How to Ride A Motorcycle Trike
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Article by Bob Witte of Hudson, Florida
.
Wisdom For Newbies From Others Who’ve Been There Already
Preface:
I don’t claim any real originality in this presen
tation. After all is said and done,
it really is just common sense stuff and some good
thoughts from all over. As the Bible says
in Proverbs 11:14 “...In the multitude of counselors,
there is safety.”
Therefore, as a public service, when I was at the n
ow defunct The Trinity Trike, Mfg I
pulled this information together by gleaning from p
ersonal experiences, conversations with
other trikers, YouTube.com and various internet sit
es, rider forums, answers to FAQ’s and
reading stuff long enough ago, I can’t possibly rem
ember where it came from. Accordingly,
what I have in here is advice, opinions and experie
nces, not absolutes. Not everything will
apply to everybody, but I’m sharing what I have app
lied to my own riding experience and
therefore, can recommend it (otherwise why would I
have bothered to type all of this in the
first place!!) Anyhow, here we go...
For novices (aka “Newbies”) learning to ride a moto
rcycle trike is not as easy as it looks,
even for the seasoned motorcyclist (perhaps even mo
re so for you regular bikers!). Here are
some pointers to either get you going as a triker o
r hopefully to help you be a better triker
even if you've been triking awhile already!
- The typical trike handlebars and control arrangemen
t is of course, exactly the same as
on a motorcycle (well, Doh!) However, the steering
with those handlebars is
different
and you need to get used to it. I would have you b
egin driving the trike in an
empty parking lot and leave the trike in first gear
, steer it around the lot and do some
figure-8’s. Get used to the long arm push/pulls to
turn. Odd as it may seem, it might
help you in this most important exercise by leaving
your left hand in your back
pocket so you can get a better “feel” for it!
- You
steer
a trike very much like a car. You will find it eas
iest to use a push/pull
steering technique. That is, when you want to turn
right, pull the right grip toward
you while pushing the left grip away from you. Simi
larly, for a left turn, pull the left grip toward you while pushing the right grip away f
rom you. This technique is
especially useful making turns in the famous twisti
es we all love. You will find it
much easier and more natural to lead with a
pull
on the grip on a hard turn rather than
using a push on the grip -- which is what your two
wheeling “muscle memory” will
want to do.
- You really need to spend some significant time gett
ing familiar with the differences
in steering and how evasive maneuvers are executed.
A couple of hours rather than a
few minutes is preferred. Your mind will keep tell
ing you that you are on a bike,
which for steering is no longer true. You must trai
n yourself to steer the vehicle, not
countersteer
. Throwing your weight around will only wear out th
e seat of your pants,
it will do little or nothing to steer the trike pro
perly. In other words when on a trike,
your knee dragging days are over!
- Watch where you are going (not where you want to go
!). If you were trained
properly for motorcycle riding, you were taught tha
t looking where you want go is
half of getting there upright (again because of lea
ning & counter steering). This is
something you will need to “unlearn” or at least no
t using it as you did on two
wheels. What is true for two wheeling in that rega
rd is no longer true for triking.
Where you are
steering
is where you are going regardless of where you are
looking!
The cage advice is sage advice – “Keep your eyes on
the road!!”
- You should drive the trike in traffic lanes positio
ned much like you would a car.
Riding through long sweeper curves will be easy. Do
ing the twisties will take new
techniques and a bit more muscle (but still can be
loads of fun!). Again, since you
can’t shift weight and cannot lean when taking curv
es, the best advice is to slow
down before getting into
all
curves and then halfway through, apply a bit of p
ower
on your way out. Stay towards the “tight side” (i.
e., on the inside track) and keep
that front wheel in the middle of your lane as much
as possible. Remember to point
the front wheel in the direction you want to turn (
again, I can’t say it enough, there is
no
counter
steering!).
- If you think you will be able to reach out and touc
h something to one side or the
other, you're too close to whatever it is! Your wi
dth is greater than before so watch
out for curbs, toll booths, gas pump barrier poles,
etc.
Hint
– add a pair of those one inch convex mirrors so you can see the outer edge o
f the fenders. Oh yeah, you are
not going to fall over, so don't put your feet down
when you stop!
- Because of the natural physics involved with a thre
e wheeled vehicle, when you hit a
pothole or bump with one of your rear wheels, the b
ars will react with a bit of a
“snap.” Less so for the independent rear suspension
systems, but it is a bit more
noticeable on the straight axles. Don't worry, this
is completely normal so anticipate
it. Also, if you take both your hands off the bars
when going down the road on any
number of trikes, the front end may start a slight
“wobble” as well. (But then you
shouldn’t be doing “no hands” riding in any case –
ever!!) Hang on to the bars, and
there shouldn’t be any wobble to worry about!
- Speaking of wobbles, don’t ignore your tires as a c
ontributory source. If you’ve just
triked a ride you have had for awhile, consider fir
st a re-balancing of the front or
better yet, a replacing
and
balancing of the front tire. New tires are great
even on a
two wheeler, and work wonders for the newly triked.
And don’t neglect the rear tires
either – they need to be well balanced at all times
, and rotated as well.
- Don't worry about the normally modest decrease in g
as mileage. You now carry more
weight, have bigger wheels (not to mention having a
n extra one) and need more
energy to overcome the inertia of the extra mass.
