Getting too old for two wheels, switching to three?

[klaviator]

A lot if older riders are doing this as i see a lot of three wheelers on the road. There are the Harley and Goldwing trikes with two wheels in the back. I also see a lot of the Can Am Spyders on the road. They have two wheels up front and one in the back. Unlike the trikes they were designed for three wheels from the start not as an add on. One thing these three wheelers have in common is that they don't lean in curves or if they do its in the wrong direction because they are tipping over

Last weekend a local dealer was offering Can Am demo rides so I decided to go and see for myself what these things where all about.

The Demo fleet.

Unlike the Kawasaki Demo rides the weekend before these rides would only have 5 bikes with the ride leader on one so only four demo riders at a time. Because these were so different form a motorcycle or even scooter the pre ride brief took around a half hour. The Ryker which is second from the right in the pic has a different drivetrain than the other four. The bigger ones all used a three cylinder engine with a semi automatic tranny. The Ryker has a fully automatic CVT like a scooter.

I would be riding a Spyder F3 which is considered their cruiser model as opposed to the RT which is touring model. This was the one I would be riding:

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[klaviator]

The F3 is different from the RT with a more laid back riding position, smaller storage areas, less features and a lower price tag. It still looked like a good choice for touring since it had side bags, a tail box and front trunk. These were just smaller than the ones on the RT model but still big enough for two riders to go on a trip.

The controls are the same on the F3 and RT. The throttle is just like a motorcycle or scooter. The brakes are all controlled by one foot pedal. The shifter is a paddle shifter on the left handlebar. Upshifting through the gears is required but down shifting is optional as it will downshift by itself as you slow down. There is also a push button parking brake.

After the brief we all ride a few laps around the parking lot to get used to the controls and handling. It was easy to ride in the parking lot. No worries about falling over at low speed. The steering was fairly light and easy.

Then it was time to get out on the road. We turned right out of the parking lot and headed down a busy straight road. The engine, acceleration and tranny were all fine. Plenty of power and easy to shift. The handling in a straight line on the other hand sucked. It didn't want to go straight. I had to constantly make small right and left corrections. It was a gusty, windy day which probably contributed to the problem but I think it is inherent to the three wheel configuration as I had read about this issue before.

There were only a few curves on the route but that was probably just as well. I think these would suck on a curvy road. You really feel the g forces and it is just a lot of work. I'm sure I could get used to a Spyder in the curves with more seat time but why? A two wheeler is just so much easier and more fun.

So why do people buy these things? They still give you the same sensation of being out in the wind. You can go out and ride with your motorcycle friends. It would feel weird doing this in a convertible. I guess they are safer as they are pretty hard to tip over although if you do crash they aren't any safer than two wheels. For people who can no longer hold up their two wheeler or have balance problems I can see why these would be appealing. Me? I'll stick to two wheels

 

[klaviator]

I think one reason people buy these is that they are big and comfortable like a gold wing or other touring bike, maybe even more so. I remember my wife sitting on a spyder many years ago and commenting on how comfortable it was.

But would she really be comfortable riding on the back of one of these?

i don't think so. She gets car sick if I drive fast on a curvy road in a car. I think these would be even worse. Even the side to side motion on a straight road would probably bother her. One two wheels she enjoys a curvy road. Since I live for curvy roads a spyder or anything that doesn't lean would not work for two up riding. Of course many riders feel you need something ginormous for two up riding but I find that something smaller and lighter works just fine.

My two up touring bike is only 395cc

 

[SandRdr]

What's the steering mechanism on the ginormous reverse trikes? Power assist?

 

[klaviator]

What's the steering mechanism on the ginormous reverse trikes? Power assist?

I think there is power assist as it wasn't very heavy.

 

[south east okie]

I think Mrs. JVB rides a Can Am. Jim could probably give a lot of insight to a Can Am.

I can see that I'm gonna have to do something different in a few yrs. The ole 1100gs is getting harder to pick up every yr when I drop it. And I can't want a bike without the easy 70 to 100mph capabilities. I have thought about a Can Am but have never had a chance to ride one.

 

[JimVonBaden]

I think Mrs. JVB rides a Can Am. Jim could probably give a lot of insight to a Can Am.

I can see that I'm gonna have to do something different in a few yrs. The ole 1100gs is getting harder to pick up every yr when I drop it. And I can't want a bike without the easy 70 to 100mph capabilities. I have thought about a Can Am but have never had a chance to ride one.

She does, and she took it to work this morning. She rides it because her 24" inseam and 4' 10" height doesn't allow two wheels. She likes it a lot, though I have more miles on it than she does.

