Tried out a friend's trike recently.

[John Schmidt]

The one thing I did't like about this particular one was the steering seemed extremely quick. Almost squirrely...to me anyway, just too quick. It's a Roadsmith conversion on a GL1800 with what I believe was a 4 deg. rake kit on the forks. Took it around the block and was glad to get off the fool thing. I'm curious about the handling, though not anywhere near ready to make the change.

Should it feel quick in the steering? I barely had to touch the handlebars for it to respond, which would be dangerous at highway speed. Not sure I could get used to that feature, that would have a tendency to flip you real quick.

[BF]

I don't know anything about trikes, but would more rake make it feel less "quick"?

[bstahl5012]

That is not normal for a properly set up Trike. It sounds like the front end is light or the front of the Trike is high. When I first did my Trike I had too much extension and not enough rake. The Trike was slightly squirmy but it had terrible low speed bump steer and high speed drifting. After talking to Daryl of VTX-treme I took 4 inches from the extension to make the Trike frame level to the ground. That fixed all of my steering stability issues.

[Michael K (Az.)]

Give Debbi's a quick round the block. Quite a bit different than your experience. Kind of a bear to steer.

[Tundra]

I tried a Valk trike one time. That was one time too many for me.
I'm not knocking it for those of who it works for, just not for me. When my time comes to retire two wheels I will stop riding.

[rmrc51]

I have a Valk trike with a 6 degree rake and it steers perfectly. Not too lite at all as in your experience. Before I had the rake put on, she steered like a truck without power steering. Not bad when you were going straight or making slight turns. But after a days riding your arms really felt the stress. I had my rake installed by a MotorTrike dealer in Harrisonberg, VA. They said the 6 degree is the proper choice for the Valkyrie with the MotorTrike conversion. Some thing is clearly off with the trike your rode. It shouldn't be that, 'quick' or squirrely as you described it.

As far as not riding on two wheels any more,,,. Yeah, I do miss it and I keep getting the bug to get a motorcycle again. But times (and bodies) do change, unfortunately. At least I can still get out in the wind!    

[solo1]

I've never ridden a trike but I did put a sidecar on my Valkyrie.  My son and I learned a lot about how a motorcycle changes when you add a wheel. The steering was heavy until I went to a 4 degree triple clamp.  This brought the trail down to 4 inches from the normal 6 inches that the Valk has, Much easier to steer.

A rig differs from a trike in that steering is asymmetrical, the rig pulls left when stopping and pulls right on acceleration.  No matter what I did, the steering was quite sensitive to road conditions;  I tried it for a year but it wasn't the same.  I was in the wind but the bike didn't lean in curves (expected), the busy steering was constantly hurting my arthritic wrists, and the fuel mileage was very bad (24-26).  It was like hooking a beer wagon to a quarter horse.

I'm back on two wheels and liking it in spite of my aging.  I will NOT ever again consider a trike or a rig. However, that's just me.

I think that the answer is a good handling sports car or Mustang convertible is the best way to go.
I had a Miata and loved it but I'm back to a Mazda Three and a Vstrom.  Due to financial and other considerations, I traded my SUV and Miata for a new Mazda Three and bought a used 1000 Vstrom.

Realize that a Mazda Miata or a Mustang, new or used, can be bought for what it costs to buy a trike.  Just my .02, take it for what it's worth, 

[John Schmidt]

Thanks for all the input, my friend also has a Valk trike he's trying to sell....said he preferred his 1800(really think it's his wife's preference). I might just ride over and try his Valk trike for comparison, I sure didn't care for the "quickness" of his 1800. I'm coming up on age 74 and keeping my options open. I don't have any problems holding the bike up, still drag a peg when the spirit moves me(the spirit's not too busy anymore), and am comfortable with long days in the saddle. I do have some old injuries that let their presence be known from time to time, more so now than 10-15 yrs. ago, some from sports as a kid, some from military service. But on the whole, things are pretty much the same as they were in my 50's and 60's(except my weight ). As long as I get out on the bicycle for a few miles 2-3 times a week and keep my gym membership active 2-3 times a week, I don't have any major problems physically so don't feel a need to change rides.

As for the age factor, Wayne(Solo1), I sure hope I'm still doing as you are in another ten years. I recall attending a Gold Wing rally in No. Car. a few years ago and the oldest rider award was given to a wiry sort that was 84. He also won it the following year, rode his Wing over 1k miles one way to attend each time. My doctor(s) have all told me if I stay active it keeps the reflexes, balance, and awareness in tune, which makes you a safer driver later in life. Sure hope they're right, my dad drove up to age 90 then HE decided he wasn't safe any more. He was living with my sister so didn't need to drive anyway.

[old grouch]

FWIW I have a '99 I/S Trike, 8* rake w/2" extensions from Daryl.  It steers easily without any "squirrely" tendancies at all.  I can ride all day in the mountains without being "wore out" at the end of the day, and so far, none of the two wheelers I ride with have had to wait on me.     I can ride "hands free" on the interstate with no pulling or drifting.  The amount of rake needed has to do with the overall wheelbase of the trike as well as the amount of trail and the length of the extensions.  It all has to be figured into the equation.  Daryl knows his stuff.  Not all trike installers do.  Stan

[ptgb]

FWIW I have a '99 I/S Trike, 8* rake w/2" extensions from Daryl.  It steers easily without any "squirrely" tendancies at all.  I can ride all day in the mountains without being "wore out" at the end of the day, and so far, none of the two wheelers I ride with have had to wait on me. ...  

...Daryl knows his stuff.  Not all trike installers do...  

^^^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^^^^^

Wife has a CSC Standard Trike setup the same.... rock solid straight, carves the curves.

[art]

Has anyone ever tried a VW trike ? I would like to have one from what I've heard they handle like a sports car.Being low to the ground it seems like they would hug the road an be very stable.I had one with a corvair engine but only had it up to about 20 mph .The engine was shot an it needed too much rebuilding of the whole trike so I sold it.There is a trike shop in Phoenix ,Az. an they sell for around $15000 to $20000 .cheaper than a Gw or valk conversion of up to $35000.for a new GW.

[Tundra]

John,
  You may want to try out Pauls (Silverfox) Roadsmith Trike with a 6-degree rake. His is done right, he did it himself and he does everything right.
I wanted to get a ride together somewhere half way down the corridor after Christmas, so we can all B.S. again. Heck, maybe TJ can make it? It's been too long. Maybe you guys could get together then? I don't know if you have seen his since he finished it, pretty sharp.

[John Schmidt]

John,
  You may want to try out Pauls (Silverfox) Roadsmith Trike with a 6-degree rake. His is done right, he did it himself and he does everything right.
I wanted to get a ride together somewhere half way down the corridor after Christmas, so we can all B.S. again. Heck, maybe TJ can make it? It's been too long. Maybe you guys could get together then? I don't know if you have seen his since he finished it, pretty sharp.

Doug, I got an email from him about it, saw it when we all met in Alachua one Saturday. He definitely did a beautiful job with the installation. I want to try it out, the one I rode was real touchy. You barely move the handlebars back and forth and the bike would zig zag down the street. Not good at highway speed.