Went to Americade this week, while going through the vendors I came across a vendor doing what they called Trikematic installs, I have seen these on Goldwings , but I never saw them before on Harley's I'm sure most know what they are it has a wheel on each side of the bike and raises and lowers when you hit the switch installed on the handlebar. Now my wife has been thinking of possibly triking her bike in the future she rides an Ultra, so this interested me as possibly another option to consider. They get $5500.00 for the kit and a little extra if you want the fenders painted in two tone, then add a 10 hour installation fee, unless you can install it yourself, and was told if your a little handy i'ts not that hard to do. This interests me for two reasons first and most important I see it as keeping the bike a bike with the same characteristics and handling as a two wheel vehichle considering when your riding the wheels that stabilize you at a standstill are raised and there is no contact with the ground, second i'ts probably about $8 or $10,000.00 dollars cheaper than converting the Ultra to a trike. Now the fellow I was with who rides a Goldwing converted to a trike was of the attitude just turn the Ultra into a trike, I'm still weighing the options, but then he took it one step further and told me the Trikematic system is a cheap trike conversion, I disagree and debated this with him, he stated that once you have three wheels the bike is a trike, I think once the motor is connected through the transmission then to an axle connecting to a rear with two wheels, then now you have a trike, I also stated that if your line of thought is that once you have three wheels your a trike, now with the trikematic installed on the bike you now have a total of four wheels so does that make it a car ? I don't know if this subject has come up in the past here but i am curious what the definition of a trike is, and i'm also curious as to what everyone here thinks about this. and no she doesn't want to go to a smaller bike.
When does a bike become a trike?
- Thread starter Wayne R
- Start date
Midnight Reign
Active Member
My opinion is the add on kits that retain the original drive wheel is the most stupid thing ever ! Really???? you would put training wheels on a harley ( or any bike for that matter). If you want a trike then buy or build one. Call me shallow but I just couldnt bear the thought knowing that everyone that saw it would be laughing at me no matter how discreet they were or how much money I saved. But, obviously this is an opinion alot of ppl disagree with as these companies have been around for a long time and are still in business.
Sounds more like training wheels than anything else. To me it's like the kits you see that add the 2 outrigger wheels that is removable as a unit. Is it a trike, nope. Is it a motorcycle, no. It's a bike with training wheels. If you want or need an extra set of wheels, it's time for a trike. Everything else, IMO, looks like a half-baked Rube Goldberg experiment gone wrong.
I have to agree with you, For some reason they just don't seem right on a Motorcycle, But for some, You have to go with what you got.
I think this is a little different from the OP's original posting. Folks with short legs or legs getting a little old, this works:LegUp by Chopper Design - LegUp Home Page
Wayne.......I dont think I can disagree with these guys......No offenece...
absolutely no offense taken, I asked for opinions and got them, and also learned of another system out there posted by HDDon to consider, no offense taken at all actually Thank You for honest opinions.
Wayne I don't know if you had a chance to look at the video but the system is computer controled and you can lean the bike at parking lot speed. I have a friend who had this installed, he has early stages of parkensons, and the stability at low speed and not having to put his feet down at stops has given him the ability to stay on two wheels.