new intrest in trikes

Mar 13, 2015
2
0
Pulaski Wi USA
I have reached a point in life where two wheel riding presents a safety issue. I have a 2007 H-D Ultra classic looking to make into a Trike. I need in help on what are plus or negitive points of a trike. I have narrowed my choice down to CSC, Roadsmith, or a kit installed by Tilting motor works. if there are other choices any one feels are a better choice please give me your opinion.
Thanks.
Dean o in WI.
 
I have reached a point in life where two wheel riding presents a safety issue. Ihave a 2007 H-D Ultra classic looking to make into a Trike. I need in help on what are plus or negitive points of a trike. I have
narrowed my choice down to CSC, Roadsmith, or a kit installed by Tilting motor works. if there are other choices any one feels are a better choice please give me your opion.
Thanks.
Dean o in WI.

Your 07 is a good base for a conversion if you like it a lot and has a lot of life left in it. CSC and RoadSmith are great companies. Also look at MotorTrike and Hannagan. The real issue is not the company but the installer. A great installer will make a normal conversion a real nice experience.

And bad installer will make a great conversion a decision you wish you had not made. DFT is also a good conversion. If you are looking to do it yourself Champion is something to look at.

As far as positives and negatives about trikes you really need to search the forums here. There is so much but the over all statement is "WHY DID I NOT DO THIS YEARS AGO" Welcome aboard

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I have reached a point in life where two wheel riding
presents a safety issue. Ihave a 2007 H-D Ultra classic looking to make into a Trike. I need in help on what are plus or negitive points of a trike. I have
narrowed my choice down to CSC, Roadsmith, or a kit installed by Tilting motor works. if there are other choices any one feels are a better choice please give me your opion.
Thanks.
Dean o in WI.

After thought RoadSmith is made up there in Wis. That should figure into your process.
 
After a few hundred miles on a trike, you'll wonder why you haven't gone to 3 wheels a long time ago. Definitely the installer is key to a successful conversion, regardless of the brand name.

Biggest things I considered about brand of conversion kit were:
1. Is it designed to work well with my model of 2 wheeler (not all of them are)
2. Straight axle or independent rear suspension (IRS)? Test ride on various road surfaces to get a feel for the difference.
3. For me, trunk space was a big one because I make a lot of 4 to 8 day rides during the year.
4. Get the auxiliary fuel tank if you are a distance rider like I am.
5. Seems obvious - but your trike reflects your personality and should have eye appeal. She's the 2nd most beautiful one at your home. ;)
 
Welcome to TT Dean!

Have you had the opportunity to ride a Tri Glide or Freewheeler yet? If not you should.


With that said, if I was to have a two wheel to trike conversion done I would use Vern's in Blooming Prairie, MN. He sells DFT. I had an 07 Ultra when I bought my 2009 TG. I choose not to have the conversion done because of the price difference. Prices have come down since then.
 
I have reached a point in life where two wheel riding
presents a safety issue. Ihave a 2007 H-D Ultra classic looking to make into a Trike. I need in help on what are plus or negitive points of a trike. I have
narrowed my choice down to CSC, Roadsmith, or a kit installed by Tilting motor works. if there are other choices any one feels are a better choice please give me your opion.
Thanks.
Dean o in WI.

Interesting. I have an 07 myself but I had settled on Hannagan. I'm just not sure a bike that is nearing not having readily available parts is the one to make a conversion on. Mine just blew the ECM and had to wait two weeks to find one and get it shipped. So maybe mine is now more ready for a conversion than it was.

But I'm interested in what made you choose those two conversions. Price or suspension or what?
 
Interesting. I have an 07 myself but I had settled on Hannagan. I'm just not sure a bike that is nearing not having readily available parts is the one to make a conversion on. Mine just blew the ECM and had to wait two weeks to find one and get it shipped. So maybe mine is now more ready for a conversion than it was. But I'm interested in what made you choose those two conversions. Price or suspension or what?

The wheel base is longer, being a retired Trucker I have always found a better ride with longer wheel base. this is why I ask for advice, bikers who have tried other trikes can give me a reason to change my choice give me negative &positive feed back.
 
