Hi Folks,

I have a new Tri-Glide on order and have no Trike experience; I’m wondering if there is anything I should know about the handling characteristics or known quirks or maintenance problems associated with the Tri-Glide!


Thanks for your input.

Jim

 

Hi Jim,

Congratulations, you made an excellent choice...

What area of the country are you from - when do you expect to 'pick up' your bike...?

Guess you'd have to read the various threads/posts here to gleam various information... I know my hubby had a hard time riding ours as he was so used to putting his foot/feet down... We had riden over 200K prior miles so some habits were hard to break - but he did...

 

Welcome Jim!!! I had no trike experience either. I did parking lot practice for a few days. Just remember that a trike steers like a car and do not try to counter steer or lean into the curves. The TriGlide is a great bike and is very easy to get used to. Also, do NOT put your feet down. That can be a hard one if you rode a 2 wheeler for any length of time. The back wheels can run over your foot. So remember push and pull left or right, go left or right. Another thing I had a problem with is pulling too much taking a curve going to the left. That put me over the center line. The Tri Glide's steering is very sensitive. I don't seem to have any problems going to the right. Until you get used to the steering, you may have some shoulder aches. I really did, but I changed my seat to a reach seat and that brought me closer to the handle bars. I am no longer sore.

 

One thing I will tell you riding my 08 trike with the fly by wire throttle is that you will need to learn to use the back brakes more so you can keep better throttle control when braking into turns especially to your left. You have to reach out more to use the brake and throttle together in this instance.

Also, the trike want to go straight and there is some push when braking into a curve or hard turn which takes more effort to to do since you have push/pull to steer

The sensitivty of the electronic throttle is such that if you are trying to maintain the throttle and brake with alot of front brake and hit a bump you tend to pull on the throttle.

Just my 2 cents after 17k miles of riding my trike

 

Congratulations Jim!!! Great choice and you will love every minute riding.

 

Thanks everyone for all of the great advice and warm welcome to the Tri-Glide fraternity. From what I am hearing, it sounds like there will be a slight learning curve but if I remember not to put my feet down, I should be OK!

I am scheduled to pick up my new Tri-Glide in Las Vegas around the 23rd. of April, just in time for the Laughlin River Run. I don’t even have the bike yet and already I managed to put together an 1800 dollar accessories wish list. How sick is that?

Cubbear, it looks like we share the same taste in bikes; I’m trading in my XL1200N and FLSTC on the ’09 FLHTCUTG!

I’m curious as to why you two-wheelers converted to three? My reason is medical; even after owning 6 bikes and a ton of seat time, I no longer’t feel as comfortable and confident at age 60ish but I love riding to much to give it up!

Perhaps this would make a good topic for another thread!

Jim

 

Jim,

I have a niece that lives in Las Vegas - couple years ago she won a brand new Road King at the Laughlin River Run - believe she's attending the run again this year... We'll miss Laughlin as we'll be back home from Alabama but getting ready to head out to Tucson, Arizona and beyond...

Will you be at the Nevada HOG Rally in Boulder City around 14th of May...?

We'll be in that area - heading to Lake George, NY...

BTW, we got married on the Sportster in Las Vegas...

Hubby decided on the TriGlide because we do so much riding - couldn't get into some places with the 2 wheels whereas with the Trike we can go anywhere and making a u-turn is a snap - age makes a big difference, too...

 

As someone has already said, DO NOT PUT YOUR FEET DOWN, unless you are ready to lose a leg and foot. Seriously it can be very dangerous.

When you ride, you must steer the trike, not try to lean. Just don't work.

Do not be afraid of the trike--it will not turn over on you unless you really really do something dumb like going way to fast into a corner. My wife rides her trike like there is nothing to it. Its not hard.

When you are about to make a left turn and you will need to down shift, do the down shift BEFORE you get into the turn. That way you are not trying to pull on the left and having to operate the clutch at the same time. If you downshift before entering the curve then you are ready to accelerate out of the turn without having to work the clutch at the same time.

Learn to use the rear brake a lot more than you have in the past. You have one heck of a lot of rubber on the ground in the rear with the trike and it will stop you without skiding or squealing like a two wheeler will do.

You may want a "reach seat" to get you closer to the handlebars because it will give you more leverage when trying to turn the thing. Trikes steer a lot harder than a two wheeler. Putting a raked triple tree on it will help on most trikes. I haven't ridden a Triglide so maybe they don't steer as hard as our trike does.

The great thing about a trike with reverse on it is this; you don't have to worry about where you park it. Just put it in reverse and back out of wherever you are parked. Just love that Champion reverse we have on our trike, it runs off the main engine.

Keep an eye on the fuel consumption until you get to know your mileage limits. It will burn more fuel than a two wheel Ultra. Also when you hit a hill to climb, get into the throttle a little sooner than you are used to. With this much weight and a 6 speed transmission, you will need to keep the rpms up. Forget 6th gear unless you are running over 65 mph.

If I were you I would spend a few minutes in the parking lot getting used to the feel of the trike before I put it on the street and in traffic. But most of all ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY!!!

 

Thanks Dave for all of the useful info and the benefit of your Trike experience!

Jim

 

Jim

Before your TG comes in have your insurance carrier ready. Some states and insurance companies have different rules. Geico, Progressive and Foremost (AARP) are the three most talked about that I can tell.

Enjoy