There can be two “air brakes” right
behind you, (aka "fenders") or worse yet, perhaps a
full body blocking the flow.
- Remember, trikes are somewhat sensitive to air pres
sure in the rear tires. Unlike cars
and SUV’s, running your rear tires a bit
under
inflated will usually enhance the
handling and ride. Because those auto tires you pu
t on are only carrying a fraction of
what they were designed for, a few pounds of under
inflation won't affect the tire
wear much, if at all. Also note that the trike wil
l pull toward the tire with a lower
PSI. This is another good reason to check your tir
e pressure frequently. Also you
can use this to your advantage especially if you ri
de a lot of roadways that have
pronounced “crowns” on them that are always pulling
you to the side (especially true
in the northern states). Try taking a couple of po
unds out of your left rear tire to
compensate, but keep in mind you will now pull to t
he left a bit on the good flat
roads!
But then, nuthin’s ever easy!
The best solution is to move to Florida where
most all our roads tend to be nice and flat, and vi
rtually pot hole free!!
- My experience is that the PSI for automotive tires
in the back should be in the low
20's and the motorcycle wheel in front in the low t
o mid 30's for the small to mid size
bikes upwards to 38-42 PSI for the Wings and big tw
in super cruisers. Suspensions,
passenger loads, etc., will of course affect those
numbers. Trial and error will modify
them to your needs, but these are all good starting
points. In any case, you should not
run your front tire's pressure greater than 5% over
the max rating.
- With apologies to Darth Vader, before leaving tires
behind, a word about the
“darkside” tires. (going to the darkside means usi
ng a regular car tire on a
motorcycle.) Of course, most every trike conversion
in the USA has “darkside” tires
on the
rear
wheels, but an increasing number are doing it for
the fronts as well. The
thinking seems to be that the front tire is no long
er “rolling” on the sidewalls in the
twisties and normal curves, so there’s no particula
r advantage to the motorcycle
specific tire designs. And as is well known, the b
ike tires wear out in a small fraction
of the time compared to any plain Jane car tire! T
hose wanting to research this
themselves should Google it using “motorcycle dark
side” as your keyword search. I
understand also that at least one major bike tire m
aker is considering manufacturing a
flatter profile tire for the front of trikes.
- As we all know, tires and suspensions combinations
are quite variable, so
experimentation will almost always be needed. One
handy test is to put a line of
chalk across the tire tread and drive down the driv
eway. If the chalk is worn evenly
all the way across, you at least have the right pre
ssure for full contact of the tread on
the pavement.
- Tight turns or decreasing radius turns on entrance
and exit ramps and in parking lots
are more noticeable on trikes. These are best nego
tiated with a steady pressure and
whenever you can, under a
slight
acceleration (to avoid crashing into walls & park
ed
cars!!). Again, this slight additional effort is c
aused by the nature of the "resistance"
between the center front wheel and the two wheels i
n the back that is more or less
common to all trikes.
- Unless you have one of the Burgman or Honda Silverw
ing “super scooter” trikes,
stiff joints, bad knees and just plain old age cont
ribute to making it increasingly difficult to "throw a leg" over your steadfast moun
t! There is a particularly good way
to safely and more easily mount a trike that you li
kely didn’t realize. Look over the
steps shown in the YouTube video (LINK) for a
n easy sequence of moves.
- The passenger can use a similar approach when they
get on, but generally it is easier
for them to hang on to a rear sissy bar or travel t
runk, especially if there’s a driver’s
backrest in the way.
- Also here’s a final comment for the aging “Boomers”
with bad knees. If your weaker
knee doesn’t like the left side approach shown in t
he video, it is "reversible" by
mounting the bike from the right side. After all,
your trike isn’t a horse so there are
no “rules” that dictate you should only mount from
the left side. Besides, the horse
really didn’t care and you no longer have to deal w
ith a left side kick stand lean
which kind of forced a left side mounting. I think
it came from something about
Middle Age knight’s swords getting in the way of mo
unting their steeds from the
right side! Since then, it has been carried on for "no reason, just policy!"
Some Final Warnings!
- Once again,
do not
assume that since you've been riding motorcycles
for decades,
that you already know how to ride a trike. You may
find yourself in the ditch because
your “muscle memory” will cause you to do the wrong
things!! Caution and
moderation will greatly assist you in being a safe
triker.
- As I said before, trikes tend to be more sensitive
to the “road crown” than
motorcycles. That crown is built into many roadway
s so water will run off to the
side. On your two wheeler, it is barely noticeable,
but on a trike, the vehicle will want
to pull down towards the shoulder. Some roads crown
more than others (rural two lanes for example) and this can be disconcerting to
newbies. If your trike runs
straight and true on a flat surface, just plan on s
teering slightly to the left when on the
“overly crowned” roads. You'll get used to steering
to compensate and after a while it
will be second nature.
- Finally, enjoy riding your trike but if you're shy
or just don’t like talking to strangers,
I would think twice about getting one in the first
place. Riding a trike will draw
people of all kinds over to you like a magnet. If
you are single and interested in
dating, then you can be well on your way to making
new friends!
Enjoy!
Bob Witte
The Ghost Of Trinity Trike (Past)
Editor note: If you're interested in learning more about Bob's trike pictured at the top, check out the featured build article.
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