THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY Tim Kern a popular Aviation and Motorcycle writter. More more information on Tim go to www.timkern.com

Trikes: Adding Versatility to Your Motorcycling

Trikes are becoming increasingly popular. Their low-speed stability makes them ideal around town, in rain, and in traffic; they provide a convenient trailer hitch for even more capacity; and passengers often feel safer on them. Still, they maintain the fun, economy, rapid transit, cross-country, open-air experience of two-wheel motorcycling; but have a major drawback: factory-built trikes are rare and expensive, and they don’t allow you any choice. They’re trikes, period.

When you have a motorcycle you love and understand, why give it up?

You don't have to! You can turn it into your own trike, without modifying your beloved two-wheeler – and you can switch back to two wheels in just minutes, or when you sell the old bike.

Stability:

You’re stopped at a red light, about to turn left, on an uphill, and there’s a little sand on the road. On a two-wheeler, you need to pay way too much attention. When you’re on a trike, it’s business as usual.

There is another aspect of stability: Suppose you’ve repeatedly tried to convince someone to go riding with you, but they have this fear of two-wheelers – but a trike doesn’t scare them: it looks stable just sitting there; it doesn’t tip when they’re getting on; They can look around right or left without upsetting the machine, and they don’t have to develop a riders’ technique (learning to “be as one” with whoever’s in front) right away. The trike sits still at stoplights, and it’s predictable when pulling away from a stop. It’s easier for both rider and passenger. And compared to a bike alone, a trike looks quite substantial – both a psychological and practical consideration.

New Riders, Older Riders:

Many of our “first bikes” are bigger and heavier than in the days when “You met the nicest people on a Honda [50]” The confidence you gain on a trike allows you to immediately ride the big bike you really want, right from the start.

As we get older, we don’t want to give up that big machine we’ve finally graduated to. With a trike, we don’t have to. There’s no trouble coming to a stop – we don’t have to worry about putting our foot down on a slick spot, or perhaps getting our pants cuff caught on the foot peg. We don’t ever have to worry about damaging the bike in a low-speed tip-over, or having a side stand dig in or collapse – and we don’t have to worry about the damage those tips cause the bike, or the hard work  and possible humiliation involved in picking it back up!

Trailering:

Trikes afford a solid platform for the attachment of conventional trailers, and they reduce the occasional low-speed wandering trailers can cause. Trailers are convenient and easy to pack, they keep valuables out of sight, and they keep the weight of your gear low.

Two-wheeling:

If you’re going to be taking a side trip, just unhook the trailer, or even the whole Trike kit at the campsite, and go for an enjoyable trip on the local roads. Hooking everything back up takes just a couple minutes, and the InstaTrike system means your alignment is preserved.

Available in sizes to fit most models.

Trikeing Tips:

·         At first, the feeling of “steering” rather than “leaning” in corners takes a bit of getting used to. Not a lot, but be ready.

·         Of course a trike can’t carve a high-speed corner like a two-wheeler; but that’s not the reason for getting a trike in the first place!

·         One other thing (and don’t ask how we know this): If you do remove the trike section and head out for a quick ride on your two-wheeler after perhaps weeks of riding the trike, don’t forget that when you stop, you again need to put down the side stand.

FOR Additional information or to order Click Here. or Call 386-206-8470