I have wondered for a while how wide a roadway I need at a minimum to be able to do a u-turn without using a 3-point turn - just holding the handlebar at full left lock. I suspected it would need to be a wider road than what is needed to do a u-turn on a 2-wheeler, since the trike can't lean. Leaning would reduce the diameter slightly as the tires are then running on the inside of the tread versus centered.

So, today, I packed a 25 foot tape measure and visited a large casino parking lot that was almost empty. The lot had parking lines spaced consistently exactly 9 feet apart. I was able to find that the u-turn diameter for my 2023 RG3 with OEM tires, at full left lock, was exactly 25 feet.

So yes, this IS a larger diameter than many HD 2-wheelers have been measured to require.

It's also just about one foot more than the "standard" width of 2-lane highways built in the last few decades (before that, the standard was 20 feet (2 ten foot wide lanes).

Fortunately, most highways have at least narrow grass shoulders, and most have paved shoulders. So, a u-turn CAN be done on a standard 2-lane highway if I need to do so, provided there are no curbs. This is much easier, and much faster to do, thana 3-point turn.

More importantly, unlike a 2-wheeler, such a u-turn can be done without risk of falling. And if you stall the engine with the clutch action, no problem. Just re-start and continue. And if it's raining, again no problem (Gets kind of tricky on a 2-wheeler).

Now this is for my "unmodified" 2023 RG3 trike. Different models and different years, and trikes that have non-OEM wheels or rakes may have different turning diameters.

Still, good to know what is possible.

Jim G

 

X-thread points - What was your gas mileage? lol...

 

It was higher, if the tires were clean

 

 

^^^ Don't forget to carry the one ^^^

 

Tough crowd. Tends to discourage a guy who took the time to learn something useful, wanting to share it with others who might find it useful too. I did not know that we could u-trun our trikes on a 2-lane road without needing to do a 3-point turn using reverse. A simple u-turn is MUCH faster and also safer. Maybe I should stop trying to do my share of CONTRIBUTING and just CONSUME info from the forum.

Jim G

 

FYI; the industry standard for how tight a vehicle can turn is by measuring radius not diameter, AKA turning radius.

 

I know that. But for us trike riders, the turning DIAMETER is a more relevant quickly visual measure, since a standard 2-lane highway is supposed to be 24 feet wide plus any shoulder width. Knowing that, an dknowing our u-turn diameter, if we find ourselves in a situaiton where a quick u-turn is needed, we can know just by looking at the highway if we can do it via a simple u-turn or will need to engage reverse.

Situations where this may prove to be important:

- The road has become too rough and we want to to u-turn, but the road is hilly, so we want to do it quickly before a car comes over a hill towards us while we are in the process of executing the u-turn

- A moose, bear, or other dangerous animal has suddenly appeared on or near the road ahead of us, and we'd rather avoid it than confront. Do we have the road width to do a quick u-turn or do we need to use the slower 3-point turn?

Jim G

 

Jim - In all honesty and with all due respect, stop taking yourself too seriously. No one is poking fun, we're HAVING fun and thats the BIG difference. It occurs all the time in here with no intended malice. NO ONE EVER EVER EVER EVER discouraged you from ANY of your posts. NO ONE EVER mocked any of your posts. If you want to post an engineering diatribe, go ahead. If you want to post a recipe of oatmeal cookies - terrific, its all good BUT take the replies in the spirit it was intended - if you do, great, pull up a welcomed cold beer and realize this isnt the tea and crumpets forum. If not, its on you. There was no malintent here. No one is giving you or gave you a hard time.

Respectfully U.K.

 

THIS is how you guys have FUN? Wow.

Jim G