I had my 07 Ultra converted last year to a Hannigan for a lot of reasons. I liked the look, the width and length and the ride of the IRS. Now that I've ridden it a lot I don't regret my choice at all. I love the way it rides, and more importantly so does my wife.
I have also made some dramatic changes to make it even better. Did the change to a 30 tooth transmission sprocket, oil cooler, upgraded to the new compensator, and I am having the engine upgraded to a 113. I plan on keeping it kinda forever, so it made sense to me to "get it perfect". Several guys at the Harley shop, even the service guy said it was the best looking trike they had seen. With all of that, there hasn't been any parts hard to get.
Lots of compliments, lots of trips planned, and lots of fun, even just riding into work.
I did spend a lot of time trying to figure it all out too. I liked Roadsmith nearly as well, but they didn't offer an extra fuel tank that Hannigan did.
The good news is you'll like whatever brand you choose.

They are just fun.
 
I chose a Hannigan Transformer kit for the IRS, great looks, width, and large trunk. I looked at the others and decided this is the one for me. Mine is on a 2010 Ultra Classic. I bought the bike new in 2010 and it is in the shop getting triked now, should be riding it next week.
 
I chose a Hannigan Transformer kit for the IRS, great looks, width, and large trunk. I looked at the others and decided this is the one for me. Mine is on a 2010 Ultra Classic. I bought the bike new in 2010 and it is in the shop getting triked now, should be riding it next week.

My wife and i drove down to Houston last week to meet Zook and see his Transformer. I was also considering Motortrike and Roadsmith but have decided a Hannigan Transformer is the way we want to go,too.
 
Interesting. I have an 07 myself but I had settled on Hannagan. I'm just not sure a bike that is nearing not having readily available parts is the one to make a conversion on. Mine just blew the ECM and had to wait two weeks to find one and get it shipped. So maybe mine is now more ready for a conversion than it was. But I'm interested in what made you choose those two conversions. Price or suspension or what?

Pm bazooka and get his input you will be glad you did.
 
The wheel base is longer, being a retired Trucker I have always found a better ride with longer wheel base. this is why I ask for advice, bikers who have tried other trikes can give me a reason to change my choice give me negative &positive feed back.
I drove trucks also. The longer the better for the hi-way. Same with trikes. Mine is about the same wheelbase as a VW car, rides good.
 
I have reached a point in life where two wheel riding
presents a safety issue. I have a 2007 H-D Ultra classic looking to make into a Trike. I need in help on what are plus or negitive points of a trike. I have narrowed my choice down to CSC, Roadsmith, or a kit installed by Tilting motor works. if there are other choices any one feels are a better choice please give me your opinion.
Thanks.
Dean o in WI.

I loved my 07 Ultra but it had 106,600 miles on it so I traded it in for a HD Tri-Glide. Before that I done a lot of research on trike kits and visited a few places that done them. I was impressed with the Roadsmith kit and not more so since they offer an axillary fuel tank. Either way you'll get a lot of great info here and you'll love the trike. Like many said before it takes a little getting used to it but man what a ride!

:Coffee
 
About Hannigan or whether I should invest more money in an aged machine?


Putting more money into an aged machine depends on how many miles you have on it and how much your pocket book can stand?

In truth I didn't have trouble finding parts until after mine was 20 yrs. old.
Having a paid for machine makes allot of difference to a guy like me on a fixed income at the very outset of the conversion question.

There are many kits out there at varied prices depending on what you want?
The one thing I will seriously urge you to do no matter how you go is to buy a "complete" kit, It will frustrate you to no end and you will likely spend more money trying to piece one together not to mention down time for the conversion.
First off take a look at wich kits will even fit your bike, I don't think you will have too much trouble in that regard, Mine on the other hand was not so easy there were only two company's that made a kit to fit mine.
Both were complete kits but champion was the best bet for me and my needs, It was considerably less expensive and the most simple to convert.

I'll shoot you a P.M.
 
Kool Trikes

I had my Triumph Rocket custom built by Randy Butler at Kool Trikes in Juneau, Wisc. He added a Roadsmith kit to back and fabricated brackets to make it fit. He did a wonderful job and can make a trike out of any bike. Look him up.
 

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