop 10 years later for $1000 less than we paid for it. Think of it as renting the trike for $100/year.

The next trike was a 1995 Goldwing GL1500 Motortrike. We got it for $16000
in 2003, as we wanted to tour, and as much as we loved the Trikeshop trike it was a hot rod, 600 mile days werent practical. Planned on having that trike for a good long time, GW's last and last with proper maintenance. 2 years ago when we had some unpleasentness coming beck from Minnesota the insurance totaled it, and valued it (before accident) at $18,000. After all was said and done with the insurance we got just about what we paid for it. As mentioned, shop around, pe patient and get that good deal.
Current trike is a 2004 GW1800 Champion, picked it up in the low-mid twenties. Planning on this lasting the rest of our riding days, being the last trike we will get unless we get lucky and hit the lottery. (probably would help if I ever bought a ticket)

Don't have to pay huge amounts to get a great ride that will last years and years. You can go for the $40,000 brandy new ride, but the couple you just waved at going the other way on the $11,000 '91 Goldwing trike is having just a much fun.

 

[hbrogan57]

Frankly, I just find it amazing that someone who is a relative "noob" not just to trikes, but to motorcycling as a whole, is already willing to go out and spend 40 grand on a trike.

Your wife already had experience as a passenger to understand how things work. Even without actually riding herself.

But going from a 450 that he even said was a bad ride, to an 1800cc trike comes as a bit of a surprise. Just because someone goes out and rides one, has a good time, and comes back with a smile, doesn't necessarily mean that bike is right for them.

I have been on many, MANY bikes and, for the most part, have enjoyed the ride. But that doesn't mean I am going to go drop some cash and buy one.

Yama-dude really needs to do some serious shopping around and, perhaps, just a little soul-searching before he drops that kind of money into something that he may end up not liking.

Bunches of good advice, as usual. Here is my 2¢ and you can give me change if you want to... Jumping into a large trike is being done by folks without any or not much riding expeirence a lot on this forum. If you haven't ridden 2 wheels there is not much to unlearn. When we got our first trike my wife wasn't a 2 wheel rider and she jumped right into triking. She didn't have to get used to the steering, the wideness, the feel of not leaning in curves, not putting her feet down at stops, etc.

Trikes hold value pretty well.
Our little history - Our first trike was a Trike Shop (makers of Roadsmith) V-Cycle Runabout VW based trike we got in '93. VW trikes were common, conversions were still a bit of a curiosity. Lehman was the conversion kit at the time wih the others coming up. We sold it back to The Trike Shop 10 years later for $1000 less than we paid for it. Think of it as renting the trike for $100/year.

The next trike was a 1995 Goldwing GL1500 Motortrike. We got it for $16000
in 2003, as we wanted to tour, and as much as we loved the Trikeshop trike it was a hot rod, 600 mile days werent practical. Planned on having that trike for a good long time, GW's last and last with proper maintenance. 2 years ago when we had some unpleasentness coming beck from Minnesota the insurance totaled it, and valued it (before accident) at $18,000. After all was said and done with the insurance we got just about what we paid for it. As mentioned, shop around, pe patient and get that good deal.
Current trike is a 2004 GW1800 Champion, picked it up in the low-mid twenties. Planning on this lasting the rest of our riding days, being the last trike we will get unless we get lucky and hit the lottery. (probably would help if I ever bought a ticket)

Don't have to pay huge amounts to get a great ride that will last years and years. You can go for the $40,000 brandy new ride, but the couple you just waved at going the other way on the $11,000 '91 Goldwing trike is having just a much fun.

 

[Ozarkryder]

We pretty much agree on most of it, hbrogan57. My wife wasn't a rider or passenger until we got the trike - she rode the Runabout and I rode my HD. She took to it naturally, but some might not.

As far a dropping a huge amount - I probably went the long way around to the point at the end of the post:
You can go for the $40,000 brandy new ride,
but the couple you just waved at going the other way on the $11,000 '91 Goldwing trike is having just a much fun.

 

[hbrogan57]

I didn't spend 40 grand on mine and I am MORE than happy with my ride. Sure, I could have spent a TON of money on a brand new one but I opted to get one with low miles so I could add a few things to make it truly "mine".....

We pretty much agree on most of it, hbrogan57. My wife wasn't a rider or passenger until we got the trike - she rode the Runabout and I rode my HD. She took to it naturally, but some might not.

As far a dropping a huge amount - I probably went the long way around to the point at the end of the post:
You can go for the $40,000 brandy new ride,
but the couple you just waved at going the other way on the $11,000 '91 Goldwing trike is having just a much fun.

 

[Yama-dude]

Hey everyone, yes I am still looking around and I have decided not to dive into a full 40K trike, (still cannot get over sticker shock), so yes I am looking into used now. As for diving completely into the trike scene, as I have explained in my earlier posts, the Can Am spyder was my original trike I wanted to go with. After Spyders there is not many other choices out there. I looked at Tri Glides, don't not want the solid axle or heat issues plus I will be coming home at night from work and do not want to awake the neighborhood. (last point was deal breaker) cannot disturb the queen while she is sleeping. I have read that the goldwings are pretty much bullet proof when it comes to powertran and I like that. Spend more time triking and less time fixing. There is a 10' G.W. trike CSC kit nearby with 28K miles on it. Plan on looking at that this weekend. Looks nice. The trike appears to be in very nice condition and has a few extra options like Gps, passenger armrests and so on. I will keep you all informed. Price is listed around $27K.

 

[Hooker 6]

In 2008 I bought a 2008 level 3 GL1800 with 790 miles on it for $15000. I had it triked at Coach Rice for another $14000. Deals are out there. May want to check the other GL1800 Forums for threads on the CSC driveshaft issues. I put earnest money down on a 2006 CSC conversion, then pulled it after research.

Good luck. Wife loves it.

 

[old stoner]

Do what I did if possible. I bought a like new 2001 1800 4 years ago then got a Champion trike kit out of California and built it myself! Paid $9,000 for the wing and $8,500 for the trike kit. Saved $1,000 by doing it myself instead of paying to have done! Then had local body shop match the Pearl Yellow Paint and my wife and I love it!!! The Champion flows with the 1800 body and handles like a dream!!!