I put a lot of updates into her 2013 Spyder ST:



Fun to ride. Does NOT ride like a motorcycle, more like a quad. They have ABS, power steering and hers is a semi-automatic.

Oh, going up for sale soon.

 

[Danno]

I built a small offroad trike that works well. I bought my first sidecar in 2017. I really dig the hack. But the trike handles nice and is more symmetrical. The trike is one wheel front wheel with a rear weight bias over the axle. So the steering is light.

The hack is a beast on uphill left handers. And uphill right handers are easy. Also a set of curves can be steered with the throttle. Accelerating for rights and decelerating for lefts.

Off camber downhill rights should never be entered fast!

 

[skibum69]

They are much safer than a trike for a bunch of reasons. When I go to 3 wheels I'm thinking sidecar.

 

[Danno]

They are much safer than a trike for a bunch of reasons. When I go to 3 wheels I'm thinking sidecar.

Sidecar is a little different than anything else. The passenger has a clear view. Solo you get plenty of storage. You learn every type and place of road crown/camber. Undulating roads have the rig kinda pulling side to side a little. About 3-5% of the time it feels like a motorcycle. You also get an upper body work out. Especially if you fight the rig. I find the mental challenge fun. I once took off without any ballast solo. Good times!

 

[AwDang]

BTDT with hacks.....maybe a Ryker in the future, but never a GW/RK trike.

 

[Danno]

There is a homebuit vw trike in town. I expect to see it any day with the nicer weather. Two brothers built two trikes. The one I have seen is cool. A 1/4 plate of steel has welded to the bottom frame rails for ballast. The front end was too light!

I have come across another builder that used gm car front ends. The deck lid and rear bumber were blended into the hood and fenders. Pretty darn effective. The bike frame was attached similar to a tow bar baseplate for flat towing a car behind a motorhome.

The can am models really dont do it for me.
But Morgans do interest me!

 

[Shinyribs]

My Dad built a VW trike ages ago. The husk of it is still laying in the woods somewhere around here. He used a CB750 filled with concrete to help it steer better. Mom always told me that he never could get it to drive right, but Dad whispered to me that it didn't actually have a problem keeping the front end down, he was just having fun doing wheelies but didn't want to admit it to her 😁

Trike looks like a lot of fun. Not sure what I think about the reverse trikes, but the hotrodder in me really likes the idea of a fire breathing conventional(?) trike.

I mean, you gotta admit they look pretty rad.

Sport bike trikes can be cool, too.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Trikes are cool. Reverse trikes are fun and safer.

 

[matty]

If two wheels wont have it done, walk straight past three wheels and Get four wheels.
I Was not old (35 years) when her indoors and myself exhausted from a hard days ride in the Alps rain hit and we stooped on the verge up against an armco barrier , threw the fly sheet over the barrier and the bike and got between the two. it was cold wet and miserable . in the night neither of us sleeping but it still hammering down, her indoors was sobbing , and believe me i felt her misery.
To load the gear we needed we would have had a numb less than nimble handling bike regardles of marque or model engine size and no matter how we loaded it.
We talked the next day about future bike rides together, and how we could make it better still be sporting still go up tracks get the wind in our hair and all that sky and yet cary food a big three person tent and warm heavy duck down sleeping bags and a big two burner gas ring all the pots pans and gear and if we got tired we could just stop and not have to sit on the grass just stay in the seat.
We went Locost 7 and have ever since, i go light and solo on the bike but together always a kit car locost 7 or marlin roadster. And guess what i am plaqnning a TDI convertion with a 1422cc triple VW TDI. 80 MPG should be a real possibility.
with a seven or even a marlin trials build you got room for gear good seats a hood a heater and yet sporty handling steep adrenalin and you got no helmet just a roll bar to strap stuff too and all that sky.
Its not a bike acepted, but its close and way way better when equaly loaded up with gear and two people lets put it that way. And the marlin roadster will take gravel and tracks and inclines off road , its just two wheel drive but competative off pavement in long distance endurance trials here in uk or alpine holidays just the same.
seven

Marlin roadster Tough on the rough light rugged and simple add up to reliable.
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[SalNap]

Didn't piagio/ aprillia make a 3 wheel scooter that leaned? And was it Yamaha that put out a 4 forked 3 wheel bike?

 

[Shinyribs]

Yamaha Nikken. I think Yammie was just having fun with that one. It won't stand up on it's own, so you don't get that perk of having three wheels, and the tilty front end only gives a 45° lean angle.

 

[Danno]

Always wanted to build a locost. I have fox body convertibles. 86 GT and 89 lx. Plenty of fox bodies still around. The 89 I purchase 2016 for a winter car. With fresh tires and a full tank it tackled snow well. The gt foxbodies are easy to get brutal lessons in over steer. The super slow 2.3 lx is much more fun to drive around corners. A miata is even a more reasonable choice. And plenty of miata around. A friend bought a miata when I got the lx. We both paid $1000 for the cars. The miata was the better deal. Both mustangs and miatas have many years to pick from.

A few nights ago I ended up researching homebuilt replica morgan 3 wheelers. There are plenty of bmw, guzzi and cx500/650 bikes still around. And transverse shafty 4 cyls... concorse 1000 engine with some ninja tuning parts. Or just use smal fwd car drivetrain parts Not as traditional but still works. The body looks easy
enough with aluminum skins.

Jeep wranglers might be an option. I have set up many gens of wranglers to be flat towed behind motorhomes.

 

[matty]

Always wanted to build a locost. I have fox body convertibles. 86 GT and 89 lx. Plenty of fox bodies still around. The 89 I purchase 2016 for a winter car. With fresh tires and a full tank it tackled snow well. The gt foxbodies are easy to get brutal lessons in over steer. The super slow 2.3 lx is much more fun to drive around corners. A miata is even a more reasonable choice. And plenty of miata around. A friend bought a miata when I got the lx. We both paid $1000 for the cars. The miata was the better deal. Both mustangs and miatas have many years to pick from.

A few nights ago I ended up researching homebuilt replica morgan 3 wheelers. There are plenty of bmw, guzzi and cx500/650 bikes still around. And transverse shafty 4 cyls... concorse 1000 engine with some ninja tuning parts. Or just use smal fwd car drivetrain parts Not as traditional but still works. The body looks easy
enough with aluminum skins.

Jeep wranglers might be an option. I have set up many gens of wranglers to be flat towed behind motorhomes.

You can buy the 1 inch box section for a BOOK CAR ( HAYNES ROADSTER) for about £70, you can go either indipendent or live axle rear end with purchased of fabricated wishbones and coil overs . Bodywork is simple aloy skining and typicaly GRP nose cones and guards, its down to what you want and how you want to build it.
Good thing is its a kit build you buy / sourse what you need and when you have built it up to the stage you got parts for, you can leave it and save up or find the rest of the parts you need when you can and move on to the next phase. Sticking to the book gives you a pattern of build and work if you like.
Power plants can be bike or car and combination of the two.
A simple build bike based would be a fireblade motor just a prop shaft flange off the rear sprocket. an inline mounted motor direct to a rear axle.
If you use a typical small 4x4 Rear axle ( suzuki or daihatsu) there is the off set differential position helps with keeping the prop shaft in line and about the only negative is its through the bike clutch but keep car light they last ok.
Car engines its your choice, i like basic ford kent crossflows, ok they are old but simple and go well if tuned properly, the ford duratech or zetech engines all are direct to type 9 ford box and plenty of adaprers for vtech hondas or toyotas nissans or VWs including the TDIs .
Mate built a Locost seven with ford atlas rear live axle type 9 five speed box and a Skoda 2.0 PD TDI diesel 140 BHP.
It was a 70 MPG (UK gallon) car and went like a train.
Any weight the diesel added was countered by ecconomy and ample torque. and locasts will handle whatever engine you build them too.
A bike engine build gets you all the bits in one donor bike with parts either bought or made its all light engineering and no conversion adapters or clutches flywheels etc to machine and work with.
A simple car build would probably be a small rwd toyota / nissan or Japanese mini truck etc,
anything small with rear axle.
Or build from parts if you want and convert any engine to fit a ford or toyota gearbox which is what is typicaly used. Kit cars are whatever you want them to be, start with a chasis , build one or buy one or a used one often built then project abbandoned, just make sure its half decently built before buying. i have seen bare built unasembled chassis here for as little as £50, and you see them all the time from £150 to £300. My personal choice would be buy the steel and make one yourself.
Buy the book. The hanes roadster from haynes, its got good info in it, and of course look online locost builders forum get plans and info .

 

[matty]

Marlin Roadsters are a kit that was built in the 70s and 80s mostly FWIHS.
This kit was bassed on triumph or morris marina cars some the TM models were both. Were popular simple and still plenty about. Clasic car trials is a popular use for marlins aqnd run in class seven.
Tough strong as hell and competent.